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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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Politics

Yoon eyes solving polarization, demographic cliff

President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol attends a meeting of the presidential transition committee's senior officials at its office in Seoul, Tuesday. Courtesy of YonhapKorea braces for major overhaul of national policiesBy Kang Seung-wooPresident-elect Yoon Suk-yeol urged his transition team, Tuesday, to bolster pre-emptive and resolute efforts to achieve innovative growth, while focusing on pragmatism and the national interest to address polarization and a demographic cliff the country faces. He also urged the subcommittees of his transition team to step up cooperation to achieve those goals.“I hope that the transition committee can set clear goals and achieve intended results through cooperation among divisions,” he said while presiding over the meeting with heads of subcommittees on his transition team. “With the education and labor systems of the era of heavy and chemical industries half a century ago, people cannot respond effectively to the era of the Fourth Industrial Revolution with scientific and technological hegemony.”He said that polarization will be eased

Mar 29, 2022By Kang Seung-woo
Yoon eyes solving polarization, demographic cliff
Politics

Yoon's search for prime minister begins

Han Duck-soo, left, and Kwon Young-se / Korea Times photoBy Kang Seung-wooPresident-elect Yoon Suk-yeol has begun the selection process for his first prime minister, amid speculation that candidates versed in the economy are emerging as front-runners due to Yoon's focus on stabilizing the economy. “Considering the time required for the Assembly confirmation process, the appointment of the prime minister is likely to be made by early April,” Yoon's spokesperson Kim Eun-hye said during a press briefing, Monday. “We are also in search of perfect fits for the deputy prime minister for economic affairs, the chairman of the Financial Services Commission (FSC) and the senior presidential secretary for economic affairs to get them working together in concerted efforts as 'one economic team.'” Currently, former Prime Minister Han Duck-soo is the most likely candidate for Yoon's first prime minister. The 72-year-old career bureaucrat served as the deputy prime minister for economic affairs as well as prime minister under the 2003-08 Roh Moo-hyun administration, and was

Mar 28, 2022By Kang Seung-woo
Yoon's search for prime minister begins
Foreign Affairs

Yoon's presidential office relocation plan complicates meeting with Biden

President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol and U.S. President Joe Biden / YonhapBy Kang Seung-wooPresident-elect Yoon Suk-yeol's resolute adherence to his plan to move Cheong Wa Dae even after being inaugurated, May 10, has led to an unforeseen problem: where to hold a summit and dine with U.S. President Joe Biden during his visit to Korea.Yoon wants to relocate the presidential office to the compound of the defense ministry before taking office. But he is set to take the unprecedented step of starting work out of his temporary office in Tongui-dong near Cheong Wa Dae after inauguration due to controversy over an excessively hasty, major relocation while President Moon Jae-in's term lasts until May 9. Cabinet approval is needed to fund the relocation project and, despite expert opinions that the process would take a minimum of several years to carry out, his transition team argues that the move could be completed by June. There are growing concerns over ill-prepared protocols for the leader of Korea's most important ally as Biden is expected to visit Seoul in late May on the occasion of his trip

Mar 27, 2022By Kang Seung-woo
Yoon's presidential office relocation plan complicates meeting with Biden
Foreign Affairs

Foreign ministry seeks to regain authority over trade

This photo shows the Ministry of Foreign Affairs building on the left. Newsis By Kang Seung-wooThe foreign and industry ministries are engaged in a tug of war over which institution will have the authority to promote trade under the Yoon Suk-yeol administration. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is seeking to recover its original responsibility over trade matters, while the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy is arguing for trade authority on the basis of its recent successes in the field.When Korea's first presidential administration was launched in 1948, trade affairs were initially under the jurisdiction of the foreign ministry, which was renamed the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade in 1998 during the Kim Dae-jung administration. In 2013, the Park Geun-hye administration transferred the trade functions to the Ministry of Knowledge Economy, which was reorganized as the current Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. President Moon Jae-in tried to return auth

Mar 24, 2022By Kang Seung-woo
Foreign ministry seeks to regain authority over trade
  • Businesses oppose transfer of trade function to foreign ministry
Politics

Parties gear up for local elections

Officials are busy at the Gyeonggi provincial election commission in Suwon, Wednesday, as local elections for gubernatorial and mayoral posts, regional council members and educational superintendents are 70 days away. YonhapRace for Gyeonggi governor heats upBy Kang Seung-wooWith the presidential election now in the rearview mirror, political parties are gearing up for upcoming local elections, in which 17 mayoral and gubernatorial seats as well as posts for numerous local council members and education chiefs are up for grabs. Following the victory in the presidential election, the conservative People Power Party (PPP) has set its sights on a repeat in the quadrennial elections, scheduled for June 1, while the liberal Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) is seeking to end its unsuccessful election run of late. The ruling party also lost last year's mayoral by-elections in Seoul and Busan.“Shifting the focus on the local elections as soon as possible, we will try to win to support the incoming Yoon Suk-yeol administration,” PPP Chairman Lee Jun-seok said during a party meeting,

Mar 24, 2022By Kang Seung-woo
Parties gear up for local elections
North Korea

Defense Ministry to seek permanent deployment of US strategic assets in South Korea

The Ministry of National Defense / YonhapDefense minister rebuffs President-elect over NK’s violation of military accord By Kang Seung-woo The defense ministry is set to discuss with Washington the rotational deployment of strategic U.S. assets on the Korean Peninsula under the new South Korean administration to deter North Korea's provocations.Strategic assets refer to long-range bombers, nuclear-powered submarines or aircraft carriers.The Ministry of National Defense gave a policy briefing to the transition committee of President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol on Tuesday and said it will seek to resume regular meetings of the Extended Deterrence Strategy and Consultation Group (EDSCG) to ensure the presence of U.S. strategic assets. Yoon has pledged to enhance South Korea's deterrence against Pyongyang's nuclear and missile threats. The EDSCG, established by the two-plus-two foreign and defense ministerial meeting between the allies in October 2016, is a high-level consultative mechanism to achieve North Korean denuclearization through steadfast deterrence. Extended deterrence refe

Mar 22, 2022By Kang Seung-woo
Defense Ministry to seek permanent deployment of US strategic assets in South Korea
Politics

Yoon promises to remove obstacles to businesses growth

President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol, center, poses with the leaders of the nation's six largest business lobby groups prior to their luncheon meeting at the office of the presidential transition committee in Seoul, Monday. From left are Kim Eun-hye, Yoon's spokesperson, Korea Federation of Small, Medium Enterprises Chairman Kim Ki-moon, Federation of Korean Industries Chairman Huh Chang-soo, Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry Chairman Chey Tae-won, Yoon, Korea Enterprises Federation (KEF) Chairman Sohn Kyung-shik, Federation of Middle Market Enterprises of Korea (FOMEK) Chairman Choi Jin-shik, Korea International Trade Association (KITA) President Koo Ja-yeol and Rep. Chang Je-won, Yoon's chief of staff. YonhapBusiness leaders ask President-elect to revise industrial accident lawBy Kang Seung-wooPresident-elect Yoon Suk-yeol vowed, Monday, to remove unnecessary regulations to help businesses make decisions with more certainty and to promote investments to spur the growth of the country's economy.Yoon's promise came during a lunch meeting with the heads of six business lobby groups. The

Mar 21, 2022By Kang Seung-woo
Yoon promises to remove obstacles to businesses growth
North Korea

Yoon's first response to North Korea provocations likely to determine course for next 5 years

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol / Korea Times photoBy Kang Seung-wooAmid signs of North Korea abandoning its self-restraint in regards to testing long-range missiles and nuclear weapons, President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol's pledge to take a tougher stance and bolster South Korea's deterrence against its northern neighbor ― in close cooperation with the United States ― is likely to prolong the period of non-engagement between the two Koreas under his new administration.Furthermore, Yoon has filled the foreign policy subcommittee of his transition team with officials from the former Lee Myung-bak government, who pursued confrontational policies that almost pushed the two Koreas to the brink of war. With the new conservative administration to be inaugurated in May, Pyongyang is likely to test how much bandwidth the Yoon administration will allow in dealing with its provocative actions, and diplomatic observers say how the new government responds to this initial saber-rattling will set the tone for inter-Korean interactions for the next five years. “Rel

Mar 20, 2022By Kang Seung-woo
Yoon's first response to North Korea provocations likely to determine course for next 5 years
  • North Korea launches 4 projectiles from suspected multiple rocket launchers into Yellow Sea: officials
Defense

Yoon faces growing opposition to Cheong Wa Dae relocation

Six lawmakers of the Democratic Party of Korea hold a press conference in front of the defense ministry in Seoul, Friday, urging President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol to scrap his plan to relocate the presidential office to the ministry compound. YonhapBy Kang Seung-wooWith the defense ministry compound emerging as the most likely site for the new presidential office and residence, President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol's office relocation plan is facing a strong backlash, due to concerns that the move would compromise national security and waste taxpayers' money. During his election campaign, Yoon vowed to open the “new Gwanghwamun era” by working out of the Seoul Government Complex so as to depart from the country's legacy of imperial presidencies and thereby communicate better with the people and press. However, his transition team has since had second thoughts, citing the lack space for required security personnel in the complex ― and has been considering the foreign ministry building and the defense ministry compound, with the latter seen as offering certain advantages in terms of se

Mar 18, 2022By Kang Seung-woo
Yoon faces growing opposition to Cheong Wa Dae relocation
  • Yoon stresses overcoming COVID-19 crisis as transition team sets sail
Politics

President-elect unveils policy advisers

From left are Kang Seog-hoon, Kim Hyun-sook and Jang Sung-min. YonhapBy Kang Seung-wooPresident-elect Yoon Suk-yeol made an appointments of his policy advisers, Wednesday.According to his spokesperson Kim Eun-hye, Yoon has named Kang Seog-hoon, a professor of economics at Sungshin Women's University, and Kim Hyun-sook, an economics professor at Soongsil University, as special advisers for policy.In addition, Jang Sung-min, the president of the World and Northeast Asia Peace Forum who competed with Yoon in the conservative People Power Party (PPP) primary, has been tapped to serve as the special assistant for political affairs. Jang was a vocal critic of Yoon.“Kang and Kim are perfect fits to the positions given that they served as senior presidential secretaries for economic affairs and employment and welfare, respectively, under the Park Geun-hye administration,” the spokesperson said. “Since the party primary, they have provided pieces of advice in the areas of economy, society and welfare to the president-elect. Yoon has comfortably exchanged opinions with them d

Mar 16, 2022By Kang Seung-woo
President-elect unveils policy advisers
  • Incoming, outgoing leaders clash amid power transition
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