South Korea - The Korea Times

Protesters condemn Japan's export curbs

A masked protester dressed as Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe holds a sign calling on the Abe administration to apologize for Japan's past war crimes, in front of the former site of the Japanese embassy site in downtown Seoul, Saturday. / Korea Times photo by Hong In-taekBy Lee Suh-yoonMore than 1,000 protesters took to the streets Saturday to condemn Japan's Shinzo Abe administration for its economic retaliation against Korean Supreme Court rulings ordering compensation for individual wartime forced laborers.Activists from around 100 civic groups, including one of the main umbrella trade unions and the Korea Alliance for Progressive Movements (KAPM), rallied in front of the former Japanese embassy site in Jongno-gu, filling the street between the former embassy and a statue depicting a girl mobilized to serve in Japanese military brothels during World War II. “Apologize for forced labor, withdraw retaliatory trade restrictions,” the groups chanted. One held a handmade sign reading, “There can be no future of peace without proper repentance for colonialism.&rdquo

Jul 21, 2019

US to request Seoul's restraint on Korea-Japan row

Typhoon Danas to hit southern regions of Korea

Fishing boats are moving to the Jeju Island port in Hallim in preparation for Typhoon Danas, which is expected to hit the island on Saturday morning. / YonhapBy Kim Jae-heunTyphoon Danas is expected to land on the Korean Peninsula early Saturday morning, bringing torrential rain, the national weather agency said Friday. In particular, southern regions have been put on high alert for the season's fifth typhoon. “The typhoon, although small in scale, can bring extreme and unusual rainfall to southern regions and Jeju Island,” a Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA) official said. “People need to be fully prepared.”According to the weather agency, Danas was traveling off China's coast at 22 kilometers per hour with an atmospheric pressure of 990 hectopascals at its center as of 1 p.m. Friday. After passing west of Jeju Island early Saturday, the storm is forecast to make landfall in South Jeolla Province. It will move further into North Gyeongsang Province before crossing to the East Sea near the coastal city of Pohang on Saturday night.“As the typhoon

Jul 19, 2019By Kim Jae-heun

Typhoon Danas to hit southern regions of Korea

INTERVIEW Mr. Abe, you are not Trump

Dr. Sakong Il, honorary chairman of the Institute for Global Economics, talks about Japan imitating the United States in Tokyo's recent trade embargo against Korea. YonhapBy Oh Young-jin A globally known Korean economist warned Korea and Japan over their looming trade war, reminding them that their dispute is destroying the free-trade system of which they are the two greatest beneficiaries. “Japan has risen from the ashes as the defeated nation in World War II and it is the free trade born in the post-war new liberal global order that has enriched it and made it the world's No. 3 economy,” Dr. Sakong Il told The Korea Times.Now Tokyo had turned back on the system and used the power it earned thanks to it, ironically destroying it.“It is like a child slapping the mother that breastfed it and it is an ungrateful act,” he said, telling Japan what it could gain from the destruction of the free trade system. Sakong, honorary chairman of the Institute for Global Economics (IGE), a think-thank, has led the nation's economy as finance minister and aided presidents. Sa

Jul 19, 2019By Oh Young-jin

Gov't, parties united to fight trade war

President Moon Jae-in meets with leaders of the five major parties at Cheong Wa Dae, Thursday. From left are: Sim Sang-jung of the Justice Party, Sohn Hak-kyu of the Bareunmirae Party, Hwang Kyo-ahn of the main opposition Liberty Korea Party, Moon, Lee Hae-chan of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea and  Chung Dong-young of the Party for Democracy and Peace.                              YonhapBy Do Je-hae President Moon Jae-in and leaders of the country's political parties called on Japan, Thursday, to immediately cancel its export restrictions targeting Korean firms ahead of possible additional trade-related “sanctions” threatened by Tokyo in the coming weeks. They also agreed to establish a pan-national agency consisting of officials from government and the parties to strengthen cooperation in responding to the looming trade war with Japan.In a joint statement, Moon and party leaders sternly condemned Tokyo's export curbs as “economic retaliation” against historical dispute

Jul 18, 2019By Do Je-hae

Gov't, parties united to fight trade war

Ministries overshadowed by Cheong Wa Dae (reporter's notebook)

Kim Hyun-chong, second deputy chief of the presidential National Security Office (NSO), speaks to reporters at Incheon International Airport, Sunday, after returning from Washington, D.C. Yonhap By Do Je-hae The presidential office has often faced criticisms that it is monopolizing diplomacy while not giving enough authority to relevant ministries. Such was the case particularly with North Korea negotiations, with presidential aides like Chung Eui-yong, head of the National Security Office, undertaking a prominent role in place of ministers. Cheong Wa Dae is taking a similarly aggressive approach in dealing with the hottest diplomatic issue ― the deepening trade feud with Japan. The approach was once again displayed in Moon's recent decision to send Kim Hyun-chong, second deputy chief of the presidential National Security Office (NSO), to the U.S. to meet with trade officials there even before bilateral negotiations with Japan. Kim's s trip was not entirely without

Jul 18, 2019By Do Je-hae

Ministries overshadowed by Cheong Wa Dae (reporter's notebook)

Korean residents in Japan suffer anti-Korea sentiment amid trade tensions

President Moon Jae-in, right, shakes hands with a participant at a meeting with Korean residents in Japan, Osaka, in this June 27 file photo. Korea Times file.By Park Ji-wonMore Koreans living in Japan are expressing worries about reigniting anti-Korea sentiment amid worsening South Korea-Japan relations, and are calling for the government to build friendly relations with Tokyo.“One of our restaurants located in Shinokubo, a district known as Tokyo's Koreatown, was packed with customers last year. But now, its numbers have largely dropped during weekdays,” said a 35-year-old Korean who works for one of chain restaurants in the Tokyo neighborhood.“The company has seen sales drop and is holding frequent meetings with its employees to look for ways to find a breakthrough for the current situation,” he said.There could be many reasons behind the decrease in sales at the restaurant, but he pointed to anti-Korea sentiment as a possible major factor. Still, it is not a general issue in the area; many Korean restaurants and shops selling Korean products are crowded wi

Jul 17, 2019By Park Ji-won

Korean residents in Japan suffer anti-Korea sentiment amid trade tensions

Calls rise to send PM to Japan as special envoy

Prime Minister Lee Nak-yon waves before leaving for a four-nation tour of Bangladesh, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Qatar at Seoul Airport in Seongnam, Saturday. Yonhap By Park Ji-wonThe government should appoint a special envoy to seek a solution to the expanding trade feud with Japan, analysts said Wednesday. They point to Prime Minister Lee Nak-yon as one such person who could seek a breakthrough, given his previous journalistic background and connections he made in Japan. Fluent in Japanese, the journalist-turned-politician has an extensive network of Japanese contacts, including current Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. The four-time ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) lawmaker is also vice chairman of the Korea-Japan Parliamentarians' Union.Speculation on his possible appointment was fueled by President Moon Jae-in talking of Lee's experience in advancing the country's diplomacy, during a Cabinet meeting Tuesday. Lee is on a four-nation tour of Bangladesh, T

Jul 17, 2019By Park Ji-won

Calls rise to send PM to Japan as special envoy

Washington unwilling to actively mediate Seoul-Tokyo trade friction

Japan urged to abide by free trade principles

A protester holds a defaced image of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe during a rally denouncing the Japanese government's decision on their exports to South Korea in front of the Japanese Embassy in Seoul, Wednesday, July 17. AP-YonhapBy Kim Yoo-chul, Do Je-hae Seoul is seeking international support in its intensifying trade war with Japan, calling Tokyo's export curbs a free trade violation and also a threat to the global economy. “Restricting exports of materials whether it will be chemicals or rare earths is inconsistent with World Trade Organization (WTO) principles,” a senior government official said during a press conference in central Seoul for foreign correspondents, Tuesday. “I don't think I need to remind you of the dire consequences stemming from the stoppage of semiconductor lines. It will adversely affect companies ranging from Apple and Amazon, to Dell and Sony and billions of consumers all over the world,” he said. He urged Japan to withdraw its export restrictions immediately.The senior official also stood by a local Supreme Court ruling on b

Jul 17, 2019By Do Je-hae

Japan urged to abide by free trade principles

Washington unwilling to actively mediate Seoul-Tokyo trade friction

For freedom of press

Representatives of journalists' and labor groups pose in front of the Korea Press Center in downtown Seoul, Tuesday, during the unveiling ceremony of the sculpture titled “Unbreakable pen” that symbolizes freedom of speech. The phrase on the stone tablet reads: “I can't write things untruthful about history,” words by Song Gun-ho, the late journalist who fought for freedom of speech in the 1970s and 1980s. / Yonhap

Jul 16, 2019By Kim Hyun-bin

Seoul, Tokyo may resume high-level talks

By Do Je-hae Vice Unification Minister Suh Ho's July 16-18 visit to Tokyo is drawing keen attention amid escalating tensions over Japan's tightened export controls on items crucial to Korea's tech industry. Suh is the highest official to visit Japan following Tokyo's July 4 implementation of export restrictions interpreted by Seoul as Japan's retaliation over last year's Supreme Court ruling awarding compensation for Korean victims of forced labor at Japanese companies during World War II.Ministry spokesperson Lee Sang-min confirmed Suh's visit Monday, but he did not elaborate on who the vice minister will be meeting in Japan. “We are in the process of arranging a meeting with relevant Japanese officials,” Lee said during a regular press briefing.The main purpose of Suh's visit is to participate in a joint forum arranged by the Ministry of Unification, the Sejong Institute and Keiko University and deliver a keynote address on Japan's role in Korean Peninsula peace process, the ministry said. Reports said Suh plans to meet high-level officials in the Japanese foreign minis

Jul 16, 2019By Do Je-hae

Politics