Choi Won-suk is a photojournalist at The Korea Times. Before joining the newspaper, he also worked as a photojournalist with AFP and St. Joseph News-Press in Missouri. He spent 13 years in the United States, graduating with a Bachelor of Journalism degree (Cum Laude) from the University of Missouri - Columbia and a Master of Arts in Photography from Ohio University - Athens. Over the past 11 years, Choi covered various news events such as presidential elections, the 2019 North Korea-United States Hanoi Summit and 2022 Qatar World Cup. But above all, Choi believes in local journalism and finds a lot of joy telling life stories of ordinary citizens in small neighborhoods.
Gaza twins whose whole lives have been war
Palestinian woman Iman Abdel Halim Abu Mutlaq holds her newborn twins Uday and Hamza Abu Odah shortly after their birth inside the maternity ward at Nasser Hospital, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, Nov. 2, 2023. The twins were born less than four weeks after the Hamas attacks that triggered Israel's devastating assault on Gaza that has defined and encompassed their brief lives, during which they lost their home and lived in tents and on the street. Their father was killed seeking aid and two brothers were wounded. They have suffered constant hunger, frequent bouts of sickness and repeated episodes of terrifying bombardment. Reuters-Yonhap
By Choi Won-suk
Palestinian women wait outside the maternity ward of Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, Sept. 25, in the same hospital where Iman Abdel Halim Abu Mutlaq gave birth to her twin sons, Uday and Hamza Abu Odah, in November 2023. Reuters-Yonhap
Palestinians, who were displaced to the south at Israel's order during the war, make their way back to their homes in northern Gaza from central Gaza, Jan. 27, amid a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. Reuters-Yonhap
Palestinians walk among the rubble, as they inspect houses destroyed in Israeli strikes during the war, amid the temporary truce between Hamas and Israel, at Khan Younis refugee camp in southern Gaza, Nov. 27, 2023. Reuters-Yonhap
Palestinian boy Hamza Abu Odah looks on inside a tent where he shelters with his twin brother, Uday, their siblings and mother Iman Abdel Halim Abu Mutlaq, in the Mawasi area of Khan Younis in southern Gaza, Sept. 18. Reuters-Yonhap
Palestinian twins Uday, left, and Hamza Abu Odah play outside their tent where they shelter with their mother and siblings, in the Mawasi area of Khan Younis in southern Gaza, Sept. 18. Reuters-Yonhap
Displaced Palestinian mother Iman Abdel Halim Abu Mutlaq bathes her son Uday Abu Odah in a bucket inside their tent where they shelter, in the Mawasi area of Khan Younis in southern Gaza, Sept. 13. Reuters-Yonhap
Displaced Palestinian mother Iman Abdel Halim Abu Mutlaq walks with her twin sons Uday, left, and Hamza Abu Odah at a tent camp where they shelter, in the Mawasi area of Khan Younis in southern Gaza, Sept. 20. Reuters-Yonhap
Displaced Palestinian mother Iman Abdel Halim Abu Mutlaq breastfeeds her son Uday Abu Odah inside their tent where they shelter, in the Mawasi area of Khan Younis in southern Gaza, Sept. 13. Reuters-Yonhap
Iman Abdel Halim Abu Mutlaq, the displaced mother of Palestinian twin boys Uday and Hamza Abu Odah, bakes bread inside their tent where they shelter, in the Mawasi area of Khan Younis in southern Gaza, Sept. 12. Reuters-Yonhap
Palestinian twins Uday, left, and Hamza Abu Odah eat inside their tent where they shelter with their mother and siblings, in the Mawasi area of Khan Younis in southern Gaza, Sept. 12. Reuters-Yonhap
Palestinians gather to receive food cooked by a charity kitchen in northern Gaza, Sept. 11, 2024, amid the Israel-Hamas war. Reuters-Yonhap
Displaced Palestinians, fleeing northern Gaza due to an Israeli military operation, move southwards in the central Gaza Strip, Sept. 20, after Israeli forces ordered residents of Gaza City to evacuate to the south. Reuters-Yonhap
Displaced Palestinian mother Iman Abdel Halim Abu Mutlaq carries her twin sons Uday, left, and Hamza Abu Odah as she walks through a tent camp where they shelter, in the Mawasi area of Khan Younis in southern Gaza, Sept. 18. Reuters-Yonhap
Displaced Palestinian mother Iman Abdel Halim Abu Mutlaq enjoys the seawater with her twin sons Uday and Hamza Abu Odah near a tent camp where they shelter, in the Mawasi area of Khan Younis in southern Gaza, Sept. 20. Reuters-Yonhap
Palestinian twins Hamza, left, and Uday Abu Odah sleep inside their tent where they shelter with their mother and siblings, in the Mawasi area of Khan Younis in southern Gaza, Sept. 12. Reuters-Yonhap