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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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People & Events

Divorce lawyer unveils ugly side of marriages

By Jung Min-ho Lee In-chulThere is a Russian proverb, “If you go to war pray once; if you go on a sea journey pray twice; but pray three times if you are going to be married.” One lawyer, who specializes in divorce cases, couldn’t agree more.“Everyone gets married to be happy - nobody expects a divorce to end their marriage. But, if you see how many couples end up divorcing, the number is just startling,” Lee In-chul, 39, said in a recent interview with The Korea Times.According to Statistics Korea, 320,000 couples tied the knot in 2010 and 120,000 pairs divorced. More recently, 9,400 couples split up this January, 400 more than the same month last year.Although “personality differences” is the most common reason cited for such break-ups, the truth is often much more complicated, Lee said.“Domestic violence and cheating are involved in many divorce cases,” said Lee, noting that he once saw a female client who had been beaten black and blue, all over her body.Lee said marriages based on external qualities such as money or a sp

Apr 9, 2013By Jung Min-ho
Divorce lawyer unveils ugly side of marriages
Sports

Copyright dispute erupts over background music

By Jung Min-hoThe country’s newest copyright catfight is over the background music played at restaurants, coffee shops and shopping centers.Starbucks and Hyundai Department Store are some of the big businesses that have faced legal action from music labels for playing their music in shops without their consent. And now with copyright holders becoming intense in their hunt for infringers, rancor is growing between them and small businesses as well.According to Clause 2, Article 22 of the copyright law, a music record that has been bought can be played in public if the listeners are not charged for it. However, whether the music includes not only CDs but also mp3 files as well as music streaming remains a moot point.Last year, the Supreme Court ordered Starbucks to pay for the music played in their shops; but the decision did not provide an answer to the question at the heart of the dispute as the ruling was made based on the fact that Starbucks played make-to-order CDs instead of ones for sale.According to OpenNet, an incorporated association for Internet freedom, the definition

Mar 25, 2013By Jung Min-ho
Arts & Theater

Worse than useless

Seoul National University professor Kim Ran-do, author of “You are Suffering Because You are Young,” speaks during a press conference held to promote his second self-help book, “It Takes a Thousand Hardships to Become an Adult,” this time for those in their 30s, in August last year when the book was released.                                               / Korea Times photos by Park Seo-gangHow a sea of self-help books deepens Korea’s intellectual vacuumBy Jung Min-ho Kim Mi-kyung, author of self-help books, “Dream On” and“Biting Remarks from Your Elder Sister,” and host of the “KimMi-kyung Show” on cable network tvNHave you ever met anyone who has realized their dreams through self-help books? You may have, though it is probably not the readers; it must be the writers.A recent plagiarism scandal surrounding self-help writer Kim Mi-kyung’s master’s degree at Ewha Womans Universit

Mar 24, 2013By Jung Min-ho
Worse than useless
Sports

`Taekwondo needs to keep evolving'

By Jung Min-ho Choue Chung-wonWTF PresidentTaekwondo stays as an Olympic sport for now but its future will depend on how it continues to evolve. To do so, it needs to be more exciting and safer, according to World Taekwondo Federation (WTF) President Choue Chung-won.In a recent interview with The Korea Times, Choue vowed to add pace and purpose to the efforts to reform the sport, including further changes in competition rules and scoring systems and employing better technology to eliminate judging controversies.The International Olympic Committee (IOC) recently named taekwondo as one of the 25 core Olympic sports that will maintain their place throughout the 2020 Olympic Games. Choue stressed that the status of any Olympic sport is uncertain beyond that disputing reports by some local media outlets that interpreted the decision as the IOC locking up taekwondo permanently, and taekwondo will have to improve itself continuously.“The IOC’s decision rewards taekwondo’s persistent efforts to rebuild itself and be seen as a genuine Olympic sport with global acceptanc

Feb 19, 2013By Jung Min-ho
`Taekwondo needs to keep evolving'
Sports

KT, Booyoung vying to own new team

KT Chairman Lee Suk-chae, second from left, and Suwon Mayor Yeom Tae-young, left, pose before submitting an application at the headquarters of the Korea Baseball Organization Monday to create a 10th club in the Korean league.                                                                                                                           / Yonhap By Jung Min-hoThe Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) is expected to decide Friday whether telecom titan KT or housing giant Booyoung will be granted the operating rights for the nation’s 10th professional team.The two conglomerates announced their bids Monday and an evaluation committee of about 20 outside experts will review the applications, looking at about 30 categories including their financial stability. A de

Jan 8, 2013By Jung Min-ho
KT, Booyoung vying to own new team
South Korea

'Madam is more appropriate'

By Jung Min-hoKathleen Butterly NigroDiana ArchangeliHow should President-elect Park Geun-hye be addressed in English?An official from Park’s transition team said the nation’s first female president could be addressed as either Madam or Ms. The Foreign Ministry also confirmed there was no preference but pointed out that Ms. was used more frequently than madam in congratulatory cables from abroad with many addressing Park as “Her Excellency.” To reduce confusion, The Korea Times checked with scholars, ambassadors and businesspeople. They agreed with the ministry but, when asked about appropriateness, given her position as the next head of state at age of 61 and unmarried, they unanimously said, “Madam.”    “Madam is an honorary title and is appropriate to recognize her position in the government. Ms. might be as appropriate for her personally, but we are not talking about addressing her personally here,” said Kathleen Butterly Nigro, a gender studies professor at the University of Missouri-St. Louis. “The latter

Jan 6, 2013By Jung Min-ho
'Madam is more appropriate'
South Korea

Assembly set to pass budget bill

Rep. Park Ki-choon, right, the newly-elected floor leader of the main opposition Democratic United Party (DUP), speaks during a meeting with senior DUP members at the National Assembly, Sunday. Park said the DUP would work with the ruling Saenuri Party to approve the budget within year’s end. YonhapBy Jung Min-hoThe National Assembly is set to pass next year’s budget bill today that will have a bigger percentage for social welfare than this year amid rising demands for social policies.  This came after negotiators of the ruling Saenuri Party and opposition parties reached an accord on key issues.The leaders of the budget committee, Kim Hack-yong of the Saenuri Party and Choi Jae-sung of the Democratic United Party (DUP), agreed on issuing 900-billion won ($844,000,000) government bonds in need of about 1.6 trillion won for President-elect Park Geun-hye’s welfare pledges. Also, they agreed to lower the base for aggregate taxation on financial income from 40 million won to 20 million won to fill the rest.The stagnant talk went into overdrive as Saenuri Party acce

Dec 30, 2012By Jung Min-ho
Assembly set to pass budget bill
South Korea

Yoon hit by martyr's offspring

President-elect Park Geun-hye’s chief spokesman Yoon Chang-jung announces newly appointed members of the transition team at the headquarters of Saenuri Party in Seoul, Thursday. / YonhapBy Jung Min-ho Yun Bong-gilPatriotic martyrPresident-elect Park Geun-hye’s incoming chief spokesman Yoon Chang-jung is drawing virulent responses from the descendants of patriotic martyr Yun Bong-gil’s, following a statement he gave Tuesday in which he claimed to be related to the historical figure.“He is dishonoring the name of the national hero by selling Yun’s name with political purpose,” Patriot Yun Bong-gil Memorial Director Yang Byeong-yong told The Korea Times. “For the past 13 years working here, I have never heard of him.”Yun is a famous Korean independence activist who died after bombing Japanese dignitaries in Shanghai in 1932.The head of the organization also denied his statement, saying “According to his logic, there are 1.2 million descendants nationwide with the same family name.”“More importantly, he has not partic

Dec 27, 2012By Jung Min-ho
Yoon hit by martyr's offspring
South Korea

Park's welfare pledges in limbo

The Strategy and Finance Committee was deserted Wednesday as ruling and opposition parties failed to agree on deliberating an extra 6 trillion won ($5.5 billion) for President-elect Park Geun-hye’s welfare pledges stalled due to disagreements. / YonhapBy Jung Min-hoPresident-elect Park Geun-hye is facing a major task of securing money to keep her welfare pledges that she said would be “possible without raising taxes.”The pledges include cutting delinquent borrowers’ debts by 50 to 70 percent, providing free childcare for children up to age 5, halving college tuition, and the list goes on. However, an open question remains as to how she will plug the gaping hole in the government’s finances without burdening taxpayers.The President-elect’s spokesman Park Seon-kyu said Wednesday that Park will keep her word because people voted for her based on it, noting that “Park made only feasible pledges.”Nevertheless, the challenges started testing Park’s leadership as the ruling and opposition parties have failed to reach an agreement on

Dec 26, 2012By Jung Min-ho
South Korea

Books about president-elect popular

By Jung Min-ho Park Geun-hyeBooks about President-elect Park Geun-hye have come into the limelight, following her Dec. 19 victory, after being overshadowed by those of her former rivals Moon Jae-in and Ahn Cheol-soo.According to officials from online book store Yes24, her autobiography “Despair Trains Me and Hope Moves Me” saw the biggest increase in sales with 345 from Dec. 19 to 24. This compares with only 16 that sold between Dec. 12 and 18.Among 80 books about Park, her autobiography, her essay “My Mother, Yuk Young-su” and “GH-nomics,” the most recent book about her pledges for the next administration, are the most popular.“Seventy-two copies of the essay were sold from Dec. 19 to 24 after no sales from Dec. 12 to 18,” Yes24’s public relations director Park Se-mi said. “Park’s election victory brought unpopular books back to people’s attention.”Eighty-five copies of “GH-nomics” have sold since it was published Friday, and the public relations director expects the number to grow.Twenty-

Dec 24, 2012By Jung Min-ho
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