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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.

Desolate truce village symbolizes latest rift between two Koreas

South Korean soldiers stationed on the southern side of the Joint Security Area on Feb. 7, 2023. Korea Times photo by Jack LauNorth Korean soldiers shun in-person talks due to COVID-19By Jack LauPAJU, Gyeonggi Province ― The Imjin River, near the heavily guarded Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) serving as a buffer zone between the two Koreas, was frozen on Feb. 7. Flowing from the North to the South, the river is a chilling reminder of the confrontation between the two Koreas that has continued for seven decades.Rice paddies tended by villagers of Daeseong-dong in the border city of Paju surrounded the road towards the 245-kilometer Military Demarcation Line. The border marked the battlefront in 1953, when an armistice to end the three-year Korean War was signed between North Korea, China and the U.S.-led United Nations Command. Layers of ice had formed in the furrows of barren fields, where rare cranes foraged and fed in the landmine-filled DMZ, which has become a wildlife sanctuary.North Korean troops have become somewhat of a rare sight. Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020

Feb 12, 2023
Desolate truce village symbolizes latest rift between two Koreas
  • NK media urges thorough quarantine efforts amid 'very unstable' virus situation

Opposition leader questioned for 11 hours over corruption probe

Democratic Party Chair Lee Jae-myung speaks to reporters at the Seoul Central Prosecutors Office in southern Seoul, Feb. 10, after being questioned for 11 hours by prosecutors over a corruption investigation. YonhapOpposition leader Lee Jae-myung was grilled by prosecutors for 11 hours Friday over a development corruption investigation, which he accused as being politically motivated and orchestrated by the Yoon Suk Yeol government to remove a "political enemy."Lee showed up at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors Office about 20 minutes later than the scheduled time of 11 a.m. in connection with the investigation into corruption-ridden property development projects in the city of Seongnam, south of Seoul, launched while he was mayor. It marks the third time in about a month that Lee, the chair of the main opposition Democratic Party, has appeared for investigations after he underwent questioning on Jan. 10 over separate bribery suspicions and then on Jan. 28 over development corruption allegations."This regime, indifferent to the livelihoods of ordinary people, is dancing a sword

Feb 10, 2023
Opposition leader questioned for 11 hours over corruption probe

Yoon visits Hyundai Heavy Industries shipyard in Gunsan

President Yoon Suk Yeol delivers remarks during a ceremony marking the resumption of operations at a Hyundai Heavy Industries Co. shipyard in the southwestern city of Gunsan, Feb. 10. YonhapPresident Yoon Suk Yeol visited a Hyundai Heavy Industries shipyard in the southwestern city of Gunsan on Friday, marking the shipyard's return to business after a five-year hiatus.Yoon traveled to the city 179 kilometers south of Seoul to attend a sending ceremony for the first block, a welded steel structure that forms a part of a ship, produced since the shipyard resumed operations last October.The shipyard had been suspended in 2017 amid a global decline in ship orders. The block was to be shipped to the southeastern port city of Ulsan, where Hyundai Heavy Industries is headquartered.During the ceremony, Yoon promised to support sustainable growth of the shipbuilding industry by improving systems to attract workers from home and abroad, and working to invest 140 billion won ($110.8 million) this year in the development of environmentally friendly shipbuilding technology, according to his offic

Feb 10, 2023
Yoon visits Hyundai Heavy Industries shipyard in Gunsan

Rival parties trade attacks over first lady's stock manipulation allegations

President Yoon Suk Yeol, right, and first lady Kim Keon Hee wave goodbye at Zurich Airport before boarding a flight back to Korea after a four-day visit to Switzerland, Jan. 20. YonhapBy Jun Ji-hyeThe main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) vowed to push for a special counsel probe into stock manipulation allegations involving first lady Kim Keon Hee, while the ruling People Power Party (PPP) urged the DPK to stop attacking the 'innocent' first lady.The rival parties' battle over the issue intensified Friday following a court ruling on a related case.The Seoul Central District Court sentenced Kwon Oh-soo, the former head of Deutsch Motors, a BMW car dealer in Korea, to two years in prison, suspended for three years, for violating the Capital Markets Act, convicting him of manipulating the company's stock price. The opposition party has accused the first lady of direct or indirect involvement in the stock manipulation case for about three years since December 2009, citing suspicions that Kim's bank account was one of the 157 accounts used in the stock manipulation attempts.But

Feb 10, 2023By Jun Ji-hye
Rival parties trade attacks over first lady's stock manipulation allegations

Former vice Gyeonggi governor to be questioned over cash remittances to North Korea

Lee Hwa-young, former vice governor of Gyeonggi Province / Korea Times fileThe prosecution plans to question a former vice governor of Gyeonggi Province next week as part of an investigation into a business group's alleged cash remittances to North Korea, a case potentially linked to opposition leader Lee Jae-myung, officials said Friday.The district prosecutors' office in Suwon, 34 kilometers south of Seoul, has summoned Lee Hwa-young to appear next Wednesday for questioning over his involvement in underwear maker Ssangbangwool Group's foreign currency transfers to the North. The group is accused of transferring $8 million to North Korea via China on behalf of Gyeonggi Province in 2019, when Lee Jae-myung was its governor.Of the total, the prosecution suspects $5 million was delivered for Gyeonggi's smart farm support program in the North and the remainder was intended to facilitate then Gov. Lee's planned visit to Pyongyang. Lee Jae-myung is now chair of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea.The prosecution is investigating whether the payment was made in return for the Gye

Feb 10, 2023
Former vice Gyeonggi governor to be questioned over cash remittances to North Korea

Lawmaker fined $11,900 for embezzling funds donated to sexual slavery victims

Rep. Youn Mee-hyang arrives at the Seoul Western District Court to attend a hearing on her alleged embezzlement case, Feb. 10. YonhapIndependent lawmaker Youn Mee-hyang was sentenced by a court to a fine of 15 million won ($11,900) on Friday for embezzling funds donated to help support women who were forced into wartime sexual slavery by Japan during World War II.Youn was indicted in 2020 for collecting hundreds of millions of won in donations to her private bank accounts and spending some of that money for personal matters, while heading a major civic group for wartime sexual slavery victims, the Korean Council for Justice and Remembrance for the Issues of Military Sexual Slavery.Youn led the group between 2005-20 before winning a parliamentary seat on the Democratic Party of Korea's (DPK) ticket in 2020. The DPK expelled Youn in 2021, and she has since been an independent. (Yonhap)

Feb 10, 2023
Lawmaker fined $11,900 for embezzling funds donated to sexual slavery victims

Yoon promises to empower regional governments

President Yoon Suk Yeol, center, speaks at the building of the North Jeolla provincial government in Jeonju, southwestern South Korea, Feb. 10, during a meeting to enhance cooperation between the central government and local governments. YonhapPresident Yoon Suk Yeol vowed Friday to empower regional governments and help regions find their own growth engines.Yoon made the remark while presiding over a meeting on cooperation between central and local governments at the North Jeolla provincial government office in Jeonju, 194 kilometers south of Seoul."In order to open a true era of regions, the government will boldly transfer the central government's powers and help regions find and nurture growth engines in which they have a comparative advantage on their own," he said."Era of regions" is a key administrative task adopted by the Yoon government to promote balanced regional growth."When it comes to public livelihood issues, there is no separation between the central and regional governments," Yoon said, noting the key to an era of regions lies in education and industry.The meeting was

Feb 10, 2023
Yoon promises to empower regional governments

PPP picks four candidates to run for party leader

This photo, provided by the ruling People Power Party, shows the final candidates for an upcoming national convention to pick a new party leader. They are Reps. Kim Gi-hyeon, left, Ahn Cheol-soo, second from left, Chun Ha-ram, second from right, an attorney affiliated with ousted chair Lee Jun-seok, and former Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn, Feb. 10. YonhapThe ruling People Power Party (PPP) shortlisted the top four contenders in the race for party leader Friday, including front-runners Reps. Kim Gi-hyeon and Ahn Cheol-soo.In addition to the two, Chun Ha-ram, a lawyer considered close to ousted chair Lee Jun-seok, and former Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn were selected, the party's election committee announced.They were chosen among six registered candidates in a vote of 6,000 paying party members conducted Wednesday and Thursday. The committee did not disclose the individual rankings and ratings of the candidates on concerns the figures may affect the final election.Reps. Cho Kyung-tae and Yoon Sang-hyun did not make the cut.The upcoming race carries added significance as the new leader

Feb 10, 2023
PPP picks four candidates to run for party leader

Opposition leader appears for questioning in corruption probe

Lee Jae-myung, center, leader of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea, reads a statement decrying the Yoon Suk Yeol government and prosecution as he arrived at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors Office in Seoul, Feb. 10, to undergo a probe there into his alleged involvement in corrupt land development projects while he was serving as Seongnam mayor. YonhapOpposition leader Lee Jae-myung appeared before prosecutors for questioning in a development corruption investigation Friday, accusing the Yoon Suk Yeol government of orchestrating a politically motivated investigation aimed at removing a "political enemy."Lee showed up at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors Office about 20 minutes later than the scheduled time of 11 a.m. in connection with the investigation into corruption-ridden property development projects in the city of Seongnam, south of Seoul, launched while he was mayor. It marks the third time in about a month that Lee, the chair of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea, has appeared for investigations after he underwent questioning on Jan. 10 over s

Feb 10, 2023
Opposition leader appears for questioning in corruption probe

Korean foreign minister to attend Munich security forum next week

Foreign Minister Park Jin speaks during a meeting about earthquake in Turkey and Syria in Seoul, Feb. 7. YonhapKorean Foreign Minister Park Jin will attend an annual security conference in Germany next week and explain details of the country's new Indo-Pacific strategy, his office said Thursday.During the Munich Security Conference, set for Feb. 17-19, Park will introduce the South's regional strategy in the Indo-Pacific areas, first outlined by President Yoon Suk Yeol last year, according to the foreign ministry.On the sidelines of the forum, Park will also hold a series of bilateral talks with his foreign counterparts, amid attention over whether he could have one-on-one talks with Japanese foreign minister Yoshimasa Hayashi.Seoul and Tokyo have held working-level diplomatic consultations to address the long-standing issue of compensating Korean victims of Japan's wartime forced labor.Meanwhile, before heading to Munich, Park will visit the Netherlands to attend an international summit on the application of artificial intelligence in the military domain, scheduled for next Wednesda

Feb 9, 2023
Korean foreign minister to attend Munich security forum next week
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