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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

Japan's role to increase in North Korean denuclearization in Biden era

gettyimagesbankBy Kang Seung-woo Japan, once a non-factor in the North Korea denuclearization negotiations during the four years of former U.S. President Donald Trump, is expected to have a bigger say under President Joe Biden, who is strongly seeking more trilateral cooperation with South Korea and Japan on the decades-long challenge, according to diplomatic observers.However, it remains to be seen if the envisaged three-way cooperation will play up to Biden's expectations due to lingering animosity between Seoul and Tokyo over historical issues that have prevented them from coming together over their common security interest, with the experts advising Washington to make efforts to insulate trilateral cooperation from historical grievances.“Overall, the Biden administration is going to seek to strengthen all U.S. alliances and improve dialogue and coordination with all U.S. allies. This will include South Korea and Japan in addressing the North Korean nuclear challenge,” U.S. Naval War College professor Terence Roehrig said. Robert Manning, a senior fellow at the Atlanti

Jan 30, 2021By Kang Seung-woo
Japan's role to increase in North Korean denuclearization in Biden era
Global Community

Undocumented foreigners to get free vaccines

Jeong Eun-kyeong, commissioner of the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, gives a briefing on the nation's comprehensive plan to vaccinate the whole population, at the agency's office in Cheongju, North Chungcheong Province, Thursday. / YonhapBy Kang Seung-wooThe government plans to vaccinate undocumented foreigners against COVID-19 free of charge, if necessary, according to the health authorities. The number of foreign nationals staying illegally in Korea is estimated to have risen to about 400,000 due to the pandemic-imposed travel restrictions.“Foreign nationals will get shots for COVID-19 in the same order as Koreans. As for undocumented migrants, we plan to inoculate them if it is deemed necessary after reviewing their influence on public health and high-risk patients, as well as the spread of the virus,” Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency Commissioner Jeong Eun-kyeong said, Thursday.She also said that the order in which foreign residents will be administered the vaccine will be decided based on the same standards applied to Korean citizens.“I

Jan 29, 2021By Kang Seung-woo
Undocumented foreigners to get free vaccines
North Korea

South Korea keen on providing vaccine aid to North Korea

gettyimagesbankBy Kang Seung-wooThe South Korean government is enthusiastic about providing coronavirus vaccines to North Korea as part of its efforts to get stalled inter-Korean relations back on track. Since the Hanoi summit between the United States and North Korea failed to produce a nuclear deal in February 2019, inter-Korean ties have consequently been deadlocked. In order to break the impasse, the Moon Jae-in administration has floated a variety of ideas to bring the Kim Jong-un regime back to the dialogue table, with vaccine aid emerging as a fresh option.The latest senior government official to pitch the vaccine supply offer was Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun, who told foreign correspondents in Seoul, Wednesday, that South Korea was willing to share COVID-19 vaccines with North Korea. “The South Korean government has set its sights on inoculating 70 percent of the population by September and achieving herd immunity by November. Even afterwards, if we still have additional vaccines, we can share them with North Korea and other countries having difficulty securing vaccine

Jan 29, 2021By Kang Seung-woo
South Korea keen on providing vaccine aid to North Korea
  • Will Korea Golf Association hold tournament in North Korea?
  • Controversy erupts over Seoul's possible push to build nuke plant in North Korea
Society

Snow brings cold

A person walks in front of Hwaseong Fortress, a UNESCO World Heritage site, in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province, Thursday, when a heavy snow advisory was issued for Seoul and northern Gyeonggi Province. Following the snowfall, the mercury dropped sharply across the country, with morning lows in the capital expected to dip to minus 12 degrees Celsius, Friday. / Yonhap

Jan 28, 2021By Kang Seung-woo
Snow brings cold
Politics

Guilty of academic fraud participation

Choe Kang-wook, the chief of the minor liberal Open Minjoo Party, leaves the Seoul Central District Court, Thursday, after the court sentenced him to eight months in prison suspended for two years, for fabricating an internship certificate for former Justice Minister Cho Kuk's son in October 2017 while working at a law firm. If the conviction is confirmed at the Supreme Court, he will be deprived of his National Assembly seat. / Yonhap

Jan 28, 2021By Kang Seung-woo
Guilty of academic fraud participation
Foreign Affairs

Moon walking tricky diplomatic tightrope between US, China

Foreign Minister nominee Chung Eui-yong speaks to reporters as he arrives at a temporary office in Seoul, Thursday. / YonhapSouth Korea's 'neutrality tactic' faces challenges By Kang Seung-wooA further deepening Sino-U.S. rivalry under the presidency of Joe Biden is putting Korea's “tightrope” diplomacy between the two key partners to the test. The United States is Korea's long-time security ally, while China is its top trading partner.Since taking office last week, Biden and his team have called on America's allies, including Korea, to work together to strengthen their alliances, which many view as a call to form an anti-China coalition.During Wednesday's phone conversation between Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha and Secretary of State Antony Blinken, the top U.S. diplomat said the alliance between the two countries is the “linchpin” of peace, security and prosperity for a free and open Indo-Pacific region and across the world ― an indication that Washington wants to use the military alliance to contain Beijing. “The Donald Trump administration fai

Jan 28, 2021By Kang Seung-woo
Moon walking tricky diplomatic tightrope between US, China
Foreign Affairs

Main opposition seeks to summon Bolton to FM's confirmation hearing

Chung Eui-yong, right, the nominee for foreign minister, talks with then-U.S. National Security Adviser John Bolton at the White House in Washington, D.C., April 11, 2019. / Korea Times fileBy Kang Seung-wooThe main opposition People Power Party (PPP) is exploring ways to invite former U.S. National Security Adviser John Bolton to testify at a confirmation hearing of Foreign Minister nominee Chung Eui-yong next month. Should Bolton attend the hearing, which is slated for Feb. 5 and will be held virtually, he is likely to be questioned about Chung's role in arranging summits between former U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, which the American harshly denounced as a “strategic mistake.” Chung was President Moon Jae-in's national security advisor when the summits were held. He was also a special envoy to Pyongyang before the summits.Rep. Kim Gi-hyeon of the PPP said, Tuesday, he had asked whether Bolton would participate in the hearing.“Chung has been involved in the process of summits between South and North Korea and between the United S

Jan 27, 2021By Kang Seung-woo
Main opposition seeks to summon Bolton to FM's confirmation hearing
North Korea

South Korea expects flexible solutions to joint military exercise

Unification Minister Lee In-young speaks during a press conference at the South-North Korea Dialogue Office in Seoul, Monday. / YonhapBy Kang Seung-wooUnification Minister Lee In-young hoped Monday that South Korea and the United States will find a flexible way to conduct their envisaged combined military exercises to ensure North Korea does not react with tension-stoking provocations.Lee also said the government will make efforts this year to normalize inter-Korean relations and restore communication channels.The remarks at a press conference came after the North preemptively protested the annual joint military exercises. Seoul and Washington are now discussing how to configure an upcoming military drill in March.“We have four things to consider ahead of the exercise and they are COVID-19, the Tokyo Summer Olympics, the U.S.'s new Korean Peninsula policy and the transfer of wartime operational control,” Lee told reporters.“So far, both the U.S. and the North have refrained from taking tension-raising moves, so I expect the allies to find wise and flexible ways to p

Jan 25, 2021By Kang Seung-woo
South Korea expects flexible solutions to joint military exercise
North Korea

Biden's security team raises hopes for rapid North Korea policy review

Then-President-elect Joe Biden speaks during a virtual meeting with members of his national security and foreign policy agency review teams in Wilmington, Del., Dec. 28, 2020. / AP-YonhapBy Kang Seung-wooWith the new U.S. administration busy finalizing the roster of its national security team, questions are arising in South Korea over when President Joe Biden will unveil his policy toward North Korea. As the team features many experts on Pyongyang, some believe that Washington could complete a review of its North Korea policy within a couple of months. However, others claim that issues involving the Kim Jong-un regime still rank below other diplomatic agenda items involving Iran, China and Russia, so it is still expected to take some time before the Biden team comes up with a new strategy. The consensus here on the estimated length of time for the policy review is up to six monthsSo far, President Biden has nominated Antony Blinken as state secretary and Wendy Sherman as his deputy, while naming Sung Kim as acting assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, all o

Jan 24, 2021By Kang Seung-woo
Biden's security team raises hopes for rapid North Korea policy review
  • South Korean, US defense chiefs reaffirm alliance in phone talks
Foreign Affairs

Questions growing over Moon's pick for foreign minister

By Kang Seung-wooPresident Moon Jae-in's pick for new foreign minister is raising questions over whether the nominee is the perfect fit for the position against the backdrop of the leadership change in the United States. Foreign minister nominee Chung Eui-yong speaks to reporters as he arrives at a temporary office in Seoul, Thursday. / YonhapOn Wednesday, Moon named former National Security Office chief Chung Eui-yong to replace Foreign Affairs Minister Kang Kyung-wha in an apparent bid to push his Korean Peninsula “peace process,” which has been deadlocked since the failure of the Hanoi summit between North Korea and the U.S. in February 2019. Chung is the architect of the peace initiative.However, critics point out that should Chung, who brokered the historic first summit between former U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in 2018, take the same approach with the newly inaugurated Joe Biden administration that is seeking to reverse Trumps' policies, discord is likely between Seoul and Washington on issues involving Pyongyang.It is also a comp

Jan 21, 2021By Kang Seung-woo
Questions growing over Moon's pick for foreign minister
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