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Choi Won-suk

Korea Times Photo Reporter

Choi Won-suk is a photojournalist at The Korea Times. Before joining the newspaper, he also worked as a photojournalist with AFP and St. Joseph News-Press in Missouri. He spent 13 years in the United States, graduating with a Bachelor of Journalism degree (Cum Laude) from the University of Missouri - Columbia and a Master of Arts in Photography from Ohio University - Athens. Over the past 11 years, Choi covered various news events such as presidential elections, the 2019 North Korea-United States Hanoi Summit and 2022 Qatar World Cup. But above all, Choi believes in local journalism and finds a lot of joy telling life stories of ordinary citizens in small neighborhoods.

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South Korea exhumes remains of soldiers in DMZ

South Korea exhumed the remains of two soldiers in the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) during its demining operation this week, the South's defence ministry said on Thursday. South Korea has dug up the remains of two soldiers it believes were killed during the Korean war. The country's defense ministry says the exhumations happened in the 'Demilitarized Zone' - or DMZ - during a demining operation.Separating North and South Korea, the barrier is one of the world's most heavily fortified frontiers. The conflict between the two sides ran from 1950 - 1953.It's thought the bodies of more than 10,000 soldiers are still in the zone, including UN fighters. The team also unearthed a military identification tag typical of a South Korean soldier.The two Koreas have been removing mines in the DMZ to make it safe before a joint project to exhume war remains next year. It's part of a military agreement signed by both sides after the third inter-Korean summit in Pyongyang last month.Isolated North Korea and democratic South Korea are still technically at war. That's because the 1950s conflict ended

Oct 28, 2018By Choi Won-suk
South Korea exhumes remains of soldiers in DMZ
News

Sun, sea and microplastics: French Riviera hit by plastic pollution

French scientists believe that microplastics are now widespread in the Mediterranean sea, posing significant health, environmental and economic risks, according to a long-term study. The French Riviera attracts holidaymakers, stars - and microplastics. A long-term study by the French National Centre for Scientific Research has been sampling the waters off Villefranche-sur-Mer, near Nice.The scientists found the equivalent of 600,000 plastic pieces per square kilometre, with risks to human health and the environment.RESEARCHER OF SORBONNE UNIVERSITY, CNRS (NATIONAL CENTRE FOR SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH), INSTITUT DE LA MER, VILLEFRANCHE-SUR-MER, MARIA LUIZA PEDROTTI, SAYING:"These microplastics are a form of pollution that are nearly invisible, but their impact is significant because either they can enter the food chain and reach humans - meaning that the organisms will eat them...they serve as vectors for the spread of organisms."The researchers used manta trawl nets to sample the top 10cm of seawater at the surface. They filtered out the plastic fragments and measured the pieces using imag

Oct 25, 2018By Choi Won-suk
Sun, sea and microplastics: French Riviera hit by plastic pollution
Darkroom

Autumn Colors

A woman takes photographs of leaves on an autumn day at Gyeongbok Palace in central Seoul, South Korea, November 5, 2018.  Reuters An aerial view taken on November 5, 2018 shows an autumnally colored deciduous forest neighboring a field in Sehnde near Hanover, northern Germany. AFP A woman passes by an oak tree displaying fall colors on the grounds of the National World War I Museum Monday, Oct. 29, 2018, in Kansas City, Mo. AP A steam train travels along the East Lancashire Railway's line near Summerseat station during the Autumn Steam Gala event near Bury, northern England, Britain, October 21, 2018. Reuters A couple look at a picture in a field of fireweed, or Kochia scoparia, at the Hitachi Seaside Park in Hitachinaka, Japan, October 22, 2018. Fireweed is a grass bush that takes on a bright red colour in autumn. Reuters  The Brown Line cars of the Taipei Metro travels past trees in their autumn foliage lining Dunhua Road South in Taipei on October 21, 2018. AFP People walk in a park among seasonal colored trees on an autumn day in the Belar

Oct 25, 2018By Choi Won-suk
Autumn Colors
News

New study finds microplastics in 90% of salt

Researchers from South Korea and Greenpeace East Asia have found that 90 percent of table salt sold around the world are contaminated with microplastics.After analyzing salt from 21 countries in Europe, Asia, North and South America, and Africa, a new study published in Environmental Science and Technology found microplastics in 36 out of 39 brands.Microplastic density was highest among Asian brands, especially those from Indonesia. The only three salts free from plastic were those from Taiwan, China, and France.Researchers sampled three types of salts and found that sea salt had the highest microplastic levels, followed by lake salt, and then rock salt.With particles often less than 5 millimeters in size and many the same color as salt, and they are barely noticeable.The study estimates that the average adult consumes 2,000 microplastics a year through salt.Scientists have yet to determine how harmful microplastics are to our bodies, but so far, experiments on mice haven't exactly brought good news. (Next Animation via Reuters)

Oct 25, 2018By Choi Won-suk
New study finds microplastics in 90% of salt
News

Migrants halted on bridge at Mexico border

Hundreds of Central American migrants remain camped on a bridge separating Guatemala and Mexico on Saturday, as efforts to halt a trek north by the caravan gathered pace under U.S. pressure. Hundreds of Central American migrants pressing north are in limbo Saturday. Camping out on a bridge at Mexico's southern border a day after meeting tear gas and riot police. Migrants bathed in the river Saturday as some took their chances at crossing illegally on makeshift rafts. Others hoped officials would have of heart.HONDURAN MIGRANT, SUSAN OLINTE, SAYING:"We're going to stay here all night, possibly tomorrow so that God touches the heart of the President so that he can give us permission to enter so we can get a good job.As the group bedded down Friday, US President Donald Trump touted his tough immigration stance to energize Republicans ahead of the midterms.US PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP SAYING:"You know the people come up and you listen to the fake news back there and you think their all (booo) You think they're all wonderful people, no I am serious. You think you got some wonderful

Oct 22, 2018By Choi Won-suk
Migrants halted on bridge at Mexico border
Darkroom

Trump threatens to close US-Mexico border

Nuns shake hands through the border fence between Ciudad Juarez and El Paso, during a binational mass in support of migrants and in memory of those who died trying to cross illegally into the U.S., in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, November 3, 2018. Reuters Migrants, part of a caravan of thousands from Central America en route to the United States, hitchhike on a truck along the highway to Arriaga from Pijijiapan, Mexico, October 26, 2018. Reuters Honduran migrants take part in a caravan towards the United States in Chiquimula, Guatemala on October 17, 2018. A migrant caravan set out on October 13 from the impoverished, violence-plagued country and was headed north on the long journey through Guatemala and Mexico to the US border. President Donald Trump warned Honduras he will cut millions of dollars in aid if the group of about 2,000 migrants is allowed to reach the United States. AFP Migrants climb on the trailer of a truck as others wait in a line for a ride on the road that connects Tapanatepec with Niltepec, Mexico, as a caravan of Central Americans continues its slow mar

Oct 22, 2018By Choi Won-suk
Trump threatens to close US-Mexico border
News

France could help North Korea denuclearize

France is ready to help in North Korea's denuclearization efforts, but Pyongyang must first show some detailed commitments and real desire to dismantle its nuclear and ballistic arsenal, President Emmanuel Macron said on Monday (October 15).France, a nuclear power and permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, is not directly involved in talks between North Korea, South Korea and the United States to work towards the region's denuclearization.However, diplomats have said that given Paris' nuclear know-how it could play a role in the dismantling of nuclear warheads or receiving nuclear materials.North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and U.S. President Donald Trump pledged at a landmark summit in Singapore in June to work towards denuclearisation.On Brexit, Macron said he was going to speak to British Prime Minister Theresa May later on Monday in preparation for a European Summit, adding France was prepared for any outcome to Brexit negotiations. (Reuters)

Oct 16, 2018By Choi Won-suk
France could help North Korea denuclearize
News

Experts skeptical of Pompeo's North Korea gains

While U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo hailed "significant progress" in talks with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on the weekend and said the sides were "pretty close" to agreeing details for a second summit between Kim and President Donald Trump, experts on East Asian politics are skeptical. President Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un are pretty close to a second date. That's what U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said after his trip to Pyongyang this week.Pompeo on Monday (October 8) hailed the talks as bringing quote "significant progress" to a deal that would open up North Korean weapons sites to international inspectors.But now experts are skeptical, saying they're not sure what Pompeo actually brought back on his fourth visit to Pyongyang this year.They say the North Koreans seems to be just rolling out the same old promises in a new way.Pompeo told reporters Kim said he was ready to let inspectors into the Punggye-ri testing site and its Sohae missile engine testing area as soon as the two sides agreed on logisticsBut the Secretary of State didn't say if Kim wa

Oct 10, 2018By Choi Won-suk
Experts skeptical of Pompeo's North Korea gains
News

Kim Jong-un invites the Pope to Pyongyang

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has invited Pope Francis to become the first pontiff to visit the state. The invitation will be delivered by the South Korean president. Four years on from his last visit to the Korean peninsula, at which he expressed his hope for reunification, Pope Francis is about to get another invitation. But this time from the North.Kim Jong-un is said to be keen for what would be the first ever trip by a pontiff to the hermit state.PHIL PULLELLA, REUTERS CORRESPONDENT SAYING:"It's a bit of a long shot right now. However the Pope has already agreed to go to Japan next year. So there'd be nothing stopping him going to Japan and then making a stop in South Korea and dipping into North Korea just for a day, I don't think that would be so surprising."North Korea has no formal diplomatic ties with the Vatican. But the invitation will be delivered by the South Korean president, Moon Jae-in, when he visits the Pope next week.SOUTH KOREA'S PRESIDENTIAL BLUE HOUSE SPOKESMAN, KIM EUI-KEUM, SAYING:"When he meets with Pope Fr

Oct 10, 2018By Choi Won-suk
Kim Jong-un invites the Pope to Pyongyang
News

Indonesia tsunami death toll may hit thousands

The death toll from Indonesia's twin disaster of a major earthquake and tsunami may end up in the thousands, officials say, and the affected area may be bigger than initially thought. Rosanna Philpott reportsThe death toll in a major Indonesian earthquake and tsunami may reach the thousands. Towering waves devastated the island of Sulawesi after the quake struck Friday.Many of the victims were swept away. By Sunday, hundreds had been confirmed dead, but the vice president expected that number to rise, sharply.Rescue teams are scrambling to dig out people trapped underneath what's left of the city of Palu. Dozens there are reported to still be alive under the rubble of two hotels and a mall.One survivor told Reuters she narrowly escaped as the mall folded in around her.PALU RESIDENT AND QUAKE SURVIVOR, MIA SAYING:"I just finished shopping and went to the cashier, suddenly everything got dark and the walls started falling around us, it was horrible. I rushed to a broken escalator with my daughters and we made it outside."Authorities have confirmed grim images from Saturday of bodi

Oct 1, 2018By Choi Won-suk
Indonesia tsunami death toll may hit thousands
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