The Korea Times

North Korean leader’s two younger sons have children

By Kim Ji-soo North Korean leader Kim Jong-il’s two younger sons ― Kim Jong-chul, 29, and the heir Kim Jong-un ― reportedly 28 ― both have children, Japanese TV Asahi has reported. The news is the latest in the barrage of information or rumors about the third-generation in the isolated regime’s royal family. Earlier this week, both South Korean and Japanese media released photos of the second son, Jong-chul, at an Eric Clapton concert on Valentine’s Day. He was accompanied by a young woman who was speculated to be either his wife, or his younger sister, Yo-jong, 24. Jong-chul’s child was born last August, while Jong-un’s child was born sometime between fall and winter last year, a TV Asahi report said. There was no mention of who the mothers were or whether the children were male or female. The speculation was that the ailing Kim Jong-il, 69, was pushing for his children to create offspring as he looks to secure a power transfer to his heir and youngest son, Jong-un, 28. More details are emerging about the third-generation of North Korea’s royal family since Jong-

Feb 18, 2011By Kim Ji-soo

South Korea

Seoul, Tokyo agree to seek military pact

Defense chiefs meet to discuss exchange of info on NK nukes By Lee Tae-hoon Top military officials of South Korea and Japan agreed to bolster security ties between their countries Monday, amid a growing call for a regional alliance framework from the United States. The discussion between Defense Minister Kim Kwan-jin and his Japanese counterpart Toshimi Kitazawa took place in Seoul at a time when U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates is holding talks with his Chinese counterpart Liang Guanglie in Beijing to boost bilateral military exchanges. Defense officials say Kim and Kitazawa reached a consensus on further strengthening military ties between the two neighbors, which still have uneasy relations following Japan’s 1910-1945 colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula. “The two defense chiefs shared the need for stronger bilateral military ties for the peace and security of Northeast Asia,” the Ministry of National Defense said in a statement. The statement also noted that the two military chiefs decided to push for the signing of the first-ever military pact between

Jan 10, 2011By Kim Ji-soo

South Korea

Politician carries on donation of wealth

By Kim Ji-soo Has former President Kim Young-sam started a chain reaction of donating wealth? In an echo, Rep. Won Heeryong of the governing Grand National Party has said that he will donate all of his wealth to society when he dies. The three-term lawmaker wrote on Thursday via Twitter of his intention to donate, saying that “It’s not a shame to be born rich, but it is a shame to die rich.” The 46-year-old legislator’s wealth is estimated to be about 900 million won including a house in Seoul, his aides said. Won’s decision to donate his wealth to society is the second by a politician in the first week of the new year. Former President Kim Youngsam said Wednesday that he will give away an estimated 5 billion won ($4.44 million) to society when he passes away. More specifically, Kim said that he would donate his house in Sangdo- dong, Seoul, and his real estate on Geoje Island in South Gyeongsang Province to a private foundation named after him “Kim Young-sam Democracy Center.” His birth home on the island is expected to be donated to the city there. Other former and

Jan 7, 2011By Kim Ji-soo

Opinion

Disarming intellectual

By Kim Ji-soo There is usually something different about people who are so-called “leaders.” Some inspire. Some are so intellectually superior it’s hard to not be persuaded. Some are charismatic. And some ― and this group I think is the most persuasive ― are the ones who disarm. It’s people with clarity in insight and warmth. I am sure we have all met several of these disarming leaders, which was the case of my meeting with the late Rhee Young-hee. It was in the year 2006 when we went for an interview with the dissident in his residence in Seoul. He was not in the best of health, having suffered a stroke in 2000. He was in a wheelchair, and his speech was slightly slurred. Perhaps it was because of his turbulent life. He was fired twice as a journalist, and twice as a professor for his writings and ideas. But he spoke emphatically and in length about his thoughts and ideas. Admittedly I have not read all of his books, just his most representative “Logic in the Era of Transition.” After reading that book, I experienced a certain sense of liberation, a notion that I could thi

Dec 8, 2010By Kim Ji-soo

People & Events

Rhee Young-hee dead at 81

By Kim Ji-soo Rhee Young-hee, a journalist and scholar, who was also an inspirational liberal voice for a generation of Koreans, passed away Sunday due to a liver ailment. He was 81. Born in Sakju, North Pyeongan Province in 1929 in what is now North Korea, he started out as a reporter for Yonhap new agency in 1957. He then worked at the daily Chosun Ilbo. From 1972 to 1995, he taught journalism at Hanyang University. Rhee was an outspoken social critic, both as a journalist and as a professor that led him to have a rocky relationship with the former authoritarian governments. In 1961, he contributed to foreign media an article opposing the May 16 coup led by Park Chung-hee, and in 1964, he was imprisoned for writing about the two Koreas. He was imprisoned once again in 1977 for authoring a book on China, in which he was accused of beautifying the communist nation. And in 1989, he was arrested for violating the National Security Law for trying to organize a media trip to North Korea for the liberal-leaning daily, Hankyoreh. During his period as a professor, Rhee was

Dec 5, 2010By Kim Ji-soo

South Korea

Parties diverge over approach to NK

By Kim Ji-soo A day after adopting a bipartisan resolution denouncing North Korea for its deadly attack on Yeonpyeong Island, ruling and opposition legislators sparred Friday over the “right” North Korea policy. Speaking at an extended party meeting, Chairman Sohn Hak-kyu of the main opposition Democratic Party (DP) said “The Lee Myung-bak administration is incapable in terms of security, with no ability to adequately prepare for and respond to a North Korean attack.” He added that, “War can never be the solution, and we should follow the way of peace. There is no better security than peace.” Rep. Chung Dong-young, a member of the DP’s Supreme Council, said that “The attack on Yeonpyeong Island has proven that the Sunshine Policy is the best policy for ensuring peace on the Korean Peninsula.” Chung urged the government to shift its North Korea policy. The DP is affiliated with the late former President Kim Dae-jung who was the architect behind the Sunshine Policy of engaging the North. Despite the bipartisan resolution on North Korea, the main opposition party has consi

Nov 26, 2010By Kim Ji-soo

Opinion

Reflections on G20

By Kim Ji-soo It’s funny how November of 2010 invoked the days leading up to the 1988 Seoul Summer Olympics. Obviously, the deepening and fast fading foliage was not the reason. As Seoul prepared for the Nov. 11-12 G20 Seoul Summit, there was a massive police presence: regular police, riot police and officers in plain clothes. While their presence may have been unnerving to the unfamiliar eye, to the “familiar” eye that witnessed the 1987 democracy protests and the preparations for the 1988 Seoul Olympics, it invoked a sense of nostalgia of days gone by. The heavy presence of the police also rendered an odd sense of security that the ongoing joke during that time was even the thieves were taking a break during the G20 Seoul Summit. There was also a sense of the upmost orderliness, and a sense of anticipation hung over the year. Just like in the summer of 1998 when South Korea a nascent democracy and rapidly growing Asian tiger economy played host to the Olympics; in November of 2010,a much more mature South Korea played host to the group of major economies.

Nov 17, 2010By Kim Ji-soo

South Korea

Without party reform, we can't win voters' hearts

Rep. Na Kyung-won Grand National PartyThis is the first in a series of interviews featuring the nation’s leading women politicians on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of The Korea Times that falls on Monday. ― ED. By Kim Ji-soo It’s a good time to be a Korean woman. Walk along the crowded streets of Gwanghwamun or Jongno, hordes of career women are seen walking briskly to and fro. Unlike their mother’s generation, these women are advancing into every field and working with the promise of having a real impact. One of them is Rep. Na Kyung-won of the ruling Grand National Party (GNP). Na, 46, is arguably not the average Korean woman. The two-term lawmaker had a stable job as a judge before jumping into the chaotic world of politics. It’s a world where senior kingpins still have a great say in who is awarded party nominations. As a member of the party’s decision-making group, the Supreme Council, Rep. Na is spearheading a special committee to revamp the party’s nomination process. “We would like to adopt something like the U.S. primari

Oct 28, 2010By Kim Ji-soo

South Korea

Former GNP leader Park’s bikini photo rediscovered

By Kim Ji-soo If it were few decades ago, a photo of Park Geun-hye, former chairwoman of the ruling Grand National Party and the daughter of former President Park Chung-hee in a bikini, would have been scandalous and heavily classified. But now, as the 58-year-old Park steps up more into the limelight in what is largely being perceived as her bid for the presidential election in 2012, the picture is another way to let the public get to know her. The photo was taken in 1967 when she was an eighth grader. It first appeared in a book published by the Government Information Agency. It has resurfaced as she has reemerged as one of the strongest contenders for the 2012 presidential election. Park reportedly just smiled when fellow lawmakers commented on the photo at the parliamentary audit currently under way. But her associates are taking in the photo as a positive spin on the former chairwoman whose image is one of cool composure. She was defeated by President Lee Myung-bak in the GNP primary in 2007. After that their relationship further soured as lawmakers loyal to

Oct 15, 2010By Kim Ji-soo

South Korea

Rising social conflict sapping national progress

Scholars call for resolutions in Korea Institute of Public Administration conference By Park Chang-seok Social conflict has been emerging as a national woe that could sap economic progress and state development on the whole. The resulting formulation of various schemes to resolve these ever-increasing social conflicts is necessary to sustain national development in the era of globalization. This is the dominant view presented in an international conference organized by the Korea Institute of Public Administration (KIPA) in Seoul Thursday (Sept. 30). About 200 people, from home and abroad, attended the conference. Speaking in an opening address he delivered in a seminar on "Conflict Management and Collaborative Governance in Public Policy" at the Korea Press Center in downtown Seoul, KIPA president Park Eung-kyuk said that various conflicts emerged in the course of rapid industrialization in Korea and they have reached a critical level, unparalleled to those in other comparable countries. The professor-turned-administrator, who took office as the head of the state-run t

Sep 30, 2010By Kim Ji-soo

Kim Ji-soo

Read more

North Korean leader’s two younger sons have children

Seoul, Tokyo agree to seek military pact

Politician carries on donation of wealth

Disarming intellectual

Rhee Young-hee dead at 81

Parties diverge over approach to NK

Reflections on G20

Without party reform, we can't win voters' hearts

Former GNP leader Park’s bikini photo rediscovered

Rising social conflict sapping national progress

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