The Korea Times

Military songs likely to lose masculinity

By Jun Ji-hyeThe Armed Forces are considering expunging potentially gender-discriminatory expressions from military songs.Among the references that may be affected are “men,” “sons” and other male-oriented words, the Ministry of National Defense said.“All branches of the armed forces agreed in a recent working-level meeting on the need to consider the fact that the number of female personnel is growing fast and has now reached 10,000,” spokesman Kim Min-seok said at a briefing.Kim said representatives from the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps were at the Jan. 21 meeting. They agreed that the existing military songs had been written under what had formally been a male-dominated culture, he added.The move is seen as an attempt to reflect mounting public opinion against male-centered war songs.A number of such songs have titles and lyrics that include references to “men,” as evidenced by “Real Men,” one of the most famous military songs. A school song of the Korea Naval Academy also has the lyrics, “Sons of the Repu

Jan 27, 2015By Jun Ji-hye

South Korea

Saenuri Party's floor leader ballot is two-way race

Rep. Yoo Seong-min announces his bid to run for the ruling Saenuri Party’s floor leader at a news conference at the National Assembly, Seoul, Tuesday. / YonhapBy Jun Ji-hyeRep. Yoo Seong-min declared his candidacy Tuesday for floor leader of the Saenuri Party in a ballot to be held Monday.The announcement means that a two-way race is now underway between Yoo and four-term lawmaker Lee Ju-young “If elected, I will change and resolutely cause innovation within the party so that it can engage in managing state affairs with the center,” Yoo told a news conference at the National Assembly.The third-term lawmaker who represents a constituency in Daegu, vowed to actively assist President Park Geun-hye’s handling of state affairs and take responsibility for any results achieved with her.He also argued that he would be a “tool” for the governing party to win the 2016 general election.When asked what distinguishes him from Lee Ju-young, Yoo said, “I am a more appropriate floor leader to make the party brand new and a winner.”The position of

Jan 27, 2015By Jun Ji-hye

Saenuri Party's floor leader ballot is two-way race

South Korea

President vows to resolve tax filings controversy

By Jun Ji-hyePresident Park Geun-hye vowed Monday to seek ways of resolving a public outcry over changes to the tax codes used when people file their annual tax statements.“A number of people have raised complaints over the tax filings. This showed that the government failed to explain changes to the income tax codes to the public sufficiently,” Park said. “The government needs to find ways that will no longer impose hardships on people who need to increase their expenses in February ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday and prepare for a new school term.”   Park made the remarks at this year’s first meeting with her senior secretaries at Cheong Wa Dae. At the end of 2013, the government revised the tax law, setting the baseline salary level subject to higher income taxation to 55 million won ($50,800). When doing so, the government then claimed that the revision was designed to collect more tax from high-income earners. However, while going through the tax filings for 2014, more than 15 million salaried workers became upset over what they see as

Jan 26, 2015By Jun Ji-hye

South Korea

Gov't rebukes NK preconditions for dialog

By Jun Ji-hyeThe government said Monday that it is not willing to comply with preconditions North Korea has presented for talks.The conditions include suspending joint military exercises by Seoul and Washington, and lifting the so-called May 24 economic sanctions.Seoul imposed the sanctions after the North torpedoed a South Korean warship in 2010, killing 46 sailors.“We have no intention to take actions on their preconditions first,” said unification ministry spokesman Lim Byeong-cheol. “Such issues need to be discussed at inter-Korean talks.”Lim said if the government complied with such “improper” preconditions before dialog began, it would not help improve South-North relations fundamentally and sincerely.On Dec. 29, the government proposed holding minister-level inter-Korean talks unconditionally in January about mutual concerns including the reunion of families separated during the 1950-53 Korean War.Since then, the two Koreas have been caught in a war of nerves to grab better terms before they agreed to sit down.Pyongyang continues to claim th

Jan 26, 2015By Jun Ji-hye

South Korea

Park's popularity hits new low

By Jun Ji-hyePresident Park Geun-hye appointed senior secretaries Friday including, from left, Hyun Jung-taek, Woo Byung-woo and Cho Shin in charge of policy coordination, civil affairs and future strategy, respectively. / Yonhap President Park Geun-hye’s approval rating has gone down to 30 percent, the lowest since she took office on Feb. 25, 2013, according to a survey released Friday.The record low rate appears to have been prompted by the fiasco involving the government’s new tax settlement scheme coupled with Park’s no-compromise stance, experts said.Gallup Korea conducted a poll of 1,001 adults between Tuesday and Thursday, which shows Park’s rating at 30 percent, down from 35 percent the previous week.Respondents who negatively evaluated Park’s management of state affairs reached 60 percent, up from 55 percent. Among them, 17 percent accused Park of poor communications, while 15 percent cited the possible tax boost amid lingering controversy over the bungled tax policy.“Last week’s falling popularity could be attributed to her New

Jan 23, 2015By Jun Ji-hye

South Korea

Minister to visit Japan to commemorate independence movement

By Jun Ji-hyePark Sung-choonMinister of Patriots and Veterans Park Sung-choon will visit Japan early next month to attend an event to commemorate the independence movement by Korean students who lived there during Japan’s 1910-45 colonial rule of Korea.Park, who will lead a government delegation on a four-day trip from Feb. 6, will participate in the commemoration of the 96th anniversary of the Feb. 8 Declaration of Independence.  The declaration was delivered by Korean college students in Japan in 1919 in a public park in Tokyo.The government has so far dispatched working-level officials of the ministry for the event in order not to unnecessarily irritate the neighboring country. The most recent visit of the patriots minister was six years ago.“Minister Park decided to visit Tokyo this time as this event is very meaningful ― this year marked the 70th anniversary of Korea’s liberation from Japanese colonial rule,” said a ministry official.The Feb. 8 declaration sparked off the March First Independence Movement led in 1919 by Yu Gwan-sun in Korea, see

Jan 23, 2015By Jun Ji-hye

Minister to visit Japan to commemorate independence movement

Opinion

Gov't needs to be honest about tax raise

By Jun Ji-hyeThe government is facing growing criticism for alleged dishonesty and indecisiveness about tax increases, intensifying the anger of more than 15 million employees regarding income tax brackets, according to experts and lawmakers.The collective ire does not seem likely to abate soon, though the government and the ruling Saenuri Party vowed to revise the Income Tax Law.The governing party said Wednesday that it will expand tax refunds for families with children, households with newborn babies, and single people through an amendment to the law and retroactive applications for 2014 tax returns.The measure is an apparent attempt to placate salaried workers who are furious over changes to income tax codes. They got upset over what they see as having to pay an increased amount of tax, despite the government’s explanation that only high-income earners would have to pay more tax.Critics said, however, that such a stopgap measure cannot resolve the tax controversy that has frequently hit the government since Park’s inauguration in February, 2013, given that the problem

Jan 22, 2015By Jun Ji-hye

Gov't needs to be honest about tax raise

South Korea

Ministry calls in Japan envoy to protest Dokdo claim

A Korean-language version of Japan’s defense white paper depicts Dokdo as its territory, calling it Takeshima. Dokdo is Korea’s easternmost islets. / YonhapCriticism arising over gov’t sluggish responseBy Jun Ji-hyeThe Ministry of National Defense protested against the Japanese government, Wednesday, over its distribution of a Korean-language version of the summary of its 2014 Defense White Paper that stated Korea’s easternmost islets of Dokdo are part of its territory.The ministry called in the military attache from the Japanese Embassy in Seoul at 9:50 a.m. to rebuke the action.“The Seoul government lodged a strong protest against Japan in order to prevent recurrence of such an unjustifiable act,” said a ministry official, asking not to be named.According to the official, the Japanese government has compiled the summary of the white paper, and delivered about 50 copies to the information division under the ministry on Jan. 16.The information division passed them to a division in charge of the East Asian affairs of the ministry, Tuesday.The neighb

Jan 21, 2015By Jun Ji-hye

Ministry calls in Japan envoy to protest Dokdo claim

South Korea

Fourth anniversary of Aden operation held on Navy destroyer

Seok Hae-kyun, right, a former captain of the Samho Jewelry that was hijacked by Somali pirates on Jan. 15, 2011 in waters off the Omani coast, poses with Arai Mahomed, center, who shot him during a Navy rescue operation five days later, at a prison in Daejeon on Jan. 14. At left is a prison officer, who interpreted for them./ YonhapBy Jun Ji-hyeThe Korean Navy celebrated the fourth anniversary of its successful rescue operation against Somali pirates, Wednesday.About 200 participants, including Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Hwang Ki-chul and other high-ranking officers and sailors, attended the event held on the destroyer Choe Yeong at the Fleet Command in the port city of Busan.During the operation, code-named “Dawn of Gulf of Aden,” carried out by members of the Navy’s elite Underwater Demolition Team (UDT) on Jan. 21, 2011, eight pirates were killed and five were captured near the waters of Somalia.Seok Hae-kyun, the South Korean captain of the hijacked ship, 11,500-ton chemical carrier Samho Jewelry, was seriously wounded, but no other crew members w

Jan 21, 2015By Jun Ji-hye

People & Events

Air Force Major committed to Dokdo education

Air Force Maj. Kim Sam-kwon By Jun Ji-hye Air Force Maj. Kim Sam-kwon has given about 2,000 lectures about Korea’s Dokdo islets since 2003 to raise public awareness about the fact that Dokdo is part of Korean territory geographically, historically and legally, despite Japan’s sovereignty claims.At his busiest, he spent about 200 days a year giving lectures at elementary, middle and high schools, universities, companies and state agencies.“It was sometimes hard. But, most of the lectures had been pleasant and fruitful for me,” he said in a recent interview. “Though I had much to do with my daily duties, I went to give lectures and took pleasure even in working overtime at night.” Korea has effectively controlled Dokdo with a small police detachment since its liberation from Japan in 1945. But, Tokyo has claimed that the islets, which lie closer to Korea, are part of its territory, although it never established sovereignty.Kim, who is now serving at the Joint Forces Military University and previously served at the Air Force Academy, ha

Jan 21, 2015By Jun Ji-hye

Jun Ji-hye

Read more

Military songs likely to lose masculinity

Saenuri Party's floor leader ballot is two-way race

President vows to resolve tax filings controversy

Gov't rebukes NK preconditions for dialog

Park's popularity hits new low

Minister to visit Japan to commemorate independence movement

Gov't needs to be honest about tax raise

Ministry calls in Japan envoy to protest Dokdo claim

Fourth anniversary of Aden operation held on Navy destroyer

Air Force Major committed to Dokdo education

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