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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

Trump excessively touting success with NK for reelection

U.S. President Donald Trump talks with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un at the inter-Korean border village of Panmunjeom in the Demilitarized Zone in June 2019. / Korea Times fileBy Kang Seung-wooEn route to the presidential election in November, U.S. President Donald Trump has been increasingly promoting the illusion of progress in ties with North Korea. However, diplomatic watchers say it is nothing more than a campaign strategy to stay in power for four more years.Last week, Trump said he would make "deals" with North Korea very quickly if reelected in November, followed by another report by Japan's Kyodo News saying the U.S. is seeking to establish liaison offices in both Pyongyang and Washington in order to advance denuclearization talks. Trump held a summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in Singapore in June 2018, becoming the first serving U.S. president to meet a North Korean leader; since then, they have met on two more occasions. However, there has been no progress in denuclearization negotiations, although the U.S. leader has touted a moratorium on long-range missile

Aug 11, 2020By Kang Seung-woo
Trump excessively touting success with NK for reelection
Politics

President replaces three senior secretaries amid real estate policy failures

From left are Choi Jae-sung, senior presidential secretary for political affairs, Kim Jong-ho, senior presidential secretary for civil affairs, and Kim Je-nam, senior presidential secretary for civic and social affairs. / Yonhap By Kang Seung-wooPresident Moon Jae-in has accepted the resignations of three out of six senior presidential secretaries who offered to step down last week over policy missteps in multiple areas including failed real estate regulations, Cheong Wa Dae announced Monday. However, the President has retained his chief of staff Noh Young-min, who was under fire for owning multiple homes that went against the government's policy goal of preventing speculative buying and stabilizing the housing market. He also named replacements for the three departing secretaries. According to Cheong Wa Dae, Choi Jae-sung, a former four-term lawmaker of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK), has been named senior secretary for political affairs, while Kim Jong

Aug 10, 2020By Kang Seung-woo
President replaces three senior secretaries amid real estate policy failures
Politics

Public critical of presidential aides' resignation offers

By Kang Seung-wooDespite an en masse resignation offer from six senior presidential secretaries over policy missteps in multiple areas including failed real estate regulations, public sentiment toward President Moon Jae-in's administration is still negative, with people criticizing them for choosing houses over jobs.President Moon Jae-in and his chief of staff Noh Young-min / Korea Times fileThe collective move came as Cheong Wa Dae is increasingly coming under fire for what some denounce as hypocrisy, because some of its senior officials own more than one house, going against the government's policy goal to contain speculative home buying and stabilize the housing market.They have become the target of public criticism for their reluctance to sell their properties in affluent neighborhoods in defiance of the presidential office's “recommendation.”Four of the six officials had more than one house until early July, including presidential chief of staff Noh Young-min. While Noh sold his two houses afterward, the others have not, though they claim they are in the process of d

Aug 9, 2020By Kang Seung-woo
Public critical of presidential aides' resignation offers
Defense

Pray for Lebanon

Army Col. Kim Do-yul, fourth from right, who commands the Dongmyung Unit in Lebanon, poses with Lebanese and Korean military officers Saturday after delivering emergency relief items to help the country recover from a recent massive explosion in Beirut that killed at least 153 people and injured more than 6,000. According to the defense ministry, the Korean unit, which has been dispatched there since 2007 as part of the U.N. Interim Forces in Lebanon, handed over a total of 6,000 medical supplies sets and other relief items to the Lebanese military authorities, with 4,000 more packages to be delivered soon. / Courtesy of Ministry of National Defense

Aug 9, 2020By Kang Seung-woo
Pray for Lebanon
North Korea

South Korea to donate $10 million for NK aid program

Unification Minister Lee In-young speaks during a meeting of the Inter-Korean Exchange and Cooperation Promotion Council at the Seoul Government Complex, Thursday. / YonhapBy Kang Seung-wooThe government has decided to donate $10 million (11.9 billion won) to North Korea via a World Food Programme (WFP) aid project, under which it will provide essential food and nutrition for hundreds of thousands of young children and women, the Ministry of Unification ministry said Thursday.The ministry made it clear that the provision did not breach international sanctions imposed on the North for its nuclear and missile programs.The decision, made during a meeting of the Inter-Korean Exchange and Cooperation Promotion Council, marked the first humanitarian aid to the North since the inauguration of Unification Minister Lee In-young in July, who is pursuing more projects between the two Koreas.“This decision will serve as a starting point for the government to consistently provide humanitarian aid to the North regardless of the political and military situation,” Lee told the council.La

Aug 6, 2020By Kang Seung-woo
South Korea to donate $10 million for NK aid program
Foreign Affairs

'GSOMIA termination may provoke US backlash'

Members of a civic group stage a rally near the U.S. Embassy to Korea in Seoul, calling on the government to terminate GSOMIA with Japan, in this Nov. 26, 2019 file photo. / Korea Times fileBy Kang Seung-wooIn response to envisaged retaliation from Japan over the possible liquidation of a Japanese company's assets here, the government has once again threatened to terminate their bilateral intelligence-sharing pact.Some experts are raising doubts over the effectiveness of such a strategy, saying that Korea may face a much stronger backlash from the United States, which values the General Security of Military Information Agreement (GSOMIA) as a tool to contain China's growing influence in Asia. Bracing for retaliatory measures from Tokyo, angered by the Korean Supreme Court-ordered sale of assets of Nippon Steel and Sumitomo Metal to provide compensation to Korean victims forced to work for it before and during World War II, Seoul is considering countering them by cancelling the GSOMIA in a tit-for-tat move.“On Nov. 22 last year, our government suspended its decision to end the G

Aug 5, 2020By Kang Seung-woo
'GSOMIA termination may provoke US backlash'
  • US urges Korea to keep security pact with Japan
Defense

'US to ratchet up pressure on SMA talks'

By Kang Seung-wooThe appointment of a new U.S. envoy for defense cost-sharing negotiations with Korea is seen as Washington's attempt to add more pressure on Seoul to pay more for the cost of maintaining American troops here, according to government officials and diplomatic pundits, Tuesday.Donna Welton / Courtesy of U.S. State DepartmentGiven that the U.S. presidential election is in the offing, the push to strike a deal is likely to be amplified in order for President Donald Trump to tout an “achievement” for his reelection campaign.The U.S. State Department has named Donna Welton as chief negotiator for the Special Measures Agreement (SMA), which determines Korea's cost-sharing for the United States Forces Korea (USFK), to succeed Jim DeHart, who was appointed as the U.S. coordinator for the Arctic region last week. Welton recently served as assistant chief of mission at the U.S. Embassy in Afghanistan. As a diplomat, Welton has over 25 years of experience and has worked in countries including Finland and Indonesia and at the U.S. mission to the United Nations. Her app

Aug 4, 2020By Kang Seung-woo
'US to ratchet up pressure on SMA talks'
Foreign Affairs

S. Korea braces for Japan's retaliation over sales of asset

The Korean government braces for Japan's possible retaliation over the possible liquidation of Japanese corporate assets over the wartime forced labor issue. / gettyimagesbankBy Kang Seung-wooWith Japan's retaliation against a possible liquidation of Japanese corporate assets in the offing, the Korean government has come up with scenario-based countermeasures, according to sources, Monday. However, it remains to be seen whether its preparation is enough to cushion the impact of Japan's countermeasures.In 2018, Korea's Supreme Court ordered Japanese steelmakers Nippon Steel and Sumitomo Metal which benefited from the use of Korean forced labor during WWII to pay 100 million won ($83,000) in compensation to each of four surviving South Korean victims of the wartime atrocities. With their continued noncompliance, the Pohang branch of Daegu District Court began the process needed for liquidating their Korean assets in June. Should there be no response from the companies by Aug. 4, the court can liquidate their assets. However, the process is expected to take several months.As the deadlin

Aug 3, 2020By Kang Seung-woo
S. Korea braces for Japan's retaliation over sales of asset
North Korea

'Window of opportunity for dialogue between North Korea, US still open'

North Korea watchers believe Kim Yo-jong, the sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, is keeping the possibility of continued dialogue with the United States alive. / Korea Times fileBy Kang Seung-wooDespite deadlocked nuclear negotiations between North Korea and the United States, Pyongyang has not fully ruled out the possibility of resuming talks with Washington ― in particular, ahead of the U.S. presidential election in November, according to experts, Friday. While Kim Yo-jong, the sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, downplayed the possibility of her brother meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump again in a statement July 10, she unexpectedly requested a DVD of U.S. Independence Day celebrations, which hinted that the reclusive state was keeping their bilateral talks alive.“She's saying that somebody comes to bring that tape to Pyongyang, and that's me. She's saying, invite me to United States right, that's sort of the way I looked at it,” Andrew Kim, a former head of the CIA's Korea Mission Center, told Voice of America. While in office, he accompanied U.S

Jul 31, 2020By Kang Seung-woo
'Window of opportunity for dialogue between North Korea, US still open'
Defense

'New missile guideline to help OPCON transition'

Anasis 2, a communications satellite for Korea, is launched atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket in Florida, July 20. / UPI-YonhapBy Kang Seung-wooA newly revised missile guidelines agreement between South Korea and the United States will contribute to a smoother transition of wartime operational control (OPCON) of South Korean military forces from Washington to Seoul, according to diplomatic experts, Thursday. However, they denied speculation that the new deal has to do with the U.S.'s policy to get Korea to pay more for the cost of maintaining the U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) in return, or to use its missile capabilities to help contain China amid growing diplomatic disputes between Washington and Beijing.On Tuesday, Cheong Wa Dae announced that the allies agreed to lift a decades-long restriction on South Korea's use of solid fuel for its space launch vehicles, adding that this would help advance the military's intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities.U.S. Naval War College professor Terence Roehrig said this change will have an impact on the transfer of wartime OPCON.&ldqu

Jul 30, 2020By Kang Seung-woo
'New missile guideline to help OPCON transition'
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