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Anna J. Park

Korea Times Politics & City Reporter

Anna Jiwon Park has been covering the politics at The Korea Times since the summer of 2024, when she joined the press pool for the Office of the President in Korea. Prior to that, she spent about five years reporting extensively on financial markets, regulatory authorities and the financial industry. She joined The Korea Times in 2019 after spending eight years as a broadcast journalist at Arirang TV, Korea’s leading global broadcaster, covering politics, defense and culture.

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Foreign Affairs

Trump arrives in Korea for summit with Lee in Gyeongju

GYEONGJU, North Gyeongsang Province — A highly anticipated summit between Korean President Lee Jae Myung and U.S. President Donald Trump is set to take place Wednesday afternoon at Gyeongju National Museum, on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit being held in the city, as Trump arrived here. According to the presidential office, Trump’s visit is classified as a state visit to Korea. He arrived at Gimhae International Airport in Busan at around 11:40 a.m. local time on Wednesday, where he was greeted with a formal welcoming ceremony that included an honor guard inspection and a 21-gun salute. Foreign Minister Cho Hyun and Korean Ambassador to the United States Kang Kyung-wha were among the officials who welcomed the U.S. president upon his arrival. The presidential office noted that the visit marks reciprocal visits between the two leaders within 147 days since the start of the Lee administration, a record-short time span. Trump also becomes the first foreign head of state to make two state visits to Korea. Upon arriving in Busan, President Trump boar

Oct 29, 2025By Anna J. Park
Trump arrives in Korea for summit with Lee in Gyeongju
Foreign Affairs

Global shifts prompt APEC to prioritize resilience, data, supply chains

Created to improve market access among member economies, the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) has steadily reinvented itself over the past three decades to meet the demands of a changing global landscape. Its mission has evolved from simply opening markets to ensuring they function more effectively, by strengthening supply chains, managing cross-border data flows and building policy resilience. This transformation has become even more visible as global shocks, from pandemics to climate extremes, reshape trade dynamics. The annual summit event hasn’t abandoned its trade roots, but it has matured into a platform for operational interoperability. Since its inception in 1989, APEC’s evolution can be understood through four broad phases. In the 1990s to early 2000s, the focus was on trade liberalization, investment facilitation and market integration that sought to make the Asia-Pacific a more open and competitive region for commerce. As the organization evolved through the 2000s and 2010s, attention turned to more systemic reforms, such as improving regulatory environments, stre

Oct 28, 2025By Anna J. Park
Global shifts prompt APEC to prioritize resilience, data, supply chains
Foreign Affairs

Korea, Cambodia agree to launch joint task force to combat online scams

President Lee Jae Myung and Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet agreed Monday to form a joint task force to combat scams targeting Koreans, responding to growing public concerns over recent abduction and detention cases involving Korean nationals in Cambodia. According to presidential spokesperson Kang Yu-jung, the task force will begin operations next month. It will include Korean police officers dispatched to Cambodia. The size and operational details of the force will be determined as soon as possible. Lee, who is visiting Malaysia to attend the ASEAN Summit, held a bilateral meeting with the Cambodian prime minister on the sidelines of the multilateral event. “President Lee expressed his appreciation to Prime Minister Hun for the Cambodian government’s cooperation in repatriating Korean nationals and assisting victims in scam-related cases,” Kang said at a press briefing in Kuala Lumpur. “The two leaders agreed to actively coordinate efforts for an effective joint response to these crimes.” The agreement came after it was made public earlier this month that as many as 2,000

Oct 27, 2025By Anna J. Park
Korea, Cambodia agree to launch joint task force to combat online scams
Foreign Affairs

'Korea is 99% ready for APEC, rest is up to fate': PM shows confidence in final on-site review

GYEONGJU, North Gyeongsang Province — Prime Minister Kim Min-seok visited Gyeongju Thursday, which was his eighth visit to the historic city this year, reaffirming his confidence in the government’s readiness for next week’s Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit. The high-profile international event returns to Korea, two decades after Busan hosted it in 2005. As part of a two-day inspection tour, Kim reviewed key facilities including Gimhae International Airport in Busan, the main summit venue, exhibition halls and the media center. Speaking to reporters, Kim said he believes the ancient capital of the Silla Kingdom (57 BC – 935 AD) will serve as the ideal stage to showcase Korea’s rich history and cultural heritage to the world. “Gyeongju has an abundance of historical content that reflects Korea’s identity,” Kim said. “In this era of K-culture sweeping the global audience, it’s a fitting place to welcome global leaders. Let’s highlight Gyeongju’s cultural and historical significance, and deliver a message of integration, peace and a forward-looking sc

Oct 23, 2025By Anna J. Park
'Korea is 99% ready for APEC, rest is up to fate': PM shows confidence in final on-site review
Foreign Affairs

Lee’s ‘pragmatic diplomacy’ faces major test at Gyeongju APEC summit

With the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Gyeongju, North Gyeongsang Province, just over a week away, global attention is increasingly focused on President Lee Jae Myung. How he navigates the complex diplomatic landscape could redefine Korea’s international standing and test his administration’s “pragmatic, national interest-driven” approach to foreign policy. The summit will be a pivotal moment for Seoul, with high-stakes developments converging, such as a much-anticipated U.S.-China summit and even a potential U.S.-North Korea meeting. Lee himself is also preparing for a series of critical bilateral meetings. These include a Korea-U.S. summit and ongoing tariff talks with U.S. President Donald Trump as well as a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping, who will visit Korea for the first time in 11 years, to manage cooperation on the North Korean nuclear issue. Lee also faces the significant task of maintaining momentum in relations with Tokyo, through his first meeting with Japan’s new Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi. Against this backdrop, experts warn tha

Oct 22, 2025By Anna J. Park
Lee’s ‘pragmatic diplomacy’ faces major test at Gyeongju APEC summit
Defense

Lee vows ‘bold investments’ to elevate Korea to top-tier defense power

President Lee Jae Myung reaffirmed his administration’s commitment to advancing the nation's defense industry, declaring that becoming one of the world’s top four defense powers is “by no means an impossible dream.” Speaking at the opening ceremony of the Seoul International Aerospace & Defense Exhibition (ADEX) 2025 on Monday, Lee pledged massive investment in defense and aerospace research and development through 2030. Korea is making an aggressive push to establish itself as a global defense powerhouse, driven by soaring export deals and expanding domestic production capacity. This ambition is backed by substantial growth, including being ranked as one of the top five global military powers overall and having an estimated $17.3 billion in arms sales in 2022 and securing more than $4 billion in arms exports in 2023 alone. This year’s ADEX brings together more than 500 domestic and international defense and aerospace industry leaders and foreign delegations to KINTEX in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province. “By 2030, we will allocate a massive level of funding that far surpasses expect

Oct 20, 2025By Anna J. Park
Lee vows ‘bold investments’ to elevate Korea to top-tier defense power
North Korea

Will Trump, Kim reprise 2019 ad hoc meeting?

Anticipation is rising again over a possible meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un later this month during Trump’s visit to South Korea for Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit events. Although there has been no confirmation of such a meeting, the chance of one happening cannot be written off, considering their previous meeting in 2019 took place with less than two days’ preparation after the U.S. president floated the offer via social media. The South Korean presidential office said Sunday that Seoul will maintain “close communication and coordination” with Washington regarding any potential U.S.-North Korea dialogue during Trump’s upcoming visit here. The statement came after a CNN report on Saturday (local time), citing sources familiar with the matter, said, “Trump administration officials have privately discussed setting up a meeting between President Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un.” Trump has shown his willingness to talk with Kim, especially after South Korean President Lee Jae Myung, during his summit with Trump in

Oct 19, 2025By Anna J. Park
Will Trump, Kim reprise 2019 ad hoc meeting?
Defense

USFK lodges rare protest over Korean special counsel search at Osan Air Base

United States Forces Korea (USFK) filed a formal protest with the Korean government earlier this month over a July search and seizure by a special counsel team. The complaint represents a rare and unusually forceful diplomatic expression of concern from the U.S. military to its longtime ally. According to sources, U.S. Air Force Lt. Gen. David Iverson, deputy commander of USFK and head of the U.S. delegation to the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) Joint Committee, sent the protest letter to Korea’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Oct. 3. In the letter, Iverson voiced concern over the special counsel’s operation at Osan Air Base in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province, conducted on July 21 as part of the Dec. 3 martial law investigation, and requested an explanation from Seoul as to why SOFA protocols were not observed. Under the bilateral defense agreement, prior coordination or approval is required for any external access to U.S. military installations. USFK maintains that the special counsel team’s visit to the U.S. Air Force base violated SOFA provisions governing base access. The pro

Oct 16, 2025By Anna J. Park
USFK lodges rare protest over Korean special counsel search at Osan Air Base
Foreign Affairs

PHOTO President welcomes Sweden’s Crown Princess Victoria to Seoul

President Lee Jae Myung shakes hands with Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden at the presidential office in Seoul, Wednesday. Victoria is visiting Korea from Wednesday to Friday, marking her first official visit to the country in 10 years. Yonhap

Oct 15, 2025By Anna J. Park
[PHOTO] President welcomes Sweden’s Crown Princess Victoria to Seoul
Politics

Lee calls gaming 'defining force' of Korea's future

President Lee Jae Myung tested Krafton’s artificial intelligence (AI)-driven life simulation game inZOI on Wednesday at PUBG Seongsu, a game and cultural hub operated by Krafton, the creator of PUBG: Battlegrounds, in eastern Seoul. But his message was anything but virtual: Korea, he said, must embrace gaming as a defining force for its cultural and economic future. In the first-ever presidential on-site visit to a gaming industry discussion event, Lee vowed to make K-games a cornerstone of Korea’s cultural exports and to dismantle the “repressive” policies of the past, signaling a major policy shift in how the government views gaming. The visit underscored his broader plan to position gaming as a key pillar of K-culture and a driver of Korea’s global competitiveness, as he urged a move away from restrictive regulations and toward innovation-led growth. “It’s time to change our policy direction,” Lee said during the meeting. “The government’s aim is to make Korea a leading global cultural industry nation, and I believe the game industry is a vital part of that.” The

Oct 15, 2025By Anna J. Park
Lee calls gaming 'defining force' of Korea's future
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