The Korea Times

Moon Jae-in the fundamentalist

President Moon Jae-in Korea TimesBy Oh Young-jin During the Roh Moo-hyun administration, there was the “Taliban incident” that eventually showed then Foreign Minister Yoon Young-kwan the door, with his rival Lee Jong-seok rising to dominate policies over North Korea and foreign affairs. The incident was triggered by a whistleblower who disclosed that a group of foreign ministry officials had dubbed inner-circle members of the Roh administration ― and by extension the President ― Muslim fundamentalists for their alleged anti-U.S. stance and nationalist tendency.The aides consisted of those belonging to the “386 generation,” who were born in the 1960s, aged in their 30s to early 40s and attended college in the 1980s at the height of the civic uprising to fight successive dictatorships, ultimately forcing army general-turned-president Chun Doo-hwan to accept a popular presidential vote.For the Taliban incident, a major reshuffle hit the foreign ministry, sending the careers of some bright young diplomats down the gutter. With the benefit of hindsight, 10-plus yea

Jul 26, 2019By Oh Young-jin

Opinion

Moon, Abe, do some art!

President Moon Jae-in and Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe during the G20 summit in Osaka, Japan. AP-YonhapBy Oh Young-jin There are some myths as Korea and Japan are locked in a trade dispute triggered by the latter's virtual embargo on essential items for Korea's bread-and-butter industry of semiconductor manufacturing. Here are three. 1) Japan's export curbs caught the Moon Jae-in government off guard.Many factors indicate this may have been the case because, above all, there had been no efforts to stock up on those items following Tokyo's announcement. Broadly, it appears correct that the government had anticipated a reaction one way or another from Japan after the Supreme Court ruled that Japanese firms mobilized for their country's war efforts owed Korean workers compensation. There are indications that efforts were made to delay the ruling under the previous Park Geun-hye administration because of the potential damage to the already soured bilateral relationship. The Moon government has been consistent in dealing resolutely with Japan's aggressive act. President Moon first ca

Jul 19, 2019By Oh Young-jin

Korea-Japan dispute spreads to security

Politics

INTERVIEW Mr. Abe, you are not Trump

Dr. Sakong Il, honorary chairman of the Institute for Global Economics, talks about Japan imitating the United States in Tokyo's recent trade embargo against Korea. YonhapBy Oh Young-jin A globally known Korean economist warned Korea and Japan over their looming trade war, reminding them that their dispute is destroying the free-trade system of which they are the two greatest beneficiaries. “Japan has risen from the ashes as the defeated nation in World War II and it is the free trade born in the post-war new liberal global order that has enriched it and made it the world's No. 3 economy,” Dr. Sakong Il told The Korea Times.Now Tokyo had turned back on the system and used the power it earned thanks to it, ironically destroying it.“It is like a child slapping the mother that breastfed it and it is an ungrateful act,” he said, telling Japan what it could gain from the destruction of the free trade system. Sakong, honorary chairman of the Institute for Global Economics (IGE), a think-thank, has led the nation's economy as finance minister and aided presidents. Sa

Jul 19, 2019By Oh Young-jin

Opinion

On Japan, retreat is no option for Moon

Sales of imported Japanese beers have dropped drastically following Tokyo's retaliatory trade action. YonhapBy Oh Young-jinPresident Moon Jae-in has shown no sign that a compromise is an option in Japan's embargo on key items that can halt Korea's semiconductor making, the nation's bread-and-butter industry.Moon faces growing pressure from Samsung Electronics, the world's largest chip maker for which Japanese technology is pivotal for production, and other industrialists who fear a greater impact if Tokyo increases sanctions. Several opinion leaders fault Moon for what they argue is his ham-fisted handling of the aftermath of the Supreme Court ruling that ordered Japanese firms to pay compensation to Koreans who were mobilized for materiel production during the Second World War. Moon could succumb to these pressures but only at the risk of turning his regime into a political zombie. And history shows the more he stands pat, the greater the chance the nation rallies around him. The issues with Japan ― compensation for forced laborers and comfort women, or sex slaves, under Japan's imp

Jul 12, 2019By Oh Young-jin

Politics

INTERVIEW Pellerin's task: disrupting US-China tech dominance

Fleur Pellerin, former French culture minister, sets out on a new task of disrupting U.S.-China digital dominance with her start-up investment fund. Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chulBy Oh Young-jin Fleur Pellerin is a digital activist, globalist, businesswoman, politician and many other things, all at once. And the former French culture minister and now CEO and founder of a startup incubator and venture capitalist can play all these roles with a hint of mastery over just 30 minutes. For any potential detractor, her utilitarian use of English words and French accent finish off the job. A Korea Times interview with Pellerin was conducted at the Four Seasons hotel in downtown Seoul, July 3, after her lecture organized by the French Korean Chamber of Commerce and Industry. The instant the 30 minutes with her started, it was clear what Pellerin was about ― a combination of cause and business. Pellerin, who was minister of SMEs, Innovation and the Digital Economy under the socialist French President Francois Hollande, aims to provide a level playing field for startups in Europe and Asia

Jul 10, 2019By Oh Young-jin

[INTERVIEW] Pellerin's task: disrupting US-China tech dominance

North Korea

What surprises would be in the next episode of the Trump Show?

U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un stand before a group of journalists at the Pamunjom truce village last Sunday. YonhapBy Oh Young-jin What surprises might be in the next episode of the Trump Show, the reality show starring U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un?Do not blame me for calling the two “buddies”' affairs a reality show. After last Sunday's meeting at the Panmunjom truce village in Korea's demilitarized zone, Yael Kushner, better known as Ivanka and Trump's daughter, called her DMZ visit with her father “surreal.” Media outlets' reports boiled down to it being less reality than show.The whole process leading up to the Kim-Trump meeting appears implausible. While in Osaka for the G20 meeting before hopping over to Korea, Trump sent a twitter message that he wanted to go to the DMZ, the four kilometer-wide no man's land separating the two Koreas since the 1950-53 Korean War, and say hello to Kim.Then the former reality show host masterfully built up the level of expectation for his encounter with

Jul 5, 2019By Oh Young-jin

What surprises would be in the next episode of the Trump Show?

Opinion

Khashoggi question for Saudi crown prince and us

Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman at Cheong Wa Dae, Wednesday. The de facto leader of the oil kingdom held a summit with President Moon Jae-in and promised billions of dollars in investment. A U.N. probe says there is credible evidence linking the prince to the murder of Jamal Khashoggi, the Saudi dissident and journalist. YonhapBy Oh Young-jin Nobody asked Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MbS) about the murder of Jamal Khashoggi during his June 26-27 visit to Korea. If anybody does during the G20 in Osaka, Japan, MbS's next destination, please let me know. In Seoul, the prince, 33, was insulated from those who could ask about his alleged involvement in the journalist's killing. There were no news conferences or shouts from activists.President Moon Jae-in held a summit and hosted a lunch for MbS with heads of the nation's top conglomerates. Even in the evening, Moon spent time with the world's richest man who controls the world's biggest business entity, the state monopoly Saudi Aramco, and leads his country's modernization plan worth hundreds of billion

Jun 28, 2019By Oh Young-jin

Khashoggi question for Saudi crown prince and us

Opinion

Where will Korea stand on US-China clash?

U.S. State Department Policy Planning Director Kiron Skinner signs a document while her boss, Secretary Mike Pompeo, looks on. From Skinner's twitter accountBy Oh Young-jin Kiron Skinner says the U.S. is fighting a racial war of civilizations pitting the Americans against a non-Caucasian foe in China for the first time.What about the Pacific War, part of World War II, waged between the U.S. and Japan? So the U.S. State Department's policy planning director is factually inaccurate. Also her being Afro-American may have tinted her lens, putting the situation in a racial perspective. After all it is plausible that the U.S.-China rivalry, now being expressed in a trade war, is a clash of values, not race, as one of my Western friends argues.On the surface, my friend's argument may make sense and it looks like Skinner is out of her depth. That is by and large the reaction so far to her remarks at a security forum in Washington in late April, reflecting the "She is wrong but what if she proves right" kind of sentiment. Rather, a lot of hype has been over her job once held by George Kennan,

Jun 21, 2019By Oh Young-jin

Where will Korea stand on US-China clash?

Law & Crime

Korean travel writer shot to death in Philippines

By Oh Young-jinJoo Young-wookA well-known Korean travel writer has been shot dead in the Philippines, Korean police said Friday.Joo Yeong-wook, 58, a travel agency owner and a travel and culture columnist, was found shot in the head in a street of Antipolo, east of Manila, Sunday morning. Apparently, it took several days to identify him.At the time of discovery, his mouth was gagged, his hands were tied behind him with duct tape and he had been shot in the forehead, according to police. Police said he had stayed in Makati, about 10 kilometers from where his body was found.He arrived in the Philippines last Friday to research a new tour and was scheduled to return home Tuesday.Police have sent forensic experts and detectives to Manila to coordinate an investigation.Forty-six Koreans were killed in the Philippines from 2013-18, the most Koreans in a foreign country, during the period.

Jun 21, 2019By Oh Young-jin

Korean travel writer shot to death in Philippines

Philippines murder stirs safety concerns

Foreign Affairs

USFK Commander Abrams - 'Kimchi General'

From Gen. Abrams' twitter accountBy Oh Young-jin There was a time when the word kimchi ― Koreans' fermented cabbage side dish ― was used with a derogatory connotation. One example was a Kimchi GI, a soldier with Korean ancestry who served in the U.S. military. Reflecting changing times ― the popularity of K-pop band BTS, hansik or traditional Korean food and virtually anything Korean ― even a four-star U.S. general might not mind being called a “Kimchi General.” Gen. Robert Abrams, commander of U.S. Forces Korea (USFK), the United Nations Command (UNC) and U.S.-ROK Combined Forces Command (CFC), recently expressed his love of kimchi and Korean galbi ― beef and pork ribs and chicken breast often marinated with sweet soy sauce.“1. Korean barbecue is the best 2. A day without kimchi is like a day without sunshine 3. Hwahwa Restaurant in Pyeongtaek-si is #1,” so wrote Gen. Abrams on his Twitter June 15. Together with his “few factoids” comes an apparent selfie, judging by the angle, that also captures his five “teammates.” On the table is a

Jun 18, 2019By Oh Young-jin

Oh Young-jin

Read more

Moon Jae-in the fundamentalist

Moon, Abe, do some art!

INTERVIEW Mr. Abe, you are not Trump

On Japan, retreat is no option for Moon

INTERVIEW Pellerin's task: disrupting US-China tech dominance

What surprises would be in the next episode of the Trump Show?

Khashoggi question for Saudi crown prince and us

Where will Korea stand on US-China clash?

Korean travel writer shot to death in Philippines

USFK Commander Abrams - 'Kimchi General'

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