my timesThe Korea Times

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

Loan delinquency among self-employed borrowers triples in 5 years

One in 20 self-employed borrowers have fallen behind on loan repayments, as elevated interest rates and tepid consumer spending squeeze small businesses, contributing to a steady rise in delinquencies on individual business loans since the COVID-19 pandemic. The figures underscore mounting strain among Korea’s self-employed borrowers, with defaults rising most sharply among those 60 and older — a group expected to turn increasingly to self-employment amid limited retirement security. Data from NICE Information Service, a credit rating agency, submitted to Rep. Park Sung-hoon of the main opposition People Power Party showed Wednesday that around 166,500 business loan borrowers were more than three months overdue as of last year, categorizing them as delinquent. The figure accounted for 5 percent of the roughly 3.3 million individual business loan borrowers. The number of delinquent borrowers among the self-employed has tripled over the past five years, rising from 51,000 in 2020 to about 155,000 in 2024. The share of delinquent borrowers also rose from 2 percent in 2020 to 5 percent l

Feb 18, 2026By Park Ung
Loan delinquency among self-employed borrowers triples in 5 years
Society

PHOTO Seoul Station swells with travelers as Lunar New Year ends

Seoul Station teems with travelers, Wednesday, the last day of the Lunar New Year holiday. The Korea Transport Institute estimates 27.8 million people traveled to their hometowns between Feb. 13 and 18. Newsis

Feb 18, 2026By Park Ung
[PHOTO] Seoul Station swells with travelers as Lunar New Year ends
Others

Brazil's first lady posts photo of herself in hanbok ahead of visit to Seoul

Rosangela da Silva, the wife of Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, posted a photo of herself wearing a hanbok, Korea’s traditional dress, on social media Tuesday (local time), ahead of her husband’s expected visit to Korea. According to the Korean Consulate General in Sao Paulo and the Brazil chapter of the Korean Women’s International Network, da Silva, 59, met with local Korean community representatives and consulate officials at the consul general’s residence in Sao Paulo on Monday. During the meeting, da Silva was presented with a hanbok by the local Korean community. In a social media post, Brazil’s first lady said she was honored to receive the gift ahead of her official visit to Korea, adding that hanbok are worn for festivals, weddings, major holidays and other cultural events. She wrote that the Associacao Brasileira dos Coreanos, the Brazilian Association of Koreans, was founded in 1963 and represents about 50,000 Koreans in Brazil. She added that they have played a key role in Brazil’s textile industry since the 1960s by creating jobs and modernizing th

Feb 11, 2026By Park Ung
Brazil's first lady posts photo of herself in hanbok ahead of visit to Seoul
Society

Advocates challenge Korean law threatening migrant parents with deportation

For nearly two decades, she built a life in Korea, raising five children as a single mother. Now, the Korean government says her time has run out — simply because her youngest child has grown up. The 56-year-old Nigerian woman, whose identity has been withheld for her protection, is the latest face of a rigid immigration rule in Korea. Under current policy, undocumented migrant parents are granted a precarious legal reprieve only as long as their children are minors. Once those children turn 19 or graduate from high school, the protection dissolves, often forcing parents into a devastating choice: leave their families behind or face deportation. On Wednesday, a coalition of advocacy groups, including the Association for Migrant Workers’ Human Rights, filed a formal complaint with the National Human Rights Commission of Korea (NHRCK). They are urging a revision of the Immigration Act, which currently lacks specific residency protections for the families of migrant youth raised in the country. Without such reforms, advocates say, the Ministry of Justice’s temporary measures remain

Feb 11, 2026By Park Ung
Advocates challenge Korean law threatening migrant parents with deportation
Society

Gov’t hikes med school admission quota by 668 per year, ties new doctors to provinces for 10 years

The Ministry of Health and Welfare on Tuesday announced medical school admissions quotas for 2027 through 2031, raising them by an average of 668 seats per year. The 2027 quota was set at 3,548, up 490 seats, and will increase by 613 in 2028 and 2029, and by 813 in 2030 and 2031, for a total five-year increase of 3,342. The increased number of students will be obliged to work under the regional doctor system, which would place doctors in designated areas, including underserved regions, to ease shortages outside Seoul. One option offers tuition aid to selected first-year medical students in exchange for a 10-year commitment. Another requires licensed specialists to serve for five to 10 years. “Under the regional doctor system, all additional seats at existing medical schools will be filled with regional doctors, and the state will take responsibility for supporting them from medical education through training and settlement in local communities,” Jeong said. Jeong added that the figures were set based on standards including staffing needs for regional and essential care and future sh

Feb 10, 2026By Park Ung
Gov’t hikes med school admission quota by 668 per year, ties new doctors to provinces for 10 years
Society

Outcry grows over Jindo County head’s remarks about importing foreign women

Remarks by Kim Hee-soo, the governor of Jindo County, that Korea should “import unmarried women from places like Sri Lanka or Vietnam” drew condemnation from Vietnamese diplomats and civic groups Monday and led to his expulsion from the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK). Kim made the remarks during a live-streamed town hall meeting last week on a proposed administrative merger between Gwangju and South Jeolla Province, saying the idea was to help rural bachelors marry and stem population decline in the region. He used a Korean word that refers to young or unmarried women. His words quickly drew criticism. Last week, the Embassy of Vietnam in Korea sent protest letters to South Jeolla Province and Jindo County. “The remarks have already caused outrage and offense within the Vietnamese community in Korea and continue to generate controversy and concern,” the statement said, urging authorities to take the matter seriously, apologize and make amends for the phrase “importing Vietnamese women.” The statement also said that the Vietnamese community in Korea — particularly th

Feb 9, 2026By Park Ung
Outcry grows over Jindo County head’s remarks about importing foreign women
Society

Turn it off! Large digital billboards in Seoul distract drivers at night

Kim Kyung-ho, a 50-year-old taxi driver, is no stranger to long hours behind the wheel and rising fuel costs, but Seoul’s rapidly expanding outdoor digital billboards have added a new burden to his daily drives, particularly at night. “When those giant billboards suddenly light up, it’s blinding,” Kim told The Korea Times. “I know where they are now, but they used to catch me off guard.” Kim’s experience reflects how Korea’s push to transform some of its busiest districts into glittering, billboard-filled spaces modeled on New York’s Times Square is raising concerns about glare that can interfere with nighttime driving. To create urban landmarks and promote the outdoor advertising industry, the government first eased regulations in the area around Coex in southern Seoul’s Gangnam District in 2016, declaring it a free-display zone. In 2023, it gave similar designations to areas around Gwanghwamun Square and Myeong-dong in central Seoul, as well as Busan's Haeundae Beach area, and plans to announce a third round of designations this year. As of 2025, the area around Coex

Feb 7, 2026By Park Ung
Turn it off! Large digital billboards in Seoul distract drivers at night
Society

After data center fire, Seoul officials go back to basics in preparedness drill

Earlier this week, everything felt as if it had reverted to the Stone Age for Eom Seo-hee, a 30-year-old official working in the Seoul city government’s Information System Division. Instead of processing paperwork digitally, Eom received official documents by email, printed them out, filled them in by hand, obtained handwritten approvals, and then scanned and emailed the completed forms back to the relevant department. “I had never seen handwritten paperwork in my life,” Eom told The Korea Times. “I barely even knew it existed, and I had no idea how it was handled.” Eom was among roughly 19,000 Seoul city officials across 720 departments who took part in a Tuesday-to-Thursday drill — the first of its kind in the country — aimed at ensuring that public and administrative services could continue even in the event of a major computer outage or system failure. As part of this week’s drill, officials simulated a scenario in which the city’s internal portal and work management systems were treated as offline. In that setting, Seoul city officials like Eom handled public compl

Feb 6, 2026By Park Ung
After data center fire, Seoul officials go back to basics in preparedness drill
Society

Remains of 7 Jeju massacre victims missing for 77 years identified

Seven sets of remains from the Jeju April 3 Uprising whose identities had been unknown for 77 years have been returned to their families, highlighting decades-long efforts to identify the victims of state-led violence that killed tens of thousands on the island. A ceremony for newly identified victims was held at the Jeju 4.3 Peace Park in Jeju City on Tuesday. The victims include five people who disappeared after being transferred to prisons outside Jeju and two who went missing on the island. The Jeju April 3 uprising, which took place between 1947 and 1954, was a period of violence on the island carried out by government forces, marked by clashes with armed leftist groups. An estimated 25,000 to 30,000 people — many of them civilians — were killed, representing more than one-tenth of the island’s population at the time. The remains of the newly identified victims include three excavated in Daejeon in 2021, two recovered in Gyeongsan, North Gyeongsang Province, in 2008, and two unearthed at Jeju International Airport in 2007 and 2009. In 1949, 249 civilians are believed to have b

Feb 5, 2026By Park Ung
Remains of 7 Jeju massacre victims missing for 77 years identified
Society

Foreign biz chambers, civic groups decry discriminatory toll policy for Incheon bridge

A toll exemption policy for the newly opened Cheongna Sky Bridge in Incheon has raised concerns among foreign business chambers over fair and equal treatment, after The Korea Times reported that a city ordinance excludes foreign residents from skipping payment. The controversy has raised broader questions about whether nationality-based classifications — rather than residency, tax contributions or daily use — should determine access to public services and benefits in the Incheon Free Economic Zone (IFEZ), one of the country’s most internationally open regions. Opened last month, the 4.68-kilometer bridge links Incheon International Airport, Korea’s main international gateway, with Cheongna International City, a major business hub. Vehicles registered to residents of Incheon’s Yeongjong Island, Cheongna and the islands of Bukdo Township qualify for unlimited toll exemptions on Cheongna Sky Bridge. Foreign residents, however, are not eligible for the exemption — even if they reside in the same areas — because the city ordinance limits eligibility to addresses listed under the

Feb 5, 2026By Park Ung
Foreign biz chambers, civic groups decry discriminatory toll policy for Incheon bridge
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