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Kang Hyun-kyung

Korea Times Editorial Reporter

I am an editorial writer at The Korea Times, focusing on foreign policy, North Korea and domestic politics. My key areas of interest include North Korea, foreign interference in elections, election integrity, cyberattacks and human rights. Prior to joining the Editorial Board, I served as both Politics Desk editor and Culture Desk editor. During my career, I have reported on the Presidential Office under the Lee Myung-bak administration, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the National Assembly.

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Foreign Affairs

'Thanks America': Korean honors fallen US soldiers

Sung-yull Koo, right, the man who initiated the Korean War memorial event Liberty Walk, poses with Korean War veteran Chuck Gaiotti in this photo taken recently. Courtesy of Sung-yull KooHundreds of Koreans, dozens of US military servicemen and women walk 4 kilometers in Seoul in memory of US soldiers who died during Korean War By Kang Hyun-kyung While visiting many different U.S. cities over the past five decades since he arrived in the country in 1967 as a Korean immigrant, Sung-yull Koo, 79, was surprised to learn that Korean War Monuments are almost everywhere. Even small cities and counties, with which Koreans are not familiar, have war memorials in remembrance of the bloodiest war since World War II. As a Korean, Koo said he felt indebted because so many young Americans were killed or wounded while fighting for the freedom of South Korea against the invasion of the communist North. Nearly 5 million people were killed during the war, and 37,000 of them were U.S. troops. Over 9,000 Americans were also wounded. Koo tried to figure out if there was anything he could do to give back

Jun 26, 2022By Kang Hyun-kyung
'Thanks America': Korean honors fallen US soldiers
Politics

Ruling party's ethics committee to review chairman's sex scandal allegations

By Kang Hyun-kyung Lee Jun-seok / Yonhap The ruling People Power Party's (PPP) ethics committee will convene on Wednesday to review allegations that party Chairman Lee Jun-seok received sexual services as a bribe in return for a favor and tried to destroy the evidence. The committee said its members will meet at 7 p.m. that day to review documents submitted by those who were informed of the start of disciplinary action against Lee, and based on a committee resolution passed at its April 21 meeting, Kim Chul-keun, Lee's assistant, would be required to be present and undergo questioning concerning the allegations.Kim is Lee's personal assistant in charge of political affairs. The party's ethics committee can take four different types of disciplinary measures: expulsion of the individual from the party, advising the individual to leave the party, suspension of the individual's party's membership and warnings. If any of the allegations about Lee are confirmed to be true,

Jun 21, 2022By Kang Hyun-kyung
Politics

Family of late fisheries official to sue ex-National Security Office director

The wife of Lee Dae-joon, the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries official who was killed by the North Korean military in September 2020 after he went missing, weeps during a news conference held at the Seoul Bar Association building in southern Seoul, Friday. YonhapState auditor embarks on probe of defense ministry, Coast Guard By Kang Hyun-kyungThe family members of Lee Dae-joon, the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries official who was shot dead by the North Korean military in the West Sea on Sep. 22, 2020, a day after he went missing, plan to sue former National Security Office (NSO) Director Suh Hoon for obstruction of justice. “Then the Ministry of National Defense and Coast Guard announced that my brother was shot dead while attempting to defect to North Korea,” Lee's brother Rae-jin said during a news conference held in southern Seoul on Friday. “We're wondering if then-National Security Office Director Suh flexed his muscle behind the government's conclusion about my brother's death. We will sue him for obstruction of justice to see if what we believe is true.&rdq

Jun 17, 2022By Kang Hyun-kyung
Family of late fisheries official to sue ex-National Security Office director
Politics

First lady meets deceased-dictator Chun Doo-hwan's widow

First lady Kim Keon-hee walks out of the front gate of the late Chun Doo-hwan's residence in Yeonhui-dong, western Seoul, Thursday. She had a meeting with Chun's widow, Lee Soon-ja, for one and a half hours, days after her visit to late President Roh Moo-hyun's widow Kwon Yang-sook in Bongha Village, South Gyeongsang Province. Yonhap

Jun 16, 2022By Kang Hyun-kyung
First lady meets deceased-dictator Chun Doo-hwan's widow
Foreign Affairs

Korea's foreign minister is enthusiastic about Middle East: experts

Foreign Minister Park Jin, left, walks through Incheon International Airport on Sunday on his way to Washington, D.C., for a meeting with his U.S. counterpart Antony Blinken. YonhapExperts say Korea's ties with the region will be upgradedBy Kang Hyun-kyungKorea's relations with the Middle East may undergo a change, in a positive way, in the next few years, according to people who are familiar with the matter.Their optimism about Korea-Middle East ties is based on their personal experiences of the man in charge of the nation's foreign policy, and their testimony about him is consistent. Foreign Minister Park Jin, also a lawmaker of the ruling People Power Party, is a Middle East enthusiast, they said. “I got the sense that he's very interested in the region, while interacting with him, albeit intermittently,” Jang Ji-hyang, a research fellow of comparative Middle East politics at the Seoul-based think tank, Asan Institute for Policy Studies, told The Korea Times. In early March before the March 9 presidential election, Jang was invited to a session hosted by the Global Vis

Jun 14, 2022By Kang Hyun-kyung
Korea's foreign minister is enthusiastic about Middle East: experts
Politics

'Watermelon' insult banned from use in Korean political party

Rep. Woo Sang-ho, an interim leader of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea, gestures during a news conference on Sunday in the National Assembly, Seoul. Joint Press CorpsDPK leader says blame game, personal attacks don't help defeated party regain public's trust By Kang Hyun-kyunggettyimagesbank“Subak,” or watermelon, has become a prohibited word for the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK). On Sunday, Rep. Woo Sang-ho, the interim leader of the DPK, said that he won't sit back if there are any DPK lawmakers or members who use the slang word to attack others personally.“How can you attack fellow party members like that? If you call our party leader a 'watermelon,' isn't that self-destructive? … I hope that you will have more dignified debates using healthy language instead,” he told reporters, referring to the emergence of vulgar expressions and nasty personal attacks ― particularly in text messages and social media posts ― amid heated exchanges between two rival factions of the party, following its recent defeat in the June 1 local

Jun 13, 2022By Kang Hyun-kyung
'Watermelon' insult banned from use in Korean political party
Foreign Affairs

Korea pushes for trade pacts with Middle East amid geopolitical shift

President of the United Arab Emirates Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed greets Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett on his arrival to Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, on June 9. AP-YonhapKorea seeks stronger presence in the region as tensions between Israel and Arab countries thaw By Kang Hyun-kyungWhat is happening in the Middle East has reminded the rest of the world of the foreign policy dictum, “yesterday's enemy can be your friend today.”Israel and the Arab countries, which had long deemed each other respective enemies due to their oppositional stances on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, have begun to recognize each other as partners. Israel normalized diplomatic relations with the United Arab Emirates, Morocco and Sudan in 2020.Recently, the Islamic Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has also reportedly been in serious U.S.-brokered talks with Israel on economic ties and security arrangements, which experts see as a step toward the normalization of diplomatic relations.The shift in U.S. foreign policy to focus on the Indo-Pacific region amid its rivalry with China is the key driver

Jun 12, 2022By Kang Hyun-kyung
Korea pushes for trade pacts with Middle East amid geopolitical shift
Politics

Cult-like supporters emerge as headache for political parties

A string of wreaths are laid along the fence of the National Assembly in Seoul on Tuesday to commemorate Rep. Lee Jae-myung as he began his first day as a lawmaker after winning the June 1 by-election in Incheon's Gyeyang B District. Some of the wreaths were sent by his diehard supporters. Yonhap'Fandom' in politics is double-edged sword that can make or break politicians' careers By Kang Hyun-kyungOn Tuesday, the fence of the National Assembly building was decorated with flowers. A string of wreaths was placed along the fence all the way to the front gate. Under each wreath was a ribbon on which a short congratulatory message for Rep. Lee Jae-myung of the Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) was written regarding his recent election win and successful return to politics as a lawmaker. Most of the senders are his most resolute supporters, better known in the media by the Korean portmanteau, “gae-ttal,” meaning “daughters of reform” in English. Women in their 20s and 30s make up the majority of Lee's fervent supporters. The second part of the term changes depending

Jun 9, 2022By Kang Hyun-kyung
Cult-like supporters emerge as headache for political parties
Politics

Right-wing YouTuber blamed for botching up battleground election

Lawyer Kang Yong-seok holds a banner reading “Travel ban for Lee Jun-seok” during a news conference in front of Seoul Prosecutors' Office in southern Seoul on May 30. Kang, also a conservative YouTuber, ran unsuccessfully in the Gyeonggi gubernatorial election held on Wednesday. YonhapDifferent kind of blame game under way in ruling party over Gyeonggi election resultsBy Kang Hyun-kyungThe main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) is not the only political establishment that has been embroiled in a post-election blame game following its crushing defeat in Wednesday's local elections.Plenty of second-guessing, remorse and belated what ifs have erupted inside the ruling People Power Party (PPP) after the elections. Its candidate Kim Eun-hye's defeat in the highly-contested Gyeonggi gubernatorial election by a razor-thin margin has triggered soul-searching among some sympathetic ruling party members to figure out if her defeat was inevitable.Kim lost the election due to an upset victory by her rival Kim Dong-yeon of the DPK, thanks to an abrupt surge in votes supportin

Jun 3, 2022By Kang Hyun-kyung
Right-wing YouTuber blamed for botching up battleground election
Politics

Former finance minister clinches upset victory in Gyeonggi election

Kim Dong-yeon, right, the former finance minister who successfully ran in the Gyeonggi gubernatorial election on the ticket of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK), reacts to cheering crowd at his office in Suwon City's Paldal District, Thursday, by making a heart shape with his fingers after he was confirmed the winner of the election. Joint Press CorpsNail-biting two-way competition continued until dawn when the DPK candidate suddenly outpaced rival By Kang Hyun-kyungThe Gyeonggi gubernatorial election was a drama. The ruling People Power Party (PPP) candidate Kim Eun-hye had continued to lead, albeit with a narrow margin, since vote counting began Wednesday night. The gap between her and her rival, Kim Dong-yeon of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK), had gone up and down from time to time, but her lead was never threatened. Then things changed early Thursday morning. It was around 5:30 a.m. when the votes both candidates had garnered almost reached a tie. At that time, 97 percent of all votes cast had already been counted. From then, a rollercoaster

Jun 2, 2022By Kang Hyun-kyung
Former finance minister clinches upset victory in Gyeonggi election
  • Voters give president boost to pursue key policies
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