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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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Foreign Affairs

Top diplomats of Korea, Iran discuss frozen assets, detained vessel

By Kang Seung-wooForeign Minister Chung Eui-yong and his Iranian counterpart Mohammad Javad Zarif spoke on the phone Wednesday about the issue of Tehran's assets frozen in two Korean banks, according to the foreign ministry. Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong / Korea Times fileThe banks are holding $7 billion (7.7 trillion won) in proceeds from Iranian oil sales due to U.S. sanctions re-imposed in 2018 following former U.S. President Donald Trump's withdrawal from the 2015 Iran nuclear pact, also known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).“Minister Zarif demanded that the Korean government resolve the frozen assets issue as soon as possible. Minister Chung responded that the Korean government is making sincere efforts to address it,” the ministry said in a statement.The phone talks took place as the assets have emerged as a thorny diplomatic issue between the two countries with Iran repeatedly complaining about the Korean government's “failure” to release them. Last July, the Iranian foreign ministry threatened to take Korea to the International Cour

Feb 24, 2021By Kang Seung-woo
Top diplomats of Korea, Iran discuss frozen assets, detained vessel
Foreign Affairs

South Korea raises wartime sex slavery issue at UN

Second Vice Foreign Minister Choi Jong-moon speaks during a virtual high-level meeting of the U.N. Human Rights Council, Tuesday. Courtesy of Ministry of Foreign AffairsBy Kang Seung-wooSouth Korea stressed, Tuesday, that Japan's wartime sex slavery issue must be addressed in a way that focuses on the victims, adding that Seoul will make efforts to restore their dignity.“It is crucial that we do not forget the victims and survivors of such violence. Current and future generations should learn valuable lessons from the painful experiences of victims of wartime sex slavery,” Second Vice Foreign Minister Choi Jong-moon said during a virtual session of the United Nations Human Rights Council. “The tragedy of the comfort women must be addressed as a universal human rights issue, and the recurrence of such grave violations of human rights in conflict must be prevented.”“Comfort women” is a traslated Japansese euphemism Korea uses to describe sex slaves . He added: “The Korean government will keep endeavoring to restore the dignity and honor of

Feb 24, 2021By Kang Seung-woo
South Korea raises wartime sex slavery issue at UN
Foreign Affairs

Korea refutes Iran's announcement of assets transfer

Korean Ambassador to Iran Ryu Jeong-hyun, right, has talks with Abdolnasser Hemmati, center, the governor of the Central Bank of Iran, over how to transfer and use part of the Iranian assets in Korean banks. Captured from Iranian Government websiteBy Kang Seung-wooKorea denied Tuesday claims made by Iran the previous day that Seoul had agreed to unfreeze and transfer to Tehran the assets it has at Korean banks. Diplomatic observers say Iran's announcement was made to pressure Korea to urge the U.S. to lift its sanctions on the country.Currently, Iranian assets of $7 billion (7.7 trillion won) from oil sales have been held in two Korean banks due to the U.S. sanctions, re-imposed in 2018 after former U.S. President Donald Trump withdrew from the 2015 Iran nuclear pact, also known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).On Monday, while Iran announced that the two sides had reached a deal under which its frozen funds would be transferred to its desired destinations, the Iranian government added that Korea is prepared to take all the measures required to enable Iran to use all

Feb 23, 2021By Kang Seung-woo
Korea refutes Iran's announcement of assets transfer
Politics

Candidates, parties present reckless SOC promises ahead of election

Members of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea hold a rally urging the National Assembly to pass a special bill for the construction of an airport on Gadeok Island in Busan, Feb. 7. Korea Times fileBy Kang Seung-wooThe rival parties and their candidates running in the upcoming mayoral by-elections in Seoul and Busan are raising eyebrows for their ill-advised promoting of vote-buying social overhead capital (SOC) projects. Critics say given that the winning candidate will stay in office until the next local elections, scheduled for June 2022, such large construction plans, pursued recklessly without reviewing their economic feasibility, would lead to a waste of taxpayers' money with many of them likely to remain central and local government liabilities.The mayoral posts of the nation's largest- and second-largest cities have been vacant following the resignation of former Busan Mayor Oh Keo-don and the suicide of former Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon amid accusations of sexual harassment.A recent National Assembly committee's approval of a special bill aimed at constructing a new internat

Feb 22, 2021By Kang Seung-woo
Candidates, parties present reckless SOC promises ahead of election
Defense

Speculation mounts over Indonesia pulling out of KF-X fighter project

Workers of Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) assemble the first prototype of the nation's indigenous fighter jet program KF-X at a plant in Sacheon, South Gyeongsang Province, Jan. 22. / Korea Times fileBy Kang Seung-wooSpeculation is again mounting over Indonesia pulling out of participation in Korea's KF-X fighter project, with the Southeast Asian country reportedly seeking to buy aircraft from the United States and France despite its snowballing arrears from the joint development program. Some say Indonesia is leveraging the envisioned fighter acquisition to renegotiate the terms of a contract it signed with Korea, while others claim the Southeast Asian country is pulling out of the deal altogether.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. Seoul and Jakarta signed a deal in 2010 to cooperate on the KF-X project, under which Indonesia would fund 20 percent of the total development cost of 8.8 trillion won ($7.9 billion), or about 1.7 trillion won, in exchange for 50 planes that would

Feb 21, 2021By Kang Seung-woo
Speculation mounts over Indonesia pulling out of KF-X fighter project
Foreign Affairs

South Korea trapped in dilemma over human rights issues

Seoul's decision not to join initiative against arbitrary detention raises eyebrows in international communityBy Kang Seung-wooThe government's decision not to participate in a new international initiative denouncing the arbitrary detention of foreign nationals for political purposes ― the latest in its repeated acts of negligence over human rights violations ― could make a bad impression on the United States and the international community, raising concerns among them over the country's “illiberal” behavior, according to diplomatic experts. The Canadian-drafted Declaration Against the Use of Arbitrary Detention in State-to-State Relations was announced, Feb. 15, and 58 countries, including the U.S., Japan, Australia and almost all members of the European Union, have joined the non-binding declaration. It mainly takes aim at countries like China, Iran, Russia and North Korea that have been often accused of illegally and immorally detaining foreign nationals for diplomatic gain. The Moon Jae-in administration has been in hot water over its ignoring of North Korean human ri

Feb 21, 2021By Kang Seung-woo
South Korea trapped in dilemma over human rights issues
Foreign Affairs

Moon's nat'l security team

Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong, left, talks with Unification Minister Lee In-young during a plenary session of the National Assembly's Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee in Seoul, Thursday. Chung said that the ministry will make efforts to cooperate closely with the U.S. government in Washington's review of its policy toward North Korea, while seeking a summit between President Moon Jae-in and U.S. President Joe Biden as soon as possible. / Yonhap

Feb 18, 2021By Kang Seung-woo
Moon's nat'l security team
Health

President inspects COVID-19 syringe

President Moon Jae-in inspects a low dead-space (LDS) syringe during his visit to a plant of Poonglim Pharmatech, the manufacturer of the medical device, in Gunsan, North Jeolla Province, Thursday. The syringe, to be used for COVID-19 vaccinations, has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). / Joint press corps

Feb 18, 2021By Kang Seung-woo
President inspects COVID-19 syringe
Defense

Military slammed for failing again to detect border crossing by North Korean

A road to a checkpoint inside an area south of the Civilian Control Line in the east coast border town of Goseong, Gangwon Province, is empty, Tuesday, after entry was restricted following a North Korean man's crossing into South Korea earlier in the day. / YonhapBy Kang Seung-wooThe military finds itself in the hot seat again following the capture of a North Korean, Tuesday, who swam across the eastern maritime border undetected. Making the situation worse for military authorities, the latest border crossing took place in the jurisdiction of the same front-line Army unit that has failed to detect two previous infiltrations. One happened last November and the other in 2012, prompting embarrassed military officials to vow to keep South Korea's borders secure.The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) announced, Tuesday, that the North Korean was caught in the Civilian Control Line (CCL) in the eastern border town of Goseong, Gangwon Province, earlier that day. The CCL is a buffer zone of the Demilitarized Zone. The JCS added that he likely swam south near the Unification Observatory and passed t

Feb 17, 2021By Kang Seung-woo
Military slammed for failing again to detect border crossing by North Korean
  • Captured North Korean man crossed sea border in diving suit: Joint Chiefs of Staff
North Korea

'Provision of Russian vaccines to North Korea viable option for better inter-Korean ties'

Sputnik V vaccine / Reuters-YonhapBy Kang Seung-wooGangwon Province Governor Choi Moon-soon's proposal of manufacturing Russian COVID-19 vaccines in South Korea and providing them to North Korea is a feasible way to help normalize inter-Korean ties, according to Pyongyang watchers, Tuesday. However, they added that Seoul needs to come up with a creative and bold strategy to make such "vaccine diplomacy" happen, as the North is seeking to reduce dependence on its southern neighbor for humanitarian support and economic cooperation, as evidenced by its snubbing of the government's repeated calls for inter-Korean economic and public health cooperation amid the COVID-19 pandemic.Gangwon Province Governor Choi Moon-soon / Korea Times file“If we send vaccines from South Korea (which are made using Russian technology) ― and if Russia is a mediator in the process ― this could help improve inter-Korean relations,” Choi said in an interview with Russian state-owned news outlet Sputnik. Russia is one of the few allies of North Korea together with China. In November, South Korean biot

Feb 16, 2021By Kang Seung-woo
'Provision of Russian vaccines to North Korea viable option for better inter-Korean ties'
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