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Park Ung

Korea Times Politics & City Reporter

I cover a wide range of stories about Korean society — one of the most dynamic places in the world. To me, journalism means being on the ground, uncovering untold stories and amplifying marginalized voices, especially in an era when AI is reshaping the media landscape. That’s why I’m always here to listen. Tips and stories are welcome — feel free to reach out via email. Before becoming a journalist, I traveled through 24 countries over 702 days, served two years as a military police officer in the Republic of Korea Air Force and later studied filmmaking at the Korea National University of Arts.

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Society

Subway riders to face penalties for failing to tap out

Starting Saturday, passengers who fail to tap their transportation card when exiting the Seoul Metropolitan Subway will be charged an additional base fare on their next trip, closing a loophole that has allowed some riders to avoid full distance-based fares. Seoul Metro said Sunday the new penalty system, aimed at deterring riders from deliberately skipping the exit tag, will apply across the entire Seoul metropolitan rail network, including lines operated by other agencies such as Korail. In Korea, subway fares are based on entry and exit card taps, with the base fare covering up to 10 kilometers and an additional 100 won charged for every 5 kilometers thereafter. If a passenger fails to tap out, the system cannot verify the distance and no extra fare is added. Under the new system, passengers who fail to tap out will be charged a surcharge equal to the base fare on their next trip — 1,550 won ($1.07) for adults 19 and older, 900 won for adolescents aged 13 to 18, and 550 won for children aged 6 to 12. Since 2004, under the integrated transfer fare system in the Seoul metropolitan are

Mar 1, 2026By Park Ung
Subway riders to face penalties for failing to tap out
Society

Gyeongbok Palace to shut on BTS Gwanghwamun concert day

Gyeongbok Palace will close March 21 when K-pop group BTS stages a concert at Gwanghwamun Square in central Seoul, marking a rare weekend shutdown of the main royal palace of the 1392–1910 Joseon Dynasty. According to the Korea Heritage Service’s Palace and Tombs Center, the palace — located about 230 meters from Gwanghwamun Square — will remain shut for the duration of the Saturday concert, despite its usual schedule of being open on weekends and closed Tuesdays. On March 20, BTS will release its fifth full-length album, “Arirang,” marking its first full-group comeback in three years and nine months. The following evening, the band will hold a live concert at Gwanghwamun Square, streaming worldwide on Netflix in about 190 countries. Several facilities near Gwanghwamun Square have decided to close or are reviewing closures as police estimate up to 260,000 people could gather for the concert. The National Museum of Korean Contemporary History will close March 21, while the Sejong Center for the Performing Arts has canceled or rescheduled several shows, including musicals, play

Mar 1, 2026By Park Ung
Gyeongbok Palace to shut on BTS Gwanghwamun concert day
Society

Korea Times reporter flips through Kim Jong-un-centric pages from N. Korea

After years in the newsroom, one question lingered: What are my counterparts in North Korea writing about? The answer this reporter found Wednesday while reading Rodong Sinmun and Pyongyang Times, North Korea’s main Korean- and English-language newspapers, was simple: They were loyally reporting on the greatness of leader Kim Jong-un and how people nationwide were, according to the paper, improving their lives by following his guidance. For decades, however, South Koreans’ access to North Korean newspapers remained restricted under the National Security Act, the main law governing activities involving North Korea. That changed last December, when President Lee Jae Myung ordered broader availability of North Korean materials and the Ministry of Unification allowed Rodong Sinmun to be read freely at 181 holding institutions nationwide. To see how South Koreans are making use of their first open access to a North Korean newspaper — and how my counterparts in Pyongyang work — this reporter headed to the National Assembly Library to read Rodong Sinmun firsthand. Rodong Sinmun was displ

Feb 26, 2026By Park Ung
Korea Times reporter flips through Kim Jong-un-centric pages from N. Korea
Society

Han River buses resume full service Sunday after safety controversy

Seoul’s ambitious but troubled river ferry service, the Hangang Bus, will return to full operation on Sunday, ending a months-long hiatus triggered when one of the vessels ran aground last year. The restart marks a high-stakes moment for Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon, who has staked significant political capital on the project despite a series of mechanical and safety hurdles. The Seoul Metropolitan Government said Wednesday that all safety measures have been completed to resume full service along the 28.9-kilometer route from Magok in western Seoul to Jamsil in the city’s southeast. Last November, two months after launch, a vessel carrying 82 passengers ran aground in a shallow stretch near Jamsil Dock after its hull struck the riverbed, forcing it to a halt. Since then, service has been restricted to the western section between Magok and Yeouido. Inspired by London’s River Bus on the Thames, the Hangang Bus was launched in September last year but faced safety concerns from the outset, including worries about the river’s shallow average depth of 3 to 4 meters. Before resuming service,

Feb 25, 2026By Park Ung
Han River buses resume full service Sunday after safety controversy
Society

Wage gap between big businesses and smaller firms hits record high

The wage gap between large conglomerates and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) widened to a record high in Korea, fueling concerns about widening income disparities across the workforce and a growing reluctance among job seekers to join smaller firms. According to the Ministry of Data and Statistics, workers at small and medium-size enterprises earned an average of 3.07 million won ($2,125) a month in 2024, compared to 6.13 million won at large corporations. The overall average monthly income across all workers was 3.75 million won, up 3.3 percent from a year earlier. In Korea, a company’s size is defined by its sales and total assets. A firm qualifies as an SME if its three-year average sales fall within industry-specific thresholds and its total assets are below 500 billion won. Large corporations, in contrast, are those with combined assets of 10 trillion won or more and are designated as business groups subject to cross-shareholding restrictions. The data covered about 20.94 million jobs enrolled in social insurance programs and occupational pensions for public officials,

Feb 24, 2026By Park Ung
Wage gap between big businesses and smaller firms hits record high
Politics

'Victory will be ours': Russian Embassy banner raises eyebrows

The Russian Embassy in Seoul’s banner on its exterior wall reading “Victory will be ours” has raised eyebrows. It remains in place despite a South Korean government request to remove it, adding strain to already tense ties between Seoul and Moscow. The banner’s appearance coincides with Russia’s Defender of the Fatherland Day — a holiday honoring the armed forces — on Monday and the fourth anniversary of its invasion of Ukraine on Tuesday. Koreans voiced discomfort over the banner, as the Korean government has regarded Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as illegal and shown deep concerns over increasing military ties between Russia and North Korea. “It’s very rude and should be taken down immediately,” said Ha Jun-soo, a 26-year-old university student. “The Russian Embassy’s inaction despite the South Korean government’s response is deeply offensive.” Ha added that South Korea’s defensive foreign policy may have emboldened Russia and that the incident should prompt a more assertive stance. Kim Ho-nyeon, a 40-year-old office worker, said the government was right t

Feb 23, 2026By Park Ung
'Victory will be ours': Russian Embassy banner raises eyebrows
Society

Personal data of foreign teachers exposed on recruiter sites, raising privacy concerns

In 2023, Allison Hall, a 30-year-old American teaching English in Korea, discovered that her friends’ personal information had been posted online. It was only the beginning. The following year, Hall — then chair of the Native Teachers’ Union under the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions — found similar posts exposing union members’ personal details on a recruiting website, with the information accessible even without a login and easily downloaded. Private English language academies in Korea often rely on these sites to hire teachers. To test the system, Hall signed up using outdated information. Her details appeared that same day. Last year, a friend told Hall that another recruiter had begun posting even more sensitive data about teachers. She repeated the test and her information was posted within a week. “All of my information was posted. My face, my name, my work experience, my age, my race, my gender, my home address, including the room number. Everything was exposed,” Hall told The Korea Times. “When I saw it, I froze in panic and felt a cold chill through my veins.

Feb 21, 2026By Park Ung
Personal data of foreign teachers exposed on recruiter sites, raising privacy concerns
Politics

Lee orders tighter rules on loan rollovers for multi-home owners

President Lee Jae Myung said Friday that he has ordered firm regulatory measures and a review of loan extensions and refinancing for multi-home owners, signaling a broader push to curb property speculation. Lee’s remarks came as his administration moves to tighten lending to owners of multiple homes and press them to put more of their properties up for sale, aiming to increase housing supply — particularly in Seoul, where home prices have surged. According to data released Friday by the Korea Real Estate Board, the average home price in Seoul rose to 981 million won ($676,400) last month, up more than 13 percent from a year earlier. Lee wrote in a post on social media platform X, formerly Twitter, that real estate practices generating unearned income must be dismantled to build a country “where the people are the true owners” and where all can live in happiness. Lee shared a report that financial authorities were reviewing the “rent-to-interest ratio” (RTI), a rule for registered rental housing businesses, which limits loans based on whether rental income covers interest paym

Feb 20, 2026By Park Ung
Lee orders tighter rules on loan rollovers for multi-home owners
Politics

From martial law to life sentence: Timeline of Yoon Suk Yeol’s downfall

Thursday’s initial guilty verdict in the case against former President Yoon Suk Yeol on charges of leading an insurrection came 443 days after he declared martial law in December 2024, capping months of hearings that featured scores of witnesses and ending in a sentence of life in prison. Since the first hearing in April last year, the court has convened 43 times and heard testimony from roughly 160 witnesses. The proceedings included evidence from related cases against senior military and police officials accused of playing central roles in the insurrection, which were consolidated with Yoon's case in December. Here’s a timeline of the case, from Yoon’s martial law declaration to Thursday’s verdict. December 2024: Martial law declaration On Dec. 3, 2024, Yoon declared martial law, saying it was necessary to counter what he described as forces sympathetic to North Korea and hostile to the state. The order was rescinded about six hours later, in the early hours of the following morning, after the National Assembly voted 190 to 0 to demand its withdrawal. Authorities and lawmakers m

Feb 19, 2026By Park Ung
From martial law to life sentence: Timeline of Yoon Suk Yeol’s downfall
Society

As BTS’ comeback nears, secondhand merch listings surge

With K-pop juggernaut BTS set to reunite as a full group in about a month, listings and searches for the band’s merchandise have surged on secondhand marketplaces. The surge reflects fans’ rush to stock up on concert-ready items ahead of the group’s first comeback in nearly three years and nine months, with a show set for Gwanghwamun Square in central Seoul next month and a world tour beginning in April that will span 34 cities in North America, Europe, South America and Asia. On Wednesday, Bungaejangter, a local secondhand marketplace known as Bunjang, said the number of BTS-related items listed last month rose 35 percent from the previous month, while the number of users posting those listings jumped 61.5 percent. A total of 11,014 BTS-related items were listed last month, up 22.3 percent from the same month a year earlier, following the release of the group’s studio album schedule that sent related keyword searches up nearly twentyfold. Among international users, V was the most searched member for BTS merchandise, while purchases by European users rose, led by buyers in Great

Feb 19, 2026By Park Ung
As BTS’ comeback nears, secondhand merch listings surge
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