my timesThe Korea Times
ksw

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.

Go to Email

Read more

Politics

Assembly audit lacks key witnesses with main opposition remaining powerless

The Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee holds a parliamentary audit of the foreign ministry at the National Assembly in Seoul, Wednesday. The committee proceed without any witness due to the ruling Democratic Party of Korea's rejection. / YonhapBy Kang Seung-wooThe annual National Assembly audit of government ministries and agencies has been disrupted since Wednesday, the day it started, as the main opposition party's attempts to summon key witnesses for issues unfavorable to the ruling party have been blocked by the latter, which holds the majority of seats on the relevant committees.Although there are pending focal issues that have been spawning public speculation such as an alleged preferential treatment of the justice minster's son's military service and the killing of a South Korean government official by North Korea, no witnesses related to the cases appeared for the relevant standing committees' audits, once again raising questions over the efficiency of the parliamentary inspection.The selection of witnesses is made based on bipartisan agreement or majority decision, bu

Oct 8, 2020By Kang Seung-woo
Assembly audit lacks key witnesses with main opposition remaining powerless
Politics

Anti-corruption talks

Jeon Hyun-heui, third from left, chairperson of the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission, poses with participants in its annual policy roundtable briefing with representatives of foreign chambers and companies in Korea at The Plaza Seoul, Wednesday. The commission has held the briefing to help foreign businesses better understand Korea's anti-corruption policy and to reach out to foreign businesses in Korea. / Yonhap

Oct 7, 2020By Kang Seung-woo
Anti-corruption talks
Defense

Army civilian donates cells to leukemia patient

Han Seoung-sik, civilian contractor at the Army Logistics Command in Daejeon, sits in a hospital bed in Busan, Sept. 24, while donating hematopoietic stem cells to a leukemia patient. / Courtesy of Republic of Korea ArmyBy Kang Seung-wooA civilian contractor for the Korean Army is gaining respect after donating hematopoietic stem cells to a patient with leukemia.Han Seoung-sik, who inspects procurement items at the Army Logistics Command in Daejeon, underwent a procedure in Busan last month to donate the cells to a patient, with whom he was not acquainted.His decision came by chance in 2005 when he found a large number of patients waiting for the cell donation and registered as a donor at the Korea Marrow Donor Program (KMDP). After 15 years, Han, 39, was informed by the KMDP in July that the organization had found a patient who was a match for a donation from him, and he agreed to without hesitation.To comply with social distancing due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Han fully observed quarantine regulations and underwent additional genetic testing and a medical examination before the cel

Oct 7, 2020By Kang Seung-woo
Army civilian donates cells to leukemia patient
Politics

'North Korea solely responsible for killing of South Korean'

Defense Minister Suh Wook takes an oath during a National Assembly audit of his ministry, Wednesday, the first day of the 20-day annual parliamentary inspection of ministries and government agencies. Regarding the killing of a South Korean government official by North Korea in the North's waters last month, Suh said it was a hostile act in the broad sense and all responsibilities lay with the North, calling for an inter-Korean investigation into the incident. / Yonhap

Oct 7, 2020By Kang Seung-woo
'North Korea solely responsible for killing of South Korean'
North Korea

US nuclear strike against North Korea unfeasible: experts

Moon Chung-in, left, special security adviser to President Moon Jae-in, speaks at the East Asia Foundation in Seoul during a webinar, co-hosted by the Asia Pacific Leadership Network for Nuclear Nonproliferation and Disarmament and the foundation, Wednesday. / Courtesy of East Asia Foundation'Washington missed golden opportunity to denuclearize Pyongyang'By Kang Seung-wooAlthough Bob Woodward's latest book, “Rage,” disclosed last month that the Donald Trump administration had reviewed firing scores of nuclear weapons at North Korea in 2017, experts said Wednesday that such an attack would not be an easy option to implement due to various reasons including possible escalation involving other countries.In the book, based on interviews with Trump, the writer said the United States studied “OPLAN 5027” for regime change in North Korea ― the U.S. response to an attack that could include the use of 80 nuclear weapons. OPLAN 5027 refers to a joint South Korea-U.S. military operation plan to respond to a North Korean invasion.Experts on Korean Peninsula issues saw a l

Oct 7, 2020By Kang Seung-woo
US nuclear strike against North Korea unfeasible: experts
Foreign Affairs

Trump's COVID-19 infection eases Korea's diplomatic challenges

By Kang Seung-wooU.S. President Donald Trump's COVID-19 diagnosis has “unexpectedly” eased diplomatic challenges for Korea, stuck in the middle of the struggle between the United States and China for supremacy, after it canceled a top American diplomat's trip to Seoul, which would have brought his counterpart from Beijing here and consequently dragged Korea into the hegemonic rivalry.U.S. State Secretary Mike Pompeo / Korea Times fileIn the wake of Trump's coronavirus infection last week, U.S. State Secretary Mike Pompeo scrapped his planned visit to Korea and Mongolia, although he is now pushing ahead with a trip to Japan for a Quad Meeting with his counterparts from Australia, India and Japan. Quad refers to the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, which is a strategic forum established in 2007 to counter China's increasing power.Pompeo's shortened trip to Asia may have delivered a blow to the Korean government, which wanted to promote President Moon Jae-in's drive for the end-of-Korean War declaration, but the cancellation also has a silver lining, meaning Korea will not b

Oct 5, 2020By Kang Seung-woo
Trump's COVID-19 infection eases Korea's diplomatic challenges
  • Pompeo to visit Japan, skip Korea
  • Pompeo asks for Korea's understanding over trip cancellation
  • Trump could be discharged on Monday: doctors
Politics

Celebrating Foundation Day

Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun, center, waves the Taegeukgi, Korea's national flag, during a ceremony at the National Folk Museum in Seoul to mark National Foundation Day, Saturday. Behind Chung are ruling Democratic Party of Korea Chairman Lee Nak-yon, left, and Kim Chong-in, the interim leader of the main opposition People Power Party. / Yonhap

Oct 4, 2020By Kang Seung-woo
Celebrating Foundation Day
North Korea

Trump's COVID-19 infection casts shadow over Moon's peace efforts

U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un talk to each other during their meeting at the truce village of Panmunjeom in Paju, Gyeonggi Province, June 30, 2019. / Korea Times filePompeo cancels visit to SeoulBy Kang Seung-wooU.S. President Donald Trump's COVID-19 diagnosis is expected to affect President Moon Jae-in's peace initiative of engaging with North Korea unfavorably, according to diplomatic experts, Sunday. Trump's infection has practically put an end to speculation over an “October surprise” summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un for a breakthrough in stalled denuclearization talks ahead of the Nov. 3 U.S. presidential election. This will also weigh negatively on Moon's Korean Peninsula peace process that could have been boosted by an improvement in relations between the United States and the North. On Friday, the White House announced that the U.S. president and the first lady had tested positive for the coronavirus and later that he had been transferred to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. Speculation here had been mo

Oct 4, 2020By Kang Seung-woo
Trump's COVID-19 infection casts shadow over Moon's peace efforts
  • Trump said to be improving but next 48 hours 'critical'
  • Pompeo cancels visit to Korea
North Korea

North Korean defectors irked by repeated human rights investigations

Hanawon. Korea Times fileBy Kang Seung-wooNorth Korean defectors are plagued by repeated questioning by South Korean organizations into human rights conditions in their former country. When those who defect from the totalitarian state arrive in South Korea, they have to face three rounds of interrogation, being forced to answer almost identical questions repeatedly and suffering emotional distress in the process.The three interrogations are made by the unification ministry's Center for North Korean Human Rights Records, the state-run Korea Institute for National Unification (KINU) and the Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) in Seoul.Until last year, there were four institutes investigating into the human rights situation in the North.According to the ministry, the Center for North Korean Human Rights Records researches the overall human rights situation in addition to specific cases of human rights violations in the North through questionnaire surveys and in-depth interviews with the defectors two weeks after they enter the state-run Settlement Support Cente

Sep 30, 2020By Kang Seung-woo
North Korean defectors irked by repeated human rights investigations
Foreign Affairs

Korea becomes diplomatic battlefield between US, China

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, left, and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi shake hands before their meeting in Beijing in this October 2018 photo. They are both expected to visit Korea next month. / Korea Times fileBy Kang Seung-wooKorea once again appears to be being dragged into a diplomatic row between the United States and China as the top diplomats of the two countries are expected to visit here next month, and are both likely to pressure Seoul to stand with the “right side” in pursuing its foreign policy.According to diplomatic sources, Monday, Korea and China are in talks over Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi's trip to Korea for next month ― although the format and time have not been decided yet.If realized, Wang would have visited Korea twice in less than a year, with his last visit being December 2019. Yang Jiechi, the head of the Communist Party's foreign affairs office, also traveled to Busan last month and met with National Security Adviser Suh Hoon. During his envisaged trip, Wang is expected to talk with Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha about bilateral p

Sep 28, 2020By Kang Seung-woo
Korea becomes diplomatic battlefield between US, China
previous page
7475767778
next page

Top 5 stories

Korea Times
About Us
Introduction
History
Contact Us
Products & Services
Subscribe
E-paper
RSS Service
Content Sales
Site Map
Policy
Code of Ethics
Ombudsman
Privacy Policy
Youth Protection Policy
Terms of Service
Copyright Policy
Family Site
Hankookilbo
Dongwha Group
FacebookXYoutubeInstagram
CEO & Publisher: Oh Young-jinDigital News Email: webmaster@koreatimes.co.krTel: 02-724-2114Online newspaper registration No: 서울,아52844Date of registration: 2020.02.05Masthead: The Korea TimesCopyright © koreatimes.co.kr. All rights reserved.