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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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Trends

INTERVIEW Confucius Institutes trigger dispute between US-educated, China studies professors

gettyimagesbank CI director denies allegations about the China-funded language centers, promotes benefits of academic partnerships with China By Kang Hyun-kyung Kim Hyun-cheol, a professor in Yonsei University's Department of Chinese Language & Literature and the director of the Confucius Institute (CI) on its campus Kim Hyun-cheol, a professor in Yonsei University's Department of Chinese Language & Literature and the director of the Confucius Institute (CI) on its campus, had a meeting with the university's president recently to discuss the CI's presence on their campus. The meeting was held after a string of universities in the United States and Canada have been shutting down CIs on their campuses, one after another, following various controversies surrounding the Chinese government-funded cultural and language institutes. In North America, Austr

Sep 2, 2021By Kang Hyun-kyung
[INTERVIEW] Confucius Institutes trigger dispute between US-educated, China studies professors
Opinion

My criteria for selecting Korea's next leader

By Kang Hyun-kyungThe upcoming presidential election has a striking characteristic which distinguishes it from previous elections. Quite a number of candidates have a legal background, serving as lawyers, prosecutors or judges before they joined politics, and they have a stronger presence in public opinion surveys. Gyeonggi Governor Lee Jae-myung was a lawyer before he was elected mayor of Seongnam City, and then governor of Gyeonggi Province. His rival Yoon Seok-youl of the main opposition People Power Party (PPP) served as prosecutor general, although he himself chose to cut his tenure short in a show of resistance to President Moon Jae-in. Lee and Yun have been two frontrunners in recent polls. Choi Jae-hyung, a PPP presidential contender, served as a judge before he took the helm of the Board of Audit and Inspection. Another PPP contender Hwang Kyo-ahn served as a prosecutor for several decades before he was tapped for the position of justice minister and then prime minister under the Park Geun-hye government. Outspoken presidential candidate Hong Joon-pyo was a prosecutor, where

Sep 1, 2021By Kang Hyun-kyung
My criteria for selecting Korea's next leader
Trends

'Don't mention 3Ts': Confucius Institutes endanger academic freedom in Korea

Confucius (551-479 BCE), a Chinese philosopher and politician / gettyimagesbankHeavily dependent on tuition-paying Chinese students, Korean universities turning blind eye to controversies surrounding Chinese government-funded culture and language centersThis article is the second in a three-part series to highlight growing anti-China sentiment in Korea and the current state of relations between the two countries. ― EDBy Kang Hyun-kyungWith sweat on their faces due to the summer heat and poor air conditioning, some 100 people, gathered at Gwangin Central Church in the southeastern city of Daegu on Aug. 6, were intently watching the documentary titled, “In the Name of Confucius.” Directed by Chinese Canadian filmmaker Doris Liu, the 2017 documentary revolves around Sonia Zhao, a former Confucius Institute (CI) teacher at McMaster University in Canada, who was unable to keep her job after her affiliation with the Falun Gong was revealed.Zhao testified that CI teachers are trained either to refuse to answer or to change the conversation topic, in the event that students ask t

Aug 30, 2021By Kang Hyun-kyung
'Don't mention 3Ts': Confucius Institutes endanger academic freedom in Korea
  • 'Money or freedom': Is South Korea safe from China's infiltration?
Trends

INTERVIEW 'I take persecution by China as an honor'

A still of Doris Liu's 2017 documentary “In the Name of Confucius” / Courtesy of Doris LiuChinese Canadian filmmaker Doris Liu fights for 'a democratic China' By Kang Hyun-kyungDoris LiuDoris Liu's life has made a dramatic turn from a fully committed Chinese Communist Party (CCP) member who indoctrinated university students with the communist ideology to a caused-driven filmmaker, producer and writer fighting against the CCP.Despite the shift in her attitude toward the party, there's one thing that has remained the same ― her commitment to her home country China and the Chinese people.Liu said the CCP, and the Chinese public she is fighting for are two separate groups. “I decided to leave China because I wanted to live with freedom and liberty and do something good for China from outside the country,” she said in an email interview with The Korea Times. Liu has been unearthing the truth about the CCP and how they damaged the country, to enlighten her fellow Chinese people. “It was the truth that awakened me,” she said. “I feel that I have mor

Aug 29, 2021By Kang Hyun-kyung
[INTERVIEW] 'I take persecution by China as an honor'
Trends

MBC news head quits to take responsibility for Olympics reporting blunders

Olena Kostevych and Bogdan Nikishin, of Ukraine, carry their country's flag during the opening ceremony in the Olympic Stadium at the 2020 Summer Olympics on July 23. AP-Yonhap Several others are replaced but MBC president stays in powerBy Kang Hyun-kyungThe head of MBC's news headquarters resigned on Monday to take responsibility for a sequence of serious blunders made by the national television during the Tokyo Olympics. According to MBC, Min Byung-woo, chief of its news division, offered his resignation during a meeting of executives, and it was accepted by MBC President Park Sung-jae. Sports division chief Song Min-geun was replaced and MBC Plus President Cho Neung-hoo got a verbal warning, the broadcasting company also said.Despite the reshuffle, MBC President Park managed to avoid the fallout as he retained his job. The post-Olympic disciplinary measures were made public, weeks after Park gave a public apology for a series of disastrous blunders the national b

Aug 23, 2021By Kang Hyun-kyung
MBC news head quits to take responsibility for Olympics reporting blunders
Photo News

Taliban, a chilling reminder of 2007 hostage crisis

A Pakistani soldier stands guard, as stranded Afghanistan nationals return to their country via the Pakistan-Afghanistan border crossing point in Chaman on Sunday. AFP-YonhapBy Kang Hyun-kyung The Taliban's gaining control of Afghanistan following the withdrawal of U.S. military forces is a chilling reminder for Koreans of the nightmare that continued for 42 days during the summer of 2007. On July 19, 2007, 22 Koreans ― six men and 16 women ― were kidnapped by the Taliban on their way to Kandahar from Kabul. Of them, 19 were the members of a Protestant church based in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, and three others were Christian missionaries based in Afghanistan. A day later, the Taliban made public that they were holding the Koreans captive. They urged the Korean government to pull its military forces out of Afghanistan in exchange for the release of the hostages. The Taliban also demanded the Afghan government release jailed Taliban members.Taking advantage of the media, the Taliban had played a brutal game of taking lives one after another as their initial demands were not met. Two

Aug 19, 2021By Kang Hyun-kyung
Taliban, a chilling reminder of 2007 hostage crisis
Trends

Court orders culture ministry to reinstate dismissed official

Han Min-ho, a former culture ministry official who was dismissed in October 2019 after openly criticizing President Moon Jae-in on his social media, recently won the legal battle against the government. On Aug. 11, the Seoul Administrative Court ordered the ministry to reinstate him. Courtesy of Han Min-hoAfter suspension, Han Min-ho, a high-ranking official who was openly critical of president's policies, gets the green light to return to workBy Kang Hyun-kyungFormer culture ministry official Han Min-ho, 59, has endured “self-chosen” tribulations for nearly two years, since he was dismissed in October 2019 after openly criticizing President Moon Jae-in for flaws in the administration's policies.As a father of two sons, losing his job was painful enough. But, he said, the hardest part was watching his mother, who was shocked by the news that her son had been publicly dismissed. Her health also worsened and she was eventually hospitalized.“I was so angry,” he told The Korea Times over the phone Monday. Han said that there were many times when he regretted his s

Aug 17, 2021By Kang Hyun-kyung
Court orders culture ministry to reinstate dismissed official
Trends

75-year-old grandmother's plea for justice

Activists uphold banners calling for justice for attempted rape victim Choi Mal-ja in this May 6, 2020 file photo. With the help of her legal team, Choi submitted documents to the Busan District Court that day, requesting the court review the 1965 ruling which denied her self-defense claim. The court dismissed it, citing a lack of fresh evidence. Courtesy of Korea Women's HotlineAttempted rape victim Choi Mal-ja claims she was wrongfully convicted six decades ago, and wants justice nowBy Kang Hyun-kyungDuring her entire life, Choi Mal-ja, 75, said there were two things she was resolute on achieving before her death: a college education and challenging the judiciary to reverse a Busan District Court ruling in 1965 which denied her self-defense claim in a rape attempt case and made her a criminal for seriously injuring a then 21-year-old man who sexually assaulted her.She claimed that she was wrongfully convicted due to the prosecution's and local court's refusal to accept the self-defense argument, saying she will never be able to rest in peace, unless she restores her innocence.Her f

Aug 16, 2021By Kang Hyun-kyung
75-year-old grandmother's plea for justice
Books

INTERVIEW UK economist calls for redirecting capitalism to make it more inclusive

Guy Standing, author of “The Precariat: The New Dangerous Class” / Courtesy of Guy StandingGuy Standing, author of 'The Precariat,' touts benefits of basic income, a populist idea that is unpopular in Korea By Kang Hyun-kyungThe COVID-19 pandemic has dealt a serious blow to the already-staggering global labor market which was reeling from the fallout of the 2008 global financial crisis. Across the globe, job insecurity has worsened with a sharp increase in employment. In Korea, the self-employed people and temporary workers in the services sector have been hit hardest by the pandemic as heightened social distancing pushed many of them out of business or to lose their jobs. Guy Standing, a professorial research associate at SOAS University of London and author of “The Precariat: the New Dangerous Class,” observed that rising job insecurity across the world is the result of neo-liberals' ceaseless pursuit of a flexible labor market and their allegedly wrong remedies have paved the way for unbridled capitalism that only benefits the haves at the expense of the ha

Aug 13, 2021By Kang Hyun-kyung
[INTERVIEW] UK economist calls for redirecting capitalism to make it more inclusive
Entertainment

Singer uploads social media post about employee having heart attack after vaccination

By Kang Hyun-kyung Kang Won-rae / Korea Times file Kang Won-rae, a member of the dance music duo Clon, uploaded a social media post about his employee, who developed a serious medical condition after getting fully vaccinated against COVID-19.His post has drawn attention partly because it came several months after he criticized the government for its ill-prepared post-pandemic responses, which he claimed made self-employed people like him scapegoats for providing the environment for infections to occur.Kang, who owns a bar in Itaewon that has been temporarily closed due to the pandemic, wrote that his unnamed employee has been fighting for his life in an intensive care unit at a hospital after having a cardiac arrest some time after he was fully vaccinated. “He didn't feel well after getting the shots and had to go repeatedly to the hospital… then he had a heart attack and now he is in the intensive care unit,” he wrote. “His wife cannot go to see him (because of COVID

Aug 10, 2021By Kang Hyun-kyung
Singer uploads social media post about employee having heart attack after vaccination
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