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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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Opinion

More policy support needed for single mothers to save family

By Sara Salansky Sara SalanskyThere are approximately 200,000 Korean adoptees who have been placed in multiple countries, and approximately 170,000 of them have been residing in the United States since the late 1950's, according to the Ministry of Health and Welfare.As Korean adoptees with a nationality other than Korean, there are internal conflicts, pain and trauma that consist of the sense of abandonment ― abduction in some cases ― which brings about a loss of identity, acceptance, sense of belonging, and culture that exists within them for decades. I do not claim to be an expert and these are what seem to rise to the top when researching the struggles Korean adoptees experience while simply existing in a foreign environment and not with their birth families. Adoptees are ostracized because they are a product of a situation that wasn't respectable in Korean culture. These children lost the right to a normal Korean life the minute they were conceived… they never asked to be adopted, they were never given a choice to stay in their country of origin or be sent away, they were

May 31, 2022By Kang Hyun-kyung
More policy support needed for single mothers to save family
Politics

President Yoon says he's late learner on gender equality

gettyimagesbankHe admits pitfalls of meritocracy in a society where gender inequality still persists By Kang Hyun-kyungPresident Yoon Suk-yeol's nominations of two women on May 26 to fill the remaining two Cabinet minister positions ― in the education and health ministries ― out of 18 Cabinet posts were announced a day after his dinner with the outgoing National Assembly speaker and vice speakers. During a dinner hosted by the president to acknowledge the Assembly leaders' service ahead of the end of their two-year tenures on May 29, Vice Speaker Kim Sang-hee confronted Yoon by addressing the thorny issue of gender that has been pitting young men and women against each other in Korea. She said that some candidates had tried to play the gender card to their advantage during the presidential election, creating “an unnecessary tension” between women and men. She then advised President Yoon to take the issue seriously, noting that he is now the president, not a presidential candidate. In response, Yoon shared wisdom of the pitfalls of meritocracy in a society where gender ine

May 30, 2022By Kang Hyun-kyung
President Yoon says he's late learner on gender equality
Foreign Affairs

NIS director nominee vows to cooperate with Five Eyes intelligence-sharing alliance

Kim Kyou-hyun, nominee for National Intelligence Service director, looks out during his National Assembly Intelligence Committee confirmation hearing on Wednesday. YonhapBy Kang Hyun-kyungKim Kyou-hyun, the nominee for National Intelligence Service (NIS) director, said he would cooperate with the Five Eyes, an intelligence-sharing alliance among five English-speaking countries, namely the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, Canada and New Zealand. Speaking at his National Assembly Intelligence Committee confirmation hearing on Wednesday, Kim said that if the alliance were to accept South Korea's proposal, the spy agency would actively cooperate on sharing intelligence with the five countries.“It is of course necessary for South Korea to join the Five Eyes, if allowed, because there are many things that one country alone cannot respond to, such as climate change, terrorism and cybersecurity, as well as military threats to security in the international community,” he said during his National Assembly Intelligence Committee personnel hearing held the same day. Rep. Cho

May 26, 2022By Kang Hyun-kyung
NIS director nominee vows to cooperate with Five Eyes intelligence-sharing alliance
Politics

Democrats try to ride on Roh's posthumous popularity to undercut 'summit effect'

Two enlarged banner stand photos featuring two former Presidents, Moon Jae-in and Roh Moo-hyun, stand in front of the late Roh's home in Bongha Village in Gimhae City, South Gyeongsang Province, Monday. A ceremony to commemorate the 13th anniversary of Roh's death was held there. YonhapSupport for ruling party goes up further, hits 50 percent, ahead of June 1 elections By Kang Hyun-kyungDozens of lawmakers of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) and other high-profile politicians flocked to the southeastern city of Gimhae on Monday for a ceremony to commemorate the 13th anniversary of the tragic death of the late President Roh Moo-hyun, Monday. Former President Moon Jae-in and his wife Kim Jung-sook also attended the ceremony. Roh committed suicide. He jumped from a mountain cliff behind his home in the countryside village of Bongha, South Gyeongsang Province on May 23, 2009, amid a corruption investigation of him and his family. Song Young-gil, the former DPK chairman and now the party's candidate running in the Seoul mayoral election, said he dropped by Bongha Villag

May 23, 2022By Kang Hyun-kyung
Democrats try to ride on Roh's posthumous popularity to undercut 'summit effect'
Foreign Affairs

What to expect from first lady in summit diplomacy

First lady Kim Keon-hee shakes hands with U.S. President Joe Biden in the National Museum of Korea in Yongsan District, Seoul, near the presidential office, Saturday. Courtesy of Presidential OfficeFirst ladies' pet projects vary from advocacy for the underprivileged to culinary diplomacy By Kang Hyun-kyung President Yoon Suk-yeol's summit diplomacy with visiting U.S. President Joe Biden has sparked curiosity among Koreans about Yoon's wife, Kim Keon-hee. People are wondering if there is a role she can play as first lady to strengthen ties between the two countries. However, it seems there is little she can do about this during the current visit by the American head of state. Kim has no official schedule related to the Korea-U.S. summit. She was initially expected to attend a welcome dinner her husband will host for Biden, which will be held later today in the National Museum of Korea in Yongsan District near the presidential office. The presidential office, however, denied this on Saturday, noting Kim won't be part of the dinner. “The first lady will briefly greet U.S. Preside

May 21, 2022By Kang Hyun-kyung
What to expect from first lady in summit diplomacy
  • Baseball, dogs: What Yoon, Biden have in common
Society

Huge fire erupts at S-Oil's Ulsan factory

An S-Oil factory in Ulsan is engulfed in flames following an explosion. YonhapBy Kang Hyun-kyungA massive fire ripped through an S-Oil factory in the southeastern coastal city of Ulsan on Thursday night. About 120 firefighters and 33 fire trucks were deployed to extinguish the fire, which is believed to have started from an explosion and spread to adjacent structures. Firefighters are still battling to contain the fire. As of 10 p.m, one person was reported to have been injured.

May 19, 2022By Kang Hyun-kyung
Huge fire erupts at S-Oil's Ulsan factory
North Korea

North Korea ready for nuclear test, missile launch: intelligence agency

People watch a TV screen showing a news program reporting with an image of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, at a train station in Seoul, South Korea on May 16. AP-YonhapNIS says North Korea's COVID cases inflated as those infected with waterborne diseases are also included as 'fever' patients By Kang Hyun-kyungNorth Korea is near completion of another nuclear test or the test-firing of more missiles, or both, despite the national lockdown due to the rapid spread of “stealth Omicron,” according to the National Intelligence Service (NIS). During a closed-door meeting with the members of the National Assembly Intelligence Committee on Thursday, NIS officials were quoted as saying that North Korea's preparations for the next round of provocations are ready.Therefore, Rep. Kim Byung-kee of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) said the North's next test is simply a matter of time. “We're told that they're in their last stage in the test-firings of the missiles and a nuclear test, so, all I can say is that it would not come as a surprise even if more missile

May 19, 2022By Kang Hyun-kyung
North Korea ready for nuclear test, missile launch: intelligence agency
Foreign Affairs

US denial of Biden-Moon meeting triggers speculation

Then President Moon Jae-in, left, and U.S. President Joe Biden smile in this photo taken in Washington D.C. on May 21 during Moon's visit to the United States. YonhapBy Kang Hyun-kyungWashington has denied local media reports that U.S. President Joe Biden will meet former President Moon Jae-in during the U.S. leader's visit to Seoul for a summit with President Yoon Suk-yeol. Biden will arrive in South Korea on Friday for a three-day visit. U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said in a press briefing on Wednesday (local time), “We don't have a meeting scheduled with President Moon at this time.”The U.S.' denial of the Biden-Moon meeting came weeks after a then Cheong Wa Dae official confirmed on April 28 the U.S. request for the rare meeting. At that time, Moon was still in office. May 9th was his last day in the presidency. The Cheong Wa Dae official said Seoul and Washington were preparing for the Biden-Moon meeting to be held on May 22, upon the request of the U.S. “He (Biden) maybe wants to meet his friend during his visit to Korea,” the official s

May 19, 2022By Kang Hyun-kyung
US denial of Biden-Moon meeting triggers speculation
Global Community

Aspiring urban planners showcase innovative smart city solutions

From left, Park Jung-sook, secretary general of the World Smart Sustainable Cities Organization (WeGO), Paik Ji-ah, ambassador for international relations of the Seoul Metropolitan Government, and Cho Eun-byul, head of the program department at WeGO, gesture during the closing ceremony of the organization's assembly held in October 2021. By Kang Hyun-kyungYann Shaw, a student of Technical University of Munich in Germany, was confident all throughout her virtual presentation of her team's project on providing a virtual space for psychological healing, by employing metaverse and blockchain technology.“Life is a circle,” she said on May 13 at an event hosted by the Seoul-based international association of city and other local governments, World Smart Sustainable Cities Organization (WeGO), explaining her team's concept of a smart city project. “It will change the traditional funeral industry… We are creating a more futuristic and peaceful way for people to acknowledge

May 18, 2022By Kang Hyun-kyung
Aspiring urban planners showcase innovative smart city solutions
North Korea

Fear of deadliest famine in 1990s haunts North Korea amid national lockdown

Employees of the Medicament Management Office of the Daesong District in Pyongyang provide medicine to residents as the state increases measures to stop the spread of illness in Pyongyang, North Korea, on May 16. AP-YonhapPandemic stokes fear among North Koreans about natural calamity-driven mass starvationBy Kang Hyun-kyungNorth Koreans call it the Arduous March, also known as the March of Suffering, one of the deadliest famines which took the lives of countless people in the impoverished state. Starting in 1995, the mass starvation ― which was the combined result of the North Korean regime's mismanagement of its economy at the time, the suspension of economic assistance from the Soviet Union following its collapse and a series of floods and droughts that led to a drastic decline in crop production ― continued until 1999. There's no official data accounting for the exact death toll from starvation during that period, but experts have estimated that it ranged from the hundreds of thousands to the millions. The famine was a game-changer for North Korea, as it reshaped ways of life ins

May 18, 2022By Kang Hyun-kyung
Fear of deadliest famine in 1990s haunts North Korea amid national lockdown
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