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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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Defense

US flexes military muscle to show readiness as tensions rise on Korean Peninsula

USS Michigan SSGN, an 18,000-ton guided missile submarine and one of the most feared U.S. strategic assets, appears near a naval base in Busan, Friday, a day after North Korea's latest missile provocation. NewsisUSS Michigan SSGN docks in Busan, four B-52 bombers land on GuamBy Jung Min-hoA U.S. nuclear-powered submarine capable of carrying up to 154 Tomahawk missiles arrived at a South Korean naval base in Busan, Friday, a day after North Korea fired two short-range missiles off its east coast in its latest provocation.USS Michigan SSGN, an 18,000-ton guided missile submarine and one of the most feared U.S. strategic assets, docked there as a demonstration of the security guarantee promised in the Washington Declaration and a symbol of “peace through strength,” South Korea's Vice Adm. Kim Myung-soo said in a statement.It is the first time since October 2017 that a submarine classified as “SSGN” by the U.S. Navy, or a cruise-missile submarine, has stopped off in Korea, amid tensions following the North's weapons tests and the ever-intensifying Seoul-Washington

Jun 16, 2023By Jung Min-ho
US flexes military muscle to show readiness as tensions rise on Korean Peninsula
North Korea

North Korea's high status at WHO sends wrong message to world: health experts

Surrounded by officials face wearing masks, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, center, and his wife Lee Sol-ju watch a performance given by art groups in Pyongyang, in this May 5, 2021, photo. Speaking to The Korea Times recently, health experts said North Korea's high position at the World Health Organization is concerning as it would send the wrong message to the world. YonhapPyongyang joins executive board despite pandemic lies, rejection of vaccine supportBy Jung Min-hoNorth Korea had claimed to be totally free of COVID-19 patients for almost a year and a half while the coronavirus was raging across the world. After finally reporting its first official case in May 2022, authorities there rejected free offers of vaccine support from other countries for no clear reason, refusing to join the global effort to contain the pandemic and jeopardizing the lives of their own people.Yet, at the 76th World Health Assembly in Geneva last month, North Korea was elected as a new member of the World Health Organization (WHO) executive board. Along with 33 other “technically qualified”

Jun 14, 2023By Jung Min-ho
North Korea's high status at WHO sends wrong message to world: health experts
Defense

Korea's spy agency to release security guidelines on ChatGPT

gettyimagesbankBy Jung Min-hoThe National Intelligence Service (NIS), Korea's spy agency, is working on creating security rules for how to use ChatGPT and other artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots amid growing concerns over the new technology. According to the NIS on Sunday, it plans to release its guidelines to government departments and agencies later this month. It said it started the project in April in cooperation with experts in the field to take advantage of AI technology while minimizing possible complications.The leakage of personal or work-related information as well as the creation of realistic “fake news” are among the biggest concerns about the technology, which has proven to be useful in many areas despite some flaws and limitations. With AI reshaping the tech landscape, there has been a mix of expectations and worries about how much impact it will have on people in daily life. “Developing security regulations is as important as developing the technology itself,” Kwon Tae-kyoung, a Yonsei University scholar who participated in the project, said

Jun 11, 2023By Jung Min-ho
Korea's spy agency to release security guidelines on ChatGPT
North Korea

North Korea set for another plenary meeting on economy

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un visits a rice farm damaged by heavy rain, in this Aug. 6, 2020, photo. North Korea is preparing to convene another plenary meeting of the ruling Workers' Party in a week or two to discuss economic issues. Analysts said Sunday that the unusual frequency of such gatherings ― the third one in just six months ― suggests an unusually bad food situation. YonhapThird gathering in six months is sign of food shortages, loosening of control: expertsBy Jung Min-hoNorth Korea is preparing to convene another plenary meeting of the ruling Workers' Party in a week or two to discuss economic matters. Analysts believe the unusual frequency of such gatherings ― the third one in just six months ― suggests an unusually bad food situation.The party will hold the eighth plenary meeting of its eighth central committee sometime this month to review the implementation of national economic plans in the first half of 2023 and discuss policy issues, four months after the previous one held on the same agenda. Usually, the party convenes a plenary meeting once or twice a year.Speak

Jun 11, 2023By Jung Min-ho
North Korea set for another plenary meeting on economy
Politics

Yoon calls for all-out efforts to win chip war

President Yoon Suk Yeol speaks during a semiconductor industry strategy meeting at Cheong Wa Dae in Seoul, Thursday. YonhapBy Jung Min-hoPresident Yoon Suk Yeol has called for all-out efforts to stay competitive in the chip industry, which he called a pillar of the Korean economy and a source of quality jobs.During Thursday's meeting on a national strategy for the semiconductor sector at Cheong Wa Dae in Seoul, Yoon said public-private cooperation is essential in winning the chip war as Cold War-like geopolitics emerge as the biggest business risk to the nation's chipmakers.“Semiconductor exports account for 20 percent of Korea's total exports and 55 percent of its manufacturing facility investment; it represents Korean industries,” he said. “To win the chip war, we need both innovations by private companies and leading strategies by the state.”Speaking to his top officials, scholars and business leaders, including SK hynix co-CEO Kwak Noh-jung and Kyung Kye-hyun, who leads Samsung Electronics' chip business, Yoon said the importance of advanced chips will con

Jun 8, 2023By Jung Min-ho
Yoon calls for all-out efforts to win chip war
Foreign Affairs

Experts skeptical about effectiveness of S. Korea's UNSC seat to rein in NK

The U.N. General Assembly opens at the U.N. headquarters in New York, June 6 (local time). In a vote at the meeting, South Korea was elected as a non-permanent member of the 15-member United Nations Security Council for a two-year term starting on Jan. 1, 2024. YonhapYoon urged to take advantage of status to advance national interestsBy Jung Min-hoSoon after South Korea was elected to the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) as one of the five new non-permanent members, Wednesday (KST), President Yoon Suk Yeol described the achievement as a “victory of global diplomacy.”South Korea, which secured the Asia-Pacific seat after winning 180 votes from 192 member states, hopes to expand its influence in the key principal organ of the U.N. to better address issues related to North Korea at a time when Pyongyang is perfecting its nuclear weapons program.Experts contacted by The Korea Times said, however, that South Korea's ability to change North Korea's trajectory will be limited, during its two-year membership, amid a new Cold War climate in which China and Russia ― permanent

Jun 7, 2023By Jung Min-ho
Experts skeptical about effectiveness of S. Korea's UNSC seat to rein in NK
Defense

Public support for domestic nuclear weapons wanes despite growing threats

President Yoon Suk Yeol and his U.S. counterpart Joe Biden shake hands during a joint press conference at the White House in Washington, in this April 26 photo. Despite intensifying North Korean security threats, public support for the idea of arming South Korea with its own nuclear weapons has been waning, a new study showed Monday. EPA-YonhapMore South Koreans trust in US nuclear umbrella after Washington Declaration: pollBy Jung Min-hoDespite intensifying security threats from North Korea, public support for the idea of developing the nation's own nuclear weapons program has been waning, a new study showed Monday.According to a survey conducted by the Korea Institute for National Unification (KINU), a think tank, 60.2 percent of respondents said that they would support arming their country with its own nuclear weapons. This figure was a significant drop from 69 percent last year and the lowest since 2014, when the organization conducted its first study on the issue.The rate of support for the deployment of U.S. nuclear weapons in South Korea also fell to 53.6 percent from 60.4 per

Jun 5, 2023By Jung Min-ho
Public support for domestic nuclear weapons wanes despite growing threats
Law & Crime

Korea vows to fight spread of fentanyl

gettyimagesbankBy Jung Min-hoThe government has vowed to stop the spread of hallucinogenic drugs, particularly fentanyl, amid a surge in drug crimes in recent years.At a meeting, Friday, attended by all related government ministries, Bang Moon-kyu, minister for government policy coordination, said the country is now “at a crossroads” between two starkly different paths.“Korea now stands at a crossroads of becoming either a drug-contaminated country or reverting to a drug-free country,” he said. “The government will try its best to help the country regain its drug-free status with strong measures against illegal drugs.”Developing a policy strategy against fentanyl, a powerful synthetic opioid drug that kills tens of thousands of Americans every year, was one of the main focuses of the meeting. Deaths involving synthetic opioids other than methadone (primarily fentanyl) continued to rise in the U.S. with 70,601 overdose deaths reported in 2021, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse.High-ranking officials reviewed the risks of fentanyl spr

Jun 2, 2023By Jung Min-ho
Korea vows to fight spread of fentanyl
North Korea

Seoul imposes sanctions on North Korean hacking group for role in space launch

A TV screen shows an image of North Korea's rocket launch during a news program at Seoul Station, Thursday. Seoul on Friday announced fresh sanctions against Kimsuky, a North Korean hacking group, for its role in developing technology used by the regime in the satellite test. AP-YonhapKimsuky uses 'tailored' methods to target gov't officials, scholars, journalists: policeBy Jung Min-hoSeoul announced fresh sanctions against Kimsuky, a North Korean hacking group, Friday, for its role in developing technology the regime used in its latest satellite launch.South Korea also issued a joint security advisory with the U.S. to warn other countries of the serious dangers North Korean hackers pose. It was the second joint action of that type taken by the two allies since their first one in February.The group under the North Korean military intelligence agency has provided the regime with the latest space technology and information illegally collected from around the world used in an attempted satellite launch into space, which ended in failure on Wednesday. Given that the test involved ballist

Jun 2, 2023By Jung Min-ho
Seoul imposes sanctions on North Korean hacking group for role in space launch
North Korea

Pyongyang seeks to portray rocket as science effort by admitting failure: experts

This photo released Thursday by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency shows its Chollima-1 rocket, carrying a spy satellite, takes off from an undisclosed location in North Korea the previous day. YonhapYet regime keeps information about botched project from its own peopleBy Jung Min-hoNorth Korea's unusually prompt admission of the failure of its purported reconnaissance satellite launch shows the regime's effort to characterize the project as a scientific endeavor and not part of its missile program as suspected by Seoul, Washington, Japan and many other governments, according to experts, Thursday.Less than three hours after Wednesday's failed rocket launch, North Korea admitted the failure and vowed in a message to the world to step up efforts to place a new one in orbit soon, although it did not disclose the botched attempt to its own people.“The regime appeared to highlight that it has the technology required for a satellite launch and it is sincere about that effort, providing a counterargument against claims that it was just part of its weapons program,&rdquo

Jun 1, 2023By Jung Min-ho
Pyongyang seeks to portray rocket as science effort by admitting failure: experts
  • N. Korea bristles at UN, NATO criticism of its spy satellite launch
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