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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

Over 1,300 separated family members died this year

People living in North Korea hold hands of their separated family members in South Korea while bidding farewell following a three-day reunion event at Mount Geumgang resort in the North in this Aug. 26, 2018 photo. / Korea Time fileBy Kang Seung-wooOver 1,300 members of families separated by the Korean War died this year, government data showed, Thursday, unable to meet their loved ones due to soured inter-Korean relations. According to the unification ministry, a total of 1,379 people who had applied to see their long-lost relatives in North Korea, passed away without having their wishes fulfilled in the period of January to May. Among the total of 133,386 South Koreans who have registered as members of separated families, only 51,367, or 38.5 percent, were alive as of May. In addition, the survivors are aging as 65.4 percent of them are aged 80 or older, which is increasing the urgency of the humanitarian matter for the two Koreas.Following the inter-Korean summit between President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in April 2018, where they agreed to discuss and solve

Jun 25, 2020By Kang Seung-woo
Over 1,300 separated family members died this year
Defense

70th anniversary of Korean War

Korean and American national flags are hung side by side on the Korean consulate general in Los Angeles, Thursday. The display marks the 70th anniversary of the 1950-53 Korean War, in which more than 1.78 million U.S. troops participated, and honors the Korea-U.S. alliance. / Yonhap

Jun 25, 2020By Kang Seung-woo
70th anniversary of Korean War
Defense

Korean War anniversary

Defense Minister Jeong Kyeong-doo, front row center, and other military leaders visit the Seoul National Cemetery, Thursday, to pay tribute on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the outbreak of the 1950-53 Korean War. More than 1 million Korean soldiers and civilians were killed or went missing during the fratricidal conflict. / Yonhap

Jun 25, 2020By Kang Seung-woo
Korean War anniversary
North Korea

Return of 147 soldiers' remains

The remains of 147 South Korean soldiers killed in the 1950-53 Korean War are laid on seats inside an aerial tanker to be returned to Korea at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in Hawaii, Tuesday. The remains were part of those brought to the U.S. after joint excavation work in North Korea from 1990 to 1994 and following the summit between North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and U.S. President Donald Trump in 2018. Through two joint forensic reviews, South Korea and the U.S. identified 147 sets of remains as those belonging to South Koreans. The remains were repatriated to coincide with the 70th anniversary of the outbreak of the Korean War that falls today and will be welcomed home in an official ceremony by President Moon Jae-in. / Yonhap

Jun 24, 2020By Kang Seung-woo
Return of 147 soldiers' remains
North Korea

North Korean leader suspends military actions against South Korea

By Kang Seung-wooNorth Korean leader Kim Jong-un has suspended envisaged military action against South Korea, the North's state-run media reported Wednesday, a move seen as diffusing rapidly escalating tensions on the Korean Peninsula “temporarily.”North Korean leader Kim Jong-un / Korea Times fileHowever, the South Korean military still remains on alert over possible North Korean provocative actions, given that Pyongyang's decision was to “suspend” military actions, not cancel them. Experts say the North Korean regime is taking a breather, with a plan to take its next step based on the South Korean government's “sincerity” to normalize their frosty bilateral relations. According to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), the decision was made Tuesday when Kim presided over a preliminary meeting of the Central Military Commission of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) via videoconferencing. “At the preliminary meeting, the WPK Central Military Commission took stock of the prevailing situation and suspended military action plans against t

Jun 24, 2020By Kang Seung-woo
North Korean leader suspends military actions against South Korea
North Korea

Defector group sends 500,000 anti-NK leaflets

A balloon carrying images of North Korean ruling Kim family members is found in Hongcheon, Gangwon Province, Tuesday. It was one of 20 balloons that were flown by a North Korean defectors' group here, Monday night. / YonhapBy Kang Seung-wooA North Korean defectors' group floated hundreds of thousands of anti-North Korea leaflets across the border, Monday night, adding fuel to the already-tense situation on the Korean Peninsula. In response, the police are set to apprehend those who were involved in the campaign that the government believes violates the Inter-Korean Exchange and Cooperation ActAccording to Fighters for a Free North Korea (FFNK), it floated 20 balloons carrying 500,000 anti-Pyongyang leaflets across the border from Paju, Gyeonggi Province. FFNK Chairman Park Sang-hak, said 500 pamphlets depicting the South's success story, 2,000 U.S. one-dollar bills and 1,000 SD cards were also sent to the North, along with the leaflets. Usually, the leaflets criticize the authoritarian regime and urge North Korean people to revolt against their leader Kim Jong-un. The distribution of

Jun 23, 2020By Kang Seung-woo
Defector group sends 500,000 anti-NK leaflets
  • Kim Jong-un suspends military action plans against Seoul
  • North Korea seen removing loudspeakers from border areas: sources
North Korea

Call for deployment of US strategic assets

Rep. Shin Won-sik, third from left, of the main opposition United Future Party (UFP) speaks during a press briefing at the National Assembly in Seoul, Friday, calling for the resumption of annual joint military exercises between South Korea and the United States and the deployment of U.S. strategic assets on the Korean Peninsula amid growing tensions here due to North Korea's threats of military action. From left are fellow UFP lawmakers Reps. Tae Young-ho, Cho Tae-yong, Shin, Park Jin, Ji Seong-ho and Cho Su-jin. / Yonhap

Jun 19, 2020By Kang Seung-woo
Call for deployment of US strategic assets
North Korea

Ex-chief of staff, ex-DPK floor leader top candidates for unification minister

By Kang Seung-wooFollowing Unification Minister Kim Yeon-chul's resignation over worsened inter-Korean ties, Cheong Wa Dae is now searching for his replacement, with politicians coming to the fore. Given that the current relations between South and North Korea are headed toward their lowest ebb under the Moon Jae-in administration, politicians are regarded as a better fit for the job than bureaucrats or scholars as they are believed to be able to make and push ahead with bold decisions in North Korea policy.Under the current administration inaugurated in 2017, President Moon has had two unification ministers ― Cho Myoung-gyon and Kim. The former was a career bureaucrat and the latter was a professor of unification at Inje University. Im Jong-seok / Korea Times fileIm Jong-seok, a former presidential chief of staff, is one of the most-discussed candidates thanks to his track record.The 54-year-old led the government's preparation for three inter-Korean summits between Moon and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, during which he had opportunities to meet the leader and his sister Kim Yo-j

Jun 19, 2020By Kang Seung-woo
Ex-chief of staff, ex-DPK floor leader top candidates for unification minister
North Korea

South Korea-US working group's role in question amid growing inter-Korean tensions

A civic group stages a rally in front of Cheong Wa Dae, Thursday, calling for a breakup of the South Korea-U.S. working group. / YonhapBy Kang Seung-wooAmid deteriorating inter-Korean relations, a South Korea-U.S. working group is taking flak for hampering progress in bilateral ties due to its excessively harsh standards adopted on North Korea. Critics say unlike its initial goal of coordinating policy on the North, the group is obsessed with whether Seoul-driven initiatives to engage with Pyongyang violate economic sanctions on the reclusive state, with some even calling for its breakup.The working group, co-chaired by Lee Do-hoon, special representative for Korean Peninsula Peace and Security Affairs and U.S. Special Envoy for North Korea Stephen Biegun, was set up in November 2018 following three inter-Korean summits earlier that year. Upon its establishment, the government had high hopes that it would be in close communication with the U.S. via the organization. But due to Washington's stern stance that inter-Korean economic cooperation should proceed in step with significant pro

Jun 18, 2020By Kang Seung-woo
South Korea-US working group's role in question amid growing inter-Korean tensions
  • Ruling, opposition parties take stern stance toward North Korea
  • Where is Kim Jong-un?
  • PHOTOS Rice and masks for people of North Korea
Defense

USFK withdrawal believed feasible scenario: experts

Helicopters are parked inside the U.S. Army Garrison Humphreys in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province. / Korea Times fileBy Kang Seung-wooU.S. President Donald Trump's decision to withdraw some U.S. troops from Germany is intensifying speculation that he may do the same thing with those serving in Korea.Although the Ministry of National Defense says that there have been no talks over the issue with the U.S., experts, who criticize Trump's transactional approach to alliances, think reducing or withdrawing U.S. forces from the Korean Peninsula is not an impossible scenario. While officially confirming the pullout due to what he called German “delinquency on military spending,” Monday, Trump said, “And I'm not only talking about Germany, by the way. I'm talking about plenty of other countries.”The withdrawal comes amid stalled negotiations over how much Korea will pay for the upkeep of 28,500 American troops here. Washington requests $1.3 billion (1.56 trillion won) annually ― a nearly 50 percent increase from last year ― but Seoul is maintaining its proposal of a 13 p

Jun 18, 2020By Kang Seung-woo
USFK withdrawal believed feasible scenario: experts
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