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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

'Korean unification is consequence, should not be goal'

World Taekwondo Executive Deputy Secretary General Kim Eil-chul gives a special lecture at the College of Human Ecology building at Seoul National University (SNU) in Seoul, Wednesday. Attendees included SNU Vice President for Research Affairs Noh Dong-young and College of Human Ecology Associate Dean Kwon Young-hye. Korea Times photo by Jung Min-hoBy Jung Min-hoUnification should not be a government goal, but rather a consequence the people of South and North Korea can expect and hope for from their exchanges and cooperation, an international sports organization executive said.During a special lecture at Seoul National University on Wednesday, World Taekwondo (WT) Executive Deputy Secretary General Kim Eil-chul said promoting unification as a lofty goal of the government is hindering ― not helping ― the process.“For unification, let's not talk about unification for now because it is not the time,” Kim said. “I believe the word (unification) has violent connotations … Imagine unifying vastly different countries when they are not ready. The peaceful kind of un

May 9, 2019By Jung Min-ho
'Korean unification is consequence, should not be goal'
  • INTERVIEW 'Taekwondo unification can be inspiration for Korean unification'
World

Chinese-only businesses in Philippines under probe

Screen grab of INQUIRER.net's websiteBy Jung Min-hoPhilippine authorities have launched an investigation into some business owners accused of exclusively catering to Chinese customers in the country.According to local media Monday, the country's presidential office ordered the Department of Labor and Employment to look into allegations that some Chinese-owned restaurants and other businesses refuse to serve Filipino customers.The move comes a day after Senator Panfilo Lacson urged the government to “shut down” such businesses.“We should prioritize Filipino entrepreneurs,” Lacson was quoted as saying in a radio interview. “If investors coming from China would do business even in SMEs, that will be alarming because many of our countrymen will be deprived of investment opportunities.”Senator Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III also criticized them.“Business firms operating in the Philippines are not allowed to discriminate,” Pimentel said. “Limiting customers to Chinese people only is a form of discrimination … Close them

May 7, 2019By Jung Min-ho
Chinese-only businesses in Philippines under probe
Companies

Global Witness urges Korean authorities to probe Hyundai bribery case in Indonesia

In this July 2010 file photo, Greenpeace members and other activists protest near the Cirebon 1 coal-fired power plant in West Java, Indonesia. Hyundai Engineering & Construction is building another coal-fired power plant in the area. Courtesy of GreenpeaceBy Jung Min-hoAdam McGibbonGlobal Witness (GW), a London-based activist group, wants Korean authorities to investigate Hyundai Engineering & Construction after the major Korean builder admitted bribing an Indonesian politician for a coal-fired power plant construction project.“This is just the latest corruption scandal involving the Indonesian coal industry,” senior GW campaigner Adam McGibbon said. “There is a full investigation happening in Indonesia around this incident. There must also be an investigation by the Korean authorities into Hyundai's payments, which raise serious legal questions.”The comments come in response to The Korea Times' report that Hyundai officials in Indonesia gave hundreds of thousands of dollars to Cirebon Regent Sunjaya Purwadisastra through a broker to calm protesting r

May 3, 2019By Jung Min-ho
Global Witness urges Korean authorities to probe Hyundai bribery case in Indonesia
  • EXCLUSIVE Hyundai admits bribing Indonesian politician for power plant construction
Companies

EXCLUSIVE Hyundai admits bribing Indonesian politician for power plant construction

The headquarters of Hyundai Engineering & Construction in Seoul. YonhapChildren play in a field near the Cirebon 1 coal-fired power plant in West Java, Indonesia. Hyundai Engineering & Construction is building another coal-fired power plant in the area. Courtesy of GreenpeaceBy Jung Min-hoHyundai Engineering & Construction CEO Park Dong-wookMajor Korean builder Hyundai Engineering & Construction has admitted bribing an Indonesian politician for a coal-fired power plant construction project in West Java.Following repeated Korea Times inquiries, a spokesman at Hyundai's headquarters in Seoul said it gave a large sum of money to Cirebon Regent Sunjaya Purwadisastra through a broker to calm protesting residents in the area over the construction.“The regent approached us through the broker and offered to resolve the issue,” the official said. “For us, it is critical to finish the construction on time; otherwise, we could face a heavy fine. So we gave him money.” According to local media, Sunjaya demanded bribes from Hyundai, which gave him 6.5 billi

May 2, 2019By Jung Min-ho
[EXCLUSIVE] Hyundai admits bribing Indonesian politician for power plant construction
  • Global Witness urges Korean authorities to probe Hyundai bribery case in Indonesia
Foreign Affairs

AMCHAM urges US not to impose new tariffs on Korean cars

American Chamber of Commerce Chairman and CEO in Korea James Kim (center) speaks at a press conference on Yeouido, Seoul, Monday. YonhapBy Jung Min-hoThe American Chamber of Commerce (AMCHAM) in Korea has urged the U.S. government not to impose new tariffs on cars from Korea.Jeffrey Jones, chairman of the board of directors of AMCHAM Korea, said its representatives recently visited Washington, D.C. to ask the U.S. government not to apply Section 232 of the U.S. Trade Expansion Act to Korea.“I hoped to hear that the U.S. government would not do that … But (I) only heard that it was considering the matter. In conclusion, President Donald Trump will decide on the matter,” Jones said at a press conference on Yeouido in Seoul, Monday.Jones noted that although it was difficult to predict how the government would respond, he felt it would not disappoint.Every year, AMCHAM Korea sends a delegation to the U.S. to share its experience and knowledge. This year the delegation visited Washington, D.C. from April 8-11 and had meetings with Congress members and think tank researc

Apr 30, 2019By Jung Min-ho
AMCHAM urges US not to impose new tariffs on Korean cars
World

Duterte: Canada treats Philippines 'like a dumpsite'

Demonstrators hold placards and an image of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau during a protest at the Canadian Embassy in Makati, south of Manila, April 29. The protest led by the Ecowaste Coalition group demanded the return of Canada's overstaying waste in the country one week after Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte issued an ultimatum to the Canadian government. EPAPhilippines President Rodrigo Duterte. / APBy Jung Min-hoBarely a week after vowing to “declare war” against Canada over its garbage illegally shipped to the Philippines, President Rodrigo Duterte threatened to dump it all on Canada's beaches.According to a local media report Monday, Duterte during a speech in Davao City on Sunday that Canada should not treat his country “like a dumpsite” and take all the trash back immediately.“There are about 200 (garbage) containers there sent by Canada. We are being treated like a dumpsite,” Duterte said at the opening of the Palarong Pambansa, an annual sports event.Recalling his previous threat to ship the trash back to Canada himself, he

Apr 29, 2019By Jung Min-ho
Duterte: Canada treats Philippines 'like a dumpsite'
  • Activists demand Canada take back trash from Philippines
  • Canada to take back trash sent to Philippines after Duterte's warnings
Health

74 years after atomic bombings, Korean victims are still suffering

Jung Bun-sun, a survivor from the Hiroshima bombing, wipes her face during an interview with The Korea Times last year at a special nursing facility for Korean atomic bomb survivors in Hapcheon, South Gyeongsang Province. Korea Times photo by Choi Won-sukInside the museum dedicated to the Korean victims of the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Korea Times photo by Choi Won-sukBy Jung Min-hoMore than 2,200 Korean victims of the atomic bombs dropped on Japan are still alive today and many of them ― and their children ― have suffered from health issues and discrimination, according to a government report.The Ministry of Health and Welfare revealed the information on April 25 after completing its first nationwide survey of victims, more than seven decades after the United States dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945.The bombings and radiation afterward killed 40,000 out of the 70,000 Koreans who suffered from the attacks, the report says. About 23,000 survivors returned to their homeland and 2,283 are still alive, most of whom (roughly 70 percent) live in t

Apr 29, 2019By Jung Min-ho
74 years after atomic bombings, Korean victims are still suffering
  • The forgotten survivors of atomic bombs
  • Ex-Japanese PM apologizes to Korean victims of atomic bombings
Foreign Affairs

'Ausbildung helps young people find dreams, not just jobs'

An Ausbildung trainee learns from an instructor at BMW Korea's service center in southern Seoul. Courtesy of Korean-German Chamber of Commerce and IndustryBy Jung Min-hoKim Hyo-joonThe biggest problem with Korea's high youth unemployment is not a lack of jobs. Rather, it is a lack of jobs that can make young people dream about a better future.Stable, high-paying positions for university-educated people are limited, but many (about seven out of 10) choose to go to university and fiercely compete for the same goal because they feel that there's no future in the precarious, low-paying jobs available for those without bachelor's degrees.According to Kim Hyo-joon, the chairman of BMW Korea and the Korean-German Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KGCCI), a solution to the mismatch is to offer high school students another option ― a chance to work at a global company as a full-time employee without the degree.“Ausbildung will help young people find their dreams, not just jobs,” Kim said during a recent interview. “It will help them build their careers and strive for a bette

Apr 25, 2019By Jung Min-ho
'Ausbildung helps young people find dreams, not just jobs'
Health

Tougher drunk-driving law set to come into force

No soju before driving, not even a sip. GETTYIMAGESBANKBy Jung Min-hoDrinking just one glass of soju before driving could soon land you in legal trouble.A tougher law against drunk driving will come into force on June 25, the National Police Agency said Tuesday.Under the law, drivers whose blood-alcohol concentration is 0.03 percent or higher could end up behind bars ― a stricter standard than the current 0.05 percent.Drivers whose blood-alcohol concentration is between 0.03 and 0.08 percent could face up to a year in prison or a maximum fine of 5 million won ($4,400). Those whose blood-alcohol level is between 0.08 and 0.2 percent could receive a prison sentence of up to two years or a fine of up to 10 million won. Anyone with a higher reading could face up to five years in prison or a fine of up to 20 million won.If a person refuses to comply with a police request for a blood-alcohol test, he or she could face up to five years in prison or a maximum fine of 20 million won.According to police, the number of drunk-driving cases between January and March this year was 27,376, down 27.

Apr 23, 2019By Jung Min-ho
Tougher drunk-driving law set to come into force
World

Sri Lanka blames radical Islamic group for Easter terror attacks

A Sri Lankan soldier stands guard near a car explosion after police tried to defuse a bomb close to St. Anthony's Shrine in Colombo on April 22, a day after a series of bomb blasts targeting churches and luxury hotels. AFPRelatives place flowers after the burial of three people from the same family who died in the Easter Sunday bomb blast at St. Sebastian Church in Negombo, Sri Lanka, April 22. APBy Jung Min-hoThe Sri Lankan government has blamed a homegrown Islamist group for the terrorist attacks that killed at least 290 people in churches and hotels on Easter Sunday.Health Minister Rajitha Senaratne and other senior officials confirmed Monday (local time) that National Thowheeth Jama'ath (NTJ), a little-known extremist Islamist group, carried out the bombings with help from international militants.“We do not believe these attacks were carried out by a group of people who were confined to this country," Senaratne said during a press briefing in the capital city of Colombo. “There was an international network without which these attacks could not have succeeded.”Pr

Apr 23, 2019By Jung Min-ho
Sri Lanka blames radical Islamic group for Easter terror attacks
  • President Moon condemns Easter terror attacks in Sri Lanka
  • As Sri Lanka mourns, Islamic State claims Easter bombings
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