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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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North Korea

North Korea blames balloons from South for COVID-19 outbreak

In this Oct. 10, 2014, file photo, activists promoting human rights for North Korea release balloons carrying leaflets condemning the North's regime in Paju, a South Korean city near the border with the North. North Korea on Friday blamed “alien things coming by wind” from South Korea for its outbreak of COVID-19. AP-YonhapPyongyang always finds something to blame for faults, expert saysBy Jung Min-hoNorth Korea has blamed balloons from South Korea for its COVID-19 outbreak, claiming that two people in the border area started showing symptoms after coming into contact with “alien things coming by wind” from the South. Citing health authorities, the Korean Central News Agency, Pyongyang's official mouthpiece, reported Friday that a soldier, 18, and a child, 5, at Ipho-ri in Kumgang County were its first official COVID-19 patients. The broadcaster did not specify what they touched but, in a warning, it added that people living in border areas should be cautious of balloons and “the things attached to the balloons.”The warning is in line with North Ko

Jul 1, 2022By Jung Min-ho
North Korea blames balloons from South for COVID-19 outbreak
Foreign Affairs

Negative views of China among Koreans hit all-time high: survey

People run with China and Hong Kong flags along Convention Avenue, on the 25th anniversary of Hong Kong's handover to China, in Hong Kong, July 1. Negative views of China among Koreans are at a historic high of 80 percent, a recent survey shows. Reuters-YonhapBy Jung Min-hoNegative views of China among Koreans are at a historic high of 80 percent, a recent survey shows. According to a study conducted by the Pew Research Center, a nonpartisan American think tank, unfavorable views of the neighboring country among Korean nationals have increased substantially over the last several years after China's economic retaliation for Korea's decision to deploy the THAAD missile defense system and the emergence of COVID-19, a contagious disease Chinese authorities initially tried to hide following a report from Wuhan.Unfavorable views of China among Koreans stood at only 31 percent in a 2002 survey by the same organization. But the figure has increased steadily before staying at around 50 percent and then surging to 61 percent in 2017, the year after there were a series of economic retaliation a

Jul 1, 2022By Jung Min-ho
Negative views of China among Koreans hit all-time high: survey
Foreign Affairs

Korea to launch council to resolve forced labor issue with Japan

From left, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, Japanse Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol pose for a group photo ahead of a Indo-Pacific Partners meeting during the NATO summit in Madrid, June 29. AFP-YonhapGov't seeks diplomatic solutions before Supreme Court rulingBy Jung Min-hoKorea will launch a council on July 4 to resolve the issue of wartime forced labor ― one of the biggest obstacles blocking the improvement of its relations with Japan.According to government sources Thursday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is reviewing ways to foster good relations, which soured over the past several years after Korean court rulings that found Japanese companies liable to pay compensation for the victims of forced labor during Japan's colonial rule (1910-45).With the Supreme Court expected to rule on the statute of limitations on forced labor cases in the coming months, the ministry is scrambling to resolve the issue diplomatically. If it rules in favor of the victims, co

Jun 30, 2022By Jung Min-ho
Korea to launch council to resolve forced labor issue with Japan
Foreign Affairs

Korea will stick to principles despite China's objection, PM says

Prime Minister Han Duck-soo speaks during a press conference at his office in Sejong. Yonhap'Yoon administration won't be naive about peace with North Korea'By Jung Min-hoSouth Korea will continue to stick to its diplomatic principles despite China's complaints ― or threats such as expanded THAAD retaliation ― Prime Minister Han Duck-soo said regarding Beijing's open opposition to Seoul's participation at the NATO Summit in Madrid. “There have been concerns that China may retaliate with economic measures. But if the country does so, we should call out its inappropriate,” Han told reporters Tuesday. “We shouldn't break our principles, which are more important, just to prevent (such retaliatory action).”Asked whether South Korea should maintain these principles even if Beijing repeats its furious economic retaliation in 2016 to the installation of a U.S. THAAD anti-ballistic missile defense system in South Korea, Han said, “Of course.”He also believes that China's overreaction to Yoon's participation in the NATO Summit is very unlikely, given South K

Jun 29, 2022By Jung Min-ho
Korea will stick to principles despite China's objection, PM says
North Korea

Family has 'right to know': UN rights expert calls for transparency in official's death

Tomas Ojea Quintana, the U.N. special rapporteur on human rights in North Korea, moves to the U.N. Human Rights Office in Seoul, Tuesday. NewsisBy Jung Min-hoA United Nations human rights expert on Tuesday called for the release of more information about the incident in which a government official was killed in North Korean waters. He was quoted by the victim's brother as saying that his family has “the right to know.” At a meeting in Seoul with Lee Rae-jin, the elder brother of the fisheries official shot dead by the North two years ago, Tomas Ojea Quintana, the U.N. special rapporteur on human rights in North Korea, also said that Pyongyang should help the family uncover the whole truth, discipline those who were responsible and compensate the family for the loss.“He expressed support for our fact-finding efforts, including the attempt to get access to the information kept in the presidential archives,” Lee told The Korea Times. His support comes at a time when the family members are demanding that the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea, which holds a

Jun 28, 2022By Jung Min-ho
Family has 'right to know': UN rights expert calls for transparency in official's death
North Korea

Seoul offered to repatriate North Koreans against their will before Pyongyang demanded it, lawmaker says

In this Nov. 8, 2019, file photo, South Korea's Navy tows a boat used by two North Korean fishermen before handing it over to North Korean authorities. Courtesy of Unification MinistryBy Jung Min-hoThe previous Moon Jae-in administration offered to repatriate two North Korean fishermen in 2019 even before Pyongyang made such a request, because “their intention to defect (to the South) was not sincere,” according to intelligence documents.The information was revealed Monday by Rep. Tae Yong-ho of the ruling People Power Party (PPP).After the deportation decision ― the first such case since the end of the Korean War (1950-53) ― the fishermen were probably executed soon afterward, and the previous administration knew that would be the consequence, Tae claimed.On Nov. 2, 2019, South Korea's Navy captured the men in their 20s in waters off the nation's east coast. After just three days of investigation, the South Korean government proposed sending them and their boat back to the North. Pyongyang accepted the offer the next day (Nov. 6). It was all completed in the two days tha

Jun 27, 2022By Jung Min-ho
Seoul offered to repatriate North Koreans against their will before Pyongyang demanded it, lawmaker says
North Korea

Ex-NSO chief denies allegation he 'fled' to US

In this Feb. 1, 2021, file photo, then National Security Adviser Suh Hoon attends a meeting at Cheong Wa Dae in Seoul. Suh has been accused of having played a role in pressuring the Ministry of Defense to change its official position on the killing of a South Korean official by the North Korean military in North Korean waters two years ago. Korea Times photo by Wang Tae-sukFamily of official killed by North Korea demands disclosure of classified documents, threatens legal action against MoonBy Jung Min-hoSuh Hoon, the former chief of the National Security Office (NSO) accused of having pressured the Ministry of Defense to obfuscate the facts behind the killing of a fisheries official in North Korea's waters two years ago, said Monday that he will cooperate with investigators if necessary.In a statement he sent to Yonhap News Agency, Suh said that he had no intention of avoiding an investigation to find out the truth behind the case, claiming he had followed government principles in handling it. “At the time of the incident, I did everything to take necessary measures in accorda

Jun 27, 2022By Jung Min-ho
Ex-NSO chief denies allegation he 'fled' to US
North Korea

Ex-NSC members accused of burying truth behind killing of fisheries official

Lee Rae-jin, right, the elder brother of the South Korean fisheries official shot dead by North Korea armed forces two years ago, speaks during a press conference with ruling People Power Party leaders at the National Assembly in Seoul, Friday. NewsisFamily of official shot dead by North Korea to meet UN rights expertBy Jung Min-hoThe National Security Council (NSC) under the previous government is accused of having told the Ministry of National Defense to change its official position on the death of a South Korean official two years ago so as to obfuscate the facts behind the incident with North Korea. The ministry's documents, which were obtained by Rep. Ha Tae-keung, head of the ruling People Power Party's special committee on the issue, show that it shifted its position from “(North Korea's) brutality of burning the body confirmed” to “a joint probe needed for what is speculated as the burning of the body” after the presidential advisory body's request to review it on Sept. 27, 2020.Only three days ago, the ministry said it confirmed ― via military surveil

Jun 26, 2022By Jung Min-ho
Ex-NSC members accused of burying truth behind killing of fisheries official
Law & Crime

Joint probe team launched to target voice phishing scams

Acting Prosecutor General Lee Won-seok speaks to reporters as he enters the Supreme Prosecutors' Office in southern Seoul, Thursday. Newsis By Jung Min-hoA small business owner in his 40s was found dead in Busan on Feb. 25. It was later found that he had been swindled out of more than 160 million won ($123,000) by a telephone scammer before committing suicide.To prevent such tragedies and respond more effectively to voice phishing (or vishing) scams, which have become more sophisticated in recent years, the government will launch a joint investigation team with experts from all relevant agencies.“We need special measures to counter such crimes, which take not only the victims' money but also, in some cases, their lives … We have found that some voice phishing operations are organized, with gang members involved in them,” the Supreme Prosecutors' Office said in a statement Thursday.Earlier that day, acting Prosecutor General Lee Won-seok told reporters that he will s

Jun 23, 2022By Jung Min-ho
Joint probe team launched to target voice phishing scams
North Korea

Family of slain public official seeks help from UN, US politicians

Lee Rae-jin, left, the elder brother of the government official shot dead by North Korea's military in September 2020, stands next to his lawyer as he reads a statement to reporters at the Seoul District Prosecutors' Office in southern Seoul, Wednesday. NewsisComplaint filed against 3 former officials of Moon over obstruction of justiceBy Jung Min-hoThe family of a South Korean government official shot dead by North Korea's military two years ago is seeking help from the United Nations Human Rights Office and rights-conscious politicians overseas to find the facts behind the killing. Lee Rae-jin, the elder brother of the deceased official, told The Korea Times Tuesday that he is asking U.N. rights officials and U.S. lawmakers for support in his desperate bid to get to the bottom of the case, which he thinks was mismanaged intentionally by the previous Moon Jae-in administration to avoid provoking the North.“At the invitation of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, I'm going to visit the United States in September to talk with members about the issue,” Lee said

Jun 22, 2022By Jung Min-ho
Family of slain public official seeks help from UN, US politicians
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