Photo News
PHOTOS A short break from the scorching sun
People wait for a green light under a sun shelter in Seoul, Thursday. Temperatures in the capital reached 34 degrees Celsius in the afternoon. YonhapYonhapYonhap
Jul 9, 2020
![A short break from the scorching sun [PHOTOS]](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)
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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Law & Crime
'Digital Prison' reveals identities of child porn site operator and judges who released him
Son Jong-woo, who operated "Welcome to Video," one of the world's largest child porn sites, leaves the Seoul Detention Center at Uiwang in Gyeonggi Province, Monday, after the Seoul High Court rejected a extradition request for him. YonhapThe operator of "Digital Prison" has revealed the identities of Son ― and the judges who released him ― among other criminals and suspects in some of Korea's most notorious cases. Screengrab of "Digital Prison"By Jung Min-hoThe operator of “Digital Prison,” an overseas-based website, has revealed the identities of infamous child porn site operator Son Jong-woo and three judges who recently rejected the U.S. government's extradition request for him.The unidentified operator says the purpose of creating the site was to “punish the criminals with the punishment they would fear the most ― exposing their identities.”The site, which opened a few months ago, came into the spotlight after it disclosed the photos, names and other personal information of Son, the operator of “Welcome to Video,” among other convicts and susp
Jul 9, 2020
- Police reveal identity of another key suspect in 'Nth room' case
- Debate heats up over 'Digital Prison' after college student's death
- 'Digital Prison,' means to get justice, or breeding ground for false accusations?
- 'Digital Prison' shuts down amid outcry
- Gov't blocks access to 'Digital Prison'
- 'Digital Prison' operator detained
- 'Digital Prison' operator gets 3 1/2-year in prison for sharing personal data online
Global Community
INTERVIEW 'Korea's population outlook makes immigration talk inevitable'
Korea Immigration Service Commissioner Cha Gyu-geun speaks during an interview at his office in the Government Complex in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi Province, June 29. Korea Times photo by Kim Kang-minBy Jung Min-hoGWACHEON ― Without the inflow of foreign workers, Korea is already shrinking.After deaths outnumbered births for the first time in November 2019, the gap has widened since. A chronically low birthrate, which hit an all-time low of 0.92 that year, suggests that the trend is only going to accelerate and that the country will face massive labor shortages in the decades to come if nothing changes.Years of government efforts to reverse the trend have been futile, leaving the country with the difficult choice of enduring the shock of a rapid decrease in the population or turning to immigration.Without immigration, the risk is that the population will continue to decrease and fail to provide enough taxpayers to fund social welfare and medical costs that will grow as the country ages.Cha Gyu-geun, commissioner of the Korea Immigration Service (KIS), says the time has come to face that rea
Jul 8, 2020
Travel & Food
EU opens borders to Korean travelers
A waiter wears a protective face mask as he serves wine to Australian tourists after the easing of restrictions imposed to control the spread of COVID-19, at the terrace restaurant at the Catalonia Ronda hotel, in front of a bullring at sunset in downtown Ronda, southern Spain, June 29. ReutersBy Jung Min-hoThe European Union (EU) has reopened its borders to travelers from 14 “safe countries,” including Korea, amid the COVID-19 pandemic.The 27-member bloc decided to allow leisure trips from Wednesday (local time) as it struggles to revive economic activity while fending off new waves of the disease.The 13 others are Algeria, Australia, Canada, Japan, Georgia, Montenegro, Morocco, New Zealand, Rwanda, Serbia, Thailand, Tunisia and Uruguay.Visitors from China, where the new coronavirus first emerged late last year, will be allowed on the condition that Beijing allows in EU visitors.The United States, where more than 2.7 million people were reported to have been infected, was excluded from the list.But with the virus still raging in much of the world, it is unclear whether t
Jul 1, 2020
Global Community
EXCLUSIVE Over 41,000 undocumented immigrants leaving Korea under amnesty program
In this March 6, 2020, file photo, undocumented immigrants stand in line to fill out departure cards at the Korea Immigration Service's office in western Seoul. YonhapBy Jung Min-hoMore than 41,000 undocumented foreign nationals living in Korea have left the country ― or have promised to do so in the near future ― over the past six months under a special amnesty program.Korea Immigration Service (KIS) Commissioner Cha Gyu-geun told The Korea Times in a recent interview that 41,176 foreign nationals staying here illegally ― more than 10 percent of the estimated 390,000 ― had left or expressed a willingness to leave between Dec. 11 and June 21.So far, about 30,000 of them have actually departed due to international travel restrictions amid the COVID-19 pandemic.Under the program, which ran from Dec. 11 to June 30, those who voluntarily return to their home countries will be allowed to reenter Korea.According to the KIS, more than half of all undocumented immigrants came from countries whose nationals do not need to get visas in advance before coming to Korea, and th
Jul 1, 2020
Law & Crime
Three taekwondo athletes jailed for beating man to death
YonhapBy Jung Min-hoThree taekwondo athletes have been convicted of killing a man who was trying to protect his girlfriend from them at a Seoul nightclub.The Seoul Eastern District Court on Thursday sentenced each of the three ― all 21-year-olds majoring in taekwondo at college ― to nine years in prison for murdering the victim on Jan. 1 after he took issue with them for taking his girlfriend by the wrist at a dance club in Seoul's Gwangjin district.“The accused, who had long been trained in taekwondo, brutally beat the victim who did not resist,” a panel of judges said in the ruling. “They kicked the victim's head when he was lying unconscious on the floor. Their violence was very severe.“The victim, who was only 23 years old, died in pain as a result … His family demanded harsh punishment.”The court rejected the lawyers' claim that the three did not intend to kill him. It said, though they had not planned the murder, they knew the risk that their violence could result in his death.
Jun 25, 2020
Photo News
PHOTOS Red Cross photos offer glimpse of life during Korean War
A soldier stands in a crowd as refugees try to get on a train at Daegu Station on Dec. 29, 1950. ICRC via YonhapBy Jung Min-hoThe International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has revealed previously unreleased photos of the Korean War (1950-53), offering a glimpse into the devastation, plight and hope in the face of hopelessness during the conflict.Most of the photos feature soldiers, prisoners and refugees in South Korea. One shows a grinning boy shaking hands with an ICRC official at a prison camp in Geoje, South Gyeongsang Province. Others show prisoners enjoying sports and recreational activities.A crowd of refugees ride on trains at Daegu Station on Dec. 29, 1950. ICRC via YonhapPeople prepare food at a prisoner of war camp in Geoje, South Gyeongsang Province, June 5, 1951. ICRC via YonhapPeople gather to see a ssireum match at a prisoner of war camp in Geoje, South Gyeongsang Province, in June 1951. ICRC via YonhapTwo men dance on a stage at a prisoner of war camp in Geoje, South Gyeongsang Province, in June 1951. ICRC via YonhapA boy shakes hands with an ICRC official at a
Jun 25, 2020
Trends
Childbirths drop 10.4% in April as population decline looms
GettyimagesbankBy Jung Min-hoThe number of babies born in Korea dropped 10.4 percent in April from a year earlier, in the latest sign underscoring a looming population decline.According to Statistics Korea Wednesday, 23,420 babies were born in April, compared with 26,151 in April 2019.It marks the lowest number of newborns for any April since the state agency started keeping records in 1981.Meanwhile, the number of people who died increased 3.3 percent to 24,628.All this indicates that the country is evidently on track this year to reporting its first natural population decline.After deaths outnumbered births for the first time in November, the trend has accelerated. A total of 97,470 babies were born in the first four months of this year, down 10.9 percent from the same period last year.The falling number of marriages ― to 15,670 in April from 20,026 a year earlier ― also bodes ill for a government that is struggling to boost birthrates.Korea's total fertility rate ― the average number of children a woman bears in her lifetime ― was 0.92 last year, down from 0.98 a year earlier, far
Jun 25, 2020
Photo News
PHOTOS South Korea conducts military drills amid rising tensions with North
South Korean military forces conduct self-propelled artillery drills in Paju, South Korea, near the North Korean border, Monday. Tensions are rising in border areas after North Korea destroyed an inter-Korean liaison office at the Gaeseong Industrial Complex last week in anger after South Korean civic groups sent anti-regime leaflets into the North. YonhapYonhapYonhapYonhapYonhap
Jun 22, 2020
Health
Korea to restrict visas for visitors from Pakistan, Bangladesh
People wearing face masks to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus walk in a park in Seoul, Saturday, June 20, 2020. APBy Jung Min-hoThe government will strengthen visa and entry restrictions for visitors from Pakistan and Bangladesh after reporting a surge in new COVID-19 cases imported from the two Asian countries.Under the precautionary measures, set to come into force Tuesday, authorities will not issue new visas to Pakistanis and Bangladeshis except for diplomatic and urgent business purposes. Authorities will also suspend flights from the countries.Health Minister Park Neung-hoo made the announcement Sunday, two days after 31 people were confirmed here to have contracted the coronavirus overseas. Pakistan accounts for 16 cases, followed by Bangladesh (7).“A rise in imported cases increases the burden on quarantine and treatment capacities here,” Park told reporters. “We will continue to keep an eye on the situations in other countries to control the spread of the virus effectively.”The government will also thoroughly check whether E-9 visa holders ha
Jun 22, 2020