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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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Defense

ROK-US disagree on exercises; OPCON transition may be delayed

Defense Minister Jeong Kyeong-doo, right, and U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper hold a press conference at the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., in this February photo. / Korea Times fileBy Kang Seung-wooSouth Korea and the United States are yet to reach agreement over how to execute planned joint military exercises in August, according to sources, Sunday, raising speculation that the disagreement may expand to pushing back the transfer of operational control (OPCON) of South Korean troops during wartime from Washington to Seoul.Hoping that it will regain OPCON by 2022, South Korea wants the upcoming exercises to be focused on assessing its relevant capabilities, but the U.S. is stressing that they need to focus on maintaining the joint military posture that may have been undermined following the postponement of annual drills in the first half of the year due to the COVID-19 outbreak.The OPCON transition calls on a South Korean general to command the Combined Forces Command (CFC), with a U.S. general taking a supportive role. Currently, the CFC is headed by the U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) c

May 31, 2020By Kang Seung-woo
ROK-US disagree on exercises; OPCON transition may be delayed
Politics

Ex-PM at workshop for lawmakers-elect

Lawmaker-elect Lee Nak-yon of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea removes his necktie during a workshop for the party's lawmakers-elect at The-K Hotel in Seoul, Wednesday. The former prime minister, a potential presidential candidate, is expected to announce his bid for the party leadership next week. / Yonhap

May 27, 2020By Kang Seung-woo
Ex-PM at workshop for lawmakers-elect
Defense

Strife between Seoul, UN Command deepens

Gen. Robert Abrams, commander of U.S. Forces Korea, United Nations Command and Combined Forces Command / Korea Times fileBy Kang Seung-wooA feud between the government and the United Nations Command (UNC) seems to be intensifying as the former has complained of a series of recent decisions by the command regarding inter-Korean issues.Some critics, including senior government officials, say the U.S.-led UNC, which administers the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) and the Military Demarcation Line (MDL), has overstepped its authority regarding the Moon Jae-in administration's peace initiatives on the Korean Peninsula as part of efforts to maintain its presence here. The latest friction occurred, Tuesday, after the UNC concluded that both South and North Korea violated the Armistice Agreement when they gunfire was exchanged inside the DMZ, May 3, adding that it was unable to determine whether North Korean soldiers fired intentionally or by mistake. The findings are in stark contrast to the Ministry of National Defense's conclusion that the shots fired by North Korean troops across the border wer

May 27, 2020By Kang Seung-woo
Strife between Seoul, UN Command deepens
Politics

Korea needs social inclusiveness, 'flexicurity' for post-pandemic future

Song Ho-keun, a chair professor at Pohang University of Science and Technology, speaks during the Korea Forum 2020, hosted by The Korea Times and its sister paper the Hankook Ilbo, at the Shilla Seoul, Tuesday. / Korea Times photo by Seo Jae-hoonBy Kang Seung-wooKorea needs to build an inclusive society and adopt “flexicurity” in preparation for the post COVID-19 era, according to Song Ho-keun, a chair professor at Pohang University of Science and Technology (Postech), Tuesday. Flexicurity is a term coined in Denmark to describe a system that promotes both flexibility and security in the labor market.Praising the country's disease control measures amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the renowned sociologist called on the nation to adopt new concepts regarding economy and growth.“In the wake of COVID-19, we could successfully respond to the virus thanks to the nation's social inclusiveness that I believe is higher than that of any other country including so-called advanced ones. In addition, 'flexicurity' ― for example, the government-offered emergency disaster relief funds

May 26, 2020By Kang Seung-woo
Korea needs social inclusiveness, 'flexicurity' for post-pandemic future
  • Korea urged to prepare post-pandemic paradigm
North Korea

Moon's inter-Korean initiative put to test

President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un / Korea Times fileBy Kang Seung-wooPresident Moon Jae-in's proposal to deal with inter-Korean projects separately from the North's denuclearization negotiations with the United States seems to be losing steam, with Pyongyang still shunning Seoul while seeking dialog with Washington.According to the North's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), Sunday, leader Kim Jong-un presided over an undated key defense meeting of the ruling Workers' Party and laid out “new policies for further increasing” its nuclear war deterrence and putting its “strategic armed forces on high alert operation.” However, there was no reference to Seoul's suggestion for cooperation on inter-Korean quarantine measures amid the COVID-19 pandemic.Kim's remarks are seen as part of his efforts to get the U.S. to return to their nuclear disarmament dialogue, hinting that the North may try to affect the U.S. presidential election in November as the matter has been put on the back burner by President Donald Trump who is seeking reelection. Mor

May 25, 2020By Kang Seung-woo
Moon's inter-Korean initiative put to test
Politics

Leaving National Assembly

An official of the minor opposition Minsaeng Party removes a banner in the party's meeting room at the National Assembly in Seoul, Friday. In the April 15 general election, the party failed to win a single seat, so it is not permitted to have an office or a meeting room within the main Assembly building of the for the 21st Assembly that will start on May 30. In the 20th Assembly, the party had 20 lawmakers. Yonhap

May 22, 2020By Kang Seung-woo
Leaving National Assembly
North Korea

Will South Korea lift 2010 sanctions against North Korea?

Rep. Yoon Sang-hyun, right, an independent lawmaker who heads the National Assembly's Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee, shakes hands with Unification Minister Kim Yeon-chul during their meeting at the Assembly in Seoul, Friday. / YonhapBy Kang Seung-wooIn the wake of government officials' comments that South Korea's own sanctions on North Korea have virtually lost their effects, questions are arising over whether the South would lift the measures officially.However, even though the “May 24 measures” remain only symbolic following tougher sanctions by the global community, it may not be easy for the Moon Jae-in administration to make such a drastic move, as their lifting could cause a strong political backlash from conservatives domestically and the international community is still firmly retaining sanctions on Pyongyang.The economic sanctions, imposed by the Lee Myung-bak administration in 2010 in retaliation to the North's torpedoing of the South's naval ship, the Cheonan, ban inter-Korean economic exchanges and cooperation. “The May 24 measures pose no lo

May 22, 2020By Kang Seung-woo
Will South Korea lift 2010 sanctions against North Korea?
Foreign Affairs

Korea leads multilateral group launch against infectious diseases

Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha speaks during the first videoconference of the Support Group for Global Infectious Disease Response in this photo provided by the foreign ministry, Wednesday. / Courtesy of Ministry of Foreign AffairsBy Kang Seung-wooThe government is accelerating its efforts to establish an international mechanism aimed at effectively responding to global infectious diseases with the launch of another Korea-led multilateral cooperation group. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Thursday that the Support Group for Global Infectious Disease Response (G4IDR) held its inaugural video conference based out of Geneva, Switzerland, the previous day, participated in by World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus and Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha among others. The WHO is headquartered in the Swiss city.Alongside Korea, Singapore, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, Morocco, Kenya, Mexico and Peru are participating in the G4IDR as core-members, while other countries interested in the group can freely join it. On the back of its successful handlin

May 21, 2020By Kang Seung-woo
Korea leads multilateral group launch against infectious diseases
Foreign Affairs

'ROK-US alliance helps pull through pandemic'

Marc Knapper, U.S. deputy assistant secretary of state for Korea and Japan, speaks during an online forum on the COVID-19 pandemic and Korean Peninsula issues, live-streamed at the Korea Press Center in Seoul, Wednesday. / YonhapBy Kang Seung-wooThe decades-old bilateral ties between Korea and the United States are further evolving during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to senior government officials from both countries, Wednesday. “I think during this pandemic we have discovered just how deep, broad and trustful the U.S.-ROK relationship is,” Marc Knapper, U.S. deputy assistant secretary of state for Korea and Japan, said during a video forum titled, “One Pandemic, Two Koreas: Coronavirus and the Korean Peninsula Standoff.” The event was hosted by the Korea Press Foundation and Hawaii-based East-West Center, with U.S. panelists participating remotely. Ko Yun-ju, director-general for North American affairs at the Korean foreign ministry, also said the alliance is growing stronger via their various cooperative undertakings in the fight against the virus.Knappe

May 20, 2020By Kang Seung-woo
'ROK-US alliance helps pull through pandemic'
Politics

Guide dog in National Assembly

Future Korea Party lawmaker-elect Kim Ye-ji stands in the chamber of the National Assembly in Seoul, Wednesday, with her guide dog, Joy, during an orientation session for new lawmakers. Following the visually impaired Kim's election as a proportional representative in the April 15 general election, the Assembly secretariat has changed regulations to allow the dog to enter the chamber. / Korea Times photo by Bae Woo-han

May 20, 2020By Kang Seung-woo
Guide dog in National Assembly
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