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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 to grant S. Korea exception on nuclear submarine fuel supply

Seoul and Washington are moving to form a separate bilateral pact to facilitate South Korea's development of nuclear-powered submarines, National Security Adviser Wi Sung-lac said Wednesday, following their agreement on the need for such a deal. “On the issue of cooperation on nuclear-powered submarines, the two sides agreed that a separate pact between us is necessary, and we are moving to pursue it,” he told reporters at a briefing in Seoul after his weeklong trip to the U.S., Canada and Japan from Dec. 16 to 22. The move toward the pact follows an October summit between President Lee Jae Myung and U.S. President Donald Trump, during which Trump approved Seoul's bid to build nuclear submarines. In Washington, Wi met with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Energy Secretary Chris Wright and other senior officials. Wi said he had “practical in-depth discussions,” noting that submarine collaboration, uranium enrichment and spent fuel reprocessing were all on the agenda. Discussing the legal framework for a nuclear submarine deal, Wi pointed to constraints in U.S. law and the need

Dec 24, 2025By Jung Min-ho
US to grant S. Korea exception on nuclear submarine fuel supply
Society

Seoul City's new income model offers ‘Stepping Stone’ out of poverty

Seoul’s Stepping Stone Income program is being promoted as a more effective alternative to Korea’s primary social safety net, the Basic Livelihood scheme, with new evidence suggesting that it helps low-income households move off public benefits while improving living standards, work incentives and community participation. At Tuesday’s international forum on the initiative, Mayor Oh Se-hoon and leading scholars said the three-year policy experiment offers a practical blueprint for overhauling social safety nets in the age of artificial intelligence (AI) and increasingly precarious work. According to Lee Jung-min, an economics professor who led the research on the program’s effects at Seoul National University, the share of beneficiary households that exited from receiving benefits in the program's third year rose by 1.1 percentage points compared with its second year. Meanwhile, the proportion of households whose labor income increased climbed by 2.8 percentage points, while spending on basic goods and nutrition indicators also improved. Launched in 2022 and concluded in June, St

Dec 23, 2025By Jung Min-ho
Seoul City's new income model offers ‘Stepping Stone’ out of poverty
Society

New labor council chairman vows broader representation for youth, women, freelancers

The new chairman of the presidential Economic, Social and Labor Council pledged on Monday to overhaul a system he says has failed to sufficiently reflect the voices of youth, women and freelancers in national debates over work and welfare. “The question is whether the workers who could be most exposed to (today’s) risks are really being heard,” Kim Ji-hyung said at his first press conference at the council’s headquarters in Seoul. Addressing long-standing criticism that the council has been dominated by traditional labor unions, major employers and government representatives, Kim said the council will “actively look for ways to correct” the underrepresentation of groups such as young people, women, nonregular workers, platform workers and more. Kim described his agenda as a shift from “social dialogue among institutions” to one “with the people.” Under his leadership, he said, the council would be restructured to allow those most affected by decisions on employment and the future of work to play a more direct role in defining problems and shaping solutions. Kim pointe

Dec 22, 2025By Jung Min-ho
New labor council chairman vows broader representation for youth, women, freelancers
Society

Court halts Seoul City’s Mount Nam gondola project

A court has halted the Seoul Metropolitan Government’s plan to build a new gondola on Mount Nam, ruling that officials unlawfully changed park administrative rules to circumvent height limits on construction in protected green space. The Seoul Administrative Court on Friday ruled in favor of Namsan Cable Car, the longtime operator of the cable there, in a suit seeking to revoke the decision to alter land‑use designations to make the construction of another gondola line possible. For that project, city authorities removed part of the area from the urban natural park zone and reclassified it as a “neighborhood park,” a category with looser building regulations. “Under the current Urban Parks and Green Spaces Act, it is not permitted to install any building or structure exceeding a height of 12 meters within an urban natural park zone. The defendant maintains this height cap does not apply when installing track facilities, and therefore that it is permissible to install supports exceeding 12 meters in height, but this argument is difficult to accept,” the court said. The verdict

Dec 19, 2025By Jung Min-ho
Court halts Seoul City’s Mount Nam gondola project
Global Community

Vietnamese lead surge as Korea’s foreign resident population hits record-high 1.69 mil.

Korea’s foreign resident population has climbed to an all-time high, driven by a sharp rise in young migrants and a particularly strong influx from Vietnam, according to new data. The 2025 Immigrant Residence and Employment Survey, published Thursday, shows that as of May, the number of foreign residents aged 15 or older exceeded 1.69 million, up from 1.56 million a year earlier, an increase of approximately 8.3 percent. The figure accounts for about 3.3 percent of Korea’s total population of roughly 51.8 million. It is the second-fastest annual increase since 2017. The growth is mainly concentrated among younger age groups. The population of foreigners aged 15 to 29 expanded by 12.8 percent (59,000 people), while those in their 30s grew by 7.8 percent (34,000). In contrast, the number of foreign residents in their 50s fell slightly, by 0.4 percent (1,000). By nationality, ethnic Korean Chinese nationals remain the largest foreign resident group, with 506,000 residents. Vietnamese rank second at 270,000, but they are growing far faster than any other major ethnic group. The survey sho

Dec 19, 2025By Jung Min-ho
Vietnamese lead surge as Korea’s foreign resident population hits record-high 1.69 mil.
Health

Tax money for hair-loss drugs? President’s proposal sparks mixed reactions

A debate over public funding for hair-loss treatment has intensified after President Lee Jae Myung ordered officials to review a possible expansion of health insurance coverage for the condition, describing baldness as “a matter of survival.” Critics, however, argue that scarce health resources should first be directed to life‑threatening illnesses. Speaking at the Ministry of Health and Welfare’s policy briefing to the president earlier this week, Lee said that while hair loss was once seen as a cosmetic issue, “these days it seems to be viewed as a matter of survival,” asking why it should not be treated as a disease within the national insurance system. Currently, the National Health Insurance covers only “pathologic” forms of hair loss, such as alopecia areata, on a limited basis, while age‑related baldness is not eligible for reimbursement. For many patients, the president’s remarks validated a long‑held belief that hair loss is not a trivial concern. “If covered, it would certainly help my finances,” said a 40-year-old architect, surnamed Kim, who has taken

Dec 18, 2025By Jung Min-ho
Tax money for hair-loss drugs? President’s proposal sparks mixed reactions
People & Events

Cuban-born descendant of Korean independence fighter joins donation campaign

A Cuban-born fourth-generation descendant of a Korean independence fighter has joined a neighborhood giving campaign in Seoul, extending her family’s legacy of sacrifice into community service. According to the Seodaemun District Office on Wednesday, Elizabeth Sanchez Rivero, the great-great-granddaughter of Independence Merit honoree Lee Seung-jun and the owner of a Cuban restaurant, signed onto its “1 Percent Miracle of Sharing” campaign last week. Under the agreement, participants donate 1 percent of their profits to the local community. The project, launched in 2023, has grown to include 170 participating businesses. She moved from Cuba to Korea in 2016 and has since settled in Seodaemun, where she runs Desayuno, a restaurant that serves Cuban cuisine and European-style breakfast dishes on the second floor of the Sinchon Youth Food Store. Her great-great-grandfather is known for supporting the Korean independence movement from Latin America during Japan’s colonial era, including efforts to raise funds overseas. Joining the campaign was a way to carry on that legacy. “My rest

Dec 18, 2025By Jung Min-ho
Cuban-born descendant of Korean independence fighter joins donation campaign
North Korea

Ruling party pushes to lift ban on North Korean media

A group of lawmakers of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea is pushing to ease a decades-old ban on accessing North Korean websites such as the online Rodong Sinmun, reviving a debate over national security and freedom of information. The proposed revision, drafted by Rep. Han Min-soo and 11 other lawmakers, would allow people in South Korea to freely visit North Korean websites, while maintaining existing bans on distributing or actively promoting content that violates the National Security Act. “Blocking access excessively limits citizens’ most basic right to information and undermines their ability to freely use the materials needed to shape public discourse on North Korea and unification,” Han said. “By permitting access to and viewing of North Korean websites, the aim is to clarify the original intent of regulations on information distribution and to expand citizens’ opportunities to obtain information about the North, and thereby promote a more balanced understanding of the country.” Supporters frame the change as a necessary update for a mature democracy, arguing tha

Dec 17, 2025By Jung Min-ho
Ruling party pushes to lift ban on North Korean media
North Korea

N. Korea faces rare crisis: Low birthrate, deep poverty

North Korea is quietly joining the ranks of low‑birthrate societies ― but without the economic prosperity that typically accompanies such a transition. Experts warn that this rare combination of deep poverty and shrinking families could leave the regime facing a serious demographic crisis within a generation. Larger families are more common in countries as poor as North Korea, with total fertility rates of three or more children per woman. In contrast, data from the U.N. and South Korea suggest North Korean women have only about 1.6 to 1.8 children on average, far below the replacement level needed to keep a population stable and more in line with wealthier East Asian societies than low‑income states. Almost all nations with similar gross domestic product per capita struggle with limited access to contraception and to clinics, but North Korea’s numbers look more like wealthy countries where women delay marriage and invest heavily in work and education. That gap has led some observers to question the data. But experts contacted by The Korea Times say they think the figure is conv

Dec 17, 2025By Jung Min-ho
N. Korea faces rare crisis: Low birthrate, deep poverty
Society

‘Yellow envelope law’ decree sparks dual backlash from labor, businesses

A government decree detailing the so-called Yellow Envelope Law — a landmark revision intended to curb the ability of companies to seek large damage claims against striking workers — has drawn criticism from both business groups and labor unions, with each accusing the Ministry of Employment and Labor of creating more confusion than clarity ahead of its implementation in March 2026. The revised enforcement ordinances under the Trade Union and Labor Relations Adjustment Act have drawn criticism for placing additional burdens on companies while narrowing the practical reach of the pro-labor law’s core protections for subcontracted workers. Key questions remain over how the new rules will govern collective bargaining between principal employers and subcontractor unions and how much discretion the government will wield in the process. In theory, a subcontractor union may seek separate talks with a principal employer, but whether such negotiations proceed in any given case would be decided by the National Labor Relations Commission or a newly created state body. The rules also leave un

Dec 16, 2025By Jung Min-ho
‘Yellow envelope law’ decree sparks dual backlash from labor, businesses
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