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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

Gov't in hot seat over detained South Koreans in North Korea

President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un hold hands during their first summit at the truce village of Panmunjeom, April 27, 2018. They held three inter-Korean summits that year, but six South Korean detainees in North Korea have not been released yet. / Korea Times fileBy Kang Seung-wooThe South Korean government's silence on its citizens detained in North Korea is drawing criticism from those who are claiming that Seoul is intentionally avoiding the issue so as not to ruffle feathers in Pyongyang while pursuing inter-Korean projects.A petition was posted on global petition website Change.org last month, calling for the release of the six South Koreans seized by the totalitarian state and detained for up to seven years. The petitioner, a youth group called Save 6 Koreans, wrote that the South Korean government and even the United Nations have made inadequate efforts to bring them home. “We question the United Nations and the South Korean government's lack of effort toward the repatriation of six South Koreans detained in North Korea,” it said in the petit

Sep 11, 2020By Kang Seung-woo
Gov't in hot seat over detained South Koreans in North Korea
Foreign Affairs

Korea, US to create working-level channel for alliance talks

Vice Foreign Minister Choi Jong-kun, right, with U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Stephen Biegun during their meeting in Washington, D.C., Thursday / Courtesy of Ministry of Foreign AffairsBy Kang Seung-wooSouth Korea and the United States will establish a dialogue channel between working-level personnel to discuss a wide range of diplomatic issues, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Friday.The agreement was made at the first meeting between Vice Foreign Minister Choi Jong-kun and U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Stephen Biegun in Washington, D.C., Thursday. Choi took office last month after serving at Cheong Wa Dae's national security office from March 2019 to August 2020.The face-to-face meeting took place less than 10 days after they held a phone conversation, Sept. 2, during which they agreed to meet as early as possible and discuss the overall bilateral relations and regional affairs.“They concurred on launching an alliance dialogue, a working-level consultation body, in which director-level officials from the two countries' foreign ministries will discuss an array

Sep 11, 2020By Kang Seung-woo
Korea, US to create working-level channel for alliance talks
Politics

Rally in Pyongyang

Some 12,000 members of North Korea's ruling Workers' Party hold a mass rally at a plaza in front of the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun in Pyongyang, Tuesday, to express their resolution to make every effort to recover from typhoon damage in the country's eastern regions, in this photo released by the Korean Central News Agency, Thursday. The North has been hit by three consecutive typhoons in recent weeks that lashed its eastern regions, Monday. / Yonhap

Sep 10, 2020By Kang Seung-woo
Rally in Pyongyang
Foreign Affairs

Foreign minister asks for international support for Korea's peace efforts

Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha attends a virtual foreign ministerial session of the East Asia Summit at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Seoul, Wednesday. / Courtesy of Ministry of Foreign AffairsBy Kang Seung-wooForeign Minister Kang Kyung-wha has called on the international community to support the Korean Peninsula peace process and resumption of stalled nuclear talks among North Korea, the United States and the South, according to the ministry, Thursday.With regard to the South China Sea dispute, she stressed the importance of freedom of navigation and peaceful resolution of the conflict through dialogue.She made the remarks, Wednesday, during a video-linked foreign ministerial session of the East Asia Summit (EAS) that involved the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations, in addition to China, Japan, the United States, Russia, Australia, New Zealand, India and South Korea. “Kang said the Korean Peninsula peace process has made little progress over the past year, but efforts toward the denuclearization of the peninsula, based on agreements between South and North

Sep 10, 2020By Kang Seung-woo
Foreign minister asks for international support for Korea's peace efforts
Politics

Moon meets with ruling party's new leader

President Moon Jae-in speaks during a meeting with prominent members of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea, including new leader Lee Nak-yon, at Cheong Wa Dae, Wednesday. The participants agreed on the need for cooperation with the main opposition People Power Party (PPP) to ensurethe smooth management of state affairs, and Lee suggested Moon arrange a tripartite meeting between Moon, Lee and PPP interim chief Kim Chong-in. Yonhap

Sep 9, 2020By Kang Seung-woo
Moon meets with ruling party's new leader
North Korea

Kim Yo-jong disappears from public radar

By Kang Seung-wooKim Yo-jong, North Korea's de facto second-in-command, has been out of the public eye for more than a month, leaving the South Korean government and experts scrambling to find out what has happened to the powerful sister of leader Kim Jong-un.Kim Yo-jong / Korea Times fileHer absence from the public eye is a sharp contrast to the activities of other North Korean officials. This is raising questions about her whereabouts given that she has been delegated part of her brother's authority, due to the stress he is suffering from his reign according to Seoul's National Intelligence Service.According to the Ministry of Unification, Kim Yo-jong has not made a public appearance since July 27, when she attended an event for the 67th anniversary of the Korean War Armistice Agreement. Even though she is a member of Pyongyang's politburo and the political bureau of the ruling Workers' Party's Central Committee, she attended neither of their recent meetings.The ministry remains cautious about the issue, saying it is not proper to make assumptions regarding a specific figure's wher

Sep 8, 2020By Kang Seung-woo
Kim Yo-jong disappears from public radar
Foreign Affairs

Growing pressure awaits Korea at ASEAN meetings amid US-China rivalry

Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha speaks via videoconference during a meeting of foreign ministers from the G20 at the government complex in Seoul, Thursday. / YonhapS. Korea to urge NK to return to dialogue By Kang Seung-wooThis week could be a tough one for Korea as the country will attend a series of ASEAN meetings that will also be participated in by the United States and China amid their intensifying hegemonic rivalry which is likely, once again, to see them urge Seoul to pick their respective side.Korea has remained neutral in the conflict as the U.S. is its longtime ally while China is its largest trading partner.According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Monday, Minister Kang Kyung-wha will be present at four ASEAN-related foreign ministers' meetings ― the Foreign Ministers' Meeting between Korea and ASEAN, the ASEAN Plus Three, the East Asia Summit (EAS) and the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) ― from Wednesday to Saturday. Vietnam was supposed to host the gatherings, but all of them will be held in a virtual format due to the COVID-19 pandemic that has disrupted in-person diplom

Sep 7, 2020By Kang Seung-woo
Growing pressure awaits Korea at ASEAN meetings amid US-China rivalry
North Korea

Will North Korea opt for provocation on party foundation day?

North Korea test-fires a submarine-launched ballistic missile from waters off its eastern coast town of Wonsan, Oct. 2, 2019. / YonhapBy Kang Seung-wooSpeculation is growing that North Korea may stage a military provocation to mark its ruling party's foundation day next month, according to diplomatic experts, Sunday.In addition, its current economic woes from coronavirus and natural disasters and the upcoming U.S. presidential election are also raising the possibility over a “much-heralded October surprise,” they added.The totalitarian state is scheduled to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the Workers' Party, Oct. 10, and to this end, seems to have already begun rehearsals, with thousands of troops and hundreds of vehicles practicing for a military parade in Pyongyang, according to 38 North, a U.S.-based website specializing in the secretive regime.The latest report on a possible North Korean military provocation came from the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) saying the North was apparently preparing to fire a submarine launched ballistic missile (SL

Sep 6, 2020By Kang Seung-woo
Will North Korea opt for provocation on party foundation day?
Politics

Outgoing DPK leader laments stalled inter-Korean ties

By Kang Seung-wooLee Hae-chan, the outgoing chairman of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK), regretted, Friday, that inter-Korean relations could not develop further during his two-year tenure, vowing to continue efforts to get the stalled bilateral ties back on track after retirement. Lee Hae-chan, the outgoing chairman of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea, speaks during a virtual press conference, Friday. / YonhapThe former seven-term lawmaker, 68, will wrap up his 32-year political career, Saturday, when the DPK will hold a virtual convention to pick a new leader to replace him. “I really wanted to build a cornerstone that would contribute to inter-Korean relations advancing, but they have been stalled,” Lee said during a press conference livestreamed via YouTube. “Inter-Korean exchanges got off to a solid start, but now they are facing a deadlock, which is the most pitiful thing during my two-year term. Keeping it in mind that there must not be another war on the Korean Peninsula, and inter-Korean affairs should be addressed via dialogue.” Biddin

Aug 28, 2020By Kang Seung-woo
Politics

Online petition critical of Moon Jae-in administration draws attention

By Kang Seung-wooAn online petition critical of the Moon Jae-in administration's policy missteps and beleaguered current and former officials has received widespread attention. President Moon Jae-in / YonhapThe petition, made public at Cheong Wa Dae website, Thursday, in the form of a written appeal to a king during the 1392-1910 Joseon era, criticized the government's policies in various fields of real estate, taxes, foreign and economic policy and personnel management. As of 5 p.m., Friday, it has garnered more than 279,000 signatories. Any petition that gets more than 200,000 signatures within a month requires an official response from the presidential office.“As the COVID-19 pandemic is sweeping the nation and hitting its economy hard, lawmakers and government officials are merely busying pursuing private interest, while preventing the President from gauging the public sentiment toward the administration,” the petitioner wrote. The petitioner called on Moon to lower taxes, carry out policies in a rational manner, pursue pragmatic diplomacy, respect human desires, appo

Aug 28, 2020By Kang Seung-woo
Online petition critical of Moon Jae-in administration draws attention
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