The Korea Times

US Army holds CBRN exercise

US soldiers wearing protective gear are conducting an exercise in this photo. The 2nd Infantry Division of the U.S. Army unveiled 10 photos featuring the 23rd chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear (CBRN) and high-yield explosives defense battalion of the army executing a validation exercise to assess their expertise in technical CBRN site exploitation and decontamination during this week. The U.S. Army's exercise came amid heightened tensions on the Korean Peninsula following North Korea's firing of nuclear-capable missiles during the past weeks. Courtesy of the U.S. Army

Oct 16, 2022By Kang Hyun-kyung

Defense

Poland to buy 300 Chunmoo multiple rocket launchers

K239 Chunmoo multiple rocket launchers in this 2019 file photo / Korea Times fileBy Kang Hyun-kyungPoland will purchase nearly 300 K239 Chunmoo multiple rocket launchers from Korea and the artillery weapon system will be provided to the European country by next year, according to a Polish media outlet. In a media interview on Oct. 14th, Polish Defense Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Mariusz Blaszczak said negotiations between Poland and South Korea had been completed and a contract will be signed during his visit to South Korea next week. “It's an excellent artillery weapon and based on our observations from the war in Ukraine we can clearly see how much advantage artillery can create on the battlefield,” Blaszczak was quoted as saying in an interview with local news site I.PL. His remarks came after Ukraine was able to change the course of the war against Russia after the use of M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket System or HIMARS in late June and early July. The missiles have been used to hit Russian targets, such as bridges that Russia occupied during the war, and c

Oct 16, 2022By Kang Hyun-kyung

Poland to buy 300 Chunmoo multiple rocket launchers

Politics

Seoul mayor scrutinizes whether predecessor tried to evade UN sanctions to help North Korea via cryptocurrency

Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon answers questions during the National Assembly audit of the city government at the city hall, central Seoul, Wednesday. YonhapBy Kang Hyun-kyungSeoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon said on Wednesday that he would thoroughly look into the allegation that his predecessor, late former Mayor Park Won-soon, tried to evade sanctions to help North Korea build a cryptocurrency research center there. Park was found dead at Mount Bugak on July 10, hours after he vanished. If any violations are found, Oh said he will request the law enforcement authorities to investigate the case. “As of now, I have no information about to what extent the city government was involved in the cryptocurrency project during the former mayor's leadership period,” Oh said during the National Assembly audit of the city government, adding that he came to know about the city government's alleged involvement in the project through media reports on the National Assembly audit of the Ministry of Justice. “I was told that in the city government, there were no working-level staff who contacted Nor

Oct 12, 2022By Kang Hyun-kyung

Seoul mayor scrutinizes whether predecessor tried to evade UN sanctions to help North Korea via cryptocurrency

Politics

Justice minister's motives behind New York trip questioned

Justice Minister Han Dong-hoon speaks during a National Assembly audit on the Ministry of Justice, Oct. 6. YonhapDPK lawmaker accuses justice minister of looking into opposition bigwigs' alleged links with North Korea, cryptocurrencyBy Kang Hyun-kyungJustice Minister Han Dong-hoon's visit to New York three months ago is belatedly rekindling the interest of some members of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK). They claimed that the primary purpose of Han's visit was to investigate if there were any unlawful acts allegedly committed by President Yoon Suk-yeol's political opponents.DPK lawmaker Kim Eui-kyeom claimed during a radio interview on Sunday that Han's nine-day business trip to New York starting June 29 seems to have been related to the prosecution's investigation into several politicians, including Rep. Lee Jae-myung, the current DPK leader.During his U.S. trip, Rep. Kim claimed that Han visited the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York to find further details of the investigation results into now-jailed U.S. cryptocurrency expert Virgil G

Oct 10, 2022By Kang Hyun-kyung

Justice minister's motives behind New York trip questioned

Foreign Affairs

Is Kim Jong-un emulating Putin's saber-rattling?

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, left, holds hands with Russian leader Vladimir Putin before they hold a summit in Vladivostok, Russia, in this April 25, 2019 file photo. Korea Times fileEffectiveness of US-led deterrence against North Korea called into question By Kang Hyun-kyungThe latest developments in North Korea's provocations show that its leader Kim Jong-un has become dangerously bolder and more fearless. Kim gave the North Korean military the green light to go ahead with the launches of two short-range ballistic missiles that flew over the East Sea on Thursday, the day when South Korea, the United States and Japan conducted another trilateral military exercise, following the first one on Sept. 30. The U.S. nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan joined both drills. Later in the day, 12 North Korean warplanes ― eight fighter jets and four bombers ― flew in a squadron formation, staying within North Korean airspace but on the southern side of a surveillance line set by the South, presumably in response to the trilateral maritime exercise. The warplanes conducted air

Oct 7, 2022By Kang Hyun-kyung

Is Kim Jong-un emulating Putin's saber-rattling?

Opinion

Spoiled democracy

By Kang Hyun-kyungLike a broken record, politicians say the same words again and again. Unlike a broken record which repeats the same thing over and over again due to a mechanical malfunction, however, their repetition of the same message is a calculated action. Repetition is one of the most effective ways to persuade and brainwash others to make them believe what you said is right. Politicians know how insanity works in politics, and how quickly it perpetuates hatred and spreads fury by numbing their audience's ears, senses and eventually even their belief system.The National Assembly Foreign Affairs Committee's audit of the foreign ministry on the first day of its annual audit on Tuesday showed exactly how dysfunctional modern-day Korean politics is. The annual event, which once served as an effective platform to look into whether Cabinet ministries and state-run companies worked well that year, has become a dull, stupid show as unprepared, self-serving and short-sighted politicians keep trying to abuse it as an opportunity to show their loyalty to their parties which they believe,

Oct 5, 2022By Kang Hyun-kyung

North Korea

North Korea reinstates mask mandate amid fears of winter twindemic

Elderly North Koreans are seen wearing masks during an event held on Oct. 1 to commemorate the International Day for Older Persons in footage from the Korean Central News Agency, North Korea's state media agency. YonhapKorean-American neurosurgeon calls for systematic multi-year healthcare support for North KoreaBy Kang Hyun-kyungWhile South Korea recently has begun to phase-out its mask mandate, the North has gone the opposite. The reclusive state lifted its mask mandate two months ago, and reinstated it from this month, as a preemptive measure against a possible “twindemic” of seasonal influenza and COVID-19 on the coming fall and winter.The Korean Central News Agency, North Korea's state media agency, aired footage of elderly North Koreans wearing masks while attending an event held on Saturday to commemorate the International Day for Older Persons. Korean Central TV, another state media outlet, also released footage of younger North Koreans wearing masks while at an event for the 76th anniversary of the establishment of Kim Il-sung University.North Korea's reinstateme

Oct 2, 2022By Kang Hyun-kyung

North Korea reinstates mask mandate amid fears of winter twindemic

Foreign Affairs

Presidential chief of staff accuses media of destabilizing Korea-US alliance

Presidential Chief of Staff Kim Dae-ki speaks during a briefing in the presidential office in Yongsan District, Seoul, Thursday. Yonhap Non-binding motion calling for dismissal of foreign minister approvedBy Kang Hyun-kyungPresidential Chief of Staff Kim Dae-ki showed his disdain for the fact that the media had reported on President Yoon Suk-yeol's private conversation with Foreign Minister Park Jin in New York last week, which were caught on camera. In an unusually strong tone, Kim claimed Yoon had been misquoted and alleged that the media outlet reports that quoted Yoon saying “Biden” were “fake news.” “I myself and other presidential office staff view this case as no more than fake news and we believe that fake news should not be tolerated,” he told reporters during a briefing in the presidential office on Thursday. “Developed countries despise and dislike fake news, but here in Korea, we have been a little too tolerant, so we have had many such cases before, suc

Sep 29, 2022By Kang Hyun-kyung

Presidential chief of staff accuses media of destabilizing Korea-US alliance

Foreign Affairs

Yoon, Kishida find their hands tied

gettyimagesbankBy Kang Hyun-kyungPresident Yoon Suk-yeol stressed again that he would keep pushing to get South Korea's strained relations with Japan back on the right track. “South Korea-Japan relations are not something you can improve dramatically with a single effort,” he said on Monday while answering questions from journalists on his way to the presidential office in Yongsan, Seoul. “Bilateral ties receded a lot during the past (Moon Jae-in) administration. To normalize it from the current sour relations, we need to keep watching how Koreans and Japanese are reacting and make efforts accordingly.” Yoon touted the possible economic benefits for the two countries in case bilateral ties are improved. “South Korean and Japanese businesspeople are among the ones wishing for the improvement of bilateral ties. Once South Korea-Japan relations are getting back on the right track, companies of the two countries will invest in each other's nations and, as a result, job creation and economic growth will follow,” he said, noting that he will push harder

Sep 27, 2022By Kang Hyun-kyung

Foreign Affairs

When 'Macho Man' met 'Mr. Status quo'

From left, Bill Gates, Prime Minister of Japan Fumio Kishida, French President Emmanuel Macron, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, President Joe Biden, Connie Mudenda (RED) ambassador, South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Global Fund Executive Director Peter Sands pose for a photo during the Global Fund's Seventh Replenishment Conference, Wednesday, in New York. AP-Yonhap Korea touts Yoon-Kishida meeting as 'summit,' while Japan downplays it as 'informal talks'By Kang Hyun-kyungThere was much back and forth between South Korea and Japan up until the moment their leaders actually met in New York on Wednesday (local time) for a meeting. Days before President Yoon Suk-yeol's second official overseas trip to three nations ― namely Great Britain, the United States and Canada_ since he was inaugurated on May 10, the presidential office told reporters in a confident tone that Yoon a

Sep 23, 2022By Kang Hyun-kyung

Kang Hyun-kyung

Read more

US Army holds CBRN exercise

Poland to buy 300 Chunmoo multiple rocket launchers

Seoul mayor scrutinizes whether predecessor tried to evade UN sanctions to help North Korea via cryptocurrency

Justice minister's motives behind New York trip questioned

Is Kim Jong-un emulating Putin's saber-rattling?

Spoiled democracy

North Korea reinstates mask mandate amid fears of winter twindemic

Presidential chief of staff accuses media of destabilizing Korea-US alliance

Yoon, Kishida find their hands tied

When 'Macho Man' met 'Mr. Status quo'

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