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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

Rights commission urges North Korea to release 6 detainees

The National Human Rights Commission of Korea has urged North Korea to release six South Korean citizens held against their will by the regime, it said on Friday. According to the commission, its representative, Lee Han-byeol, attended the Human Rights Council's Universal Periodic Review (UPR) meeting held Thursday in Geneva, where she called on the North to release Christian missionaries ― Kim Jung-wook, Kim Kook-kie and Choi Chun-gil ― as well as three North Korean defectors. “At the UPR meeting, we emphasized the need for the immediate repatriation of six of our citizens detained in North Korea, the need to inform North Korean defectors in South Korea of the whereabouts of their families in the North, the need for the immediate repatriation of prisoners of war and the need to hold a reunification event for separated families,” the commission said. North Korea has long been a merciless land for Christian missionaries over the decades. But for South Korean believers, it has been even more so. In 2013, Kim Jung-wook was arrested there and sentenced to hard labor for life on charg

Mar 28, 2025By Jung Min-ho
Rights commission urges North Korea to release 6 detainees
Society

AI can be boon for Korean workers, experts say

A Korean car parts maker that supplies electric vehicle components to companies such as Tesla had hired 12 employees for its factory. However, after adopting artificial intelligence (AI) technology to improve production efficiency in areas such as inspections, the firm was able to boost productivity by 50 percent, recently reducing its workforce to six. Buoyed by the sales increase, it is now planning to build a similar plant. As technology develops and more companies adopt it, such a trend is only expected to accelerate. For many workers in manufacturing industries, AI is emerging as a new threat to their job stability. Their concern about the great AI replacement — that many laborers will be replaced by technology and their jobs will disappear — is a legitimate one, experts said at a discussion on Friday. Yet, they highlighted that if Korea proves its competitiveness in the international AI race, there will be many opportunities created in new, AI-driven fields. At the event organized by the presidential Economic, Social and Labor Council, tech experts said job losses in manufactu

Mar 28, 2025By Jung Min-ho
AI can be boon for Korean workers, experts say
Law & Crime

Spy agency warns of terrorist threats targeting APEC summit in Gyeongju

The National Intelligence Service (NIS) has warned of possible terrorist attacks targeting the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit scheduled to be held in South Korea this year. In its terrorism report published Wednesday, the spy agency urged the government to take precautions against the possible risk of terrorism ahead of the November event, where world leaders will gather for talks on trade and future technologies. “With a large number of world leaders expected to attend the APEC Summit, the world will be watching closely. This raises the possibility of terrorism. In particular, threats of attacks by international terrorist groups targeting Asia-Pacific leaders, North Korea’s hacking attempts and sabotage attempts by other organizations are expected to be the most significant risks,” the NIS said. The forum will take place in the southeastern city of Gyeongju, where representatives from the 21 APEC members, including U.S. President Donald Trump, as well as business leaders from around the world, are expected to attend. To ensure the safety of all participants, the g

Mar 27, 2025By Jung Min-ho
Spy agency warns of terrorist threats targeting APEC summit in Gyeongju
Global Community

Education superintendents to propose new work visa for foreign grads of Korean vocational schools

Education authorities nationwide plan to urge the government to introduce a new work visa system for foreign nationals who graduate from Korean vocational high schools, amid a decline in the number of students and workers in regions outside of Seoul. Speaking to The Korea Times on Wednesday, an official at the National Council of Governors of Education, an organization that represents the superintendents of 17 education offices in Korea, said the issue will be at the top of the agenda for their meeting set for Thursday in Boryeong, South Chungcheong Province. “The policy goal would be to revitalize struggling vocational schools in many regions and train the students as future workers eventually,” the official said. “Many superintendents share concerns about the shrinking student population.” The E-7 work visa is currently granted only to foreigners with an associate degree or higher. This does not help local governments in attracting more foreign students to vocational schools or sustaining labor-intensive industries like manufacturing, which are in need of more workers in many

Mar 26, 2025By Jung Min-ho
Education superintendents to propose new work visa for foreign grads of Korean vocational schools
Global Community

Less than 1% of foreign residents use mobile ID cards two months after launch

Two months after Korea introduced a mobile ID card for foreign residents, only about 4,500 people, or 0.23 percent, have so far obtained one, according to the Ministry of Justice. In its recent response to The Korea Times' inquiries, the ministry stated that 4,560 foreign residents had obtained the mobile cards as of March 19. The new system, launched on Jan. 10, is part of the government's efforts to make personal ID verification more convenient for everyone living here, both citizens and noncitizens alike. The number of long-term foreign residents in Korea surpassed 2 million in 2024, up from 1.88 million in 2023 and 1.69 million in 2022. “The mobile residence card offers various benefits. It eliminates the inconvenience of carrying a physical ID card at all times and makes it more convenient for foreign residents to use ID-required services such as for financial transactions among others,” the ministry told The Korea Times. “As more people get to know more about the benefits, we expect the number of users to surge.” This is part of a broader government effort to adopt modern t

Mar 25, 2025By Jung Min-ho
Less than 1% of foreign residents use mobile ID cards two months after launch
Global Community

More affordable foreign nanny program launched in Seoul

Korea launched a more affordable foreign nanny program for residents in Seoul on Monday as part of its efforts to ease the child-rearing burden on parents and help address the nation's low birthrate. Under a trial scheme initiated by the Seoul Metropolitan Government, noncitizens holding one of four visas — D-2, D-10-1, F-3 and F-1-5 — can register their job-related information on a site managed by outsourcing service firm EasyTask. If selected, they will undergo weeks of required training before being permitted to work as domestic workers, babysitters or both. For service users, it will be a more affordable version of a similar state-run program, through which parents in the city could hire Filipino caregivers. But unlike the Filipinos, workers who participate in the new project will not be subject to the Labor Standards Act — and can therefore be paid less than the minimum wage — because they would work under private contracts, according to the city government. Article 11 of the law says, “This Act shall neither apply to any business or workplace in which only the employer

Mar 24, 2025By Jung Min-ho
More affordable foreign nanny program launched in Seoul
  • Korea to extend visas for Filipino caregivers
Law & Crime

Critical week lies ahead as nation awaits verdicts on PM, opposition leader

The judiciary is poised to deliver rulings on at least two high-profile cases this week, which are expected to reshape the nation’s political landscape. The political aftermath of the court decisions could be even larger with the possibility for yet another, which, if taking place this week, will be the most important ruling — that for President Yoon Suk Yeol’s impeachment over his Dec. 3 martial law declaration. On Monday, the Constitutional Court will render a verdict on Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, after 192 lawmakers at the National Assembly voted to impeach him on Dec. 27. The Assembly passed the impeachment motion after accusing him of rebellion by conniving with Yoon to declare martial law on Dec. 3 and of refusing to appoint three Assembly-selected candidates for the Constitutional Court bench, among other charges. His alleged cooperation in imposing military martial law is intertwined with the impeachment trial for Yoon, the final decision-maker. The justices’ views on the legitimacy of that act could be expressed in their ruling on Han, who allegedly tried to prevent th

Mar 23, 2025By Jung Min-ho
Critical week lies ahead as nation awaits verdicts on PM, opposition leader
Politics

Ruling party proposes bill to deprive noncitizens of voting rights amid anti-China sentiment

Ruling party lawmakers seek to take away the right to vote from all foreign permanent residents through legislation, a move apparently targeting Chinese residents here amid anti-China sentiment increasingly shared among Korean conservatives. According to the office of Rep. Kang Dae-sik, Thursday, he and nine other lawmakers of the People Power Party (PPP) recently proposed a bill to revise the Public Official Election Act, under which noncitizens who have held permanent resident visas here for three years or longer can vote to elect local officials such as governors and mayors. “The law is not aligned with the principle of reciprocity, given that most of our citizens who live in other countries as permanent residents do not have the right to vote there,” the legislators said in the proposal. “Also, the number of foreign residents here has been rising and many live in certain areas together, which poses the risk of distorting citizens’ political opinions.” Particularly, they raised concerns that there is a risk of foreign intervention in local elections as around 80 percent of

Mar 20, 2025By Jung Min-ho
Ruling party proposes bill to deprive noncitizens of voting rights amid anti-China sentiment
People & Events

Table tennis star donates $68,000 to help sick children

Shin Yu-bin, 20, a table tennis star and bronze medalist at the 2024 Paris Olympics, donated 100 million won ($68,800) to help support children battling illness.

Mar 19, 2025By Jung Min-ho
Table tennis star donates $68,000 to help sick children
Global Community

Yeongyang County under mounting pressure to scrap plan to host Myanmar refugees

Yeongyang, a peaceful county with a population of just around 15,000 in North Gyeongsang Province, hardly ever draws attention from outsiders. But the county has recently been thrust into the spotlight after its announcement last week that it was in talks with the central government to invite 40 refugees from Myanmar to one of its villages and help them settle there permanently, as part of efforts to help address the issue of its shrinking population. In the days that followed the announcement, the online bulletin board run by the office has been filled with dozens of complaints calling for county head Oh Do-chang to ditch the plan. “The idea that depopulation can be solved by multicultural or refugee immigration policies is absurd. That’s wrong,” one petitioner wrote. “I hope you come up with a policy to help your own people.” Many petitioners appear worried that it could be the beginning of what will eventually lead to more immigrants and problems they could potentially bring into Korea such as public safety and religious issues. “The issue of hosting Myanmar refugees in our

Mar 18, 2025By Jung Min-ho
Yeongyang County under mounting pressure to scrap plan to host Myanmar refugees
  • Korea's asylum acceptance rate at 2.7% amid 122,000 applications
  • County seeks to host Myanmar refugees amid population cliff
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