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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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North Korea

North Korea may give message to US at party congress

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and U.S. President-elect Joe Biden / Korea Times fileBy Kang Seung-wooWith North Korea set to hold a rare party congress next month, the Kim Jong-un regime is expected to use the much-heralded event to deliver its message to the incoming Joe Biden administration, according to Pyongyang watchers.In August, the totalitarian state announced that its ruling Workers' Party will convene its eighth congress in January 2021, the first since May 2016, to lay out a new five-year economic plan. But given the U.S. leadership change in the same month, the North is likely to take advantage of the event to exert influence on the Biden administration's policymaking on North Korea.“The North has historically mentioned its foreign policy at the congresses, so there will be a message to the United States,” said Kim Jung, a professor at the University of North Korean Studies, Wednesday.“The North's message is expected to be about either maintaining strategic ambiguity or declaring a hardline stance against the U.S.”Hong Min, a senior researcher at

Dec 16, 2020By Kang Seung-woo
North Korea may give message to US at party congress
  • Moon advised to prioritize alliance tasks before North Korea issues
  • UN passes North Korean human rights resolution for 16th consecutive year
North Korea

Legislation banning anti-North Korea leaflets new thorny issue between South Korea, US

North Korean defectors and activists fly anti-Pyongyang leaflets tethered to balloons across the border in Paju, Gyeonggi Province in this April 2, 2016 photo. / Korea Times fileBy Kang Seung-wooThe government's plan to legislate a ban on anti-North Korea leaflet campaigns may become a matter of contention with the United States, as concern over the move is coming to the fore in Washington, according to diplomatic experts, Monday.The ruling Democratic Party of Korea has sought to pass a bill that will prevent mainly North Korean defectors and human rights activists from flying propaganda leaflets or other materials critical of the Kim Jong-un regime over the border into North Korea with the claim that it will help protect residents in border regions and ease cross-border tensions.The latest criticism of the proposed law came from Chris Smith, a veteran Republican Congressman who co-chairs the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission in the House of Representatives, a bipartisan congressional body that promotes, defends and advocates for human rights. “I am troubled that legislators i

Dec 14, 2020By Kang Seung-woo
Legislation banning anti-North Korea leaflets new thorny issue between South Korea, US
  • Assembly passes bill on banning cross-border launch of anti-Pyongyang leaflets
Politics

Moon's remark on rental housing spark debate

President Moon Jae-in talks with Land, Infrastructure and Transport Minister Kim Hyun-mee, center, and Korea Land and Housing Corp. (LH) CEO Byeon Chang-heum, right, a nominee for new land minister, during Moon's on-site inspection of public rental housing in Dongtan in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province, Friday. / YonhapBy Kang Seung-wooPresident Moon Jae-in's words during his on-site inspection of a major public rental housing complex are creating a stir, coupled with public anger at his administration's failed real estate policy to curb rising housing prices. On Friday, he visited the complex in Dongtan in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province, with Land Minister Kim Hyun-mee and Korea Land and Housing Corp. (LH) CEO Byeon Chang-heum, who has been tapped as Kim's replacement.With Byeon giving a tour of a 44-square-meter home, Moon confirmed Byeon's remark that the home was enough for a household with two adults and two children. This led to huge public and political criticism of Moon, with many people saying a 44-square-meter house is not nearly room enough for a four-person family.As controversy

Dec 14, 2020By Kang Seung-woo
Moon's remark on rental housing spark debate
  • Moon's popularity slips further
Defense

Environmental cleanup costs weigh on Korea

The U.S. Forces Korea's Yongsan Garrison in central Seoul. / Yonhap By Kang Seung-wooDespite an agreement on the return of 12 military bases from the United States to Korea, the party responsible for cleaning up environmental contamination at the sites remains an outstanding issue between the allies. The agreement was finalized, Friday, during a virtual joint committee session of the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) between Director-General Ko Yun-ju of the North American Affairs Bureau of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Lt. Gen. Scott Pleus, deputy commander of U.S. Forces Korea (USFK). The 12 sites include two plots of land in Yongsan Garrison, Camp Kim and four other sites in the capital city.Ahead of the agreement, the environment ministry conducted an environmental survey of the 12 locations and determined both soil and groundwater contamination above threshold levels at all sites.However, amid residents' concerns that a further delay could complicate deco

Dec 13, 2020By Kang Seung-woo
Environmental cleanup costs weigh on Korea
North Korea

Biden administration advised to recognize Singapore statement

Former Unification Ministers Jeong Se-hyun, left, and Lee Jong-seok, right, with Joseph Yun on screen, a former U.S. special representative for North Korea policy, participate in a session of the International Symposium on Sustainable Peace on the Korean Peninsula, at Yonsei University in Seoul, Thursday. The five-session event was co-hosted by the Korean Culture and Information Service (KOCIS) and the Yonsei Institute for North Korean Studies. / Courtesy of Korean Culture and Information ServiceBy Kang Seung-wooFollowing the leadership change in the United States this coming January, there is a consensus that it will take several months before the Joe Biden administration develops its policy toward North Korea, during which Pyongyang is expected to dust off the old playbook of provocations to capture the new American president's attention.To stop the historically vicious cycle that has happened in the first year of the last few U.S. governments, Joseph Yun, a former U.S. special representative for North Korea policy, advised the incoming U.S. administration to recognize the Singapor

Dec 10, 2020By Kang Seung-woo
Biden administration advised to recognize Singapore statement
  • North Korea wasted chance to improve relations under Trump, US envoy says
  • South Korea 'very encouraged' by signs from Biden administration: Kang
Foreign Affairs

New US defense act tests Korea in US-China rivalry

gettyimagesbankBy Kang Seung-wooThe new U.S. National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) is once again putting Korea to the test in the Sino-U.S. rivalry, according to diplomatic experts, as it will add a provision that will require the Pentagon to reconsider sending military equipment or troops to a country if it uses Chinese 5G technology.Currently, LG Uplus, one of the nation's three mobile carriers, is Huawei's top Korean client, and there are lingering concerns that if the NADD is approved by Congress, Korea may fall victim to the act. Korea has been stuck in the middle of the hegemonic competition between the United States and China because the former is Korea's long-time security ally while the latter is its top trading partner.“It carries extra significance given that the U.S. Congress is playing a leading role in pushing ahead with the plan,” said Park Won-gon, a professor of international politics at Handong Global University.“Under the Donald Trump administration, the executive branch led the drive, as evidenced by the Clean Network initiative seeking to ex

Dec 8, 2020By Kang Seung-woo
New US defense act tests Korea in US-China rivalry
  • US hits China with Hong Kong sanctions, approves Taiwan arms sale
Politics

Protest against anti-corruption body

Lawmakers of the main opposition People Power Party (PPP) stage a protest at the National Assembly in Seoul, Monday, against the ruling Democratic Party of Korea's (DPK) push to revise a law on the Corruption Investigation Office for High-Ranking Officials to facilitate its launch if a bipartisan agreement on picking the new investigative body's chief is not made. The DPK has a big enough parliamentary majority to revise a law unilaterally. / Yonhap

Dec 7, 2020By Kang Seung-woo
Protest against anti-corruption body
Health

Fight against bird flu

A sanitation officer flies a drone that is disinfecting an area around a reservoir in Naju, South Jeolla Province, Monday, in an effort to prevent avian flu from spreading in the region after a case was confirmed near the reservoir, Friday. / Yonhap

Dec 7, 2020By Kang Seung-woo
Fight against bird flu
Politics

Main opposition in internal dispute over apology for ex-presidents' crimes

Kim Chong-in, the interim leader of the main opposition People Power Party, participates in a party meeting at the National Assembly in Seoul, Monday. / YonhapBy Kang Seung-wooMain opposition People Power Party (PPP) interim leader Kim Chong-in is facing a heavy backlash from party members over his plan to issue a public apology for the crimes of jailed former Presidents Lee Myung-bak and Park Geun-hye.The Supreme Court confirmed Lee's 17-year prison sentence for embezzlement and bribery in October and he was forced to return to prison, while Park has been locked up since March 2017 after she was convicted of corruption. Both of them belonged to predecessors (in name) of the PPP.On Sunday, Kim, who agreed to lead the party following its landslide defeat in April's general election, said the time has come for the party to issue an apology for the criminal acts of the former presidents.“The public apology was something that I openly decided to do when I joined the party, but I could not do it until now because I had to take many things into consideration,” he told reporters

Dec 7, 2020By Kang Seung-woo
Main opposition in internal dispute over apology for ex-presidents' crimes
  • Specter of lame duck looms over President Moon
Politics

'Moon's reshuffle not enough to turn tables'

From left are Jeon Hae-cheol, the nominee for interior and safety minister, Kwon Deok-cheol, the nominee for health minister, Byeon Chang-heum, the nominee for land minister, and Chung Young-ai, the nominee for gender equality minister. / YonhapBy Kang Seung-wooPresident Moon Jae-in carried out a reshuffle of four Cabinet ministers Friday, including replacing Land Minister Kim Hyun-mee, in what appears to be a move to break through his ongoing political challenges and slow the arrival of a lame-duck period.However, the President refused to replace Justice Minister Choo Mi-ae, who is under heavy pressure from the opposition which is calling on her to resign. The refusal to replace her is seen as Moon giving the green light for her to continue the government's drive for prosecutorial reform. Political watchers say the latest reshuffle, only highlighted Moon's endorsement of the justice minister, and would not be enough to turn things around in the second half of his presidency.The shake-up came one day after Moon's approval rating hit a record low of 37.4 percent, with housing prices i

Dec 5, 2020By Kang Seung-woo
'Moon's reshuffle not enough to turn tables'
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