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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

Who will join hands with Ahn?

By Jun Ji-hyeWho will join hands with independent lawmaker Ahn Cheol-soo is emerging as a big question because he is gathering support from within both conservative and liberal parties.Chung Ki-nam, the former deputy campaign manager from Ahn’s presidential campaign office, said, “There is no reason why Ahn should not recruit figures from the ruling party. It is amateurism to maintain distance from them simply because they are conservative politicians.”There is speculation that six former lawmakers from the ruling Saenuri Party and the main opposition Democratic Party (DP), who created a study group dubbed the “Six Member Meeting,” are among Ahn’s favored choices.The six are: Kim Sung-sik, Chung Tae-geun and Hong Jung-wook who previously served as ruling party lawmakers, and Kim Boo-kyum, Jeong Jang-seon and Kim Young-choon from the DP.Former lawmaker Kim Sung-sik was in charge of Ahn’s campaign strategy team in the run-up to the presidential poll last year.Some political analysts say that the names have been proposed as potential members of

May 29, 2013By Jun Ji-hye
South Korea

DP leader, US amb. at odds over six-nation talks

By Jun Ji-hyeRep. Kim Han-gil, chairman of the Democratic Party (DP), and United States Ambassador to Korea Sung Kim appeared to be at odds over the possible resumption of the six-nation talks during a courtesy visit the latter made to the National Assembly, Tuesday.Rep. Kim called for an immediate new start to the talks, while the ambassador maintained that North Korea should first show substantial intent to denuclearize the Korean Peninsula if it wants the talks to resume.“I am paying keen attention on whether the six-party nuclear talks can recommence. But both the Korean government and the American administration seem to be showing chilly responses,” said the DP chairman.He claimed that the U.S. had played a leading role in the talks in 2002, which were originally initiated for the purpose of achieving the denuclearization of North Korea. But, he also said, Seoul and Washington have both stated that denuclearization is now a precondition for the talks to begin.In response, the ambassador said: “Korea and the U.S. have a strong will for denuclearization and the d

May 28, 2013By Jun Ji-hye
South Korea

Government to make more part-time jobs available

By Jun Ji-hyeMore part-time jobs will be made available in order to ease unemployment.The government and the ruling Saenuri Party said on Tuesday that they are jointly working on a piece of legislation for a tentatively-titled “Part-time Job Development Law.”“The Saenuri Party is pondering legislative action to systemize part-time work expansion. Our policy committee is examining the issue intensively now,” said Rep. Choi Kyung-hwan, the ruling party floor leader.Choi’s comment came a day after President Park Geun-hye stressed that more part-time jobs need to be created in order to achieve a target employment rate of 70 percent.Choi said there are many good part-time jobs in other countries, enabling women to manage both work and their households at the same time.“Such a social climate is necessary in Korea. Part-time work will also play a role in reducing working hours and creating more jobs,” said Choi.At a meeting with her senior secretaries at Cheong Wa Dae, President Park said Monday, “There is a perception in Korean society that w

May 28, 2013By Jun Ji-hye
South Korea

Lawmakers abuse legislative power

By Jun Ji-hyeThe primary job of members of the National Assembly is to propose and debate the content of bills that sometimes become new legislation. However, criticism is mounting against them because the percentage of bills that are becoming laws has dropped despite a rise in the number of bills submitted to the parliament.According to the Assembly, the total number of bills submitted to the 19th parliament is 5,144 as of Tuesday. Among those, around only 11 percent (555 bills) has been passed.The number of proposed bills has been increasing constantly _ 2,570 in the 15th Assembly, 3,117 in the 16th, 8,368 in the 17th and 14,762 in the 18th.However, the percentage of bills approved has been falling after recording 62.9 percent in the 15th Assembly. The 16th parliament saw 47 percent of bills passed, while 30.4 percent and 19.9 percent were passed in the 17th and 18th Assemblies, respectively.Political commentators attributed the low success rate to lawmakers proposing bills without examining them sufficiently because they were competing against other members of the parliament.&ldqu

May 28, 2013By Jun Ji-hye
South Korea

Politicians following in their parents' footsteps

Offspring’s success defends on how to make better achievements  By Jun Ji-hyePresident Park Geun-hyeLate Park Chung-hee   DP Chairman Kim Han-gil Late Kim Cheol   Rep. Kim Moo-sung Late lawmaker Kim Yong-joo   Rep. Nam Kyung-pil Late lawmaker Nam Pyeong-woo   Rep. Noh Woong-raeFormer lawmaker Noh Seong-hwan   Rep. Chung Mong-joon Late Chung Ju-yungPresident Park Geun-hye has become South Korea’s first president to lead the nation following in her father’s footsteps.She is the daughter of late Park Chung-hee, the former authoritarian president, who ruled the country for 18 years until his assassination in 1979.Park is not the only one who inherited a political legacy from her parents here. In the 19th National Assembly, a total of 14 lawmakers are children of veteran politicians who were active in past decades, up from 10 in the 18th Assembly.Along with an increase in the number, more notably, their political influence became much stronger in the cu

May 27, 2013By Jun Ji-hye
Politicians following in their parents' footsteps
South Korea

Female lawmakers on protest visit to Japan

Rep. Kim Hee-jung of the ruling Saenuri Party, second from left, answers questions from reporters before leaving for Japan to protest against some rightwing politicians for their remarks on former sex slaves during World War II, at Gimpo International Airport, Monday. From left are Reps. You Jee-young, Kim of the Saenuri Party; Rep. You Seung-hee of the main opposition Democratic Party; and Rep. Kim Hyun-sook of the Saenuri Party. / YonhapBy Jun Ji-hyeFour female lawmakers headed to Japan Monday to protest against its right-wing politicians for their remarks on former sex slaves during World War II.Reps. Kim Hee-jung, You Jee-young and Kim Hyun-sook of the ruling Saenuri Party, and Rep. You Seung-hee of the main opposition Democratic Party (DP) belong to the National Assembly Gender Equality and Family Committee.They left for Tokyo to deliver letters of protest to Japanese politicians and civic groups during a three-day visit.“Japanese politicians’ remorseless remarks have repeatedly come because the Japanese government has not properly reflected on their militaristic pas

May 27, 2013By Jun Ji-hye
South Korea

Chaebol tense over economic bills

By Jun Ji-hyeRuling Saenuri Party and main opposition Democratic Party (DP) will open an extraordinary session on June 3 to handle bills on key economic issues.Conglomerates and financial firms are paying keen attention on which bills will be legislated into laws as they will influence their business substantially.Both parties have in principle agreed to handle bills aimed at removing unfair business practices by chaebol. However, they have yet to narrow differences on key issues before passing them.One of the sensitive bills on “economic democratization” is the one to restrict voting rights of major shareholders of financial companies if they are caught embezzling corporate funds.The two parties differ on the details. The ruling party wants to adopt the rule for insurance and securities firms first, then gradually expand the scope of firms subject to the rule.In contrast, the DP claims all companies should be subject to the rule.Samsung Group, which has financial affiliates such as insurance, securities and credit card, has kept its eye on the bill, as restrictions of sh

May 27, 2013By Jun Ji-hye
South Korea

PM fails to play mediation role

By Jun Ji-hyeThree months into his term of office, Prime Minister Chung Hong-won has rarely contributed to disputes regarding domestic affairs.His apparent reticence and lack of capability as a mediator could create a burden for administration of President Park Geun-hye, analysts said.Park pledged that there will be a “responsible prime minister”, with increased powers so that those holding the office can have greater involvement in all aspects of domestic affairs.However, Chung has, so far, fallen far short of this objective.He has not effectively intervened in disputes regarding key issues such as the planned closure of the Jinju Medical Center and the construction of high-voltage transmission cable towers in Miryang, the cause of a fierce dispute between residents of the southeastern city and Korea Electric Power Corp.This is in sharp contrast to the actions of former prime ministers. Goh Kun, who served in the administration of the late Roh Moo-hyun, and Kim Hwang-sik from Lee Myung-bak’s government both became heavily engaged in issues of the day, such as a tru

May 24, 2013By Jun Ji-hye
South Korea

Ahn gets prepared for new party

By Jun Ji-hyeRep. Ahn Cheol-soo launched a policy think tank Thursday that includes influential liberal figures in what is seen as the strongest ever indication that he will establish a new political party.The move is expected to be the first step taken by the former presidential candidate toward establishing a party in the near future, which would accelerate political realignment in the opposition side, analysts said.“I decided to launch a policy think tank dubbed ‘Naeil,’ which is open to the public as well as policy experts. I will make communication with people the top priority so I can properly reflect their opinions,” said Ahn at a press conference, Wednesday. “Naeil” means “tomorrow.”Most notably, Jang Ha-sung, a professor of Korea University who worked for Ahn’s presidential campaign, and Choi Jang-jip, an honorary professor of the same university, joined the institute as chief and chairman of the board, respectively.Choi is a noted progressive political scientist who has studied the role of political parties in democratic

May 23, 2013By Jun Ji-hye
South Korea

Roh's death remembered

Reps. Choi Kyung-hwan, left, floor leader of the ruling Saenuri Party, and Kim Han-gil, right, chairman of the main opposition Democratic Party, attend a memorial service for the fourth anniversary of the death of former President Roh Moo-hyun at Bonghwa village in Gimhae, South Gyeongsang Province, Thursday. Cho Joon-ho, co-chairman of the minor Progressive Justice Party, is in the center. / YonhapBy Jun Ji-hyePoliticians and supporters took part in a memorial service for the fourth anniversary of the death of former President Roh Moo-hyun, Thursday, at his hometown of Bonghwa village in Gimhae, South Gyeongsang Province, where he killed himself in 2009.Many opposition figures including Rep. Kim Han-gil, chairman of the main opposition Democratic Party (DP), Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon and Incheon Mayor Song Young-gil gathered at Roh’s gravesite to pay their respects.The DP, which holds a policy meeting every Thursday, canceled the meeting to allow more lawmakers to attend the ceremony.About 50 DP lawmakers visited the village, in an attempt to fulfill the party leader’s p

May 23, 2013By Jun Ji-hye
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