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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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Entertainment

BTS agency apologizes for using 'Jonestown' cult leader's speech in Suga's new song

BTS rapper Suga. / Korea Times fileBy Jung Min-hoBig Hit Entertainment has apologized for using infamous cult leader Jim Jones' speech as the intro to BTS member Suga's mixtape track “What Do You Think?”At the beginning of the song, which was released on May 22, Jones said (from his 1977 sermon) to his followers that “… though you are dead, yet you shall live, and he that liveth and believeth shall never die.”Jones was leader of the cult, the Peoples Temple Agricultural Project, better known as its informal name “Jonestown,” a remote settlement in the Guyanese jungle.Jones and the group became internationally known in November, 1978, after more than 900 members, including many children, died in a mass suicide, an act that he ordered. The poisonings followed the killings of U.S. Congressman Leo Ryan and several journalists, who went there to investigate claims that some people were being held against their will.Until 9/11, the incident was the largest single incident of intentional civilian death in U.S. history.After taking flak from people

Jun 1, 2020By Jung Min-ho
BTS agency apologizes for using 'Jonestown' cult leader's speech in Suga's new song
  • 'D-2' by BTS' Suga debuts at No. 11 on Billboard 200
Photo News

PHOTOS Christians wearing masks attend church service amid pandemic

Christians wearing masks attend a service at the Yoido Full Gospel Church in Seoul, Sunday, May 31, 2020. No case of COVID-19 has been reported from the church since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic. Churches and schools are cautiously reopening as the government is relaxing social distancing despite clusters of infections from dance clubs and delivery service centers. YonhapYonhapYonhapYonhapYonhap

May 31, 2020By Jung Min-ho
Christians wearing masks attend church service amid pandemic [PHOTOS]
Companies

EDGC to merge with EDGC HealthCare

Researchers work in a lab at the headquarters of genome sequencing company EDGC in Incheon. EDGC, a Korean genomics company. Courtesy of EDGCBy Jung Min-hoKorean genomics company EDGC will acquire EDGC HealthCare, its subsidiary famous for the COVID-19 detection kit, DiaPlexQ, to improve finance and management efficiency.The merger is expected to be completed on Aug. 6, an EDGC official said Wednesday.“The merger is expected to bring about more investment into EDGC's genetic technology for predicting, detecting and treating diseases,” the official told The Korea Times. “It is also expected to increase the company value and shareholders' interests.”A prognosis method, which uses gene sequencing to detect cancerous cell-bound circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) hidden in circulating free DNA (cfDNA) in blood, is among EDGC's best-known technologies.During the COVID-19 pandemic, EDGC HealthCare has exported its coronavirus detection kits and rapid antibody test kits, which can deliver results in just two minutes, to more than 50 countries, including the United States a

May 27, 2020By Jung Min-ho
EDGC to merge with EDGC HealthCare
Health

Can US reopen safely? Korean doctor says it can - but only if 'almost everyone' wears a mask

Bang Sang-hyok, vice president of the Korean Medical Association, speaks during a recent interview at the organization's office in Seoul. Korea Times photo by Kim Kang-minBy Jung Min-hoU.S. President Donald Trump is calling for a speedy reopening of businesses closed by COVID-19 shutdowns while Democratic governors are seeking to maintain their restrictions.But can America's economy reopen safely? According to Bang Sang-hyok, vice president of the Korean Medical Association (KMA), it can ― only if almost everyone wears a face mask in public.After a surge in the number of patients three months ago, Korea has brought the coronavirus under control without imposing nationwide lockdowns. If there was one critical thing Korea did differently from the United States and other hard-hit countries, Bang said it was encouraging everyone, including healthy-looking people, to cover their faces during the early phases of the pandemic ― long before the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention did.“Lockdown cannot last forever,” Bang said. “If mask-wearing cannot be done volu

May 27, 2020By Jung Min-ho
Can US reopen safely? Korean doctor says it can - but only if 'almost everyone' wears a mask
  • 'Wear a mask': US death toll from coronavirus surges past 100,000 people
  • Masks to be compulsory on public transport in England
  • WHO changes advice on face masks
  • Texas governor issues mask order to fight coronavirus
  • Trump wears mask in public for first time during pandemic
Photo News

PHOTOS Tiger cubs make public debut at Everland

Tiger cubs born on Feb. 20 make their public debut at Everland in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province, May 21, before the International Day for Biological Diversity (May 22). YonhapYonhapYonhapYonhapTwo baby porcupines that were born in May walk with their mother at Everland in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province, May 21. YonhapYonhapA baby zebra born in April stands with its mother at Everland in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province, May 21. Yonhap

May 21, 2020By Jung Min-ho
Tiger cubs make public debut at Everland [PHOTOS]
Law & Crime

Identity revealed: Former ssireum athlete charged with killing two women

Police investigate a fruit farm at Jeonju in North Jeolla Province, May 12, after a woman's body was found there. YonhapBy Jung Min-hoChoi Shin-jongPolice have revealed the identity of Choi Shin-jong, the suspect charged with murdering two women over four days last month.Choi, 31, once a promising ssireum athlete, is suspected of raping and killing his wife's friend, 34, before dumping her body near a stream in Imsil, North Jeolla Province, April 15. Four days later, he allegedly murdered another woman, 29, and dumped the body at a fruit farm in Jeonju.The Jeonbuk Provincial Police Agency said Wednesday that it decided to disclose his name, face and other personal information given the severity of his alleged crimes.Choi reportedly admitted the charges.He has a notorious reputation among the people who know him, sources told News1, a local new agency.“I was not even surprised by the news,” one person was quoted as saying. “(Given his violence), I thought he could kill someone someday.”In 2012, Choi was convicted of threatening and raping his ex-girlfriend and

May 21, 2020By Jung Min-ho
Identity revealed: Former ssireum athlete charged with killing two women
Law & Crime

Expulsion of Olympic judo star confirmed after statutory rape charge

Wang Ki-chun / Korea Times fileBy Jung Min-hoThe Korea Judo Association (KJA) confirmed Wednesday that it had expelled Olympic star Wang Ki-chun over a statutory rape charge brought against him.According to the governing body of the sport, Wang, 31, who has been indicted on a charge of sexually assaulting a teenage girl, did not file an appeal against its decision to ban him for life from the KIA by the deadline to do so.The KIA's disciplinary committee unanimously decided on the penalty May 13 over his alleged conduct that undermined “the integrity and social standing of judo.” He had seven days to lodge an appeal.He has also been stripped of his black belt.Wang, who started judo in 1995, rose to stardom after winning a gold medal in the under-73kg division at the 2007 World Judo Championship in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The next year ― despite a ribcage fracture ― he surprised the world by winning silver at the Beijing Olympics.

May 21, 2020By Jung Min-ho
Expulsion of Olympic judo star confirmed after statutory rape charge
People & Events

Ravi Zacharias, defender of Christian faith, dies at 74

In this March 30, 2016, photo, Christian apologist and author Ravi Zacharias talks with Associate Professor Lenny Luchetti during the Society of World Changers induction ceremony at Indiana Wesleyan University in Marion, Ind. Zacharias, who built an international ministry that strives to defend Christianity on intellectual grounds, has died at his home in Atlanta. APBy Jung Min-hoRavi Zacharias, a skeptic turned Christian evangelist who spent his life defending the faith on intellectual grounds, died Tuesday. He was 74.The cause was complications from a rare form of bone cancer called sarcoma, Ravi Zacharias International Ministries (RZIM), the evangelical organization he established in 1984, said.Zacharias was one of the most prominent and sought-after figures in apologetics ― a branch of theology that defends Christianity against objections ― who challenged various skeptics by using his razor-sharp logic and the voices of scientists, philosophers and even atheists.He also published and edited more than 25 books, which have inspired many Christians and non-Christians around the worl

May 20, 2020By Jung Min-ho
Ravi Zacharias, defender of Christian faith, dies at 74
Health

Coronavirus: Gov't reveals details of Vietnamese patient's movements as it traces 250 contacts in Bucheon

Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director-General Jeong Eun-kyeong. / Korea Times fileBy Jung Min-hoThe Bucheon city government is stepping up efforts to trace more than 250 people who may have been exposed to COVID-19 after finding out that a patient was with them at a nightclub earlier this month.According to the city government and the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) Monday, the man, an undocumented Vietnamese immigrant, 32, went to the “Merit Night Club” with friends on the night of May 9. After spending about an hour there, they visited a pub and a noraebang (karaoke club) nearby.Before testing positive for COVID-19 on May 16, the man, who works in Gwangju, Gyeonggi Province, also visited “Queen” club in Seoul's Itaewon on May 1.Infectious disease experts warn that clubs and noraebang facilities are highly risky because they are usually crowded and people do not wear masks there.The patient is being treated at the Gyeonggi Province Medical Center Anseong Hospital.“It has been difficult to communicate with him.

May 19, 2020By Jung Min-ho
Coronavirus: Gov't reveals details of Vietnamese patient's movements as it traces 250 contacts in Bucheon
  • Vietnamese visitor to Itaewon club 'Queen' tests positive for coronavirus
  • Cluster infections traced to dishonest instructor spreading in Incheon
  • Bars, clubs will not be allowed 'for foreseeable future': USFK
Law & Crime

'Nth room' creator faces indictment for sexual abuse of teens

Moon Hyung-wook speaks to reporters as he is taken to a police van near Andong Police Station in North Gyeongsang Province, Monday. YonhapBy Jung Min-hoThe creator and operator of the notorious porn channels known as “the Nth rooms” is facing indictment on charges of sexually abusing dozens of women.The Gyeongbuk Provincial Police Agency sent the Telegram sexual abuse case to the Daegu District Public Prosecutors' Office Monday, handing over Moon Hyung-wook, 24, who is suspected of sexually abusing at least 21 women, mostly teenagers, between February 2019 and this January.Yonhap“I regret it and I'm sorry,” Moon said as he was taken to a van parked near Andong Police Station. “I apologize to the victims and their families … I think I had wrong perceptions about sex.”Asked whether he knew Cho Ju-bin, another suspect arrested in a sweeping investigation of sexual abuse cases on the Telegram chat app, Moon said he did not.Moon is suspected of luring teenagers to send sexual photos and videos, which he allegedly used to blackmail them to get mor

May 18, 2020By Jung Min-ho
'Nth room' creator faces indictment for sexual abuse of teens
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