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Park Ji-won

Korea Times Politics & City Reporter

Park Ji-won is a writer for The Korea Times who has been covering a wide range of topics from Korea’s culture to its politics. An avid journalism enthusiast to the core, Ji-won brings a thoughtful and unique perspective to every topic she covers. On weekends, you'll often find her contemplating life’s purpose on a yoga mat — with a cup of quality tea in hand. A native Korean speaker by birth and fluent in English through her work, she went to college in Japan and is learning Chinese and French — hoping to add Polish, Russian and Thai to the mix.

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Politics

Kim Min-seok wins DPK leadership race over Jung Chung-rae

Former Prime Minister Kim Min-seok won the ruling Democratic Party of Korea's (DPK) leadership race Monday, edging out former party leader Jung Chung-rae to become the party's next chairman for a two-year term. Kim, 63, secured 55.94 percent of the vote, or 430,242 votes, at the party's national convention in the Daejeon Convention Center, against Jung's 44.06 percent at 338,809 votes. Neither candidate cleared a majority in the initial count, so the party applied its new preferential voting rules, redistributing second-choice votes from supporters of Song Young-gil, the lowest-placed candidate. With those votes factored in, Kim's cumulative vote share reached 54.08 percent, while Jung finished at 45.92 percent. The winner was determined by weighting votes from DPK delegates and dues-paying members at 70 percent and a public opinion poll at 30 percent. This year's race also introduced another change from the last leadership election: delegate votes, once weighted roughly 17 times higher than those of individual dues-paying members, were counted on equal footing with rank-and-file ballot

17h agoBy Park Ji-won
Kim Min-seok wins DPK leadership race over Jung Chung-rae
Companies

Cash-only demand reportedly prompted SK chairman to appeal $666 mil. divorce payout ruling

SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won’s last-minute decision to appeal his 944 billion won ($666 million) property division ruling reportedly stems from a sharp disagreement over how the massive payout should be settled. Chey offered a hybrid package consisting of both cash and SK stock, but his ex-wife, Art Center Nabi Director Roh Soh-yeong, apparently rejected the offer, demanding the entire payment in cash. Faced with a Friday midnight deadline, Chey’s legal team submitted an appeal to the Supreme Court with just one minute to spare. Chey had initially considered liquidating equity to raise the funds and conclude the nine-year legal dispute. However, selling a massive block of shares in a short period raised concerns about driving down stock prices and undermining the group's governance structure. To bridge the gap, Chey reportedly proposed giving Roh a mix of cash and shares, offering to compensate her if the stock price dropped, while forfeiting any claim to potential gains if the price rose. Roh apparently refused the compromise, insisting on the precise execution of the appellate

1d agoBy Park Ji-won
Cash-only demand reportedly prompted SK chairman to appeal $666 mil. divorce payout ruling
Politics

Ex-PM claims narrow victory in DPK primary across Seoul, Gyeonggi

Former Prime Minister Kim Min-seok won the ruling Democratic Party of Korea's (DPK) primary across Seoul and Gyeonggi Province on Sunday. Kim secured a narrow victory with 46.61 percent (148,245 votes), edging out incumbent party leader Rep. Jung Chung-rae at 46.28 percent (147,038 votes) and former party chief Rep. Song Young-gil at 7.05 percent (22,410 votes). Kim’s total cumulative vote share reached 49.91 percent, excluding regional weighting for North and South Gyeongsang provinces and Daegu. Meanwhile, Jung followed at 41.51 percent, with the gap between them at 8.4 percentage points. Kim also secured a victory in the party primary in Gwangju and the Jeolla provinces Saturday, a region viewed as a litmus test for the party's leadership race. Kim captured 57.54 percent of the vote in the party stronghold, outpacing Jung, who received 32.65 percent, and former party chief Rep. Song Young-gil, who took 9.81 percent. Before Sunday's primary, Kim led with a cumulative 235,128 votes, or 52.21 percent, across Chungcheong Province, Busan–Ulsan–South Gyeongsang Province, Jeju, Incheo

1d agoBy Park Ji-won
Ex-PM claims narrow victory in DPK primary across Seoul, Gyeonggi
North Korea

NK aims to deepen ties with China, Russia by criticizing nuclear projects of S. Korea, Japan: experts

North Korea’s recent criticisms against South Korea’s nuclear submarine plans and Japan’s consideration of non-nuclear policy revisions, coupled with its latest missile tests, are likely aimed at boosting ties with China and Russia and bolstering its nuclear narrative, experts said. They believe Pyongyang's recent actions were timed with the expected visit of Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi to Seoul, as early as next week. In a commentary released by Pyongyang's state-run news outlet Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on Wednesday, Jang Kum-chol, first vice minister of North Korea's foreign ministry, criticized Seoul’s nuclear-powered submarine development plan with the United States, saying, "South Korea’s push to acquire nuclear-powered submarines will inevitably trigger a nuclear domino effect across the Asia-Pacific region." The criticism came three months after Seoul unveiled in May the Jang Bogo N Program, an initiative to develop around three 8,000-ton nuclear-powered submarines. A piece published by the KCNA on Wednesday attributed to international affairs commentator R

Aug 13, 2026By Park Ji-won
NK aims to deepen ties with China, Russia by criticizing nuclear projects of S. Korea, Japan: experts
Defense

Gwangju Air Base transfer deadline weakens Korea's hand with US

South Korea's plan to convert Gwangju Air Base into a semiconductor cluster by mid-2028 is drawing criticism from defense experts who say President Lee Jae Myung's unilateral announcement of a hard deadline may have undermined Seoul's negotiating position with Washington before talks have even concluded. During a checkup meeting on progress of the so-called megaproject — a large-scale new chip hub planned for southwestern Korea — Lee said Monday that Gwangju Air Base, a dual-use facility also known as Gwangju Airport, would be relocated by mid-2028 to make way for the new industrial complex. The Ministry of National Defense followed Tuesday with a statement saying it would cooperate with the plan while minimizing any impact on national security and defense readiness. "The ministry will actively review and advance a plan to temporarily relocate Gwangju Air Base's operations to another military airfield by mid-2028," it said, adding that it would coordinate with the U.S. side for the return of land currently granted to American forces. The base is currently jointly operated by Seoul a

Aug 11, 2026By Park Ji-won
Gwangju Air Base transfer deadline weakens Korea's hand with US
Foreign Affairs

US envoy's husband brings political heft to Seoul

Ever since U.S. Ambassador to Korea Michelle Steel arrived in Seoul on July 30, her husband, Shawn Steel, has been by her side at nearly all of her official appearances. At first, the arrangement — including a joint visit to Namdaemun Market — appeared aimed at building a warm, family-oriented image with the Korean public. But when Shawn accompanied the ambassador to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to present her credentials to the chief of protocol and met with Foreign Minister Cho Hyun, his presence took on a different tone. His attendance at a meeting with the foreign minister — unusual for a diplomatic spouse — made him something of a scene-stealer and insiders say it could signal a broader political role for him as a political heavyweight close to U.S. President Donald Trump. "It is rare for a diplomatic spouse to attend a meeting with the foreign minister. But it can happen," an insider said. "The ministry likely agreed to his presence in advance, given the political implications." Cho, who later briefed reporters on the meeting, openly expressed high expectations as the c

Aug 10, 2026By Park Ji-won
US envoy's husband brings political heft to Seoul
Sports

Sexual favor scandal revives doubts over Korea's historic 2002 World Cup semifinal run

The disclosure of the national football association’s alleged provision of sexual entertainment to foreign referees between 2011 and 2012 is expanding beyond national disgrace toward doubts over the legitimacy of Korea’s landmark 2002 World Cup semifinal advancement. It has revived the 24-year-old suspicions that the Korean national team had been favored during the World Cup matches and thus gained the exceptional result, although there were no grounds to back the suspicion of any illegality involved. However, regardless of the correlation between Korea's good performance and the alleged provision of sexual entertainment, the scandal is tarnishing the country's image and intensifying criticism for the already embattled Korea Football Association (KFA). Some foreign media outlets, especially those in Japan, which co-hosted the 2002 World Cup with Korea, have been reporting on the latest allegations, which were made public last week and were revealed through a 2016 Korean government audit. The audit showed the KFA’s corporate credit cards were allegedly used to pay for sex services

Aug 9, 2026By Park Ji-won
Sexual favor scandal revives doubts over Korea's historic 2002 World Cup semifinal run
Politics

Why young women, once Lee's strongest base, are turning away

Lee, a 32-year-old office worker in Seoul, spent years working and saving toward a single goal: buying her own apartment with a mortgage. She had just reached that point when the government cut the loan cap in half, from 600 million to 300 million won. "I've been working hard and saving up money and now that I was finally about to buy my own home with a mortgage, getting the loan cap cut in half is a huge blow to me," she said. She had voted for President Lee Jae Myung, drawn by his hands-on administrative background as mayor of Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province and later Gyeonggi Governor. "I had high hopes for President Lee Jae Myung because he became president with hands-on administrative experience, unlike past leaders with a judiciary or legislative background," she said. "Watching the news about how he sold his own apartment in Seongnam makes it feel like double standards." She no longer supports him. Her story is not an outlier. Many young women in their 20s and 30s — a demographic that played a pivotal role in electing Lee — are withdrawing their support for him and the ruling Demo

Aug 7, 2026By Park Ji-won
Why young women, once Lee's strongest base, are turning away
North Korea

Unification minister pushes to drop 'main enemy' label for North Korea

Unification Minister Chung Dong-young proposed dropping the designation of North Korea as South Korea's "main enemy" in order to resume talks with Pyongyang, a move that drew pushback from the defense ministry, during a policy briefing to President Lee Jae Myung Wednesday. "Recognizing each other by name is the crucial first step. We must cease hostile, hate-filled language toward one another, such as designating a 'main enemy,'" Chung said during the policy briefing. "The unification ministry will move away from the previous administration's policy of unification by absorption and advance discussions on a new unification framework." Chung had earlier elaborated on his reasoning during a press briefing Tuesday. "Using the term 'main enemy' is inappropriate when we are pursuing peaceful coexistence on the Korean Peninsula. The expression 'threat,' which was used under the Roh Moo-hyun and Moon Jae-in administrations, is far more suitable. I believe the term 'enemy' used by the Yoon Suk Yeol administration was inappropriate," he had said. "We must bring an end to this scary status quo wher

Aug 5, 2026By Park Ji-won
Unification minister pushes to drop 'main enemy' label for North Korea
Foreign Affairs

US Ambassador Steel leans into Korean American identity before diplomatic debut

U.S. Ambassador to South Korea Michelle Steel is leaning into her Korean American identity through a series of personal, ground-level appearances across Seoul before formally beginning her diplomatic duties, a different approach from that of her most recent predecessors. Since arriving in Seoul on Thursday, Steel has visited several landmarks near the U.S. Embassy over the weekend, engaging directly with the public before completing the formal steps required to assume her post. Her public engagement has come notably faster than that of her predecessors, former Ambassadors Harry Harris and Philip Goldberg, who refrained from active public appearances before presenting their credentials to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Posting on her X account for the first time as ambassador on Friday, Steel shared a photo taken in front of the King Sejong statue in Gwanghwamun Square — just across the U.S. Embassy, which is visible in the background — featuring captions in both Korean and English, with the Korean text appearing first. “Walking past the King Sejong statue today reminded me of Ko

Aug 3, 2026By Park Ji-won
US Ambassador Steel leans into Korean American identity before diplomatic debut
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