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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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Defense

Korean, Indonesian defense chiefs discuss KF-X issue

President Moon Jae-in poses with Indonesian Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto during the latter's visit to Cheong Wa Dae, Thursday. Joint press corpsBy Kang Seung-wooDefense Minister Suh Wook and his Indonesian counterpart Prabowo Subianto agreed, Thursday, to further discuss details regarding joint work on Korea's homegrown KF-X aircraft and other defense cooperation projects, according to Seoul's defense ministry, amid growing questions over Jakarta's commitment to the joint development program. Indonesia is a partner of the 8.8 trillion won ($7.7 billion) KF-X that seeks to produce 120 advanced multi-role fighter jets. Jakarta promised to fund 20 percent of the total development cost, or 1.7 trillion won, in exchange for 50 planes that will be manufactured there for the Indonesian Air Force, as well as technology transfers. “Given that the KF-X/IF-X joint development project symbolizes the solid mutual trust between Korea and Indonesia, the two countries concurred on the need to reciprocally cooperate in the defense sector,” the ministry said in a press statement. In I

Apr 8, 2021By Kang Seung-woo
Korean, Indonesian defense chiefs discuss KF-X issue
Foreign Affairs

Seoul trip loses appeal for Chinese leader

President Moon Jae-in shakes hands with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in Beijing, China, Dec. 23, 2019. Korea Times fileBy Kang Seung-wooDespite the South Korean government's years-long efforts to contrive Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit to Seoul, chances of him traveling here before President Moon Jae-in leaves office next year are gradually diminishing, as Beijing seems to be intent on using the trip as a bargaining chip amid a deepening U.S.-Sino rivalry, while the visit itself is losing its charm for China due to a lack of benefits, according to diplomatic observers.Since Moon last traveled to China in December 2019, the Moon administration has sought Xi's reciprocal visit to Seoul to address remaining economic retaliatory measures imposed by Beijing on South Korea following the deployment of a U.S. Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) anti-missile system here and also to discuss the North Korea issue.During a series of senior-level meetings between the two sides so far, including last week's foreign minsters' meeting between Chung Eui-yong and Wang Yi, the Chine

Apr 8, 2021By Kang Seung-woo
Seoul trip loses appeal for Chinese leader
Politics

Conservatives win landslide victory in Seoul, Busan by-elections

Oh Se-hoon, left, and Park Heong-joon, the candidates of the main opposition People Power Party for Seoul and Busan mayor posts, react at the party headquarters in Seoul and Park's election camp in Busan, respectively, early Thursday morning, after their victory in the by-elections has almost confirmed. YonhapBy Kang Seung-wooThe main opposition People Power Party (PPP) swept the mayoral by-elections in the nation's two largest cities of Seoul and Busan by a landslide, Wednesday, giving a boost to the party ahead of next year's presidential election and further pushing beleaguered President Moon Jae-in into a lame duck presidency. The PPP's Seoul mayoral candidate Oh Se-hoon beat Park Young-sun of the DPK at 57.5 percent to 39.18 percent, while in Busan the PPP's Park Heong-joon nearly double the votes of the DPK's Kim Young-choon, at 62.67 percent to 34.42 percent, according to the National Election Commission, Thursday.The by-elections to choose new mayors of Seoul and Busan took place at 3,459 polling stations across the country.The mayoral posts of the nation's largest- and secon

Apr 7, 2021By Kang Seung-woo
Conservatives win landslide victory in Seoul, Busan by-elections
  • Voters want new Seoul mayor to seek realistic goals
  • Foreign residents want better support and equity from new Seoul mayor
  • Main opposition party's victory to change political landscape
Defense

Will Indonesian defense minister's visit normalize KF-X?

Workers at Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) assemble the first prototype of the Korea-developed fighter jet KF-X at its plant in Sacheon, South Gyeongsang Province, Jan. 22. The prototype will be unveiled later this week. Courtesy of KAIBy Kang Seung-wooExpectations are running high that Indonesia will recommit to the KF-X project, as the defense minister of the Southeast Asian country is expected to attend an upcoming rollout ceremony showcasing the prototype of Korea's first domestically developed fighter jet. However, some say it remains to be seen if his visit will help get the joint development project back on track.The KF-X project aims to produce 120 advanced multi-role fighter jets to replace the Korean Air Force's aging fleet of F-4s and F-5s by 2032. Korea and Indonesia signed a deal in 2010 to cooperate on the KF-X project, under which Jakarta would fund 20 percent or about 1.7 trillion won of the total development cost of 8.8 trillion won ($7.9 billion), in exchange for 50 planes that would be manufactured there for the Indonesian Air Force, as well as technology transfer

Apr 5, 2021By Kang Seung-woo
Will Indonesian defense minister's visit normalize KF-X?
Global Community

Korean Americans fall victim to anti-Asian hate crimes

A woman holds a placard as she participates in a “Stop Asian Hate” rally at Columbus Park in New York, Saturday. Reuters-YonhapBy Kang Seung-wooAmid growing anti-Asian sentiment, people of Korean descent in the United States are being exposed to a torrent of hate and violence as one Korean American-owned convenience store was ransacked, while a Korean American couple was attacked as they were walking in the street. Verbal harassment and physical assaults of Asian Americans have increased dramatically across the U.S. during the COVID-19 pandemic, as some attribute the deadly coronavirus to China, given that the disease was first reported in the city of Wuhan.According to the Associated Press (AP), the store called Plaza Sundries in Charlotte, N.C., was trashed by a man who wielded a metal post and yelled racial slurs. Surveillance footage shows a man pulling a merchandise rack to the floor and swinging a street sign post into the glass of the refrigerators. A man who appears to be a friend of the attacker cheers him on.The Korean family owning the store told the AP th

Apr 4, 2021By Kang Seung-woo
Korean Americans fall victim to anti-Asian hate crimes
  • US Olympic star Chloe Kim reveals anti-Asian abuse
  • Man with pole trashes Asian-owned convenience store
  • Jeremy Lin praises Dwyane Wade, Kyle Korver for anti-Asian hate stance
Global Community

School newsletter translation service to be launched for foreign parents

By Kang Seung-wooA free service will be launched that translates Korean-written school notice or teachers' messages for marriage immigrant who are parents of elementary school children to their mother tongues, a conglomerate-run social contribution foundation said, Thursday.According to the Happiness Foundation, established by SK Group, it will begin the service on April 12 in Seoul with four languages: English, Chinese, Vietnamese and Russian. However, if more than five foreign parents make a request for their particular native language, it will be added.Parents can subscribe to the translating service already, the foundation said, adding that it is reaching out to Seoul-based elementary schools with a large number of international and multiracial students. The project is in partnership with the ODS Multicultural Education Research Institute, a Daegu-based social enterprise comprised of female activists from various cultural backgrounds. Foreign parents who are not fluent in Korean often have difficulty fully understanding notices from homeroom teachers or schools, provided either i

Apr 2, 2021By Kang Seung-woo
School newsletter translation service to be launched for foreign parents
Politics

Ruling party distancing itself from President Moon

By Kang Seung-wooAmid declining approval ratings for President Moon Jae-in especially following public anger over property speculation scandals involving public officials, the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) and its candidates running in next week's Seoul and Busan mayoral by-elections are keeping the Moon administration at arm's length, with some even criticizing its policy failures including its real estate drive.Park Young-sun, right, the ruling Democratic Party of Korea's candidate for Seoul's mayoral by-election, poses for a selfie with a voter while campaigning at Hapjeong Station on Seoul Metro lines 2 and 6, Thursday. YonhapThis trend of erasing any vestiges of an unpopular state leader among the ruling side is raising speculation that they would accelerate Moon's descent into a “lame-duck” presidency after the April 7 by-elections. Moon's term is scheduled to end in May 2022. According to a Gallup Korea survey last week, Moon's approval rating dropped to its lowest point at 34 percent, along with the highest disapproval rating at 59 percent, due mainly to

Apr 1, 2021By Kang Seung-woo
Ruling party distancing itself from President Moon
Foreign Affairs

US, China equally important for South Korea: FM

Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong speaks during a press conference at the ministry in Seoul, Wednesday. YonhapBy Kang Seung-wooForeign Minister Chung Eui-yong said Wednesday that the United States and China are equally important partners for South Korea, indicating that Seoul would not pick a side between either Washington or Beijing. The minister added that Seoul's stance is anything but “strategic ambiguity” amid the intensifying rivalry between the two powerhouses, which is raising speculation that they are trying to force South Korea to side with one of them.“The U.S. is our sole ally and we have repeatedly reaffirmed that the alliance with the country is the cornerstone of our diplomatic and security policy. On the other hand, China is our largest trading partner and we maintain a strategic cooperative partnership,” Chung said during a press conference at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Seoul.“I am once again telling you that the U.S. and China have never urged us to choose between them. Our position is that, based on the robust South Korea-U.S. al

Mar 31, 2021By Kang Seung-woo
US, China equally important for South Korea: FM
Foreign Affairs

Star actress donates for Korean War memorial in California

Kim Ji-mee, right, poses with Joseph Pak, the secretary-general of the Orange County Korean War Memorial Committee, at the planned site for the memorial in Fullerton, Calif., in this photo provided by the committee. YonhapBy Kang Seung-wooKim Ji-mee, one of Korea's most prolific actresses of all time, has donated $20,000 (22 million won) for the construction of a Korean War Memorial in California, according to the Orange County Korean War Memorial Committee. The committee said, Tuesday (local time), Kim, 80, who is now living in the United States, visited Orange County, where the monument will be set up in Fullerton, and gave the money to the organization.According to the committee, the current estimate for the project is $720,000 and they broke ground last August, with the building to be completed by September. The monument carries extra significance as it will display the name of all 36,492 American soldiers who died in the 1950-53 Korean War, including 2,611 from the state of California. “I am honored to participate in a patriotic project to commemorate those who sacrificed

Mar 31, 2021By Kang Seung-woo
Star actress donates for Korean War memorial in California
North Korea

Moon's peace initiative faces more deadlock

President Moon Jae-in speaks during a Cabinet meeting at Cheong Wa Dae, Tuesday. YonhapBiden has no intention to meet with Kim Jon-unBy Kang Seung-wooPresident Moon Jae-in's stalled Korean Peninsula peace process, seeking engagement between South and North Korea and the United States, appears to be doomed, according to diplomatic observers, as the two other partners have been dashing his last flickers of hope with their continuing tug-of-war over the North's denuclearization.On Monday (local time), White House press secretary Jen Psaki said U.S. President Joe Biden does not intend to meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, adding that his approach to Pyongyang will be “quite different” from that of his predecessor, former President Donald Trump who met Kim three times. Her remarks reaffirmed the new U.S. president's pursuit of an approach different from that of Trump, who had sought progress in North Korean denuclearization through direct leader-to-leader engagement that Moon was also supportive of. Hours later, Kim Yo-jong, the North Korean leader's sister, made a har

Mar 30, 2021By Kang Seung-woo
Moon's peace initiative faces more deadlock
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