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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

Tourism veteran now private envoy in Britain

By Jun Ji-hye A Korean tourism veteran living in Britain has taken up the role as a private envoy by helping people from his home country when they visit Britain. Kim Chong-min, managing director at Planet London Tour, was a key member of the support team for the late President Roh Moo-hyun’s state visit to Britain in 2004. “At the time, I was head of the operations division at a different travel agency. When the late President Roh visited Britain, we cooperated with the then Korean Ambassador and two other travel agencies, and supported him by arranging cars, drivers, guards, etc.,” he said during an interview with The Korea Times on Tuesday. The 47-year-old recalled the memory of seeing Roh in person. “As far as I remember, in reality he looked exactly the same as when he was on TV. He smiled and was gentle all the time. He commended our hard work every morning,” Kim said. “The most memorable occasion was Roh staying in Buckingham Palace. He slept in a hotel for the first night as he arrived at Heathrow Airport late at night and he went to the palace, where t

Sep 26, 2012By Jun Ji-hye
South Korea

Former leftist party leader declares presidential bid

By Jun Ji-hye A former Unified Progressive Party (UPP) leader Lee Jung-hee officially announced her presidential bid Tuesday in front of the American Embassy in Sejongro, Seoul. As for the reason for declaring a bid, she said “We need a government that can protect the Korean public from American pressure.” “Progressive politics will save us. You cannot say you have a spirit of progress if you don’t want to confront the division of the country. We have to aspire toward unification,” she said. “I will conduct politics that helps laborers, farmers and ordinary people protect their life by themselves. I will walk the way of progressive politics,” Analysts said Lee’s bid is likely to be a variable if she earns support of at least 3 percent, given that the gap between the ruling Saenuri Party’s presidential candidate Park Geun-hye and the independent candidate Ahn Cheol-soo is within that margin. Prior to Lee’s official announcement, Rep. Roh Hoe-chan, who recently left UPP to create a new political party, expressed his skeptical view on her bid. “As a person who

Sep 25, 2012By Jun Ji-hye
South Korea

New Saenuri Party spokesman takes flak

By Jun Ji-hye Rep. Kim Jae-won, who was newly named the Saenuri Party’s spokesperson, is embroiled in controversy due to a bout of cursing and losing his temper during a dinner with a group of journalists, Sunday. The ruling party’s presidential candidate Park Geun-hye replaced the previous party spokesman Hong Il-pyo with Kim Sunday, in response to criticism against the alleged weak communication methods of the party. The newly-appointed spokesman was having dinner with the press for the first time to mark his designation. “The reason why Park engages in politics is to recover her father’s honor,” he said according to reporters who attended the dinner. About an hour later, Kim received a phone call from the party and was asked if he had made the comment. Right after he hung up, he suddenly got angry with the journalists and asked the group who reported his remark to the party, pointing to each journalist with his finger. He even started referring to reporters as idiots and said “Why did you report a private conversation? You are an idiot. Can you say you are a jour

Sep 24, 2012By Jun Ji-hye
People & Events

Korean icebreaker leads world research

By Jun Ji-hye A veteran ocean researcher is taking the lead in the nation’s efforts to cope with the ever serious problems of climate change, under extreme conditions in polar regions. Kang Sung-ho, director of the Climate Department at the Korea Polar Research Institute, recently returned home from the Arctic, sailing for 40 days with the nation’s first icebreaker Araon. “The aim of the voyage was to investigate the structure and processes in water columns and subsurface in rapid transition,” he said. Kang, who watches the changes of the earth’s environment on the actual ground, warned of the seriousness of climate change and explained it in an easy way, comparing it to candy. “Assume that your mouth is the earth. When you eat candy, it takes a long time to finish it if you melt it in your mouth. But the time decreases if you bite it in two.” “Glaciers melt in exactly the same way. The melting time is decreasing more and more because a lot of ice has been broken off because of global warming,” the 50-year-old scientist said during an interview with The Korea Tim

Sep 20, 2012By Jun Ji-hye
South Korea

'Political reform should precede alliance'

By Jun Ji-hye, Ryu Chang-gi Software mogul-turned-politician Ahn Cheol-soo cited the need for political reform that the people want to see, Wednesday, terming it as a precondition for the possible formation of an alliance with the opposition camp. He also emphasized that the nation needs a leader equipped with a digital mind along with “horizontal leadership” to solve various problems from a comprehensive perspective. Question: Many doubt about your ability to lead the nation due to a lack of political experience. Answer: Right, I do not have experience in politics. But I’m not sure whether a rich political experience is necessarily a good thing. What is needed for us in the 21st century is a digital mind alongside a horizontal leadership. My experiences in various fields such as IT, medicine and management will help me (run the nation). Q: What should be done to minimize the negative fallout of the European economic crisis? A: Economic matters cannot be swept away by one expert or one government department’s efforts. We need a convergent way of thinking to colle

Sep 19, 2012By Jun Ji-hye
South Korea

Volunteer organization supports US soldiers in Korea

By Jun Ji-hye Around 28,500 American soldiers are currently stationed in Korea. To support them during their time of active service here, a Korean volunteer organization is working hard to promote cultural and educational programs. Members of the International Charity Foundation (ICF), founded in 1997, established themselves as private sector diplomats with the aim of helping to maintain friendly relations between Korea and the United States. “Our motto is MWR, which stands for Morale, Welfare and Recreation for American soldiers and their families,” said Lee Choon-kyung, ICF chairman. “To fulfill our tasks, we mainly do cultural business such as holding charity concerts as well as conducting educational business such as teaching basic Korean language or how to cook Korean food.” As part of efforts offering cultural opportunities, they hosted an opera gala concert on Sep. 7, featuring various vocalists, a pianist and a flautist, at Dragon Hill Lodge, a recreation center owned by the U.S Department of Defense and located in Yongsan Garrison in Seoul. “We invited not onl

Sep 18, 2012By Jun Ji-hye
People & Events

Uzbek President’s photo book released

By Jun Ji-hye Kim Yong-gu, a former lawmaker, hosted an event to celebrate the release of Uzbek President Islam Abduganievich Karimov’s photo book in Korea at the Lotte Hotel, Seoul Monday. The book, titled “Islam Karimov – Truly the People’s President,” features photos of President Karimov’s activities at home and abroad. Karimov, the first president of Uzbekistan, has been in power since 1990 and declared the country’s independence on Aug. 31 in 1991. “I am glad to be able to release the photo book of President Islam Karimov who has played a key role in maintaining good bilateral relations with the Korea government. This book was published on the occasion of President Karimov’s seventh visit to Korea to offer visions for further cooperation between the two countries,” Kim, now chairman of Shindong Resources Co., Ltd., said during his opening address. “This year marks the 20th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Korea and Uzbekistan. Many Korean conglomerates and small- and medium-sized firms are now conducting business in the energy and construction sec

Sep 17, 2012By Jun Ji-hye
South Korea

Saenuri unveils lineup of Park camp

By Jun Ji-hye Kim Jong-in, a chief strategist of the Park Geun-hye camp in charge of economic and social campaign pledges, unveiled the lineup of members of the campaign team, Sunday. Speaking at a news conference held at the party’s headquarter in Seoul, Kim said “the Saenuri Party invited experts from all walks of life to forge the presidential campaign pledges” to appeal to the hearts and minds of voters. The team is one of the two core pillars of the Park camp. The other is in charge of political reforms, which was launched weeks ago and unveiled a set of measures to overhaul the political arena. Kim is in charge of the newly launched team. He invited 12 outside experts in various areas and eight Saenuri Party members including Rep. Rhee Chong-hoon and Rep. Na Seong-lin. Kim Kwang-doo, head of Park’s think tank the National Future Research Center is to take charge in the area of economics and Choi Sung-jae, who is regarded as welfare brain for Park, is responsible for welfare. The lineup of Kim’s team was launched later than expected as there were power st

Sep 16, 2012By Jun Ji-hye
South Korea

Ahn Cheol-soo visits Gwangju cemetery

By Jun Ji-hye Ahn Cheol-soo made a visit Friday to the National Cemetery in Gwangju to pay his respects to those killed during the May 18 Democracy Uprising in 1980. His visit mirrored previous presidential candidates’ trips to the cemetery to pay their respects to victims of the nation’s democracy movement. It came ahead of an expected announcement of his presidential bid, which is expected to take place after the primary election of the main opposition Democratic United Party(DUP) wraps up. Gwangju is in the western Honam region, the home base for the DUP, which is openly courting the popular professor at Seoul National University. The DUP has almost finished its primary tour with Rep. Moon Jae-in likely to emerge as its standard bearer at the final stop in Seoul on Sunday. During his visit, Ahn wrote “Rest in Peace” in the visitor’s book, as he paid his respects at the memorial and toured an exhibit hall. “Ahn has long thought of visiting the National Cemetery for the May 18 Uprising but he wanted to do it alone and quietly,” said Yoo Min-young, a de-fact

Sep 14, 2012By Jun Ji-hye
South Korea

Old spy scandal haunts Park Geun-hye

By Jun Ji-hye Rep. Park Geun-hye, the presidential candidate of the ruling Saenuri Party, said Thursday that she was willing to meet the families of victims in a 1974 spy ring trial who were executed but later exonerated. “I will meet them if they agree to it,” Park told reporters. Earlier in the day, Rep. Seo Byung-soo, Saenuri Party secretary-general, said “Park has expressed regret over the unfortunate incidents that occurred while her late father President Park Chung-hee was in office. I believe she will address the dark side of her late father’s legacy anytime she has the opportunity,” in an interview Rep. Lee Sang-il, a spokesman of the party, told reporters that Park will likely make her position clear on her father’s controversial legacy before Chuseok (Korean Thanksgiving holiday) falling on Sep. 30 this year. “I understand that she will address the issue in person soon.” The ruling party’s reaction came as the case has become a political football after Park’s controversial remarks. In a recent interview, she said “There were two contrasting court rulings

Sep 13, 2012By Jun Ji-hye
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