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US-NK could compromise on term 'denuclearization'

President Moon Jae-in and first lady Kim Jung-sook wave before leaving for New York to attend the United Nations General Assembly, from Seoul Airport in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, Sunday. Yonhap By Kim Yoo-chulNEW YORK - President Moon Jae-in flew to New York, Sunday, to attend this year's United Nations General Assembly amid renewed hopes for a restart of dialogue aimed at ending Pyongyang's nuclear weapons program.Cheong Wa Dae said the President planned to use his visit to the U.N. to highlight South Korea's efforts to bring lasting peace to the Korean Peninsula. More importantly, Moon is widely expected to suggest to the international community that a step-by-step approach be taken toward denuclearizing the North. Moon arrived at JFK International Airport, Monday morning (KST). A series of bilateral summits has been confirmed. On Tuesday (KST), the President will hold a summit with Polish President Andrzej Duda, followed by meetings with U.N. Secretary General

Sep 22, 2019By Kim Yoo-chul
US-NK could compromise on term 'denuclearization'

Ruling party poised to largely replace lawmakers in 2020 election

Ruling Democratic Party of Korea Chairman Rep. Lee Hae-chan, left, and floor leader Rep. Lee In-young attend a joint conference for members of special committees on National Assembly reform and long-term lawmakers, held at the DPK leader's office, Thursday. Yonhap By Jung Da-min, Park Ji-wonIn its push for “reform,” the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) is considering replacing a considerable number of its lawmakers in the April 2020 general election, a move widely seen as an attempt to overcome the negative impact of the appointment of Justice Minister Cho Kuk.The DPK is planning not to give party tickets to between 30 and 40 incumbent lawmakers, according to political sources and multiple media reports. Fifteen assemblymen including DPK Chairman Rep. Lee Hae-chan, have already indicated they will not run for re-election. They include National Assembly Speaker Moon Hee-sang, a six-term lawmaker; Minister of SMEs and Startups Park Young-sun, a four-term lawmake

Sep 20, 2019
Ruling party poised to largely replace lawmakers in 2020 election

Cybersecurity facing growing threats by unknown forces like NK: defense minister

Defense Minister Jeong Kyeong-doo leaves the National Assembly after attending a seminar, Monday. YonhapBy Park Ji-wonCybersecurity threats are growing following continuing attacks from unknown groups including one linked to North Korea, Defense Minister Jeong Kyeong-doo said Friday.“Cybersecurity threats are growing in cyberspace across the globe as attacks by North Korea and other unspecified forces continue,” Jeong said in a welcoming speech during a conference on military cybersecurity in Seoul.Citing the fact that the U.S. has added three groups of hackers allegedly working for North Korea to its sanctions list, he said: “Those are known to be involved in the hacking of Sony Pictures in 2014, the WannaCry ransomware attack in 2017 and foreign financial institutions.”His remarks came after the U.S. Treasury announced sanctions on Sept. 13 on Lazarus Group, Bluenoroff, and Andariel, the three North Korean hacker groups which allegedly conducted ransomware attacks and cyberattacks on international banks and customer information. The moves came amid a months-

Sep 20, 2019By Park Ji-won
Cybersecurity facing growing threats by unknown forces like NK: defense minister

Moon to push 'interim deal' to Trump at summit

U.S. President Donald Trump and Robert O'Brien, named as the new national security adviser, board Air Force One at Los Angeles International Airport, Sept. 18. AP-YonhapChief NK negotiator welcomes Trump's flexibilityBy Kim Yoo-chulPresident Moon Jae-in plans to pitch his “interim deal” regarding North Korea's denuclearization when he meets U.S. President Donald Trump next week on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly, Cheong Wa Dae and ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) sources told The Korea Times, Friday.Moon and Trump will hold a summit Tuesday morning (KST) and the stalled nuclear disarmament talks between Washington and Pyongyang are expected to be near the top of their agenda.In a briefing to reporters, Friday, Cheong Wa Dae spokeswoman Ko Min-jung said the President will use his visit to the U.N. to promote his ongoing efforts to bring permanent peace to the Korean Peninsula. He will also explain why an incremental approach to the North's denuclearization matters to the international community.Conditions for a resumption of the U.S.-North Korea

Sep 20, 2019By Kim Yoo-chul
Moon to push 'interim deal' to Trump at summit

Moon, Trump to hold talks on peace process

Choi Jong-kun, presidential secretary for peace planning, speaks during a briefing at Cheong Wa Dae, Thursday. YonhapBy Do Je-hae President Moon Jae-in will meet with U.S. President Donald Trump, Sept. 23, when he attends the United Nations General Assembly, in New York, Cheong Wa Dae said Thursday. Moon will be attending the Sept. 22 to 26 Assembly with a focus on promoting international understanding for his drive to achieve peace on the Korean Peninsula.The ninth meeting between the two comes ahead of the planned restart of U.S.-North Korea denuclearization negotiations. President Moon's role in facilitating the process is gaining attention once again, following the historic Trump-Kim meeting in June on the South side of the border village of Panmunjeom. “During the Korea-U.S. summit, President Moon will discuss cooperation on the complete denuclearization of and permanent peace on the Korean Peninsula,” Choi Jong-kun, presidential secretary for peace planning, said Thursday during a press briefing on Moon's schedule.The President will also hold summits with the leader

Sep 19, 2019By Do Je-hae
Moon, Trump to hold talks on peace process

Seoul stresses 'flexibility' to advance denuke talks

Seoul's chief nuclear envoy Lee Do-hoon responds to questions at Incheon International Airport, Thursday afternoon, before departing for Washington, D.C., to meet his U.S. counterpart Stephen Biegun. YonhapBy Kim Yoo-chulAhead of working-level denuclearization talks between the United States and North Korea, a senior South Korean diplomat said “flexibility” was a key prerequisite to making “substantive progress.“If Washington and Pyongyang want to keep the negotiations alive and make substantive progress, they should show more flexibility,” Lee Do-hoon, Seoul's chief nuclear envoy, told reporters at Incheon International Airport before departing for Washington, D.C., for talks with his U.S. counterpart Stephen Biegun, scheduled for Saturday (KST).“As North Korea has confirmed its willingness to return to the negotiations, there will be plenty of discussion points for Seoul and Washington. I plan to pass on some of our government's suggestions regarding the new round of talks between Pyongyang and Washington,” Lee said without elaborating. Lee

Sep 19, 2019By Kim Yoo-chul
Seoul stresses 'flexibility' to advance denuke talks

Professors rally against Cho's appointment

Eighty professors rally in front of Cheong Wa Dae in Seoul, Thursday, to condemn President Moon Jae-in's appointment of Cho Kuk, who is embroiled in various corruption allegations involving him and his family members, as justice minister. Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chulBy Bahk Eun-jiMore than 3,000 professors across the country have called on Justice Minister Cho Kuk to step down, saying his appointment amid various corruption allegations challenges social justice and ethical morality. About 80 members of a group of professors “hoping for social justice” held a press conference in front of Cheong Wa Dae, central Seoul, Thursday, and demanded President Moon Jae-in replace Cho with someone who could maintain judicial impartiality and receive public approval.The group posted a statement denouncing the appointment on its website Sept. 13 and has collected 3,396 signatures from former and incumbent professors, from 290 colleges nationwide so far, it said.The group outnumbered those who called for the impeachment of former President Park Geun-hye at the end of 2016 when she

Sep 19, 2019By Bahk Eun-ji
Professors rally against Cho's appointment

University students united to hold candlelight vigils against justice minister

Students at Korea's prestigious universities are to hold candlelight vigils on their campuses in Seoul Thursday night to protest Justice Minister Cho Kuk. YonhapStudents at South Korea's three most prestigious universities are to hold candlelight vigils on their campuses in Seoul Thursday night to protest President Moon Jae-in's appointment of his embattled aide Cho Kuk as justice minister.It will be the first time that students of Seoul National University (SNU), Korea University and Yonsei University simultaneously hold an anti-Cho candlelight rally after the corruption allegations involving the Cho family surfaced last month.Students of SNU, Cho's alma mater and where he formerly taught, and Korea University, from which Cho's only daughter graduated, have already each held three rounds of candlelight vigils to demand his resignation. Students of Yonsei University, which is not directly related to the Cho family's alleged irregularities, will hold their first rally against the justice minister.Resentment has been growing among college students after Moon appointed Cho, former senio

Sep 19, 2019
University students united to hold candlelight vigils against justice minister

Moon's approval rating hits lowest amid Cho Kuk controversy

President Moon Jae-in / YonhapPresident Moon Jae-in's approval rating has dipped to its lowest point, hit by unrelenting controversies over Justice Minister Cho Kuk, whose family is embroiled in a fraud and corruption scandal, a poll showed Thursday.Moon's approval rating fell 3.4 percentage points week on week to 43.8 percent in a Realmeter survey of 2,700 voters nationwide, aged 19 or older, from Monday through Wednesday. The margin of error is plus or minus 2.2 percentage points.The portion of those who have a negative view of Moon's presidency rose to an all-time high of 53 percent, up 3 percent from a week earlier, the local pollster added.Moon's approval rating slipped to 44.9 percent in March and then rebounded. But it has edged down again amid public criticism of his nomination and appointment of Cho, a former law professor, as justice minister.Moon's lowest approval rating in the Realmeter survey is attributable to the "continued spread" of what state prosecutors have found in their investigation into allegations related to the minister's family, the pollster said.Cho's wife

Sep 19, 2019
Moon's approval rating hits lowest amid Cho Kuk controversy

Presidential aide apologizes for 'clash' with foreign minister

Kim Hyun-chong's Twitter message/Screenshot from TwitterBy Do Je-hae Key presidential aide Kim Hyun-chong took to Twitter Wednesday to express his views on the intense public attention to his “argument” with Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha earlier this year. Kim Hyun-chong“There are concerns about the differences between officials in charge of foreign affairs and national security,” Kim said. “It is due to my lack of virtue. I lost composure while trying too hard to establish the best policy in the whirlwind of international affairs. I will be more humble and work harder.” In the message, he did not deny the reports of a verbal clash with the foreign minister. The reflective comments from the second deputy director of the presidential National Security Office (NSO) came after Kang revealed during a National Assembly session earlier this week that there was a spat between them during President Moon Jae-in's tour of central Asia in April. Kim reportedly reprimanded a foreign ministry employee in Kang's presence. When she tried to intervene, he report

Sep 18, 2019By Do Je-hae
Presidential aide apologizes for 'clash' with foreign minister
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