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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

Opposition eyes S-N parliament talks

By Jun Ji-hyeWith the mood for talks between the two Koreas ripe, opposition parties called Monday for holding inter-Korean parliamentary talks, although the ruling party was not being so keen on the idea.Rep. Oh Byung-yun, floor leader of the minor opposition Unified Progressive Party, said during a speech at a plenary session of the National Assembly, “The Assembly needs to play an active role in improving inter-Korean relations. I propose South Korea’s parliament hold talks with the North’s Supreme People's Assembly.”The main opposition Democratic Party (DP) has also endorsed the suggestion.During a meeting with Unification Minister Ryoo Kihl-jae, Rep. Jun Byung-hun, the DP floor leader, said: “Mutual exchanges of opinions between the two parliaments would become a new aspect in the development of inter-Korean relations.”Chung Dong-young, a DP heavyweight who previously served as unification minister under the late liberal President Roh Moo-hyun, supported this saying, “The government is of course in charge of managing the upcoming officia

Jun 10, 2013By Jun Ji-hye
South Korea

18 NK defectors in Laos move to safety

By Jun Ji-hyeEighteen North Korean defectors in Laos were moved to the South Korean Embassy from a safe house in Vientiane Tuesday, sources said Friday.The emergency measure came after the Laotian government sent nine young defectors aged between 15 and 23 years old to China late last month, which repatriated them to the Stalinist state.“The South Korean government decided to move eighteen defectors who were staying in a safe house in Vientiane to the South Korean Embassy and its official residence in order to ensure their safety,” said a diplomatic source, adding that among the eighteen were teenagers.Diplomatic authorities are stepping up efforts to bring them to Seoul, the official added.Some local dailies reported President Park Geun-hye took direct control of the transfer of the defectors. However, Cheong Wa Dae officials denied the reports.Meanwhile, Rep. Kim Jae-won of the Saenuri Party arrived in the Southeast Asian country Thursday to discuss matters regarding the repatriated nine defectors as a special envoy of the ruling party, along with foreign ministry offic

Jun 7, 2013By Jun Ji-hye
South Korea

Saenuri to push for NK human rights bill

By Jun Ji-hyeThe ruling Saenuri Party said Friday that it will push ahead with passing the long-pending North Korean Human Rights Bill at the National Assembly this month regardless of the resumption of inter-Korean talks.“The issue of North Korean human rights and the ongoing discussion on resumption of talks between the South and North are totally separate,” said Rep. Kim Gi-hyeon, who chairs the policy committee in the ruling party. “We will keep attempting to forge ahead with the passage of the bill in the June extraordinary session of the Assembly.”He made the remarks on a radio program after being questioned about whether the North’s offer to hold talks and the South’s acceptance, both made Thursday, can be a variable in dealing with such a bill.Proposed in 2005, the bill is still pending at the parliament due to the negative attitude of the opposition parties which worry that it could anger the communist country and worsen inter-Korean relations.The bill suggests establishing state-run institutes to promote human rights in the isolated state

Jun 7, 2013By Jun Ji-hye
South Korea

Free childcare program drifting away

Ruling party turns cautious about expanding budgetBy Jun Ji-hye A program to provide free childcare for children under five, a key welfare pledge made by President Park Geun-hye, is foundering due to budget problems.The matter has become a source of conflict between the central administration and local authorities because the central government is under growing pressure to increase its subsidies.During the run-up to the presidential election last year, Park vowed that her government would fully support home care expenditure for infants under two years old and subsidize daycare fees for those aged between three and five.Since the system became effective in March, provincial governments have complained that the measure was drawn up without consideration of tight budgetary limits, and describe it as an irrational decision.“District offices have run out of money. We won’t be able to provide childcare costs from this September. The government’s unilateral decision without prior consultation with local entities worsened the situation,” said Noh Hyun-s

Jun 6, 2013By Jun Ji-hye
South Korea

Fine collection bills on ex-president stall

By Jun Ji-hye The ruling and opposition parties are at odds over several proposed revisions to two laws that, if passed, would enable unpaid fines owed by former military dictator, Chun Doo-hwan, to be collected.The former president has yet to pay 167 billion won ($150 million) of a total 221 billion won fine that he was ordered to pay by the Seoul High Court in 1997 for leading an insurrection and accepting bribes while he was in office.Calls to collect the fines gained further attention after it was recently revealed that his eldest son, Chun Jae-kook, holds a paper company in the British Virgin Islands, an offshore tax haven.As the legal expiration date for the fine to be paid is Oct. 11, members of the main opposition Democratic Party (DP) proposed revisions to the relevant laws late last month and called for prompt passage in the National Assembly’s ongoing extraordinary session to ensure that the money is collected.Rep. Woo Won-shik proposed a revision to the Criminal Proceeds Punishment Law to expand the statute of limitations on fines to 10 years from the current t

Jun 6, 2013By Jun Ji-hye
South Korea

Electronic trial voting to make debut in July

By Jun Ji-hyeVoting using hand-held electronic devices will begin on a trial basis from July in small-scale private sector ballots, such as the election of school presidents and representatives of apartment complexes, an official from the election watchdog said Wednesday.The National Election Commission said casting votes via smartphones or PCs could then be eventually extended to elections of public officials.“To offer convenience for voters, we decided to launch an Internet and mobile voting service in cooperation with KT,” said the official.The NEC and KT inked an agreement Tuesday to push ahead with the scheme.“The NEC’s experience and expertise in managing elections and KT’s high technical skills and infrastructure in the information and communications field will be combined into the task. We will cooperate with each other to increase public interest in such a system,” the official said.The NEC expects the measure to boost voter turnout and save time counting ballots because procedures for polling and vote counting will be far simpler than a p

Jun 5, 2013By Jun Ji-hye
South Korea

Is Ahn progressive or conservative?

Rep. Ahn Cheol-sooProf. Choi Jang-jipEx-presidential candidate clashes with advisorsBy Jun Ji-hye Even before launching his own party, independent lawmaker Ahn Cheol-soo is currently involved in ideological conflicts with his key advisors.Ahn made it clear that he will not create a party that upholds a progressive ideology.He spoke to journalists Monday after Choi Jang-jip, an honorary professor of Korea University who recently joined Ahn’s policy think tank, said that Ahn’s party will take a progressive course and deal with labor issues as a core political issue.The former presidential candidate said he does not want to become locked into a singular direction political track.“I totally agree with Choi who said the party should reflect voices of ordinary people, laborers and the self-employed. But this does not mean that I will organize a progressive party,” Ahn told reporters during a lunch at a restaurant near the National Assembly.“For example, the national security issue could be different from labor policy. If I characterize the party

Jun 4, 2013By Jun Ji-hye
Is Ahn progressive or conservative?
South Korea

Opposition proposes bill to redefine 'regular wages'

By Jun Ji-hyeOpposition lawmakers proposed Monday a revision bill to the Labor Standards Law, which will enable regular bonuses and extra payments to be included within regular wages.“All monies paid for workers’ labor should be calculated as ordinary wages. The measure will also help reduce working hours and improve working conditions,” said Rep. Hong Young-pyo of the main opposition Democratic Party (DP), the leader of a group of 25 lawmakers who support the bill proposal.Speaking at a press conference, Hong said there had been no conception of regular wages in the Labor Standards Law.“Only decrees have been used to regulate the ordinary wage system. A number of related cases still remain in the courts and this only causes social confusion. That’s why we need a more explicit law,” he said.He added that he expects the June Assembly that opened Monday to sincerely discuss the revisions in the proposed bill.However, the ruling Saenuri Party expressed skepticism about passing the bill into law.“It will pose a huge burden on companies. The matte

Jun 3, 2013By Jun Ji-hye
South Korea

Calls mounting for defectors'safety

Nine young North Korean defectors pose in this photo taken 35 minutes before they were apprehended by Laotian police on May 10. Former lawmaker Park Sun-young, who works for North Korean human rights, released the photo, Saturday. Courtesy of Park Sun-youngBy Jun Ji-hyeThe international community is demanding safety assurances for the nine young North Korean defectors who were deported the Laotian government to China, which repatriated them.Human rights advocates urged North Korea to disclose their whereabouts and guarantee their safety.“North Korea has to come clean on where these nine refugees are and publicly guarantee that they will not be harmed or retaliated against for having fled the country,” said Phil Robertson, deputy director of the Asian division of Human Rights Watch, Friday.Robertson told reporters that the defectors aged between 15 and 23 years old are at dire risk in the wake of their return as the isolated state is known to torture those caught trying to escape and those repatriated.The United States’s State Department spokeswoman Jen Psa

Jun 2, 2013By Jun Ji-hye
Calls mounting for defectors'safety
South Korea

Young lawmakers in bipartisan experiment

From Left: Rep. Kim Sang-min, Rep. Kim Kwang-jinBy Jun Ji-hyeLove crosses borders but can it cross ideologies?A TV drama featured a plot line that shows that even politicians with different ideologies from rival parties can fall in love with each other.In “All about My Romance,” the latest SBS TV series about first-term lawmakers, Kim Soo-young (Shin Ha-kyun) from a conservative party and Noh Min-young (Lee Min-jung) of a progressive party, the two eventually tied the knot in the last episode aired Wednesday.A poster for the SBS TV series “All about My Romance” about a romance between lawmakers Kim Soo-young  played by actor Shin Ha-kyun, right, of a conservative party, and Noh Min-young played by actress Lee Min-jung of a progressive party Courtesy of SBSThey overcame a lot of difficulties caused by ideological differences. Through the somewhat unrealistic love story, the series apparently wanted to drive home the point that notwithstanding the ideological differences between progressives and conservatives, there is a point where that can be ov

Jun 2, 2013By Jun Ji-hye
Young lawmakers in bipartisan experiment
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