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Kang Seung-woo

Korea Times Business Reporter

Kang Seung-woo is the Business Desk editor at The Korea Times. Prior to this position, he covered politics, national affairs, finance and sports.

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South Korea

Debate on extra budget intensifying

By Kang Seung-wooThe rival parties exchanged barbs over the government-proposed supplementary budget, Wednesday, clouding prospects for an early passage of the bill.The National Assembly Strategy and Finance Committee held its first meeting to discuss the budget bill. Lawmakers from the ruling Saenuri Party are backing it and urged the New Politics Alliance for Democracy (NPAD) to endorse the bill quickly.However, the main opposition party called for a drastic cut to the proposed budget, saying the government’s explanations that the country needs extra spending to address the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) outbreak and drought are not understandable.In addition, the NPAD urged the government to raise corporate taxes, citing repeated deficits in tax revenue.Earlier this month, the government submitted an 11.8 trillion won supplementary budget to the National Assembly as part of its efforts to revitalize the sluggish economy damaged by slumping exports and anemic domestic demand.Out of the extra budget requested, the government plans to use 5.6 trillion won to make up fo

Jul 15, 2015By Kang Seung-woo
South Korea

Girl groups cheer troops

By Kang Seung-wooGirl groups are sending encouraging messages to conscripts and soldiers.The Military Manpower Administration (MMA) Wednesday released a video featuring popular girl groups conveying messages to cheer them up.The K-Pop girl bands include Girl’s Day, EXIT, GFRIEND and The ARK. Actress Kyung Soo-jin also participated in the campaign.“People support all of you that are committed to military service. I hope that you will stay in shape during the spell,” said Hyeri of the four-member Girl’s Day.The EXID, comprised of five girls, said, “Although you may have hard times during military service, we are rooting for you to become proud sons to your parents after completing the military duty.”The agency said it produced the video in order to create a culture of pride in military service, while boosting the positive recognition of the mandatory commitment. The featured entertainers did not get paid for their appearances, it added.“The MMA made the video to thank those who sincerely serve their military service, and I hope that sincere mes

Jul 15, 2015By Kang Seung-woo
South Korea

Overseas resources projects 'loss-making': BAI

By Kang Seung-wooThe government invested nearly 36 trillion won in overseas resource development projects over the past 30 years, but most of them failed, the state auditor said Tuesday.Under existing contracts, the country is set to spend some 46 trillion won more in the future.The Board of Audit and Inspection of Korea (BAI) revealed interim findings of its evaluation of the resource projects.“Since 1984, government offices have spent 35.8 trillion won on 169 projects to secure resources overseas. But their performances were unsatisfactory,” the BAI said.The audit agency added that the Korea National Oil Corp. (KNOC) spent 21.7 trillion won on 97 projects, followed by Korea Gas Corp. (KOGAS) and Korea Resources Corp. (KORES), which invested 10.3 trillion won in 25 businesses and 3.8 trillion won in 47, respectively.“We wonder why the government has launched overseas projects,” Jeong Gil-young, a senior BAI auditor, told a press briefing.As for developing oil attainment, the KNOC has secured only 0.2 percent of the total annual amount of imported oil in the p

Jul 14, 2015By Kang Seung-woo
South Korea

Park approval falls following floor leader brouhaha

By Kang Seung-wooPresident Park Geun-hye’s approval rating fell nearly 3 percentage points in the latest poll, released Monday, adversely affected by controversy over Saenuri Party floor leader Yoo Seong-min’s resignation.According to the Realmeter poll, 34.6 percent of Koreans approve of the way Park is handling her presidency ― 2.7 percentage points down from 37.3 percent the previous week ― compared with 60.5 percent who disapprove. The disapproval rate rose 3.4 percentage points.The poll organization, which has carried out a weekly survey of the Park administration, said a schism highlighted by the ruling party floor leader’s resignation had hurt Park’s popularity.“Yoo’s resignation prompted moderate and independent supporters to lose confidence in Park,” it said in a statement.According to the pollster, the controversy accounted for 2 percentage points of the overall decline in her approval rating, and 2 percentage points of the increase in her disapproval rating.Yoo, who took office in February, quit last week after Park force

Jul 13, 2015By Kang Seung-woo
South Korea

Park urges NK to embrace changes

By Kang Seung-woo President Park Geun-hye said Friday that North Korea will have to recognize the changes happening in Cuba and Iran to end its hostile relationship with the international community.Recently, Cuba restored diplomatic ties with the United States after 54 years, while Iran is in negotiations with the international community to end a standoff over its nuclear program.“The two cases show that change and cooperation is now the mainstream of the international community,” Park said during a meeting with members of the Presidential Committee for Unification Preparation at Cheong Wa Dae.“What is left is to end the history of division of the Korean Peninsula and I believe the North cannot repeatedly avoid change.”The President also stressed that South Korea should guide the North to the right way and seek to set up specific cooperative plans.The Kim Jong-un regime has yet to show any sign of an effort to normalize ties with the international community, and instead has focused on developing its nuclear weapons program that has resulted in sanctions f

Jul 10, 2015By Kang Seung-woo
South Korea

More opposition party members to quit

By Kang Seung-woo More members of the main opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy (NPAD) are expected to break away from the party in the coming weeks to join efforts to create a new opposition party.On Thursday, some 100 NPAD members left the party, criticizing Chairman Rep. Moon Jae-in and other lawmakers tied to the late former President Roh Moo-hyun for trying to control the party.Their defection highlights a deepening factional feud at the NPAD. They made it clear that their goal was to set up a new party, and more NPAD members will join them.Five high-profile opposition politicians, seen as those pursuing the establishment of a new party, reportedly met in Seoul on the same day.They were Rep. Park Joo-sun; Jeong Dae-cheol, an NPAD advisor; Park Joon-young, a former South Jeolla Province governor; Chung Gyun-hwan, a former lawmaker; and Park Kwang-tae, a former mayor of Gwangju.All of them have stakes in the South and North Jeolla provinces, commonly called the Honam region.“Additional departures by non-mainstream members are likely because the NPAD’s ap

Jul 10, 2015By Kang Seung-woo
South Korea

Park loses more than gains

President draws backlash for pressing Yoo to quitBy Kang Seung-woo President Park Geun-hyePresident Park Geun-hye may be adversely affected by the resignation of the party’s floor leader Rep. Yoo Seong-min on Wednesday, analysts said.Yoo quit the post after the party recommended that he quit following Park’s “apparent order” to step down on June 25, when she slammed the third-term lawmaker for “betraying her” in a now-abandoned bipartisan revision bill for the National Assembly Law.“Ostensibly, President Park won in the duel against Yoo, fulfilling her intended goal of forcing him out,” said Yun Seong-yi, a professor of political science at Kyung Hee University.“However, in the long term, she is likely to face negative public opinion regarding Yoo’s resignation because Cheong Wa Dae had no authority and cause to force the floor leader of the ruling party to quit.”Cho Jin-man, a political science professor at Duksung Women’s University, also said the incident prompted some party members and supporters to lose

Jul 8, 2015By Kang Seung-woo
Park loses more than gains
People & Events

Navy proud of first father-son instructors

Master Chief Petty Officer Jung Jin-hyeong, left, and Petty Officer Second Class Jung Ji-soo / Courtesy of ROK NavyBy Kang Seung-woo The Navy has announced that for the first time in its history a father and his son are both serving at a unit that trains recruits and non-commissioned officers (NCOs).Master Chief Petty Officer Jung Jin-hyeong and Petty Officer Second Class Jung Ji-soo are now stationed at the Naval Education and Training Command in Jinhae, South Gyeongsang Province.The father, 51, began his first posting at the training command from 1987 to 1990, and had repeat assignments from 1997 to 2000 and from 2003 to 2006, training tens of thousands of seaman-apprentices and NCOs.On the back of wealth of experience and know-how, the master chief petty officer plays an important role in counseling junior instructors.His son, 23, followed in his father’s footsteps when he was stationed at the command last December.“As I have paid respect to my father since childhood, I decided to join the Navy and become an instructor eventually,” the son said. “

Jul 8, 2015By Kang Seung-woo
Navy proud of first father-son instructors
South Korea

Ex-first lady likely to meet NK leader

By Kang Seung-wooFormer first lady Lee Hee-ho is highly likely to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong-un during her trip to Pyongyang next month, analysts said Tuesday.However, it remains to be seen whether the 92-year-old widow of the late former President Kim Dae-jung and the North’s dictator will result in eye-catching measures to repair the strained inter-Korean relations.Lee is scheduled to travel to the North from Aug. 5-8, which will also include visits to a children’s hospital, a maternity home and a nursery in Pyongyang.“Lee is one of few South Koreans to receive a personally written letter from Kim,” said An Chan-il, the head of the World Institute for North Korea Studies.“As Kim has invited her in the letter, they are likely to meet.”Lee visited Pyongyang with her husband for the historic inter-Korean summit on June 15, 2000, meeting the North’s now-deceased former leader Kim Jong-il. She sent a wreath of flowers in December to the North to mark the third anniversary of the death of the former dictator, who is the current ruler&rsquo

Jul 7, 2015By Kang Seung-woo
South Korea

Anti-Chaebol lawmaker proposes bill backing Samsung

By Kang Seung-woo Rep. Park Young-sunRep. Park Young-sun of the main opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy (NPAD) has submitted a bill proposing a revision to the Foreign Investment Promotion Act that would protect domestic firms from “hostile” foreign investors.According to Park’s office, the third-term lawmaker introduced the bill to the National Assembly, Friday. If approved, the amendment would restrict foreign investment if it conspicuously hinders the nation’s economic management. Nine members of the NPAD co-sponsored the bill.Park’s move drew attention because it comes as a U.S. hedge fund strongly opposes a proposed merger of two Samsung Group units. In the past, she has been critical of alleged malpractices perpetrated by the nation’s major conglomerates, or chaebol, including Samsung.The Foreign Investment Promotion Act was enacted in 1998 for the purpose of courting foreign direct investment, following the 1997 Asian financial crisis.Currently, the act restricts investment when it disrupts national security and public order

Jul 6, 2015By Kang Seung-woo
Anti-Chaebol lawmaker proposes bill backing Samsung
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