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Jung Min-ho

Korea Times Politics & City Reporter

Jung Min-ho has worked as a staff writer at The Korea Times since 2012, mostly covering social and political issues. He currently belongs to the Politics & City Desk where he covers topics such as health, labor and human rights. Prior to joining the team, he was responsible for covering North Korea and sports. His article about a biosecurity breach of Middle East respiratory syndrome won him an award from the Korea Science Journalists Association in 2016. He is also the co-author of the book, "Medical Pioneers of Korea" (2019). He served as the head of the international relations committee at the Journalists Association of Korea from 2021 to 2023.

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Foreign Affairs

US midterm election results could complicate denuclearization of North Korea: expert

Former U.S. president Donald Trump speaks during a rally in Robstown, Texas, Oct. 22. Reuters-Yonhap'Diplomacy works only when Pyongyang is trying to move away from China, Russia'By Jung Min-hoSouth Korea should prepare for a United States controlled by more isolationists and skeptics regarding American intervention in foreign affairs as Washington braces for a major Republican win in the upcoming midterm elections, according to a security expert on Northeast Asia.The projected results of the Nov. 8 elections are about to bring new challenges to Northeast Asia, where the U.S.-China rivalry is intensifying and North Korea is speeding up the development of its nuclear weapons despite international outcry. Recent polls show that the conservative U.S. party will take control of the House and possibly win the Senate as well. “Many of the Republicans today are more isolationists and less internationalists than they used to be. That's reflected most recently in signs that, if the Republicans retake the House, they are not going be so open to continue aid to Ukraine. No one is saying a

Oct 26, 2022By Jung Min-ho
US midterm election results could complicate denuclearization of North Korea: expert
  • N. Korean nuclear test would constitute a 'grave escalatory action': State Dept.
North Korea

North Korean defector found dead in Seoul home

North Korean teenage defectors return to their classroom after a break at Hanawon, a government-run adjustment and education center for North Koreans resettling in South Korea, in Anseong, Gyeonggi Province, in this Oct. 12, 2016, file photo. A defector who was once hailed as “a successful resettlement case” has recently found dead at her rental apartment in Seoul. NewsisGov't vows to improve system to protect defectors struggling in South KoreaBy Jung Min-hoA defector who was once hailed by the media as a successful resettlement case has been found dead in her home in Seoul. Authorities believe nearly a year has passed since she died, given how much her corpse had decomposed and the fact that she was found wearing winter clothes. She was 49.According to police in Yangcheon District Tuesday, her body was discovered on Oct. 19 by an official of the Seoul Housing and Communities Corporations, the city-owned public rental house provider, which had tried to contact her about renewing her housing rental contract.The official eventually opened the door of her apartment, where h

Oct 25, 2022By Jung Min-ho
North Korean defector found dead in Seoul home
Law & Crime

Opposition leader under siege as corruption probe expands

Rep. Lee Jae-myung, leader of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea, pauses before answering reporters' questions near the party's headquarters in Seoul, Monday, as prosecutors search the Institute for Democracy, a think tank. YonhapProsecutors search headquarters of Democratic Party of Korea By Jung Min-hoWhen prosecutors were investigating key officials at Seongnam Development Corp. last year for alleged corrupt business deals with property developers in the past, Lee Jae-myung, the city's former mayor, denied close ties with any of them. Speaking to reporters on Oct. 3, 2021, Rep. Lee, now the chief of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK), had said that only a few people, such as Kim Yong and Jeong Jin-sang, deserved to be called his “close aides.”It was revealed Monday that prosecutors imposed an overseas travel ban on Jeong, his vice chief of staff for political affairs. This travel ban comes only two days after Kim, deputy director of the Institute for Democracy, the party's in-house think tank, was arrested on charges of receiving bribes inve

Oct 24, 2022By Jung Min-ho
Opposition leader under siege as corruption probe expands
Law & Crime

Embattled opposition party chief claims innocence as prosecutors close in on confidant

Lee Jae-myung, leader of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea, speaks during a press conference at the National Assembly in Seoul, Friday. NewsisRep. Lee of Democratic Party of Korea calls for special counsel to conduct corruption probeBy Jung Min-hoMain opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) leader Lee Jae-myung denied allegations of involvement Friday as his right-hand man faces arrest for allegedly receiving bribes prosecutors believe were used to finance Lee's election campaigns. Lee called for a new investigation led by an independent counsel, as he accused the prosecutors of carrying out a “political repression” campaign on behalf of President Yoon Suk-yeol.Lee's proposal to appoint an independent counsel comes a day after prosecutors asked judges to issue an arrest warrant for Kim Yong, who served as the head of Lee's campaign for the party's presidential primary, on charges of receiving 847 million won ($600,000) in illegal political funds from real estate developers between April and August 2021. The suspicions against Lee are that he gave favors to

Oct 21, 2022By Jung Min-ho
Embattled opposition party chief claims innocence as prosecutors close in on confidant
Politics

Yoon doubles down on fighting 'pro-North Korea' faction

President Yoon Suk-yeol enters the presidential office building in Seoul, Thursday. NewsisOpposition politicians condemn remarks as unacceptableBy Jung Min-hoPresident Yoon Suk-yeol isn't backing down despite criticism from opposition parties.Speaking to reporters Thursday, Yoon doubled down on his previous remarks that he would fight what he calls a “pro-North Korea Jucheist faction.”When asked who he was referring to by the description, Yoon said, “They themselves know whether they are a 'jusa-pa' (Jucheist faction). I was not targeting any specific group. I made the statement as a person in a position to defend the country and the Constitution.”“Jusa-pa” refers to a faction of followers of Juche ideology, North Korea's official ideology of self-reliance that includes unconditional loyalty to its leader.At a luncheon Wednesday with officials of his ruling People Power Party, Yoon used the term “pro-North Korea Jucheist faction,” to allude to the opposition here, saying it is an anti-state group that is against the Constitution, which

Oct 20, 2022By Jung Min-ho
Yoon doubles down on fighting 'pro-North Korea' faction
Law & Crime

Ex-presidential chief of staff questioned over deportation of North Korean fishermen

Noh Young-min, former presidential chief of staff under Moon Jae-in / NewsisDPK claims prosecution's attempted raid on party headquarters is part of political retaliationBy Jung Min-hoFormer presidential chief of staff Noh Young-min was questioned Wednesday over his role in repatriating two North Korean fishermen against their will in 2019 as prosecutors expand their investigation into who gave the final order. This comes a day after prosecutors asked judges to issue arrest warrants for former Defense Minister Suh Wook and former Coast Guard Commissioner General Kim Hong-hee under the previous Moon Jae-in administration on charges of deleting intelligence reports in an effort to frame as a defector a fisheries official, who was killed by North Korea in 2020.Noh, who held the post between January 2019 and December 2020, is a key figure believed to know whether Moon was directly involved in both cases as former top officials under him are being investigated for alleged abuse of power and destruction of evidence among other crimes.On Nov. 2, 2019, South Korea's Navy captured the fisherm

Oct 19, 2022By Jung Min-ho
Ex-presidential chief of staff questioned over deportation of North Korean fishermen
  • DPK bristles at prosecution probes targeting top officials of previous administration
North Korea

INTERVIEW Son still yearns for father abducted by North Korea decades ago

Hwang Won, center, one of the victims of the 1969 Korean Air flight hijacking by North Korea, smiles with his son, Hwang Won Jr. (Hwang In-cheol), left, and his niece in Gangneung, Gangwon Province, in this photo taken in March 1969. Courtesy of Hwang Won Jr. and Freedom Speakers InternationalAlthough 50 years have passed, Hwang Won Jr.'s search for father isn't over yetBy Jung Min-hoWhen a North Korean agent hijacked the Korean Air flight carrying his father and forced the pilot to land in North Korea in December 1969, Hwang In-cheol, who was just two years old at the time, did not know how the incident would later shape his own life.After international outcry, Pyongyang promised to repatriate all 50 passengers and crew on Feb. 4, 1970, only to break its promise by sending back 39 of them. His father, a producer for broadcaster MBC, was not on that list.The tragedy forced his family into misery. Yet, despite all the tears and sleepless nights, life went on: Hwang went to school, got a job and tied the knot with a women he loved. Slowly, he was accepting the reality that he would not

Oct 19, 2022By Jung Min-ho
[INTERVIEW] Son still yearns for father abducted by North Korea decades ago
Law & Crime

Pressure grows to investigate ex-president over possible cover-up

The prosecution logo is seen on the window of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office in southern Seoul, Oct. 13. The prosecution is under increasing pressure to investigate former President Moon Jae-in as questions emerge over who ordered the deletion of intelligence reports giving an important clue to how the fisheries official ended up in North Korea's waters, where he was shot dead two years ago. NewsisQuestions arise over who ordered deletion of fisheries official intelligence reportsBy Jung Min-hoThe prosecution is under increasing pressure to investigate former President Moon Jae-in as questions emerge over who ordered the deletion of intelligence reports potentially containing clues as to how the fisheries official ended up in North Korea's waters, where he was shot dead two years ago.One of the key findings announced last week by the Board of Audit and Inspection (BAI) was that the official was wearing a life jacket emblazoned with Chinese letters ― a product that cannot be found in the South Korean market. This information debunks the very basis on which the Defense

Oct 17, 2022By Jung Min-ho
Pressure grows to investigate ex-president over possible cover-up
Foreign Affairs

INTERVIEW Moon partly responsible for Korea's failure to keep UN Human Rights Council seat: expert

Then President Moon Jae-in, right, and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un walk toward the welcoming ceremony venue at the inter-Korean truce village of Panmunjom, in this April 27, 2018, file photo. Korea Times photo by Ko Young-kwonEx-president 'shamefully walked away' from roles to address rights abuses of North Koreans, Human Rights Watch official saysBy Jung Min-hoPhil Robertson, deputy director of Human Rights Watch's Asia divisionRuling party lawmakers have blamed the previous Moon Jae-in administration for South Korea's recent failure to keep its seat on the United Nations Human Rights Council, accusing it of shutting its eyes to North Korea's gross and obvious violations of human rights while seeking to improve inter-Korean relations throughout his five-year term. Phil Robertson, deputy director of Human Rights Watch's Asia division, said he believes they were right to point out that Moon is not free of responsibility for the seat loss. Though he is not the sole reason, the international human rights expert believes his failures to do “even the minimum” on the rights

Oct 17, 2022By Jung Min-ho
[INTERVIEW] Moon partly responsible for Korea's failure to keep UN Human Rights Council seat: expert
North Korea

North Korea tests cruise missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads

This photo released Thursday by the North's official Korean Central News Agency shows the test-launch of long-range strategic cruise missiles at an undisclosed location in North Korea, Wednesday. Yonhap ICBM and nuclear weapons tests expected in coming months: analystsBy Jung Min-hoNorth Korea test-launched two long-range cruise missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads on Wednesday, Pyongyang's state news agency reported the next day. Leader Kim Jong-un, who supervised the test, praised it as a successful display of the military's expanding nuclear strike capabilities and a stark warning to its “enemies.” According to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), the missiles struck their targets as planned after traveling 2,000 kilometers in figure-eight trajectories. The cruise missile type, which is more difficult to detect by radar and has greater accuracy than a ballistic one, is a significant threat to South Korea and its allies, especially if it carries nuclear

Oct 13, 2022By Jung Min-ho
North Korea tests cruise missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads
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