South Korea - The Korea Times

Minor party lawmaker named in TIME 100 Next 2021

Rep. Jang Hye-young of the minor opposition Justice Party speaks during a party meeting at the National Assembly in Seoul, Tuesday. / YonhapBy Jun Ji-hyeRep. Jang Hye-young of the minor progressive opposition Justice Party has been named in the TIME 100 Next 2021 list that recognizes 100 emerging leaders of 2021 who are shaping the future of entertainment, health, politics and business. When announcing the list, Wednesday, the magazine noted that Rep. Jang was 33 years old when she was elected last year, making her one of Korea's youngest-ever lawmakers.The magazine focused its attention on a documentary Jang produced after realizing that some of the staff at a facility caring for her autistic sister were abusive. “She decided to care for her personally, taking jobs as an animator to make ends meet,” the magazine said. “In 2018, she released an award-winning documentary about their shared life, which boosted her profile as a filmmaker and a disability-rights advocate.”The magazine continued that Jang has already made her mark within the progressive party, push

Feb 18, 2021By Jun Ji-hye

Minor party lawmaker named in TIME 100 Next 2021

Liberal Korean lawmaker listed among Time's top 100 emerging leaders

Rep. Jang Hye-young of the minor opposition Justice Party / YonhapJang Hye-young, a novice female lawmaker with the progressive minor Justice Party, has been listed among the Time magazine's "100 Next" emerging leaders for 2021.The 34-year-old lawmaker made the annual Time list in the advocates category, out of the total five categories that also include artists and leaders. She was the only South Korean on the list featuring "100 emerging leaders who are shaping the future," according to the magazine's website on Wednesday. "Jang has already made her mark within the progressive Justice Party, pushing through legislation that safeguards welfare services for retirees with disabilities," the magazine noted. "Last year, she was elected one of South Korea's youngest-ever lawmakers at the age of 33," the magazine highlighted.Time also shed light on Jang's ongoing efforts to enact a law to prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity, as well as her promotion of disability rights and gender equality. Last month Jang drew headlines after she stood up against sexual

Feb 18, 2021

Liberal Korean lawmaker listed among Time's top 100 emerging leaders

Is the Moon administration in internal dispute over prosecutorial reform?

President Moon Jae-in, front left, and Shin Hyun-soo, far right, senior presidential aide for civil affairs, show their respect for the national flag ahead of a Cabinet meeting along with other participants at Cheong Wa Dae, Feb. 16. Korea Times photo by Wang Tae-seokBy Do Je-hae The conflict between the ruling bloc and the prosecution is showing no signs of subsiding even after the resignation of former Justice Minister Choo Mi-ae, with fresh feuds rising over the latest reshuffle of senior prosecutors conducted by new Justice Minister Park Beom-kye. The clash has expanded to Cheong Wa Dae, with Shin Hyun-soo, senior presidential secretary for civil affairs who oversees matters related to the prosecution, expressing his intention to resign in protest of being left out of the personnel decisions by the new justice minister. Shin is the first prosecutor to be appointed to the post under the Moon Jae-in administration.Shin was appointed to the post on Dec. 31, and it is considered extremely rare for a senior presidential aide to consider resigning only weeks after being appointed.Cheon

Feb 17, 2021By Do Je-hae

Is the Moon administration in internal dispute over prosecutorial reform?

Gov't to allow birth registration for children of undocumented foreigners

Justice Minister Park Beom-kye speaks with experts during a video conference of the ministry's policy committee at his office in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi Province, Monday. YonhapBy Bahk Eun-jiKorea will seek to allow undocumented foreign nationals to register their children's births here in specific situations, to prevent them from being deprived of child-related rights and benefits. Justice Minister Park Beom-kye discussed the issue in an online meeting with experts, Monday, to establish a special law to give such children legal status regardless of their parents' status.Under the current law, foreign parents cannot register their children if they are not legally staying in Korea. Some situations in which children cannot be registered here include: when a child is born after the parents have overstayed their visas or lost their legal status here; when a foreign woman came to Korea after marrying a Korean, then divorced, and gave birth to a child while staying here as an undocumented foreigner; and if a foreign woman gives birth to a child out of wedlock.The number of children in Korea who

Feb 16, 2021By Bahk Eun-ji

Gov't to allow birth registration for children of undocumented foreigners

Variable for by-elections - voting on work day

A voters puts a ballot into a box in a polling station at an elementary school in Seoul in this April 15, 2020, photo, to participate in the general election for the 21st National Assembly. This year's by-elections are set to be held on April 7, with early voting slated for April 3 and 4. Korea Times fileBy Jung Da-minWith less than two months left ahead of this year's Seoul and Busan mayoral by-elections set to be held on April 7, political watchers are forecasting that voter turnout will be a key factor in determining the winners.While there are several variables that could affect voter turnout, one of them is that the elections are being held on a work day, not on a public holiday.Election days are usually public holidays here to encourage people's participation, but by-elections, which are held only in affected regions, are not classified as regular election days, meaning that the days of by-elections are regular working days.Some said this could discourage public participation, especially voting by office workers in their 20s to 40s. But others said, considering keen public atte

Feb 15, 2021

Variable for by-elections - voting on work day

Korean American politician slams professor for claims on comfort women

Young Kim's tweet on wartime sex slavery YonhapBy Do Je-hae A Korean American politician in the U.S. has publicly rejected claims regarding the wartime sex slavery which were made by J. Mark Ramseyer, Mitsubishi professor of Japanese legal studies at Harvard Law School, in his paper “Contracting for Sex in the Pacific War.”Young Kim Korea Times fileYoung Kim, U.S. representative for California's 39th congressional district, criticized the paper in a recent tweet and urged him to apologize. “Professor Ramseyer's claims are untrue, misleading & disgusting. I worked on comfort women issues for years & his claims are offensive to victims. We must support victims of human trafficking & slavery, not tear them down. I urge him to apologize,” Kim's tweet read. “Comfort women” is a euphemism for sex slaves of imperial Japan. Kim served as an aide to veteran Republican politician Ed Royce, who served as the chair of the House Foreign Relations Committee and supported the 2007 passage of U.S. House of Representatives Resolution 121 (H.Res.121), ca

Feb 14, 2021By Do Je-hae

Korean American politician slams professor for claims on comfort women

Moon appoints new culture minister despite backlash from opposition party

Hwang Hee / YonhapPresident Moon Jae-in appointed Hwang Hee, a ruling Democratic Party (DP) lawmaker, as new culture minister Wednesday, a day after the National Assembly's confirmation hearing on him.Hwang's tenure starts on Thursday, Cheong Wa Dae spokesman Kang Min-seok said in a note to reporters.Earlier in the day, a related parliamentary committee, controlled by the DP, adopted a report on the results of its confirmation hearing on Hwang, held Tuesday, amid a boycott by the main opposition People Power Party, which claims that Hwang is not qualified for the ministerial job.Moon nominated the two-term lawmaker to lead the ministry in a partial Cabinet reshuffle announced last month. Hwang worked with Moon at Cheong Wa Dae under the Roh Moo-hyun administration in the 2000s. (Yonhap)

Feb 10, 2021

Moon appoints new culture minister despite backlash from opposition party

Moon administration losing fairness, morality

President Moon Jae-in takes off a mask before a virtual Cabinet meeting at Cheong Wa Dae, Feb. 2. / YonhapBy Kang Seung-wooThe Moon Jae-in administration's emphasis on morality and fairness is being overshadowed by a series of cases featuring former and current senior officials receiving moral rebukes and legal punishment. Former Environment Minister Kim Eun-kyung / YonhapThe opposition is criticizing the government, which took power in May 2017 after former President Park Geun-hye was removed from office due to a string of corruption and influence-peddling scandals, for its two-faced and hypocritical standards.On Tuesday, Kim Eun-kyung, Moon's inaugural environment minister, was sentenced to two-and-a-half years in prison by the Seoul Central District Court on charges of forcing chiefs of ministry-affiliated organizations, appointed by the Park administration, to resign so she could fill the posts with pro-Moon government figures. Right after the ruling, Kim was taken into custody for fear of destroying evidence. This was the first time a former member of the Moon administration's C

Feb 10, 2021By Kang Seung-woo

Moon administration losing fairness, morality

Ruling party's proposal to fine media for 'fake news' raises controversy

Rep. Noh Woong-rae, center, the leader of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea's taskforce team for media reform, talks to reporters after a meeting at the National Assembly, Tuesday. Noh said they decided to seek the revision of a law to force media to pay punitive damages for victims of “fake news.” YonhapBy Jung Da-minThe ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) is planning to revise a law within the National Assembly's February session aimed at requiring media to pay punitive damages for spreading “fake news”. While the DPK said that punishment is needed to prevent the distortion of information and the spread of fake news by not only conventional media, but also portal sites and YouTube, conservative critics raised concerns that the law could be used to tame the media in the name of cracking down on fake news.The DPK's askforce team said, Tuesday, that it would revise the law to apply punitive damages to newspapers, TV broadcasters, portal site operators, YouTubers and other one-person media users for spreading false information.Before the team's decision, R

Feb 9, 2021

Ruling party's proposal to fine media for 'fake news' raises controversy

Korean students at Harvard demand professor's apology over controversial claims on comfort women

In this Aug. 13, 2019, file photo, pedestrians walk through the gates of Harvard Yard at Harvard University in Cambridge, Mass. AP-YonhapKorean students at Harvard University have strongly criticized a professor over his controversial claim that Japan's wartime sexual slavery was actually voluntary prostitution, demanding its immediate withdrawal and his official apology to victims.Harvard Korean Society made the demand in a statement on its website after Harvard Law School Japanese legal studies professor J. Mark Ramseyer caused controversy with his recently published paper titled “Contracting for Sex in the Pacific War.”“It is a wrong conclusion based on grounds very biased and lacking trustworthiness,” the statement said. “Harvard Korean Society demands Prof. Ramseyer's official apology and immediate withdrawal of the paper.”“The issue of comfort women is an international inhumane act, and his academic view which justifies and negates the act is an immoral and shameless view,” it added. The society also demanded the paper be taken do

Feb 8, 2021

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