South Korea - The Korea Times

Moon calls for thorough infection control efforts in capital areas

President Moon Jae-in salutes the national flag prior to a Cabinet meeting at Cheong Wa Dae, Tuesday. Gyeonggi Province Governor Lee Jae-myung, right, Incheon Mayor Park Nam-choon, second from right, and Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon, third from right, participated in the meeting to discuss measures to halt the spread of COVID-19 in the capital and surrounding area. YonhapBy Kim RahnPresident Moon Jae-in has called for close cooperation between the central government and local administrations in Seoul and the surrounding metropolitan area to come up with measures to prevent any further spread of COVID-19, as the area has emerged as a new hotbed for the highly contagious virus.Moon invited Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon, Incheon Mayor Park Nam-choon and Gyeonggi Province Governor Lee Jae-myung to a regular Cabinet meeting, Tuesday, for an urgent discussion on the issue.The three were invited following concerns that if infection control measures are not properly implemented in the densely populated capital area, the virus could easily spread to other parts of the country, with the health author

Jun 23, 2020By Kim Rahn

Moon calls for thorough infection control efforts in capital areas

S. Korea, US show rift in dealing with North Korea

Cheong Wa Dae says that contents regarding President Moon Jae-in in former U.S. security adviser Bolton's memoir are not factual. YonhapBy Do Je-hae There is a rift between Korea and the United States in dealing with North Korea, and the leaders of the two countries seem to have failed to build trust, according to a memoir by U.S. President Donald Trump's former national security adviser John Bolton.The contents of the memoir regarding Trump's activities in relation to the Korean Peninsula have been splashed across Korean media recently. They have been made public amid escalating tension on the Korean Peninsula following the North's hostile words and activities including the recent destruction of the inter-Korean liaison office in Gaeseong. Some of the contents are considered quite insulting to Cheong Wa Dae, which has touted President Moon Jae-in's role as the “driver” in the Korean Peninsula “peace process.” One of the incidents in the memoir that can be embarrassing to President Moon is that both Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un did not want Moon a

Jun 22, 2020By Do Je-hae

S. Korea, US show rift in dealing with North Korea

UFP likely to give up all committee head posts

United Future Party floor leader Rep. Joo Ho-young, right, walks with interim party chief Kim Chong-in, left, during their meeting at Beopju Temple on Mount Songni, North Chungcheong Province, Saturday, in this photo released by Rep. Kim Sung-won, second from left, Sunday. / YonhapBy Kim RahnThe main opposition United Future Party (UFP) is leaning toward giving up the head positions of all 18 National Assembly standing committees, because the party has no specific means to prevent the ruling bloc’s unilateral push to form the committees on its own.Concluding that holding the chairperson’s positions on other committees was meaningless when the Legislation and Judiciary Committee post has already been taken by the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK), the UFP leadership believes it will be better to let the DPK take charge of all the committees and take full responsibility for state affairs.According to UFP officials, Monday, the party is likely to end its boycott of Assembly sessions this week along with the return of its floor leader Rep. Joo Ho-young, who has been visi

Jun 22, 2020By Kim Rahn

UFP likely to give up all committee head posts

Cheong Wa Dae says much of Bolton's memoir on Korea 'distorted'

The office of President Moon Jae-in on Monday dismissed former White House National Security Adviser John Bolton's major written account of summit-level consultations on North Korea last year as "distorted." YonhapThe office of President Moon Jae-in on Monday dismissed former White House National Security Adviser John Bolton's major written account of summit-level consultations on North Korea last year as "distorted."Chung Eui-yong, director of national security at Cheong Wa Dae, said in a statement that much of it reflects what Bolton had seen from his "own viewpoint," not "accurate facts."Chung also accused Bolton of unilaterally disclosing details of diplomatic consultations based on trust among relevant governments.Cheong Wa Dae said it delivered Chung's position to the U.S. National Security Council on Sunday.It represented Cheong Wa Dae's first official response to a flood of news reports on Bolton's upcoming memoir, entitled "The Room Where It Happened."'Trump, Kim didn't want Moon at Panmunjom meeting'U.S. President Donald Trump did not want South Korean President Moon Jae-in

Jun 22, 2020

Cheong Wa Dae says much of Bolton's memoir on Korea 'distorted'

New national security adviser needed to tackle inter-Korean impasse

President Moon Jae-in, left, and his national security adviser Chung Eui-yong arrive at a ceremony for new Korean ambassadors at Cheong Wa Dae, June 16. The Ministry of Unification announced that North Korea blew up the inter-Korean liaison office in Gaeseong shortly before the ceremony began with them present at 3 p.m. Their participation as planned in the regular diplomatic event fueled criticisms that Cheong Wa Dae may not have been paying due attention to a possible national security emergency.                       By Do Je-haeThe sudden resignation of unification minister Kim Yeon-chul is raising speculation about who will take up the post amid rising tension between the two Koreas, culminating in the destruction on June 16 of the highly symbolic inter-Korean liaison office in Gaeseong.But media attention is focused not on Kim's replacement, but on whether President Moon Jae-in will opt for a more fundamental shakeup of his national security and diplomatic team to salvage his failing peace process on the Korean Peninsu

Jun 21, 2020By Do Je-hae

New national security adviser needed to tackle inter-Korean impasse

'Comfort women' scandal deepens

A worker at a shelter run by the Korea Council for Justice and Remembrance for the Issue of Military Sexual Slavery by Japan was found dead earlier this month. Korea Times fileBy Kim Se-jeong Recently, much of the news on wartime sex slavery issues, related to atrocities committed against young women from Korea and other countries by the Japanese military in the 1930s and 40s, is coming from the prosecutors' office.Stories on survivors' testimonies at the United Nations and new statues have been replaced with stories about the prosecution investigation into an organization at the heart of the advocacy work, the Korean Council for Justice and Remembrance for the Issue of Military Sexual Slavery by Japan (Korean Council). Founded in 1990, the Korean Council has been at the forefront of advocacy work for the sex slavery survivors, involved with the famous Wednesday vigil in front of the Japanese Embassy in Seoul and others. Yet, now the council finds itself in trouble. The trouble began in early May when Lee Yong-soo, one of the sex slavery survivors, publicly accused former director Yo

Jun 21, 2020By Kim Se-jeong

S. Korea urges NK to drop plan to send anti-Seoul leaflets

This photo, captured from the website of North Korea's Korean Central News Agency on June 20, 2020, shows printed pictures of South Korean President Moon Jae-in with cigarette butts in a plastic bag, after the North has said it will send anti-Seoul propaganda leaflets from the North into the South. YonhapSouth Korea urged North Korea on Saturday to "immediately" withdraw its plan to send anti-Seoul leaflets across the border into the South, voicing regret over its decision to do so.The unification ministry handling inter-Korean affairs made the request after the North's state media said earlier in the day it was printing anti-Seoul propaganda materials in large numbers and preparing to send them across the border to the South.The North's Korean Central News Agency website showed pictures of North Korean workers sorting printed propaganda flyers in piles. One of them showed pictures of President Moon Jae-in with dirty cigarette butts in a plastic bag."It is very regrettable that North Korea unveiled via a media outlet its plan to send massive anti-South Korea leaflets, and we demand i

Jun 20, 2020

S. Korea urges NK to drop plan to send anti-Seoul leaflets

N. Korea getting ready to send anti-Seoul leaflets to S. Korea

Moon's approval rating falls below 60%

President Moon Jae-in listens to participants at a meeting with a big data platform company in Chuncheon, Gangwon Province, Thursday. / YonhapBy Kim RahnPresident Moon Jae-in's approval rating has fallen below 60 percent for the first time in six weeks, apparently affected by chilled inter-Korean relations, a poll showed Friday.According to the survey conducted by Gallup Korea from Tuesday to Thursday, 55 percent of 1,001 adults expressed the belief that Moon was doing a good job, down 5 percentage points from a week earlier.His support rate has been falling since the first week of May when it hit 71 percent.Another 35 percent said they were dissatisfied with Moon's handling of state affairs, while 10 percent said they did not know.Twenty-nine percent of those who expressed a negative view of Moon's performance stated that the main reason for their opinion was the soured relations with North Korea, which blew up the inter-Korean joint liaison office on Tuesday. This reason replaced “a lack of solution to economic hardship,” which had been the main negative cause for

Jun 19, 2020By Kim Rahn

Moon accepts unification minister's resignation

Kim Yeon-chul / YonhapPresident Moon Jae-in accepted Unification Minister Kim Yeon-chul's resignation Friday, Cheong Wa Dae announced.The move came a couple of days after Kim offered to step down to take responsibility for worsening inter-Korean relations.Moon formally approved his offer at around 10:40 a.m., according to Cheong Wa Dae spokesman Kang Min-seok.Moon had dinner with Kim on Thursday and "listened to his position" in connection with his decision to quit, Kang added.But he did not reveal the presidential office's plan related to Kim's successor.Vice Unification Minister Suh Ho is expected to serve as acting minister for the time being, with Kim scheduled to leave office later Friday.On the media-driven shortlist of possible candidates to replace Kim are Lee In-young, a four-term lawmaker who once served as the ruling Democratic Party's floor leader, and Im Jong-seok, former chief of staff to Moon.Speculation is also rampant that Moon may be pushing for a broader shake-up of his diplomatic and national security team, especially amid a call to replace Chung Eui-yong, directo

Jun 19, 2020

Moon accepts unification minister's resignation

Where is Kim Jong-un?

President Moon Jae-in shakes hands with North Korea leader's sister Kim Yo-jong. Yonhap By Do Je-hae One of the biggest questions regarding the current impasse on the Korean Peninsula is the silence of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, in contrast to his sister Kim Yo-jong.The powerful sister of the North Korean leader said through the nation's state media on Wednesday that she had “completely rejected” the South Korean government's proposal to send special envoys to discuss the situation on the Korean Peninsula. It is noticeable that it was Kim Yo-jong, not Kim Jong-un, who “disapproved” of the proposal from Cheong Wa Dae to send national security adviser Chung Eui-yong and Suh Hoon, chief of the National Intelligence Service, as envoys to Pyongyang.Not only that, her brother has been completely missing in the key statements from Pyongyang in recent weeks regarding South Korea. It was she who openly threatened that the inter-Korean liaison office in the North Korean

Jun 18, 2020By Do Je-hae

South Korea-US working group's role in question amid growing inter-Korean tensions

Politics