my timesThe Korea Times
South Korea

Politics

Korea Times
About Us
Introduction
History
Contact Us
Products & Services
Subscribe
E-paper
RSS Service
Content Sales
Site Map
Policy
Code of Ethics
Ombudsman
Privacy Policy
Youth Protection Policy
Terms of Service
Copyright Policy
Family Site
Hankookilbo
Dongwha Group
FacebookXYoutubeInstagram
CEO & Publisher: Oh Young-jinDigital News Email: webmaster@koreatimes.co.krTel: 02-724-2114Online newspaper registration No: 서울,아52844Date of registration: 2020.02.05Masthead: The Korea TimesCopyright © koreatimes.co.kr. All rights reserved.

Exiled for 21 years in Korea: Life of Chinese dissident Wu Zhenrong

Wu Zhenrong, a Chinese dissident, prays at a church in Daerim-dong in Seoul that became his first home when he escaped from China in 2002. Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chulBy Jack LauWu Zhenrong begins every morning by folding his futon into the corner of his room, just below the window that provided a view half blocked by a brick wall. Before he spends his day writing on his computer his musings on Chinese politics, he would walk hunchbacked to an alley floored in uneven concrete and roofed with wooden planks that he calls his kitchen, to boil a kettle of water for his sugar-filled morning instant coffee.Wu had never had coffee, at least not until he was forced to leave his home in China to settle in the Korean capital of Seoul. He has written more than 13 books, totaling some eight million Chinese characters, including one he wrote secretly as a Chinese soldier reflecting on the Cultural Revolution. His wish to publish it, however, had attracted the attention of the national security police, leaving him exiled for 21 years in a country he had never before visited.Wu, who became o

Feb 23, 2023
Exiled for 21 years in Korea: Life of Chinese dissident Wu Zhenrong

Activist publishes books on lives of migrant workers in Korea

Han Yoon-soo, right, speaks during a press conference held for the release of his books titled “Blooming Violets” (literal translation) at the National Human Rights Commission of Korea building in Seoul, Feb. 20. YonhapBy Lee Hyo-jin Han Yoon-soo, 75, a migrant workers' rights activist has published a series of books featuring his decades-long experience of supporting foreign workers in Korea. Titled “Blooming Violets” (literal translation), the 10-book series is a collection of nearly 900 essays Han has written on his personal blog, as well as for his columns for a local newspaper since 2008. The stories feature the difficulties often faced by migrant workers ― harsh working environments, delayed payments, unfair treatment and physical and sexual abuse by employers. Han, who has been heading the Hwaseong Migrant Worker Support Center based in Gyeonggi Province after establishing it in June 2007, has witnessed challenges faced by thousands of foreign-born workers. “Although I've helped many foreign workers, I realized that there is no written record abou

Feb 23, 2023By Lee Hyo-jin
Activist publishes books on lives of migrant workers in Korea

N. Korea slams Japan for holding annual event on Dokdo

A bird-eye view of Dokdo Island. Korea Times fileNorth Korea's state media on Wednesday slammed Japan for holding an annual event that renewed its claim on South Korea's easternmost islets of Dokdo, calling the event "an undisguised agitation for aggression." Dokdo, which lies closer to South Korea in the body of water between the Korean Peninsula and Japan, has long been a thorn in relations between Seoul and Tokyo. Since 2006, Japan has held an annual event on Dokdo. In a commentary, the North's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said Japan's claim on Dokdo is "a grave challenge to the historical justice and truth, an encroachment upon the Korean nation's territorial sovereignty and an undisguised agitation for aggression." "Such far-fetched assertion is a reckless act that could be done only by the Japanese reactionaries steeped in the ambition for territorial seizure to the marrow of their bones," the KCNA said. Earlier in the day, South Korea lodged a strong protest against Japan for its dispatch of a high-ranking government official to the annual event highlighting Tokyo's claim

Feb 22, 2023
N. Korea slams Japan for holding annual event on Dokdo

Celebrating 70th anniversary of Korea-US alliance

Patriots and Veterans Affairs Minister Park Min-shik, front row third from right, Google Korea Country Manager Kim Kyoung-hoon, front row left, foreign envoys in Korea and Korean War veterans hold up signs at the launching ceremony of Google Arts and Culture's new interactive online exhibit, “Korea's Demilitarized Zone,” held at the War Memorial of Korea in Yongsan District, central Seoul, Wednesday. The launch is designed to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the Korea-U.S. Alliance and the Armistice Agreement that ended fighting in the 1950-53 Korean War. Yonhap

Feb 22, 2023By Park Han-sol

Reporter's notebook Taming unions should not be end goal of Yoon's labor market reform

Leaders of “Refresh Workers' Council" join hands during the council's establishment ceremony in Yongsan District, Seoul, Tuesday. Yonhap By Nam Hyun-wooPresident Yoon Suk Yeol appears to be highlighting the widening generational divide in Korea's labor unions as a strategy to secure a stronger argument for his initiative to reform the country's labor-management relations. However, calls are growing for the president to avoid exploiting the divide as a tool to tame labor unions, and instead approach it as a chance to blend diversity into Korea's labor culture.“Labor unions' attempts to protect their vested interests are tantamount to stealing the future from the younger generation,” Yoon said during a Cabinet meeting, Tuesday. Yoon has been criticizing Korea's “militant” labor unions and promoting his plan to overhaul the country's inflexible labor practices. He made these comments against a backdrop of a widening generation gap among unionists in recent years.In Mar

Feb 22, 2023By Nam Hyun-woo
[Reporter's notebook] Taming unions should not be end goal of Yoon's labor market reform

Yoon vows to address shortage of children's hospitals, pediatricians

President Yoon Suk Yeol, left, comforts a child patient during a visit to Seoul National University Children's Hospital on Feb. 22, in this photo released by the presidential office. YonhapPresident Yoon Suk Yeol visited a children's hospital Wednesday and instructed the government to push measures to address the shortage of pediatric centers and professionals in the country.Yoon visited Seoul National University Children's Hospital where he met with patients in the pediatric ward and held a discussion with hospital officials on ways to improve and expand treatment for children.Korea has seen a lack of pediatric centers and professionals amid falling birthrates and the reluctance of medical residents to apply for the field due to its relatively heavy workload and low pay."It is the state's top priority to look after children's health," Yoon was quoted as saying by senior presidential secretary for press affairs Kim Eun-hye. "Relevant ministries should not spare any of the necessary resources."Yoon said it is more important than anything to expand emergency medical services for childr

Feb 22, 2023
Yoon vows to address shortage of children's hospitals, pediatricians

Opposition leader says Yoon acts like 'gangster'

The main opposition Democratic Party of Korea leader Lee Jae-myung speaks at a party meeting at the National Assembly in western Seoul, Feb. 22. YonhapOpposition leader Lee Jae-myung said Wednesday that President Yoon Suk Yeol is abusing state power to drag him down and even called Yoon a "gangster," after prosecutors sought an arrest warrant for him over corruption charges."If the president plays with the state power, that is a gangster, not the president, isn't it?" Lee, the chairman of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK), said in a party meeting, referring to the prosecution's investigation into him. Lee faces charges of corruption and bribery allegations in connection with development projects and donations to a municipal football club dating back to his time as the mayor of Seongnam, south of Seoul, from 2010-2018.Last week, prosecutors sought a warrant to arrest him, marking the first such move ever for a leader of the country's largest opposition party. The justice ministry has since asked for parliamentary consent to his arrest as required by law to detain a l

Feb 22, 2023
Opposition leader says Yoon acts like 'gangster'

S. Korea to publish new nat'l security strategy as early as next month

This file photo shows national security adviser Kim Sung-han. YonhapSouth Korea is set to publish the first national security strategy under the Yoon Suk Yeol administration as early as next month, officials said Wednesday.The document, which is mainly being drafted by the presidential National Security Office, will outline the Yoon administration's foreign policy and security goals and include detailed measures to implement major initiatives such as the "audacious plan" and the Indo-Pacific strategy, according to the officials.The audacious plan is Yoon's proposal for massive economic assistance to North Korea in exchange for a denuclearization commitment.The document has been published at the start of each new administration since under President Roh Moo-hyun in 2004. (Yonhap)

Feb 22, 2023
S. Korea to publish new nat'l security strategy as early as next month

Presidential office to be partially remodeled to better receive foreign guests

President Yoon Suk-yeol's office at former headquarters of the Ministry of National Defense in Seoul's Yongsan District, in this May 9, 2022 file photo. YonhapThe presidential office building is set to undergo a partial renovation to create a space to better receive visiting foreign leaders and guests, officials said Wednesday.The former defense ministry building in Yongsan has been transformed into the presidential office in line with a campaign pledge of President Yoon Suk Yeol to relocate the top office out of the former presidential complex of Cheong Wa Dae.Planning recently began to remodel the first floor entrance and lobby in a way that will better reflect Korea's national status ahead of visits by foreign leaders this year, according to the officials.The department in charge of the project had initially proposed expanding the lobby by using some of the space lying between the correspondents' room and the press briefing room.But Yoon made an unannounced visit to the first floor Tuesday and rejected the plan after looking at the space, the officials said."Take a look, yourselve

Feb 22, 2023
Presidential office to be partially remodeled to better receive foreign guests

US needs to take reciprocal steps to denuclearize N. Korea: former PM

South Korea's former Prime Minister Lee Nak-yon is seen speaking during a North Korea policy forum, hosted by the Institute for Korean Studies, George Washington University, in Washington on Feb. 21, in this captured image. YonhapThe United States needs to take steps to assure the security of North Korea simultaneously with Pyongyang taking steps to denuclearize, former South Korean Prime Minister Lee Nak-yon said Tuesday.Lee made the assertion based on a premise that survival is more critical to North Korea than the U.S. or others may believe."It is not possible to succeed in denuclearization talks with North Korea without addressing its perception of security threat and desire for survival," Lee said at a North Korea policy forum hosted by the George Washington University Institute for Korean Studies.Lee argued the North had sought to normalize relations with the U.S. and Japan after the end of the Cold War, but failed to do so "as South Korea obstructed it and the U.S. ignored the call.""On September 8, 2022, Kim Jong-un declared that North Korea would neither give up on its nucle

Feb 22, 2023
US needs to take reciprocal steps to denuclearize N. Korea: former PM
previous page
441442443444445
next page

Most Read in South Korea