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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

Two gender bills competing

By Jun Ji-hyeTwo gender-related revision bills are competing with each other at the National Assembly but chances are that neither will become law because of nothing else but gender rivalry.The National Assembly National Defense Committee discussed a revision of the Military Service Law, Wednesday, to revive the additional points system for those who have completed their two-year mandatory military service, when they apply for jobs at government organizations and public entities.“These days, many young men are victimized due to their military service, which lasts up to two years. The nation is obligated to compensate them for their service,” said Rep. Han Ki-ho of the ruling Saenuri Party who proposed the revision.A day earlier, the Assembly Environment and Labor Committee began preliminary discussions on the possible introduction of a so-called “extra point system for mothers” for those who want to return to work after taking maternity leave.“Many women here are forced to quit their jobs due to pregnancy, childbirth and infant care as companies have yet

Apr 17, 2013By Jun Ji-hye
South Korea

Park may have to ditch minister pick

By Jun Ji-hye Yoon Jin-sook, Oceans and Fisheries Minister nomineePresident Park Geun-hye is under mounting pressure, even from members of the ruling party, to withdraw her nomination of Yoon Jin-sook to be Minister of Oceans and Fisheries.Nevertheless, the President has signaled that she will push ahead with Yoon’s appointment by asking legislators to agree to it by Tuesday. Consent from legislators over the nomination is not required by law and Park may legally appoint Yoon Wednesday, even if the National Assembly does not agree to her request.Yoon became a target of ridicule after she repeatedly answered “I don’t know” during a parliamentary confirmation hearing. This resulted in the assembly failing to endorse a report on her qualifications to lead the ministry.“President Park will have to respond to what the National Assembly says. That will be the only way to move toward change,” said Rep. Hwang Young-cheul of the ruling Saenuri Party, Tuesday. “I believe Cheong Wa Dae already knows what lawmakers of the ruling and opposition

Apr 16, 2013By Jun Ji-hye
Park may have to ditch minister pick
South Korea

DUP to change name to Democratic Party

By Jun Ji-hyeThe main opposition Democratic United Party (DUP) plans to change its name back to the Democratic Party, its original title before putting “United” in its name in December 2011.“We unanimously approved of referring the meeting agenda to decide whether to pull out ‘United’ from our title to the national convention slated for May 4,” said Rep. Kim Sung-gon, chairman of the national convention preparatory committee, Monday.After the committee’s meeting, Kim told reporters, “Until now, people generally have called the DUP by its abbreviated name, Democratic Party, anyway. Plus, many often confuse the DUP with other parties such as the Unified Progressive Party.”The move, however, is expected to cause internal conflict as it was mostly those who follow the legacy of late President Roh Moo-hyun that played a major role in adopting the name of the DUP.The DUP was officially launched in December 2011 after then Democratic Party combined members of Federation of Korea Trade Unions and another civic group called Innovation and

Apr 16, 2013By Jun Ji-hye
South Korea

Constitution revision to be discussed

6-member committee : Six members from the ruling Saenuri Party and the main opposition Democratic United Party (DUP) hold hands at their first joint meeting to discuss measures to improve national living standards and other key issues at the National Assembly, Friday. From left are Byun Jae-ill, chairman of the DUP’s policy committee; Park Ki-choon, DUP floor leader; Moon Hee-sang, DUP chairman; Hwang Woo-yea, chairman of the ruling party; Lee Hahn-koo, Saenuri Party floor leader and Na Seong-lin, acting chairman of the ruling party’s policy committee. YonhapBy Jun Ji-hyeBipartisan lawmakers said Friday that they have agreed to establish a body at the National Assembly for discussions on amending the Constitution to revise the nation’s single-term, five-year presidential term of office.Six members of the ruling Saenuri Party and the main opposition Democratic United Party (DUP) agreed on a proposal that future presidents should serve four years in office, with a maximum of two consecutive terms, at the first meeting of the joint consultative

Apr 12, 2013By Jun Ji-hye
Constitution revision to be discussed
South Korea

Immediate dialogue with N. Korea unlikely

By Jun Ji-hye In the wake of Seoul’s offer for dialogue to resolve inter-Korean problems, including normalizing operations at the Gaeseong Industrial Complex, how North Korea will react is drawing keen attention.Hours after Unification Minister Ryoo Kihl-Jae issued a statement calling on North Korea to reopen dialogue, President Park Geun-hye also said she remained open to talks with the North, at a dinner gathering with lawmakers of the ruling Saenuri Party, Thursday.“Pyongyang will have to pay a price for its provocations, but the door for talks is always open as the Korean Peninsula trust-building process should operate no matter how difficult the situation is,” Park was quoted as saying.Analysts do not expect the North to respond immediately to Seoul’s suggestion for dialogue, but such an offer could help check them from staging further provocations.“The North would not be able to shift swiftly from threat to conversation right now. As they have excessively ratcheted up nuclear tension on the Korean Peninsula, the proposal for dialogue could pos

Apr 12, 2013By Jun Ji-hye
South Korea

By-election campaigning starts

Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se, right, shakes hands with NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen during his visit to the ministry in Seoul, Thursday. The Dane, who became the first NATO chief to visit Korea, discussed with the minister measures to cope with North Korean provocations. / YonhapBy Jun Ji-hyeCandidates standing in the April 24 by-elections are now fully engaged in 13 days of political tussle over three seats in the National Assembly, as official campaigning began Thursday.From now on, they are able to make stump speeches or place advertisements.Although it lacks the draw of last year’s presidential poll, there is increasing public interest on the by-elections because big name candidates such as Ahn Cheol-soo and Kim Moo-sung are standing and it is the first electoral process since President Park Geun-hye was inaugurated.The three parliamentary seats are: Nowon in Seoul, Yeongdo in Busan and Buyeo-Cheongyang in South Chungcheong Province. “This election will show how the public evaluates the Park government for the last couple of months,” said R

Apr 11, 2013By Jun Ji-hye
By-election campaigning starts
South Korea

President Park to meet opposition leaders Friday

By Jun Ji-hyePresident Park Geun-hye will meet leaders of the main opposition Democratic United Party (DUP) Friday, said officials from the government and the DUP on Wednesday.“President Park invited DUP chairman Moon Hee-sang and other leaders of the party to a dinner at Cheong Wa Dae,” presidential spokeswoman Kim Haing told reporters.At the party’s emergency committee meeting, Rep. Moon also said, “All leaders of the DUP will have dinner with the president at Cheong Wa Dae on Friday at 6 p.m.”It will be Park’s first meeting with opposition leaders since she was inaugurated on Feb. 25.The President and the DUP leadership are expected to discuss security issues amid intensifying nuclear threats from North Korea.Park will also likely ask the DUP to cooperate with her measures to revive the real estate market and drawing up a supplementary budget in the National Assembly.Regarding these, Moon said, “The DUP is ready to actively cooperate. We will have a serious discussion to come up with measures to manage the national security crisis and stab

Apr 10, 2013By Jun Ji-hye
People & Events

Painter Choi delves into lines, colors

Choi Wool-ga will open a solo exhibition in Yongsan, Seoul, Wednesday.By Jun Ji-hye Choi Wool-ga, a noted South Korean painter based in New York, opened a solo exhibition in his home country Wednesday for the first time in five years.Titled “Are You There,” Choi is showing 12 new paintings and two sculptures at Gallery 101 in Yongsan, Seoul. The exhibition runs until May 15.“I had mainly focused on drawing lines for more than 10 years. But I recently have shifted to a mix of lines and colors. This exhibition is the first to show those works in Seoul,” Choi said in a recent interview.He said he rarely holds solo exhibitions in Korea as he usually completes only seven to eight works a year.“I was not able to accept invitations from Korean galleries due to the small number of my works. But the young owners of Gallery 101, Lee Seung-min and Jung Hye-yeon, moved my mind as they impressed me with their vision of the exhibition planning, stressing solidarity with painters,” he said. Before moving to New York in 1999, Choi initially settled in Pa

Apr 10, 2013By Jun Ji-hye
Painter Choi delves into lines, colors
South Korea

Ideological conflict hits DUP

By Jun Ji-hyeThe main opposition Democratic United Party (DUP) is embroiled in a fresh round of ideological conflict between its progressive and ideologically-moderate blocs.The struggle for the political line is also seen as the generational discord as the elders and long-term lawmakers insist the DUP should take the ideologically-moderate course, while the younger factions claim that the party has to maintain the progressive stance.The disputes are expected to intensify ahead of the party’s national convention slated for May 4 and the scheduled revision of the party constitution.The struggle began Monday after Rep. Moon Hee-sang, DUP chairman, said, “The DUP was ruined as it has moved to the left wing,” on JTBC, one of the general programming cable networks.“The DUP should move back to the political center as it was the original course of the party since late President Kim Dae-jung formed the Peace Democratic Party in the 1980s,” he said.Lee Boo-young, a senior advisor, also said, “The DUP needs to widen the scope of its supporters,” while

Apr 4, 2013By Jun Ji-hye
South Korea

Candidates gearing up for by-election in Nowon

Saenuri Party’s Huh Joon-young, left; Progressive Justice Party’s Kim Ji-sun, center; and independent Ahn Cheol-soo announce their campaign pledges after registering as candidates to run in the April 24 by-election in Seoul’s Nowon district, Thursday. / YonhapBy Jun Ji-hyeRegistration for candidates running in three by-elections to be held on April 24 began Thursday.Three National Assembly seats representing Nowon in Seoul, Yeongdo in Busan and Buyeo-Cheongyang in South Chungcheong Province are up for grabs, along with others in provincial governments and councils.In Nowon district, currently a focus of media attention and likely to become the most fiercely contested constituency, four candidates registered including former independent presidential candidate Ahn Cheol-soo and the ruling Saenuri Party’s Huh Joon-young, a former CEO of the Korea Railroad (Korail).After registering his candidacy, Ahn said, “This election is not only to change Nowon, but also to change the nation’s political culture. I will dedicate myself to spreading the seeds of new

Apr 4, 2013By Jun Ji-hye
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