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Jun Ji-hye

Korea Times Finance Reporter

Jun Ji-hye, a reporter at the finance desk of The Korea Times, focuses primarily on economic policy and government agencies, mainly covering the Ministry of Finance and Economy, the Ministry of Budget and Planning, the National Tax Service and the Korea Customs Service. She previously covered financial authorities, including the Financial Services Commission and the Financial Supervisory Service, and earlier worked on the political, city and business desks, reporting on a wide range of issues.

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South Korea

Yoo becoming political big shot

By Jun Ji-hye Rep. Yoo Seong-minRep. Yoo Seong-min’s support base is expanding despite the fact that he resigned as floor leader of the governing Saenuri Party Wednesday after President Park Geun-hye pressured him to quit.The three-term lawmaker is now being touted as a potential presidential candidate.The latest survey conducted by pollster Realmeter on the day he resigned showed that Yoo is the second most preferred choice to be a presidential runner for the conservative bloc after the ruling party chairman, Rep. Kim Moo-sung.Yoo’s approval rating stood at 16.8 percent, dramatically up by 11.4 percentage points compared to last month. The difference between Yoo and Kim’s ratings was only 2.3 percentage points.Yoo’s resignation came as the presidential office and lawmakers who follow the President pressured him to do so for the last two weeks, urging him to take responsibility for orchestrating passage of a controversial revision to the National Assembly Law, which Park believed challenged her authority.During a news conference at which he announced his

Jul 9, 2015By Jun Ji-hye
Yoo becoming political big shot
South Korea

Air Force opens space intelligence center

Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Choi Cha-gyu, left, and other officers celebrate the opening of the ROK Air Force Space Operations Center at the Gyeryongdae military headquarters, South Chungcheong Province, Wednesday. / Courtesy of Air ForceBy Jun Ji-hyeThe Air Force opened a space intelligence center Wednesday as part of efforts to develop its operation capabilities in space.The ROK Air Force Space Operations Center is tasked with receiving real-time information on what’s happening in space from the United States, and sharing it with related institutes here.Toward that end, Air Force signed an agreement for cooperation with the Korea Meteorological Administration; Korea Aerospace Research Institute; Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute; Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology; and KT’s satellite unit KTSAT.The information to be shared will include distances and collision probabilities between satellites and space debris, whether satellites deviate from regular orbit, which satellites pass through the Korean Peninsula, and space weather.It is the first-ev

Jul 8, 2015By Jun Ji-hye
South Korea

Arms agency countersues US, UK firms

By Jun Ji-hyeThe Korean arms procurement agency has filed a counter suit against U.S. defense contractor Raytheon and the U.K.’s BAE Systems demanding payment of $60 million for their failure to implement a KF-16 upgrade deal.The Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) said Wednesday that the lawsuit was filed with Seoul Central District Court last month to ask BAE pay $43.25 million and Raytheon $17.99 million.“We took action in accordance with the contract, which stipulates that if the companies do not implement plans as agreed, then DAPA takes a legal action,” said an official on the condition of anonymity.The action came after BAE filed a lawsuit in a U.S. court in November last year to block DAPA’s demand that the London-headquartered company cover the costs from a canceled contract for KF-16 upgrades.The company at the time claimed that it does not owe any money in connection with the upgrade program because it was unable to force the U.S. government to withdraw its proposed price increase.At the center of contention is a $1.6 billion deal BAE

Jul 8, 2015By Jun Ji-hye
South Korea

Lawmaker calls for drastic revision of forces agreement

By Jun Ji-hye Rep. Jeong Jin-hooRep. Jeong Jin-hoo of the Justice Party urged the government Tuesday to revise the South Korea-U.S. Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) so the United States must get approval before bringing hazardous materials onto the Korean Peninsula.The lawmaker from the progressive party argued that such revision is necessary to prevent a reoccurrence of the mistaken mailing of live anthrax samples.The government is moving to ask the U.S. to notify the Korean government before any such delivery.Jeong disclosed a document that the Korea Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) sent to the foreign ministry, which is in charge of the bilateral SOFA agreement related to the presence of U.S. troops in Korea, June 8.The document states that when the U.S. brings hazardous materials such as anthrax onto its bases in South Korea, it should notify the government in advance. The paper also states if any accidents happen, the U.S. should notify the government about what action it takes.“The U.S. needs to provide Korea with prior information to enable the gover

Jul 7, 2015By Jun Ji-hye
Lawmaker calls for drastic revision of forces agreement
South Korea

Former first lady to visit North on Aug. 5

By Jun Ji-hye Lee Hee-hoFormer first lady Lee Hee-ho, 93, will visit North Korea on Aug. 5, officials of the Kim Dae-jung Peace Center said Monday.The planned visit is raising hopes that tension on the peninsula will ease.During a four-day trip, Lee is scheduled to visit children’s and women’s hospitals, and a child-care center in Pyongyang.The decision was made during a meeting held between officials from the center and the North’s Asia-Pacific Peace Committee in the North’s city of Gaeseong.Kim Sung-jae, a former culture minister and a center official, told reporters on his return to the South, “Kim Jong-un, the first chairman of the (North’s) National Defense Commission, suggested a visit by flight considering Lee’s health conditions, and Lee accepted it.”He said the two sides have yet to agree on whether the North sends a plane to the South, or Lee uses one from the South. When asked about whether Lee will meet with the young leader, he said that it depends on Pyongyang.“We hope that Lee's visit will serve as a good occas

Jul 6, 2015By Jun Ji-hye
Former first lady to visit North on Aug. 5
South Korea

NK elites defect to South from Kim's reign of terror

By Jun Ji-hyeA group of high-ranking North Korean officials have reportedly fled to the South amid growing anxiety over Kim Jong-un’s brutal reign of terror.The latest of a series of such defections includes a high-ranking official in charge of Pyongyang’s munitions industry.Sources told reporters that the government was able to gain considerable information on the repressive state’s nuclear power and missile industry from this defector.Another official from the North’s ruling Workers’ Party, who was in charge of supervising a military industrial area, is also reported as having defected to the South.On Friday, it was reported that Park Seung-won, a three-star general of the North Korean People’s Armed Forces, escaped and arrived in the South via Russia in April.Park attended the inter-Korean defense chiefs’ talks in 2000 on Jeju Island as the official ranked second in command.Three high-ranking officials of the ruling Workers’ Party, in charge of managing Kim’s secret funds, also allegedly came to the South.The Ministry of Unific

Jul 6, 2015By Jun Ji-hye
South Korea

Rape victims in military to take more time off

By Jun Ji-hye The Ministry of National Defense said Sunday that it will allow victims of sexual violence in the military to take a maximum leave of absence of two years as part of efforts to help them return to active service.  “The ministry is planning to supplement a relevant law to allow victims who need treatment or convalescence to take time off duty, even if the treatment requires less than six months,” the ministry saidToward that end, the ministry issued an advance notice of revised legislation for the Military Personnel Management Act in a bid to create a new clause in it.The standing law stipulates that officers can take leave for a maximum period of a year. If one fails to return to the military within that period, he or she is discharged.Currently, victims who suffered less than six months of sexual violence are unable to take time off.The revision would guarantee any victims of sexual violence, regardless of the period of treatment, to expand their leave of absence by one more year.   “The revision is designed to help further protect

Jul 5, 2015By Jun Ji-hye
South Korea

Progressive party begins leadership voting

By Jun Ji-hyeRep. Sim Sang-jeungRoh Hoi-chanThe progressive Justice Party will embark on a week of voting from today to select a new leader.Online voting runs from July 6 to 9 and will be followed by a spot poll on July 10 and a phone ballot the following day.The party will hold a national convention on July 12 to decide the winner by combining the results of the three votes.If nobody wins a majority, a runoff election between the two top candidates will take place from July 13 to 18.The two leading candidates of the four runners are the party’s former floor leader Rep. Sim Sang-jeung and former chairman Roh Hoi-chan.The other two minor candidates are Roh Hang-rae, former chairman of the party’s policy committee, and Cho Sung-joo, former director of the Youth Community Union’s policy planning team.The candidates wrapped 16-days of campaigning Sunday with joint canvassing at Seongdong-gu, Seoul.The election is drawing keen attention because the new chairperson will play a leading role in unifying liberal forces.The Justice Party is planning to form an alliance with t

Jul 5, 2015By Jun Ji-hye
Progressive party begins leadership voting
South Korea

Defense industry corruption rampant

By Jun Ji-hyeThe state-run military research institute has been caught conducting false examinations of military equipment, according to the state auditor Thursday.The finding was part of a report released by the Board of Audit and Inspection (BAI) after its inspection from October to November of the Ministry of National Defense.Others included the Agency for Defense Development (ADD), the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) and the Defense Agency for Technology and Quality.According to the report, the ADD procured two kinds of equipment worth 8 billion won ($7 million) from a defense company from 2012 to 2014 and carried out examinations of its performance.The first piece of equipment was designed to measure temperature, vibration and impact of weapons such as tanks, while the second was for their autonomous navigation and remote control.The ADD decided that the first showed satisfactory performance although it was not equipped with a vibration sensor and control panel. The agency approved it and inappropriately gave the company 1.1 billion w

Jul 2, 2015By Jun Ji-hye
South Korea

Seoul rebuffs possible nuke weapons deployment

By Jun Ji-hyeThe government rebuffed Wednesday calls from U.S. experts for the need to place tactical nuclear weapons (TNW) on the Korean Peninsula.“Korea has declared the denuclearization of the peninsula,” said an official of the Ministry of National Defense on the condition of anonymity. “We never consider having tactical nuclear weapons here.”The official added that it is not proper for the government to respond to remarks made by civilians, although they are experts in the relevant area.The statement came after former Pentagon official and executive director of the Nonproliferation Policy Education Center, Henry Sokolski, indicated the need to reassign TNW on the peninsula amid escalating nuclear threats from North Korea.During a discussion held at the Heritage Foundation in Washington, Sokolski said he worked at the Pentagon in early 1990s when the United States withdrew TNW from the peninsula. At the time, he believed deterrence against Pyongyang could be displayed without such weapons, he said.He claimed that he has met with Seoul’s government of

Jul 1, 2015By Jun Ji-hye
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