South Korea - The Korea Times

Reporter at center of national attention for being 'rude'to president

KBS reporter Song Hyeon-jeong asks a question to President Moon Jae-in during a TV interview on Thursday. Screengrab of KBS By Oh Young-jin KBS reporter Song Hyeon-jeong is taking a great deal of flak for her alleged lack of respect during a televised one-on-one interview with President Moon Jae-in on Thursday night.Such is the controversy that Song has found herself in the crosshairs of ideological warfare between the liberals and conservatives, pushing the story to the top 10 on news portal Naver. Song occasionally cut President Moon in mid-sentence when he showed signs of procrastinating during the 86-minute live interview aired on the state-run channel. She also quoted the conservative opposition Liberty Korea Party calling the liberal president a "dictator" for his alleged role in the ruling Democratic Party of Korea's fast-track action on Moon's key campaign pledge to establish an anti-corruption agency targeting high-ranking public servants. Moon supporters f

May 10, 2019By Oh Young-jin

Reporter at center of national attention for being 'rude'to president

New DPK floor leader vows cooperative politics

Rep. Lee In-young, left, newly elected floor leader of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) shakes hands with Rep. Na Kyung-won, floor leader of the main opposition Liberty Korea Party (LKP) in their first meeting since Lee took the office on Wednesday at the National Assembly, Thursday. YonhapBy Park Ji-wonRep. Lee In-young, new floor leader of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK), asked the main opposition Liberty Korea Party (LKP), Thursday, to join efforts to normalize the National Assembly, which has been paralyzed due to disagreements over fast-tracked reform bills.Lee, elected to the post Wednesday, made a courtesy visit to the office of Rep. Na Kyung-won, floor leader of the LKP. Lee told Na he wants to share ideas about bringing parliamentary sessions back on track.“I hope you could consider the fact that the May 18 Gwangju Democratic Uprising is approaching and suggest the LKP participate in the parliamentary activities and revise related laws to resolve pending issues,” Lee said.The LKP has been boycotting parliamentary sessions since the DPK and th

May 9, 2019By Park Ji-won

New DPK floor leader vows cooperative politics

Moon urges parties to OK food aid to North Korea

Moon urges parties to OK food aid to North Korea

People watch a TV screen showing a live broadcast of President Moon Jae-in during a TV talk show at the Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, Thursday, May 9, 2019. AP-YonhapBy Kim Yoo-chulPresident Moon Jae-in urged the political parties here to reach a consensus, Thursday, and stand behind the government's plan to provide humanitarian assistance to North Korea.“The government planned to provide food assistance to North Korea. As North Korea has launched additional missiles, this plan needs to get a consensus from the public. A meeting of the political parties is needed,” President Moon said in a televised event, “Special Talk with President Moon Jae-in,” aired to celebrate the second anniversary of his inauguration.Earlier, North Korea launched two short-range missiles, its second such series of launches in less than a week. They occurred around 4:30 p.m. (KST) from the North's Sino-ri missile base, which is believed to house Rodong short- and medium-range ballistic missiles, Cheong Wa Dae sources told The Korea Times.Despite these repeated provocative actions, th

May 9, 2019By Kim Yoo-chul

Moon urges parties to OK food aid to North Korea

South to begin procedures for food aid to NK

A North Korean farmer walks through a village in an area damaged by summer floods and typhoons in South Hwanghae Province, Sept. 30, 2011. Reuters-YonhapBy Kim Yoo-chulSouth Korea will provide humanitarian food aid to North Korea after U.S. President Donald Trump expressed support for this idea in a phone conversation with President Moon Jae-in, a senior presidential aide said Wednesday.The unification ministry confirmed this later, saying it will decide on how much and when food aid would be delivered to the impoverished North. Moon and Trump exchanged views about a recently released joint food security assessment from the World Food Program (WFP) and Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) during their conversation Tuesday (KST). Trump told Moon that Seoul's provision of food to the North was “well-timed” and called the plan a “positive measure.” “When you read recently released WFP reports about the food situation in North Korea, it's been advised to help needy North Korean citizens as the country is combating continued chronic food shortages. Seoul a

May 8, 2019By Kim Yoo-chul

South to begin procedures for food aid to NK

PM invites Ecuador to send business delegation to Korea

Prime Minister Lee Nak-yon, left, shake hands with Ecuadorian President Lenin Moreno before having a meeting in the presidential office in Quito, Ecuador, Tuesday. Lee, who is on an official visit to the South American country, suggested Lenin send a business delegation to Seoul to expand the two countries' economic cooperation. YonhapBy Park Ji-wonPrime Minister Lee Nak-yon has proposed Ecuadorian President Lenin Moreno send a business delegation to South Korea to discuss ways to expand trade and investment between the two countries.While visiting Ecuador, Lee met President Moreno, Tuesday, and asked him to send a delegation consisting of government officials and businesspeople to South Korea, Lee's office said Wednesday.President Moreno was quoted as saying that he will push ahead with forming the delegation while asking Lee to share the South's information and communications technologies.The suggestion was made during his first official visit to the country, as the first prime minister to do so in the two countries' history of diplomatic relations dating back to 1962. Lee embarked

May 8, 2019By Park Ji-won

Japanese scholar writes book on legendary Korean marathoner Son Kee-chung

Terashima ZenichiBy Park Ji-wonA retired Japanese scholar has released a book in Japan on legendary Korean marathoner Son Kee-chung to let young people know the true meaning of sports and the history of Korea and Japan. “The true spirit of sports is to make friendship. I think Son lived the in this spirit his entire life. Through my book, I hope young people will learn the history of the Japanese colonization of Korea, which now is not being taught properly in Japan, and the pain of the Korean people under the oppression of imperial Japan,” Zenichi Terashima, 74, author of the book and honorary professor of Meiji University, told The Korea Times on the phone, Monday.Terashima used to give lectures as a full-time professor about sportsmanship in the same school before retiring and had been a friend of Son's meeting from time to time from the 1980s until Son's death in 2002. He was able to write the book with a donation of 1 million yen ($9,076) from Japanese and Korean people.Citing the friendship of rival speed skaters Nao Kodaira and Lee Sang-hwa, Terashima added “

May 8, 2019By Park Ji-won

Japanese scholar writes book on legendary Korean marathoner Son Kee-chung

52.5% of Koreans back Moon's peace policy: poll

 This infographic shows the results of a poll of 505 adults conducted by Realmeter on May 7, where 52.2 percent said they support President Moon Jae-in's peace policy, three days ahead of the second anniversary of Moon's inauguration. Courtesy of RealmeterBy Jung Da-minThere are mixed responses to President Moon Jae-in's "peace policy" days ahead of the second anniversary of his inauguration which falls May 10, a poll showed Wednesday. In the poll of 505 adults over 19 conducted by Realmeter, Tuesday, 52.5 percent said they support Moon's peace efforts on the Korean Peninsula, while 44.7 percent said the policy was unsuccessful.Some 28.5 percent said the policy was very successful while 29.1 percent felt it had gone very wrong.The poll, which has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.4 percentage points with a 95 percent of confidence level, was conducted three days after North Korea launched multiple projectiles into the sea off its east coast, which could have affected the strong disapproval rating on Moon's North Korea policy. The North's state-run Korean Central News Agency (

May 8, 2019

52.5% of Koreans back Moon's peace policy: poll

South to begin procedures for food aid to NK

Unification chief makes first trip to North Korea

Unification Minister Kim Yeon-chul answers questions from reporters at the customs, immigration and quarantine office in Paju, Gyeonggi Province, Wednesday, after ending his half-day visit to the inter-Korean liaison office in the North Korean border city of Gaeseong. This is the first time he has visited North Korean territory since taking office last month. Yonhap'NK remains committed to fulfilling inter-Korean agreements'By Lee Min-hyung, Joint Press CorpsPAJU, SEOUL ― Unification Minister Kim Yeon-chul crossed the western border of the two Koreas Wednesday for a half-day trip to the inter-Korean liaison office in the North Korean border city of Gaeseong.He crossed the military demarcation line at about 8:30 a.m. via a land route before returning to the South around1 p.m. through the customs, immigration and quarantine office in Paju, Gyeonggi Province. Two South Korean officials, including Kim's secretary, accompanied him.This was his first visit to North Korea since taking office last month.North Korean officials welcomed Kim at the inter-Korean communication channel w

May 8, 2019By Lee Min-hyung

Unification chief makes first trip to North Korea

'Trump supports Seoul's plan to supply food aid to Pyongyang'

This combination photo shows President Moon Jae-in, left, and U.S. President Donald Trump, Tuesday. YonhapBy Kim Yoo-chulPresident Moon Jae-in and U.S. President Donald Trump discussed ways on how to quickly resume talks aimed at dismantling North Korea's nuclear program by maintaining the current momentum for dialogue. Trump also supported Seoul's plan to send food products to the North, Cheong Wa Dae said. “President Moon had phone talks with U.S. President Donald Trump for 35 minutes from 10:00 p.m., Tuesday (KST) and briefed him on Seoul's position about North Korea's short-range projectiles including tactical-guided weapons over the weekend,” Cheong Wa Dae spokesperson Ko Min-jung said in a statement.The senior presidential aide added the leaders also exchanged opinion about food shortage-related issues in North Korea. “Trump told Moon Seoul's plan to supply food products to North Korea comes in a timely fashion by adding the plan would be a positive measure,” Ko said.She said the two leaders stayed together in responding North Korea's provocations in a &