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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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Companies

S-Oil, Hyundai Oilbank plead guilty to overcharging US military

United States Force Korea's Camp Humphreys in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province. YonhapA Hyundai Oilbank gas station is seen in Seoul, March 29, 2012. ReutersBy Jung Min-hoS-Oil CEO Othman al-GhamdiTwo South Korean energy companies have agreed to plead guilty and pay $127 million in criminal and civil fines for fixing fuel prices for U.S. military bases here.S-Oil, whose top shareholder is Saudi Aramco, and Hyundai Oilbank will pay $75 million in criminal fines and $52 million in separate civil resolutions for rigging bids to supply fuel to U.S. Army, Navy, Marine Corps and Air Force bases, the U.S. Department of Justice said in a statement Wednesday (local time).The Justice Department also unsealed indictments against seven South Korean nationals, including former employees of the companies, in connection with the case.Hyundai Oilbank CEO Kang Dal-ho"Illegal bid-rigging schemes violate fundamental tenets of government contracting and lead to inflated charges and costs to the government," said Assistant Attorney General Jody Hunt for the Department of Justice's Civil Division."We will no

Mar 21, 2019By Jung Min-ho
S-Oil, Hyundai Oilbank plead guilty to overcharging US military
  • Korean companies to plead guilty to rigging fuel prices at US military bases
  • US hit for trying to use USFK budget for border wall
Law & Crime

Two men arrested after using spy cams to live-stream motel guests

Spy cams allegedly used for live-streaming motel guests are displayed at the National Police Agency in Seoul, Wednesday. YonhapPolice say some lenses are tiny that they cannot be detected without technical help. YonhapBy Jung Min-hoTwo men have been arrested after allegedly using spy cameras to live-stream 1,600 guests staying at motels, police said Wednesday.According to the National Police Agency, a court issued arrest warrants for a man, surnamed Park, 50, and his friend, surnamed Kim, 48, on charges of secretly live-streaming the motel guests on their website between Nov. 24 and March 3.Police are also investigating two other people allegedly involved.Park and Kim are suspected of installing cameras inside set-top boxes, hair dryers and other secret spots in 42 motel rooms in 10 cities, in Gyeongsang and Chungcheong provinces, and peeping into what was happening there.Police said some lenses were tiny (1mm in diameter) that they were able to continue filming for more than three months without being detected.The overseas-based website has more than 4,000 members.Police believe the

Mar 20, 2019By Jung Min-ho
Two men arrested after using spy cams to live-stream motel guests
Tech & Science

New Zealand PM: Tech giants should bear responsibility for attack video spread

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern visits Cashmere High School in Christchurch, New Zealand, March 20. ReutersBy Jung Min-hoNew Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and telecom company leaders are calling for greater accountability from so-called platform companies such as Facebook and Twitter after the video of the Christchurch mosque shootings spread instantly across the world.“We cannot simply sit back and accept that these platforms just exist and that what is said on them is not the responsibility of the place where they are published,” Ardern said during a speech to parliament on March 19.“They are the publisher. Not just the postman. There cannot be a case of all profit and no responsibility.”She noted her government would investigate the role platform companies played in the attacks, in which 50 people were killed at two mosques on March 15.The leaders of telecom operators Vodafone NZ, Spark and 2degrees also urged Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey and Google CEO Sundar Pichai to discuss a solution to such problems urgently.

Mar 20, 2019By Jung Min-ho
New Zealand PM: Tech giants should bear responsibility for attack video spread
Trends

International marriages in Korea rise sharply

International couples now account for 8.8 percent of all marriages registered in Korea. GETTYIMAGESBANKBy Jung Min-hoInternational marriages in Korea increased sharply in 2018, the latest government data show.According to Statistic Korea's data revealed Wednesday, there were 22,698 marriages between a Korean national and a foreigner last year, up 8.9 percent from 2017.The rise was the sharpest in 13 years.Marriages between a Korean husband and a foreign wife accounted for 73.2 percent.Among the wives, Vietnamese made up 38.2 percent, followed by Chinese (22.1 percent) and Thai (9.4 percent).Among the foreign husbands, Chinese made up 24.4 percent, followed by Americans (23.6 percent) and Vietnamese (9.6 percent).International couples accounted for 8.8 percent of all marriages registered here.

Mar 20, 2019By Jung Min-ho
International marriages in Korea rise sharply
Law & Crime

Chinese hitmen behind murder of stock swindler's parents: police

Three Chinese hitmen allegedly took part in killing the parents of a notorious stock swindler. The people in the photo are unrelated to the story. gettyimagesbankBy Jung Min-hoThe primary suspect in the double murder is escorted into a police station in Anyang, Gyeonggi Province, Monday. YonhapThe man suspected of killing a notorious stock swindler's parents hired three Chinese hitmen for the crime, according to police Monday.Anyang Dongan Police Station said it confirmed that the Chinese fled to Qingdao on Feb. 25, hours after allegedly killing the parents of Lee Hee-jin, 33, who is serving a five-year jail term for swindling investors out of 20 billion won ($18 million) between 2014 and 2016.Police said they would soon request an Interpol red notice to find the three.The primary suspect, surnamed Kim, 34, allegedly hired the Chinese through the internet. It is unclear what he gave them in return.According to police, the four people allegedly killed Lee's father, 62, and mother, 58, at their apartment in Anyang around 3:50 p.m. The Chinese left the place around 6:10 p.m. and boarded

Mar 19, 2019By Jung Min-ho
Chinese hitmen behind murder of stock swindler's parents: police
  • W500 mil. heist? Double murder of parents of infamous swindler
  • New lead in double murder: stolen W500m from Bugatti sale proceeds
Tech & Science

AirAsia CEO Tony Fernandes quits Facebook

In this March 29, 2018, file photo, the logo for Facebook appears on screens in New York's Times Square. APBy Jung Min-hoAirAsia Group CEO Tony FernandeAirAsia Group chief executive officer Tony Fernandes has closed his Facebook account, citing too much “hate” being transmitted on social media after the live-streaming of the mass shooting in New Zealand.Fernandes, who had 670,000 followers, said on Twitter Sunday that Facebook should “clean up” after videos of the recent New Zealand mosque attacks were uploaded to the platform.“Facebook could have done more to stop some of this. I myself have been a victim of so many fake bitcoin and other stories,” he wrote.“The amount of hate that goes on in social media sometimes outweighs the good.”For at least 17 minutes on Friday, a gunman streamed live video of a mass murder at a mosque in Christchurch. New Zealand police later alerted Facebook to the issue, and the company removed the shooter's account.On Saturday, Facebook said it removed 1.5 million copies of the shooting video.“We conti

Mar 18, 2019By Jung Min-ho
AirAsia CEO Tony Fernandes quits Facebook
Society

PHOTOS Sewol tents removed from Gwanghwamun

Workers take down Sewol tents at Gwanghwamun Square in central Seoul, Monday. YonhapKorea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chulKorea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chulKorea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chulYonhapBy Jung Min-hoA memorial altar, tents and yellow ribbons for victims of the 2014 Sewol disaster have been removed from Gwanghwamun Square ― after nearly five years.Workers from the Seoul Metropolitan Government took down all 14 tents and emptied what had long been called the “Sewol memorial space” in central Seoul Monday.The move was taken after the city government and victims' families agreed to replace them all with a smaller structure, which is expected to be set up in time for April 16, the fifth anniversary of the tragedy.Portraits of the victims had already been relocated from the altar to the basement of Seoul City Hall.The families and their supporters set up the altar in the symbolic area to demand a thorough investigation into the sinking of the ferry, which killed 304 people, mostly high school students on a school excursion to Jeju Island.A 20-meter-long rectangular wo

Mar 18, 2019By Jung Min-ho
Sewol tents removed from Gwanghwamun [PHOTOS]
  • 5 years after ferry disaster, Sewol tents at Gwanghwamun come down
  • Five years on, truth of Sewol disaster still shrouded in mystery
Companies

'Clear similarities' in Boeing crashes, Ethiopia minister says

Debris including a charred part of an onboard safety instruction card is seen at the crash site of an Ethiopian airways operated Boeing 737 MAX aircraft on March 16 at Hama Quntushele village near Bishoftu in Oromia region. AFPMourners of victims of the crash of Ethiopian Airlines react during the mass funeral at Holy Trinity Cathedral in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, March 17. The incident killed 157 people onboard and caused the worldwide grounding of the Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft model involved in the disaster. AFPBy Jung Min-hoData from the Ethiopian Airlines crash a week ago suggest “clear similarities” with an earlier incident involving the same kind of Boeing aircraft, Ethiopia's transport minister said Sunday (local time).Dagmawit Moges made the claim based on preliminary data retrieved from the black box of the Boeing 737 Max 8 plane, which crashed in Ethiopia on March 10 ― only six months after a deadly crash involving the identical model in Indonesia.“Clear similarities were noted between Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 and Indonesian Lion Air Flight 610, which wi

Mar 18, 2019By Jung Min-ho
'Clear similarities' in Boeing crashes, Ethiopia minister says
North Korea

WT executive to share stories behind taekwondo unification efforts

World Taekwondo Executive Deputy Secretary General Kim Eil-chul, center, smiles with North Korea's National Athletics Guidance Committee Chairman Choe Hwi, right, during a dinner at Okryugwan in Pyongyang on Nov. 2. Courtesy of World TaekwondoBy Jung Min-hoWorld Taekwondo (WT) Executive Deputy Secretary General Kim Eil-chul has many stories to tell when it comes to Korean unification.As leader of the global taekwondo governing body's taekwondo unification project, Kim has traveled around the world over the past five years to seek ideas and muster support for recovering the sport's original oneness ― after taekwondo was separated into two forms and each developed in its own way for decades.In November, he visited Pyongyang, where WT, under the leadership of South Korean Choue Chung-won and the International Taekwondo Federation, led by North Korean Ri Yong-son, agreed to create a joint organization to narrow their differences in governing the sport.Kim will share some of the interesting stories behind WT's peace efforts and his vision about Korean unification at Yonsei University's He

Mar 15, 2019By Jung Min-ho
WT executive to share stories behind taekwondo unification efforts
  • INTERVIEW 'Taekwondo unification can be inspiration for Korean unification'
Law & Crime

Former KT executive arrested for helping lawmaker's daughter get full-time job

A former KT executive has been arrested for allegedly giving favors to a lawmaker's daughter so she could get a full-time position at the company. YonhapBy Jung Min-hoA former executive at KT, Korea's second largest mobile carrier, has been arrested on charges of giving favors to a lawmaker's daughter during the company's hiring process in 2012.The Seoul Southern District Prosecutors' Office said Thursday that the court issued an arrest warrant for the suspect, 63, surnamed Kim, for allegedly giving favors to Rep. Kim Sung-tae's daughter.The daughter, who became a KT intern in April 2011, was later hired as a full-time employee.Investigators confirmed that she failed to make it through a document review, the first stage of the hiring process.The prosecution suspects that Kim, former floor leader of the main opposition Liberty Korea Party, peddled his influence to secure a position for his daughter. She left the company in February 2018.

Mar 14, 2019By Jung Min-ho
Former KT executive arrested for helping lawmaker's daughter get full-time job
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