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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

Lawmakers gearing up for constitutional revision

By Jun Ji-hyeLawmakers advocating for a revision to the Constitution are concentrating efforts toward that end, a move that will likely deal another blow to the beleaguered President Park Geun-hye.Park is already experiencing multiple problems over the leak of internal memoranda from the presidential office which alleges that one of former close aides meddled in state affairs.Rep. Lee Jae-oh of the ruling Saenuri Party, who has been pushing for the constitutional revision, is set to launch a pan-national organization, Tuesday. It will be comprised of former and incumbent lawmakers, religious figures and civil activists who will support the proposed constitutional amendment to establish a system of power-sharing between the president and the prime minister, as well as a two-term presidency so that incumbents could run for a second term in office.Floor leader of the New Politics Alliance for Democracy (NPAD), Woo Yoon-keun and third-term lawmaker Yoo Ihn-tae will join the group pushing for the proposed reform.Lee said about 100 civic groups will participate in the organization, which w

Dec 7, 2014By Jun Ji-hye
South Korea

South, North head for dispute over Gaeseong wages

By Jun Ji-hyeThe two Koreas are heading for a conflict over wages at their joint industrial complex in the North’s border city of Gaeseong. This follows an announcement that the North has unilaterally removed the legal limit for wages there.Uriminzokkiri, the North’s major propaganda site, said on Saturday that Pyongyang had scrapped the upper ceiling on wages for workers at the Gaeseong Industrial Complex.Seoul called the move a unilateral act that ignored a requirement for consultation.The labor law, enacted in 2003, stipulates that North Korean workers at the complex be paid at least $50 a month, and that the annual increase should not exceed 5 percent.The two Koreas have together agreed that the minimum wage should be set through negotiations. The figure is now $70.35, having been raised by 5 percent every year since 2007.But the propaganda site said that under the revised law, the increases would be set every year without any limit.If the revision is implemented, the North is expected to demand big increases in future negotiations, which the government believes will

Dec 7, 2014By Jun Ji-hye
South Korea

Can gov't root out defense industry corruption?

The 3,500-ton Navy salvage ship Tongyeong sails off the coast of Busan on Nov. 26. The Navy and the shipbuilder Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering conducted test operations to see if the vessel’s equipment, except for its sonar, worked properly. Its out-of-date sonar was one of the latest examples of corruption involving the defense industry. / YonhapBy Jun Ji-hyeTensions are running high in the military and at the defense ministry after the government recently launched a joint investigation team of prosecutors, military officers and government officials to root out corruption in the nation’s defense industry.The special team, launched on Nov. 21, is the largest of its kind, and is composed of 105 members from the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office, the Ministry of National Defense, National Police Agency, National Tax Service, Korea Customs Service, Financial Supervisory Service, and Korea Deposit Insurance Corporation.The team will be headed by Kim Ki-dong, an experienced senior prosecutor who heads the Goyang District Prosecutors’ Office in Goyang,

Dec 1, 2014By Jun Ji-hye
Can gov't root out defense industry corruption?
South Korea

'The Interview' not to be screened here

By Jun Ji-hye“The Interview,” a U.S. comedy lampooning North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, will not be screened here any time soon, the government confirmed Friday.A request must be made before an imported film is screened, a Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism official told The Korea Times. “No such request has been made,” she said, adding that she does not know if any distributor is planning to bring it to local screens.The movie will be screened in 63 countries during the upcoming Christmas season, according to Voice of America (VOA), citing distributor Sony Pictures. “The Interview,” which stars Seth Rogen and James Franco, will be screened in the U.S. and Canada on Dec. 25 before hitting screens in European, Middle Eastern and African countries early next year, the VOA report said.Since the distributor released a trailer for the movie on YouTube in June, North Korea has fiercely been blasting the film, calling it “undisguised terrorism” and a “despicable move to hurt the dignity of the supreme leadership” in Pyong

Nov 28, 2014By Jun Ji-hye
North Korea

Kim Jong-un's sister emerges as key figure in N. Korea

Kim Yo-jong, circled in red, smiles broadly while accompanying her brother and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un to the Korean April 26 Cartoon Film Studio in Pyongyang. The regime’s state-run newspaper, the Rodong Shinmun, reported the tour Thursday, identifying her a deputy director of the ruling Workers’ Party./ YonhapBy Jun Ji-hyeThe younger sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has emerged as a key figure in the repressive nation’s regime after being appointed deputy director of the North’s ruling Workers’ Party.Pyongyang’s official mouthpiece, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), confirmed Kim Yo-jong’s official title Thursday amid growing speculation over her political role and stature in the government.The KCNA disclosed her formal title while reporting leader Kim’s visit to a cartoon film studio in Pyongyang. Yo-jong was among Kim’s entourage.Both Kim Jong-un, reportedly 31, and Yo-jong, 27, were born to Ko Yong-hui, known as the third wife of late leader Kim Jong-il. They lived in Pyongyang together and went to the s

Nov 27, 2014By Jun Ji-hye
Kim Jong-un's sister emerges as key figure in N. Korea
  • Podcast: Is N. Korea planning fourth nuke test?
South Korea

Moon, Park may vie for opposition leadership

By Jun Ji-hyeRep. Moon Jae-inRep. Moon Jae-in of the main opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy (NPAD) is moving to embracing all factions, ahead of an election for the party chairmanship, according to insiders.Moon, who leads a faction composed of supporters of the late President Roh Moo-hyun, is now inviting supporters of Reps. Ahn Cheol-soo and Kim Han-gil, and the late activist-turned-lawmaker Kim Geun-tae to join him on his campaign to become party leader ahead of the party’s national convention in early February.Moon’s rival faction is comprised of lawmakers from the region referred to as “Honam” which encompasses Gwangju and south and north Jeolla Provinces, and is a significant representative force within the NPAD.Moon is expected to declare his bid to run for the position soon.He is said to have eased concerns among other factions that his election will lead the members that support Roh’s legacy to take over the party and exclude them from the key decision-making processes, which could cause the party to split.At stake are nominations f

Nov 26, 2014By Jun Ji-hye
Moon, Park may vie for opposition leadership
People & Events

'Independence fighters paved way for Air Force'

Hong Sun-pyoBy Jun Ji-hye South Korea officially established its Air Force on Oct. 1, 1949, four years after its liberation from Japan’s colonial rule. This establishment, however, did not happen suddenly, but was a result of the strong will and constant efforts of independence fighters in the early 1900s, according to a researcher on the independence movement.Hong Sun-pyo, Ph.D., a senior researcher at the Institute of Korean Independence Movement Studies, said members of the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea, which was born out of the March First Independence Movement of 1919, began to make efforts to establish an air force and nurture pilots. The institute is an affiliate of the Independence Hall of Korea.“Members of the Shanghai provisional government envisioned the formation of an air force as part of their efforts to prepare for the anti-Japanese war,” Hong said in a recent interview.Hong explained that the initial charter of the provisional government, announced on April 25, 1919, only referred to an army and a navy when explaining the role

Nov 26, 2014By Jun Ji-hye
'Independence fighters paved way for Air Force'
South Korea

US forces chief vows to minimize CFC

By Jun Ji-hyeGen. Curtis ScaparrottiThe chief of U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) said Tuesday he will minimize the size of the Combined Forces Command (CFC) in Yongsan, while moving all other troops to Pyeongtaek to comply with plans to relocate U.S. forces.Gen. Curtis Scaparrotti, the top commander of the USFK and CFC, said the command would retain its wartime leadership role until Washington and Seoul agree that conditions are conducive for a stable transition of wartime operational control (OPCON) to South Korean troops.“The CFC headquarters will temporarily remain in Yongsan and maintain the minimum necessary personnel and infrastructure required to command and control operational forces until OPCON transition occurs,” said Scaparrotti.“Similarly, CFC will keep the U.S. 210th Field Artillery Brigade north of the Han River until the Republic of Korea fields a comparable capability.”He made the remarks in a lecture at a Seoul hotel organized by the Association of the Republic of Korea Army.The decision to keep the CFC and the brigade at their current locations was

Nov 25, 2014By Jun Ji-hye
US forces chief vows to minimize CFC
South Korea

Free child-care programs key to budget bill

By Jun Ji-hyeHow to cover the cost of a free child-care program has become a key element in negotiations between rival parties on a proposed bill detailing next year’s budget. They reached a broad consensus on the method,  Tuesday, but remain poles apart about how much funding the central government will provide.With just a few days left before the deadline for the bill to be passed, the ruling Saenuri Party and main opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy (NPAD) are concentrating on last-minute negotiations. By law, assembly members must pass the budget bill by Dec. 2.During their meeting, Reps. Kim Jae-won and Ahn Gyu-baek, respective vice floor leaders of the rival parties, agreed that the central government will “indirectly” share the responsibilities of local governments to bear the costs.This can be done by increasing the budgets for metropolitan and provincial education offices, and allowing them to allocate funding for the free child-care program in cooperation with local governments, they said.“Rival parties do not have differences over su

Nov 25, 2014By Jun Ji-hye
South Korea

Parties locked over NK human rights bills

By Jun Ji-hyeGovernment subsidies for anti-North Korea activists have emerged as a bone of contention at the National Assembly as rival parties are competing to get their respective human rights bills related to North Korea passed.The subsidies allegedly have been used to fund the campaign of releasing balloons containing leaflets criticizing the Pyongyang leadership that are blown across the border.The ruling Saenuri Party said Monday it favored keeping the subsidies for civic groups as a tool against North Korea, while the main opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy (NPAD) argued that it will only anger the North.The two parties failed to reach a compromise so the competing bills are now being deliberated at the National Assembly Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee.“Basically, the North Korean human rights bills are not directly related to the leaflet launches. The bills only stipulate that the government shall support groups working to improve human rights for the people in the North,” said Rep. Kim Young-woo of the governing camp.In response, Rep. Kim Ha

Nov 24, 2014By Jun Ji-hye
Parties locked over NK human rights bills
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