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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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Health

Transition team calls for antibody testing, domestic production of oral anti-viral for COVID-19

Ahn Cheol-soo, right, chairman of the Presidential Transition Committee, speaks with Kim Byung-joon, who is in charge of the committee for national university, in Seoul, Tuesday. YonhapBy Kang Hyun-kyungAhn Cheol-soo, chairman of the Presidential Transition Committee who concurrently serves as chairman of the subcommittee responsible for COVID-19 policy, has been critical of the Moon Jae-in government's COVID-19 response, calling it unscientific and politically motivated. Sharing the results of the subcommittee's first meeting held on Monday at a press conference in Seoul on Tuesday, Ahn alleged that the Moon government made populist decisions based on public opinion, which explains why Korea's COVID-19 response has failed. “The new government will introduce scientific measures that are based on facts, rather than political consideration,” he said. Ahn unveiled the seven-point policy recommendations that summarized what he and other sub-committee members had discussed on Monday, expressing hope that the Moon government can adopt their policy recommendations in the fight a

Mar 22, 2022By Kang Hyun-kyung
Transition team calls for antibody testing, domestic production of oral anti-viral for COVID-19
Politics

Whose idea was it to move presidential office to defense ministry?

Former Defense Minister Kim Kwan-jin / Korea Times fileVice speaker of Nat'l Assembly gives ex-defense minister credit for relocation By Kang Hyun-kyungRep. Chung Jin-suk of the People Power Party (PPP) said on Sunday that the relocation of the presidential office into the Ministry of National Defense building was the idea of former Defense Minister Kim Kwan-jin, who held the position during the former President Lee Myung-bak administration.In his social media post uploaded on Sunday, Chung, a five-term lawmaker and vice National Assembly speaker, shared the story behind how the defense ministry has been honed in as the new site for the presidential office and residence, disclosing what he heard from Kim during their meeting on March 16. “Mr. Kim told me about the critical problem that will occur if the presidential office is relocated into the Government Complex building (at Gwanghwamun), which was initially proposed as the site, or the foreign ministry building. There is no bunker underneath them,” wrote Chung.Unlike those buildings, the lawmaker went on to say that the

Mar 20, 2022By Kang Hyun-kyung
Whose idea was it to move presidential office to defense ministry?
  • Presidential office to move to Yongsan
Politics

INTERVIEW Ex-lawmaker backs presidential relocation to Yongsan

Cheong Wa Dae will be disappeared from history as President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol unveiled a plan on Sunday to relocate the presidential office into Yongsan, Seoul. / Yonhap By Kang Hyun-kyung Former lawmaker Kim Young-woo / Courtesy of Kim Young-woo Kim Young-woo, 55, a former three-term lawmaker who served as the chairman of the National Assembly's National Defense Committee, presented a favorable view of the proposed relocation of the presidential office to the Ministry of National Defense compound amid heated debate. If implemented as planned, Kim said the nation might benefit from moving to the site in Yongsan District. “Considering the unique security challenges facing the nation, I think the new President working in a space adjacent to the office of the defense minister could be effective,” he told The Korea Times over the phone. His remarks a

Mar 20, 2022By Kang Hyun-kyung
[INTERVIEW] Ex-lawmaker backs presidential relocation to Yongsan
  • Presidential office to move to Yongsan
Politics

President-elect meets coalition partner Ahn Cheol-soo

Ahn Cheol-soo, left, the leader of the minor People's Party, answers questions from reporters at the People Power Party headquarters, Friday, after his luncheon with President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol there. Yonhap By Kang Hyun-kyungPresident-elect Yoon Suk-yeol and Ahn Cheol-soo, the leader of the minor center-right People's Party, had lunch on Friday, a day after Yoon won the election. Their first one-on-one meeting after the election lasted over two hours at the People Power Party's headquarters in Seoul. Ahn said he and Yoon exchanged ideas about state affairs.“When we agreed to form a coalition during the campaign period, we also agreed to meet at the earliest possible day after the election in case he won and discuss agendas and policy directions,” Ahn told reporters after their luncheon. “He was declared as the winner of the election yesterday, so I tried to reach out to him to congratulate him on his victory but he contacted me first. He proposed lunch meeting to

Mar 11, 2022By Kang Hyun-kyung
President-elect meets coalition partner Ahn Cheol-soo
  • Long road to unity: Yoon faces tough challenges in parliament
Politics

Uncompromising prosecutor's crusade to bring back justice

Yoon Suk-yeol / YonhapBy Kang Hyun-kyungPresident-elect Yoon Suk-yeol is well-known as a man with an uncompromising spirit.This trait has been a double-edged sword for him during his 26 years of work as a prosecutor, including less than two years as prosecutor-general.It helped him earn a reputation as a prosecutor with integrity. However, it also played its part in cutting his career short.He emerged as a star prosecutor in October 2013 following his bombshell disclosure -- during the National Assembly’s examination of the prosecution -- that he had been pressured to stop investigating the role of the country’s spy agency during the 2012 presidential election. Back then, he had been leading the probe into National Intelligence Service agents, on charges of meddling in the election so as to create favorable online public opinion for then-ruling party candidate Park Geun-hye, who ultimately won the election.Opposition politicians praised Yoon, calling him a heroic prosecutor who resisted calls to curry favor with the powerful president.His courage to speak out, however, ca

Mar 10, 2022By Kang Hyun-kyung
Uncompromising prosecutor's crusade to bring back justice
  • Yoon Suk-yeol wins presidential election
Politics

Yoon wrestling with misogynist image

Main opposition People Power Party's candidate Yoon Suk-yeol, second from right, gestures during a campaign speech in Gongju, South Chungcheong Province on Thursday. YonhapBy Kang Hyun-kyungProsecutor-turned-presidential hopeful Yoon Suk-yeol struggled to redefine his image as a respectable candidate who has no bias against feminism throughout the third and final pre-election debate that aired Wednesday night on three TV broadcast networks. The main opposition People Power Party (PPP) candidate was put to the test when his main rival, ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) candidate Lee Jae-myung, switched gears from defending his cash-based basic income policy from Yoon's criticism of its potential burden on the national economy, to feminism as a topic to discuss among the four candidates, including Ahn Cheol-soo of the People's Party and Sim Sang-jung of the Justice Party.Mentioning Yoon's comment from last year in which he had suggested that feminism had caused Korea's abysmally low birthrate, Lee asked Yoon to answer if he knows what feminism is and, if so, how he would define it

Mar 4, 2022By Kang Hyun-kyung
Yoon wrestling with misogynist image
Books

Translated book gives adoptees access to post-war Korea

Retired pediatrician Cho Byung-guk / Korea Times photo by Kang Hyun-kyungDr. Cho's memoir about Korean War orphans, abandoned children will be published in English in May, shedding light on why they were sent overseas to new families By Kang Hyun-kyungThe cover for “Before Adoption… There Was Dr. Cho”Retired pediatrician Cho Byung-guk, 89, came to understand why some ethnic Korean adoptees search tirelessly for their birth parents and strive to figure out why they were sent overseas to new families, while interacting with numerous adoptees during her five decades of work.“Every year at Holt Ilsan, we had groups of visitors from overseas. They were adopted by parents mostly in the United States and Europe when they were babies, so most of them don't speak or read Korean,” Cho told The Korea Times. Once their stays ― which could be for days or weeks ― end, there is one thing many of these adoptees do: they buy Cho's 2009 memoir, which is written in Korean. “Although they don't understand Korean, they purchased the book and took it home with the hope

Mar 3, 2022By Kang Hyun-kyung
Translated book gives adoptees access to post-war Korea
Politics

DPK's Lee lectures rival candidate on feminism

Four presidential candidates hold hands with each other before their third and last TV debate held at KBS studio in Seoul, Wednesday. From left are Sim Sang-jung of the Justice Party, Yoon Suk-yeol of the main opposition People Power Party, Ahn Cheol-soo of the People's Party and Lee Jae-myung of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea. YonhapBy Kang Hyun-kyungAn unexpected debate on feminism erupted during a TV debate among four presidential candidates held at KBS studio in Seoul, Wednesday. The four are ruling Democratic Party of Korea's (DPK) Lee Jae-myung, the main opposition People Power Party's (PPP) Yoon Suk-yeol, the minor center-right People's Party's Ahn Cheol-soo and Justice Party candidate Sim Sang-jung. In the third and last TV debate before the March 9 presidential election, the candidates presented their visions regarding a range of social policies, including welfare, birthrates and ageing society and pressed each other to clarify their stances on certain issues. The DPK's Lee initiated the debate on feminism when he took the floor. Mentioning Yoon's past remarks about fe

Mar 2, 2022By Kang Hyun-kyung
DPK's Lee lectures rival candidate on feminism
  • Yoon leads Lee 46.3% to 43.1%, 44.6% to 43.7%: polls
  • Presidential candidates seek to form coalitions in dead heat race
  • Rival candidates clash over cash handouts, tax increase
  • Yoon, Ahn agree to merge candidacies
  • Ahn backs Yoon for presidency and drops out of race
Foreign Affairs

Envoys of EU, Ukraine warn of severe consequences of Russian invasion

Ambassadors of the European Union and Ukraine display small EU flags and stand behind the Ukrainian flag in Seoul on Friday. Photo courtesy of the Delegation of the European Union to the Republic of KoreaBy Kang Hyun-kyungThe ambassadors of the European Union and Ukraine based in Korea issued a joint statement on Monday voicing their unified stance against Russia for invading Ukraine. The statement came an hour before the Russian Embassy in Seoul held a news conference to make a case for its invasion of Ukraine. In the statement, the European envoys stressed that Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity must be respected, calling Russia's invasion an act that violates the fundamental principles of international law in the U.N. Charter. Following is their joint statement: The Ambassadors of the European Union, its Member States?and Ukraine to the Republic of Korea, underline EU's unwavering support for the sovereignty, territorial integrity, and independence of Ukraine within its internationally recognized borders and call on the Republic of Korea to stand with Ukraine and the

Feb 28, 2022By Kang Hyun-kyung
Envoys of EU, Ukraine warn of severe consequences of Russian invasion
  • Korea joins US-led sanctions to ban Russia's access to SWIFT
  • Russians in Korea unite against Putin's war on Ukraine
Politics

Bring back the bunnies: Lee, Yoon grapple with revolt of stronghold voters

The main opposition People Power Party candidate, Yoon Suk-yeol, center, holds dried fish at a market in the southwestern city of Namwon, North Jeolla Province, while campaigning on Saturday. YonhapBy Kang Hyun-kyungGettyimagesbankRabbits are a metaphor used by campaign strategists in Korea to refer to voters.There are two different kinds of rabbits ― domestic and wild. Domestic rabbits ― or “bunnies” ― refer to traditional supporters of certain parties, such as constituents in their stronghold regions, while those who support other parties or swing voters are called wild rabbits. The rabbit metaphor comes from an old Korean adage: “You can lose your pet rabbits if you're out looking for wild rabbits.” The wisdom warns of an endangered opportunity cost, encouraging people to take good care of what they already have, and only then seek others that can give you extra benefit. In most elections, both the conservative and liberal parties have similar portions of bunnies among the entire voting population. Therefore, the recipe for winning boils down to the consoli

Feb 14, 2022By Kang Hyun-kyung
Bring back the bunnies: Lee, Yoon grapple with revolt of stronghold voters
  • Ahn proposes fielding single opposition candidate to Yoon
  • Yoon, Ahn disagree on how to field unified candidate
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