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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

Center opens to narrow inter-Korean cultural differences

The Inter-Korean Cultural Integration Center, located in Gangseo-gu, western Seoul, is aimed at helping North Korea defectors and local residents communicate through cultural activities and narrow their cultural differences. Courtesy of Ministry of UnificationBy Kang Seung-wooA center designed to promote cultural exchange between North Korean defectors and South Korean residents has been launched. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the ambitious project from the Ministry of Unification named the Inter-Korean Cultural Integration Center, originally slated to open in April, held an online opening event on May 13.The seven-story establishment, located in Gangseo-gu, southwestern Seoul, has several galleries with different themes. “I hope that North Korean defectors and local residents will be able to achieve a small unification at this center,” Unification Minister Kim Yeon-chul said in a congratulatory speech.As North Korean defectors' struggle to adjust to life within South Korean society has emerged as a social issue, the ministry said it hopes the cultural center will help

Jun 7, 2020By Kang Seung-woo
Politics

Pledge to recover Korean War dead

A banner embodying a part of the Korean national flag, shown when the national flag is used to cover the remains of deceased service members, hangs along the street near Gwanghwamun in central Seoul, Friday. The number 122,609 refers to the Korean War dead who still have yet to be recovered. / Yonhap

Jun 5, 2020By Kang Seung-woo
Pledge to recover Korean War dead
North Korea

Anti-North Korea leaflet response draws backlash

Main opposition United Future Party lawmakers, from left, Ji Seong-ho, Cho Tae-yong, Shin Won-sik and Suh Jung-sook, hold a press conference at the National Assembly in Seoul, Friday, to criticize the government's plan to legislate a ban on anti-North Korea leaflet campaigns. / YonhapBy Kang Seung-wooThe South Korean government's response to stop anti-North Korea leaflets being transported to the North from the South, announced Thursday, is raising some eyebrows as the announcement came mere hours after Pyongyang made a complaint.Critics say Seoul is obeying the North Korean regime in order to keep its drive to engage with the North alive, while the North has kept quiet about its southern neighbor's protests against its repeated provocations. On Thursday, Kim Yo-jong, the powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, warned that if South Korean authorities continue to tolerate the propaganda leaflets created and distributed by North Korean defectors and other activist groups, the North will cancel the inter-Korean military tension-reducing agreement made during the inter-Korean

Jun 5, 2020By Kang Seung-woo
Foreign Affairs

Korea-Japan ties back to turmoil

Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha, left, and her Japanese counterpart Toshimitsu Motegi / Korea Times fileBy Kang Seung-wooFractious relations between Korea and Japan are likely to turn hostile as Seoul has taken countermeasures against Tokyo's export restrictions and refusal to comply with Korean court rulings regarding certain companies' use of Korean forced laborers, raising speculations that the Japanese government could respond with economic retaliation.According to the legal representatives for four Korean plaintiffs Wednesday, the Pohang branch of Daegu District Court in North Gyeongsang Province, Monday, made public a notification of the court's ruling made last year on seizing the Korean assets of Japanese steelmaker Nippon Steel and Sumitomo Metal Corp. which benefitted from the use forced labor during WWII. The delivery of public notice will go into effect Aug. 4.In October 2018, the Supreme Court ordered the Japanese firm to pay 100 million won ($82,000) in compensation to four Koreans for their forced labor, but it refused to comply with the ruling and the plaintiffs reque

Jun 4, 2020By Kang Seung-woo
Korea-Japan ties back to turmoil
Defense

US accepts Korea's offer to fund USFK local workers' wages

Lee Nak-yon, left, a former prime minister, talks with members of the USFK Korean Employees Union in front of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea's building in Yeouido, Seoul, March 27, during the union's protest ahead of a planned furlough of Korean workers due to an absence of defense-cost sharing deal. / Korea Times fileBy Kang Seung-wooThousands of furloughed Korean workers at American military bases here will return to work from the middle of the month after the U.S. accepted the government's proposal to pay their wages regardless of the stalled defense cost-sharing talks.Starting April, 4,000 of 8,500 Korean employees were put on unpaid leave due to the absence of a new Special Measures Agreement (SMA) despite seven rounds of talks between Seoul and Washington. The SMA determines the amount of money the government pays for the stationing of the USFK here and includes wages for Korean workers as well as the cost for construction projects and logistical support. “The Department of Defense has accepted South Korea's proposal to fund the labor costs for all U.S. Forces Korea

Jun 3, 2020By Kang Seung-woo
US accepts Korea's offer to fund USFK local workers' wages
Politics

Leaders' meeting

Lee Hae-chan, left, chairman of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea, shakes hands with Kim Chong-in, head of the main opposition United Future Party's emergency committee, during the latter's courtesy visit at the National Assembly in Seoul, Wednesday. They discussed pending issues regarding the opening session of the Assembly and the government's plan to allocate a third supplementary budget in response to the economic fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic. / Yonhap

Jun 3, 2020By Kang Seung-woo
Leaders' meeting
Foreign Affairs

G7 participation poses double-edged sword

President Moon Jae-in accepted U.S. President Donald Trump's invitation of Korea to a G7 Summit in September during their phone talks, Monday. / YonhapBy Kang Seung-wooPresident Moon Jae-in's acceptance of an invitation from U.S. President Donald Trump to join this year's expanded G7 Summit is expected to go down in history as one of the nation's diplomatic achievements.Korea's attendance at the meeting of the seven largest advanced economies is seen as an opportunity to play a larger role on the international stage, which will further boost its global recognition that is now being raised by its successful handling of the COVID-19 pandemic.However, Trump wants to use the meeting of world leaders, scheduled for September ― in the U.S. ― as a chance to discuss how to deal with China amid worsening Sino-U.S. relations, so the government is advised to take a thoughtful and level-headed approach to the event.Moon accepted the invitation during a 15-minute phone conversation with Trump, Monday night, during which they also talked about the American leader's plan to add four countries ― Aus

Jun 2, 2020By Kang Seung-woo
G7 participation poses double-edged sword
Politics

New three-star generals

President Moon Jae-in takes the salute from 16 newly promoted lieutenant-general level officers from the Army, Navy and Air Force during a promotion ceremony at Cheong Wa Dae, Tuesday. Moon presented the newly promoted officers with traditional Korean swords, “samjeonggeom,” which means sword of the three spirits of defense, unification and prosperity for the country. / Yonhap

Jun 2, 2020By Kang Seung-woo
New three-star generals
Foreign Affairs

Korean diplomacy put to test again

President Moon Jae-in holds hands with U.S. President Donald Trump during a G20 summit event in Germany in this July 2017 photo, with Chinese President Xi Jinping standing behind them. Korea is once again faced with diplomatic pressure over whether to side with the United States of America or the People's Republic of China. / Korea Times fileMoon accepts Trump's invitation to G7 SummitBy Kang Seung-wooAmid the fast deterioration of ties between the United States and China, Korea, long-sandwiched between the two, is once again facing growing pressure to choose the “right side” in pursuing its foreign policy.Last Friday's surprise replacement of Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) interceptor missiles by the Korean and U.S. militaries has raised speculation that China might again opt for economic retaliation against Korean companies. In addition, U.S. President Donald Trump's unexpected invitation of Seoul to this year's G7 Summit is putting Seoul in the thick of worsening Sino-U.S. relations as the envisaged meeting is likely to serve as an attempt to contain China

Jun 1, 2020By Kang Seung-woo
Korean diplomacy put to test again
  • Korea may fall prey to US-China currency war
Politics

Moving day

Equipment to carry belongings of members of the newly launched 21st National Assembly is stacked at a building in the Assembly compound in Seoul, Sunday. The 300-member parliament began its four-year term Saturday. / Yonhap

May 31, 2020By Kang Seung-woo
Moving day
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