The Korea Times

Gov't officials donate $1.5 mil. to underprivileged

gettyimagesbankBy Jung Min-hoTop government officials have donated 2 billion won ($1.56 million) to 455 underprivileged families.According to the Ministry of Health and Welfare, Sunday, many vice ministers and higher-level officials under the Yoon Suk Yeol administration have earmarked 10 percent of their salaries since this January to help such households through a project run by the Korea National Council on Social Welfare, a charity and research organization under the ministry.So far, 225 households have received 1 billion won between March and June. An additional 230 families are being selected by the organization as the next beneficiaries. It said their donations have eased the financial burden of the recipients, helping with medical and educational expenses.Top-ranking officials at 46 government departments and agencies as well as some 170 state-run institutions have participated in the donation project.“We will continue to step up efforts to spread kindness and support for our underprivileged neighbors,” Health Minister Cho Kyoo-hong said in a statement.

Jul 24, 2023By Jung Min-ho

Gov't officials donate $1.5 mil. to underprivileged

Law & Crime

Worries continue over hundreds of suspicious international parcels

Firefighters and soldiers enter a post office in Gangneung, Gangwon Province, after receiving a report about a suspicious parcel found there, Sunday. YonhapPresidential office holds meeting with police, spy agency amid ongoing investigationBy Jung Min-hoConcerns about possible terrorist acts using chemicals continued over the weekend amid an investigation into suspicious international packages delivered to hundreds of seemingly unrelated Korean addresses.In a message to the public, police warned against opening the parcels labeled with “CHUNGHWA POST,” as they could contain toxic materials. So far, more than 640 such packages sent via Taiwan were confirmed to have been delivered to addresses across the nation including Jeju Island since Thursday. Police said all of them are now under scrutiny.An X-ray scan raised an alarm early Sunday over a potentially harmful gas inside a package delivered to a home in Cheonan, South Chungcheong Province. But after an additional inspection, police later said they found no such gas.The mysterious parcels have stoked fear and confusion si

Jul 23, 2023By Jung Min-ho

Worries continue over hundreds of suspicious international parcels

Police investigating 679 suspicious int'l parcels among 2,141 reports nationwide

North Korea

Beijing 'actively enables' trafficking of North Korean women, girls: rights groups

This April 15, 2019 photo shows a woman wiping tears from her face during an event marking the anniversary of the birth of Kim Il-sung, founder of North Korea, in Pyongyang. AFP-YonhapActivists call on China to fulfill its promise to protect victims ahead of UN reviewBy Jung Min-hoBeijing vowed to take all measures necessary to combat the crime of human trafficking at its second and third cycle of Universal Periodic Reviews (UPR), a U.N. peer-review of the human rights records of all member states, held in 2013 and 2018 respectively.But after a decade of inattention, if not deliberate ignorance on the part of Chinese authorities, North Korean women and girls remain easy targets of human traffickers resulting in them frequently becoming victims of various crimes including sexual extortion.Ahead of China's fourth UPR cycle, expected to be held early next year, human rights groups have called for the country to fulfill its own promise to better protect North Korean escapees. In a joint statement sent to U.N. member states, they also urged governments around the world, including South Ko

Jul 20, 2023By Jung Min-ho

North Korea

ANALYSIS What will happen to US soldier held in North Korea?

This July 19, 2022, file photo shows the Joint Security Area of Panmunjeom inside the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) separating the two Koreas. An American soldier is now believed to be in North Korean custody after “willfully” crossing the inter-Korean border on Tuesday. AP-YonhapPyongyang will likely deport him due to criminal charges: expertsBy Jung Min-hoAn American soldier is now believed to be in North Korean custody after “willfully” crossing the inter-Korean border on Tuesday, creating a new problem that could further complicate Washington's efforts to deal with Pyongyang.Asked about what will happen to Pvt. Travis King, analysts on North Korea and human rights experts said on Wednesday that he is likely to face deportation due to criminal charges pending in the U.S. and the little utility it can expect by holding him.Before crossing the border during his Panmunjeom tour, King was reportedly released on July 10 from a South Korean prison where he had spent two months over assault charges. Further military disciplinary action awaited him in the United States.

Jul 19, 2023By Jung Min-ho

EXCLUSIVE US soldier who fled to NK skipped flight claiming missing passport: sources

North Korea

ANALYSIS Is North Korea ready to talk?

Kim Yo-Jong, sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, gives a speech during a party meeting held in Pyongyang in this Aug. 10, 2022, file photo. After years of escalating tensions with weapons development, Pyongyang now appears to be entering “a new phase” in its approach to handling Seoul and Washington, according to analysts on Tuesday. YonhapPyongyang specifies demands in sign of entering 'phase for negotiation': expertsBy Jung Min-hoAfter years of escalating tensions with weapons development, Pyongyang now appears to have entered “a new phase” in its approach to handling Seoul and Washington, according to analysts on Tuesday. Kim Yo-jong, the politically powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, said the previous day that U.S. efforts to strengthen “extended deterrence” would only push North Korea further from the negotiating table and, even if the two sides agreed to talk, its denuclearization would not be on the agenda. She then added North Korea would not buy into “U.S. lies” such as promises to pull its military forc

Jul 18, 2023By Jung Min-ho

[ANALYSIS] Is North Korea ready to talk?

Foreign Affairs

EXCLUSIVE IAEA defends its UN status as some lawmakers question relevance

Rafael Grossi, right, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), shakes hands with Rep. Wi Seong-gon of the Democratic Party of Korea during a meeting with the opposition party's lawmakers at the National Assembly in Seoul, July 9. The IAEA defended its status as an international organization “within the United Nations system" after some lawmakers questioned the agency's relevance in an apparent bid to undermine the credibility of its Fukushima report. AP-YonhapNuclear watchdog maintains radiation dose from Fukushima water 'will be undetectable and negligible'By Jung Min-hoThe International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) defended its status as an organization “within the United Nations system” after some Korean lawmakers questioned the agency's relevance in an apparent bid to undermine the credibility of its report that gave the green light to releasing into the ocean treated wastewater from a crippled nuclear plant in Fukushima.In response to inquiries recently sent by The Korea Times, Sinead Harvey, the agency's press officer, also expressed c

Jul 17, 2023By Jung Min-ho

[EXCLUSIVE] IAEA defends its UN status as some lawmakers question relevance

Society

Children trapped in limbo between North and South Korea

North Koreans hold cards to make an image depicting North Korean children during a mass game performance of "The Land of the People" at the May Day Stadium in Pyongyang, North Korea, in this June 25, 2019 photo. Human rights activists in South Korea have called on policymakers to better protect North Korean defectors' children who were born in third countries before coming here. AP-YonhapHuman rights activists call for better protection of those born in third countriesBy Jung Min-hoNorth Korean women escaping oppression in their country cross the border to China in search of freedom and a better life. What awaits them there, in many cases, is the opposite ― even less freedom and a life of constant fear of deportation.Without a legal identity, such women are not allowed to work, which makes them vulnerable to human trafficking, sexual violence and other crimes. As a means of protecting themselves, many end up marrying a Chinese citizen, while others are coerced into such relationships by marriage brokers.Lee Su-min (not her real name), 41, was one of those women. Before arriving in So

Jul 16, 2023By Jung Min-ho

Children trapped in limbo between North and South Korea

North Korea

ANALYSIS Is North Korea perfecting solid-fuel ICBM technology?

This photo released Thursday shows North Korea's new Hwasong-18 intercontinental ballistic missile being test-launched the previous day. YonhapPyongyang takes one more step toward acquiring harder-to-detect missiles: expertsBy Jung Min-hoNorth Korean leader Kim Jong-un vowed to develop more efficient and reliable weapons as he supervised the second “successful” test of his regime's solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) designed to strike the U.S., according to state media on Thursday.The Hwasong-18, fired on a lofted trajectory the previous day, flew 1,001.2 kilometers at a maximum altitude of 6,648 kilometers for 74 minutes before falling into a “targeted area” in waters off its east coast, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported. The flight time was the longest ever for any North Korean missile. If launched on a standard angle, it could fly more than 15,000 kilometers ― enough to reach the U.S. homeland.Analysts told The Korea Times that Pyongyang appears to be making progress in developing missiles with built-in solid fuels, which woul

Jul 13, 2023By Jung Min-ho

[ANALYSIS] Is North Korea perfecting solid-fuel ICBM technology?

Defense

North Korea fires ballistic missile during NATO summit

A TV screen shows a file image of North Korea's missile launch during a news program at Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, Wednesday. AP-YonhapYoon calls for international solidarity against threats from PyongyangBy Jung Min-hoNorth Korea launched a long-range ballistic missile toward its eastern waters on Wednesday, two days after warning of the consequences of what it claimed was a “provocative” flight by a U.S. reconnaissance plane.During an emergency National Security Council (NSC) meeting in Lithuania, where he is visiting to attend a NATO summit, President Yoon Suk Yeol called for international solidarity against increasing threats from the regime, saying the North will pay the price of all of its “illegal activities.”According to the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS), the suspected intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), fired on a lofted trajectory from the North Korean capital area around 10 a.m., flew about 1,000 kilometers before falling into the East Sea.It was North Korea's first weapon test since June 15, when it fired two short-range ballistic missile

Jul 12, 2023By Jung Min-ho

North Korea

China urged not to repatriate North Korean refugees

Lee Jung-hoon, the new chief of the Unification Future Planning Committee, an advisory body to the unification minister, speaks during a roundtable discussion, titled “2023 Report on North Korean Human Rights,” at the Press Center in Seoul, Tuesday. NewsisRights experts urge Seoul to work with like-minded states to pressure BeijingBy Jung Min-hoThe 2019 decision by the previous administration to repatriate two fishermen back to North Korea against their will ― in a clear violation of U.N. treaties ― shocked human rights experts around the world. Yet no one raised the issue, at least not openly, in China, a nation that has been doing the exact same thing for decades.According to human rights organizations, more than 2,000 North Korean defectors will likely suffer the same fate once the remaining border restrictions that had been set up between the two countries during the COVID-19 pandemic are removed. What awaits them in North Korea is no secret ― years of incarceration in political prison camps, torture or worse.This must be stopped, said Lee Jung-hoon, the new chief of

Jul 11, 2023By Jung Min-ho

Jung Min-ho

Read more

Gov't officials donate $1.5 mil. to underprivileged

Worries continue over hundreds of suspicious international parcels

Beijing 'actively enables' trafficking of North Korean women, girls: rights groups

ANALYSIS What will happen to US soldier held in North Korea?

ANALYSIS Is North Korea ready to talk?

EXCLUSIVE IAEA defends its UN status as some lawmakers question relevance

Children trapped in limbo between North and South Korea

ANALYSIS Is North Korea perfecting solid-fuel ICBM technology?

North Korea fires ballistic missile during NATO summit

China urged not to repatriate North Korean refugees

Top 5 stories