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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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Reform Party candidate pledges separate minimum wage system for foreign workers

Lee Jun-seok, the presidential candidate of the minor conservative Reform Party, has vowed to introduce a separate minimum wage system for foreign workers in Korea as he seeks to bring back more manufacturing jobs from overseas. According to the list of his top 10 policy priorities unveiled ahead of the June 3 election, Lee, 40, aims to bring back the production of goods by offering more affordable labor for Korean manufacturers currently operating in countries like China and Vietnam, where labor costs are lower. If those companies decide to relocate their main manufacturing facilities to one of the state-designated national industrial parks in Ulsan, Yeosu, Changwon, Gumi and other areas, they would be exempt from the obligation of paying the national minimum wage to workers for up to 10 years. “The goal of this policy is to motivate companies to return here by offering a separate wage system for foreign workers and easing other regulations so that companies can maintain the same level of labor expenses,” Lee said in his policy list, which became available Monday on the National El

May 13, 2025By Jung Min-ho
Reform Party candidate pledges separate minimum wage system for foreign workers
Politics

Ex-president remains deeply divisive figure within People Power Party

The end of Yoon Suk Yeol’s tumultuous presidency has left his party facing its greatest challenge in years as it attempts to rally its conservative base ahead of the June 3 presidential election. The People Power Party’s (PPP) coalition is split over how to define its relationship with the impeached leader. It faces the difficult task of crafting a message that appeals to moderates while also energizing hard-right voters who believe Yoon’s martial law decision was justified. So far, it is not succeeding in that mission, with reformist-minded members refusing to rally behind its candidate, Kim Moon-soo, and urging him to expel Yoon as a party member. On Monday, Yoon arrived at the Seoul Central District Court for a hearing in his insurrection trial. When a reporter asked if he was willing to apologize for his decision to declare martial law in December, Yoon refused to respond. This comes a day after he called for unity among conservatives in a social media post. “It’s time to come together. Those who supported Kim Moon-soo must also join hands with people who supported other can

May 12, 2025By Jung Min-ho
Ex-president remains deeply divisive figure within People Power Party
Politics

PPP infighting risks alienating swing voters

Riven by internal strife ahead of the June 3 presidential election, the conservative People Power Party (PPP) is struggling to rally around a single candidate in what is shaping up to be a tough race against frontrunner Lee Jae-myung of the liberal Democratic Party of Korea (DPK). Amid escalating tensions within the party's leadership, PPP presidential candidate Kim Moon-soo has firmly rejected calls to merge his campaign with that of former Prime Minister Han Duck-soo. Kim dismissed the request ahead of Sunday’s deadline, set by Han and party leaders, deepening the divide within the conservative bloc. The push for unity comes at a time when consolidating support behind a single conservative candidate is widely viewed as essential to mounting a viable challenge to the DPK's Lee, who continues to lead in many polls by a significant margin. Party preference surveys show only a narrow gap between the two major parties, suggesting that Lee is not unbeatable, if the opposition can present a united front. Despite widespread public frustration with the PPP, particularly over the impeachment

May 9, 2025By Jung Min-ho
PPP infighting risks alienating swing voters
Law & Crime

Trials involving Lee Jae-myung likely to be halted if he wins election: experts

The delayed court hearing for Lee Jae-myung's alleged election law violations is unlikely to go ahead on June 18 — or at any point during the next five years — if he wins the June 3 presidential election, experts said Thursday. The previous day, a parliamentary judiciary committee dominated by the liberal Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) — Lee's political base — passed a bill seeking to suspend all criminal trials for a president-elect, in a move widely seen as an attempt to shield its candidate from ongoing legal risks. The move came about a week after the Supreme Court overturned a ruling that had cleared Lee of election law violations and sent the case back to the appellate court. The Seoul High Court subsequently postponed the first hearing — originally set for May 15 — to mid-June, amid growing pressure from DPK lawmakers. But the hearing is unlikely to take place at all, experts say. The DPK, which holds a majority in the National Assembly, is expected to unilaterally approve the bill to suspend the trial and four others in progress for Lee — and there is nothing conse

May 8, 2025By Jung Min-ho
Trials involving Lee Jae-myung likely to be halted if he wins election: experts
  • 30 on the bench? DPK eyes radical Supreme Court expansion plan
Law & Crime

30 on the bench? DPK eyes radical Supreme Court expansion plan

Lawmakers from the liberal Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) have introduced a bill to significantly increase the number of Supreme Court justices from 14 to 30. Known as “court packing,” the bill is seen by critics as an attempt to swiftly shift the ideological balance of the Supreme Court to align with the next president’s political agenda. The move comes as Lee Jae-myung, the DPK’s presidential candidate for the June 3 election, holds a wide lead in the polls. Currently, 10 of the 13 sitting justices are considered conservative or moderate, with one seat vacant. The Constitution does not specify the number of Supreme Court justices. Instead, that is determined by the Court Organization Act, which can be amended with approval from the National Assembly. However, the size of the court has remained relatively stable, with around a dozen justices since the law was enacted in 1949. The legislators who signed the bill said building a diverse bench is one of their objectives. “The fact that the pool of potential candidates for the Supreme Court is virtually limited to senior justices

May 7, 2025By Jung Min-ho
30 on the bench? DPK eyes radical Supreme Court expansion plan
  • DPK intensifies impeachment threats against Supreme Court justices
Law & Crime

DPK intensifies impeachment threats against Supreme Court justices

The Supreme Court has come under unprecedented threat as the Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) vows to use any means necessary to protect its presidential candidate, Rep. Lee Jae-myung, including the impeachment of the court's 10 justices who ruled against him last week in his election law case. The liberal party is demanding the judiciary immediately suspend all trials regarding Lee's criminal charges by Monday. If it doesn't, judges and justices would face impeachment, the party warned. “This case was a judicial coup that violated the sovereignty of the people. A judicial coup is a clearly impeachable offense,” Rep. Lee Geon-tae, a spokesperson for the party’s committee for the June 3 election, said in a statement on Tuesday. The statement comes after Rep. Yun Ho-jung, the committee chief, vowed the previous day to use “every power granted” to its lawmakers to thwart judges’ plan to hold a hearing on May 15 at the Seoul High Court, where they will deliberate on Lee’s sentence. If Lee is sentenced to a fine of 1 million won ($710) or higher, he will lose his eligibility to r

May 6, 2025By Jung Min-ho
DPK intensifies impeachment threats against Supreme Court justices
  • DPK urges high court to postpone review of verdict against presidential candidate Lee until after June election
Global Community

Seoul to send 130 volunteers to help underprivileged in Uzbekistan, Laos

The Seoul Metropolitan Government will send 130 volunteers to Uzbekistan and Laos to assist underprivileged communities this year as part of its youth program. According to officials, applications for the program are being collected until May 20. Any residents of the city aged 19 to 39 can participate. Those selected will receive training before visiting Uzbekistan’s Tashkent and Laos’ Vientiane between July and August. They will be offered free round trip air tickets, food, accommodation and some cash. While staying in the cities, the volunteers will take part in various projects such as repairing and improving infrastructure facilities and teaching local children about Korean culture. Tashkent was selected as one of this year’s program destinations to commemorate the 15th anniversary of its sister-city relationship with Seoul, while Vientiane was chosen in recognition of the cities' 10-year partnership. The destination for the inaugural program in 2023 was Ulaanbaatar, the capital of Mongolia. The following year, 70 volunteers went to Jakarta and Yogyakarta in Indonesia. The progra

May 5, 2025By Jung Min-ho
Seoul to send 130 volunteers to help underprivileged in Uzbekistan, Laos
Global Community

Foreign residents volunteer to help Korean fire victims

In response to the massive wildfires that swept through Korea’s southeastern regions earlier this year, the Seoul Metropolitan Government launched a special program inviting foreign residents to support those affected by the disaster. The initial aim was to find a few dozen people who would be willing to join in and do volunteer work on April 4 in Andong, a city several hours away from central Seoul in North Gyeongsang Province, or in Yeongdeok, a county located further east. But within a day of the plan's announcement, more than 300 foreign residents in the city applied through the city-run Seoul Foreign Resident Center. “It was a pleasant surprise,” a city official who helped organize the program told The Korea Times. “But for safety reasons, we could not take everyone there. Eventually, 71 were selected to join the mission and sent to the affected areas.” Along with 27 medical professionals and 58 city officials, the foreign volunteer workers went separately to Andong and Yeongdeok, where they moved and sorted boxes of relief goods, cleaned temporary shelters set up for fire

May 3, 2025By Jung Min-ho
Foreign residents volunteer to help Korean fire victims
Global Community

Presidential contenders urged to stop deporting undocumented foreigners

The Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, a powerful umbrella labor union with more than 1 million members, is calling for presidential contenders to discard the detain-and-deport policy currently used against undocumented foreign residents. In its list of 10 requests for the nation’s next leader released Wednesday, the group said migrants, including those without visas to remain in Korea, should be embraced as members of society and that the next administration should offer a legal path for undocumented people to stay. “The deportation policy must be stopped, and the government should implement a policy to grant residency to undocumented migrants,” the group said in the statement. The organization also said all migrants should be given an opportunity to obtain permanent residency if they stay here for five years or longer, regardless of their legal status. Their demands come as presidential hopefuls reveal their political visions and policy priorities ahead of the June 3 election. The organization has long advocated protecting human rights for foreign workers. But it was only last

May 1, 2025By Jung Min-ho
Presidential contenders urged to stop deporting undocumented foreigners
  • Liberal lawmakers call for expansion of rights for migrant workers
Society

Aspiring cybersecurity experts receive training at state institute

A group of aspiring cybersecurity experts have received training at a state institute as part of government efforts to nurture the next generation of cybersecurity professionals. According to the Ministry of Personnel Management on Wednesday, 25 students studying artificial intelligence (AI) and cybersecurity at Korea University were given an opportunity to learn more about growing cyber threats to the public such as AI-driven data breaches at the Government Joint Cyber Security Center (JCSC) in Sejong. Under the ministry program, the students got a glimpse into how government systems operate to prevent and counter threats through immersive simulations. “This training helped me understand that cybersecurity isn’t just about technology ― it also involves policy and cross-sector collaboration. Applying what we learned in class to real-world scenarios gave me genuine confidence,” said participant Yang Chae-han. Launched in 2021, the JCSC is now jointly run by 13 government departments and agencies. It provides facilities and equipment necessary to effectively respond to cybersecurit

Apr 30, 2025By Jung Min-ho
Aspiring cybersecurity experts receive training at state institute
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