South Korea - The Korea Times

Japan has never apologized for sex slavery: Assembly speaker

National Assembly Speaker Moon Hee-sang speaks at a gathering with Korean residents at the Watergate Hotel in Washington D.C., Monday, local time. YonhapBy Kim Bo-eunNational Assembly Speaker Moon Hee-sang said Monday his remarks calling for the Japanese emperor to apologize to victims of sexual slavery were to emphasize the importance of “a leader making a sincere apology.” Moon's response came after Japan's Foreign Minister Taro Kono said the lawmaker needed to be careful with what he was sayingIn an interview with Bloomberg last week, Moon said Japanese Emperor Akihito apologizing for the atrocity while holding the hands of elderly sex slave victims would resolve the issue.He also referred to Akihito as “the son of the main culprit of war crimes.”Akihito's father Hirohito was the emperor during Japan's 1910-1945 colonial rule over Korea, when the Japanese military sexually enslaved mostly Korean women.“The remarks came in the context of emphasizing a sincere apology from a leader in an important position,” he told reporters in Washington. Moon i

Feb 12, 2019By Kim Bo-eun

Japan has never apologized for sex slavery: Assembly speaker

Parties file petition against lawmakers over 1980 democratic uprising

Members of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) call for the resignation of three lawmakers from the main opposition party over their controversial remarks on a 1980 pro-democracy uprising that allegedly disparage the democratic movement. YonhapThe ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) and three smaller parties asked a parliamentary panel Tuesday to punish three lawmakers from the main opposition party over their controversial remarks on a 1980 pro-democracy uprising.The four parties filed a petition against the lawmakers of the main opposition Liberty Korea Party (LKP) with the parliamentary special committee on ethics over their comments that allegedly disparaged the democracy movement in the southwestern city of Gwangju.The LKP faces a political storm after the lawmakers came under fire for holding a public forum last week, inviting a far-right figure who has long claimed that North Korean troops were involved in the pro-democracy uprising.Two of them also made controversial remarks allegedly disparaging the democracy movement, with one claiming that a riot was turned into

Feb 12, 2019

Parties file petition against lawmakers over 1980 democratic uprising

Parties join hands to unseat three LKP lawmakers

Hong Joon-pyo quits LKP leadership race

Hong Joon-pyo, former chairman of the main opposition Liberty Korea Party, speaks during an interview with Hankook Ilbo, the sister paper of The Korea Times, in Seoul, Feb. 4. / Korea Times fileBy Park Ji-wonHong Joon-pyo, former chairman of the main opposition Liberty Korea Party (LKP), dropped out of the LKP leadership race, Monday, after the party rejected his request to delay the national convention.“I am sorry for not being able to work through to the end. It is my fault. I will reflect on myself and listen to the people with a more humble attitude to continue to revive our country with people and party members,” Hong said in a statement Monday.“The upcoming national convention should become an opportunity to make a new party based on fair competition.”His withdrawal came after the LKP’s election committee reiterated its position Monday that the national convention will be held as scheduled. Six of eight candidates, including Hong, pledged earlier to withdraw from the race if their demand for a delay of the election was not met. They hoped to avoid

Feb 11, 2019By Park Ji-won

Parties join hands to unseat three LKP lawmakers

Rep. Hong Young-pyo, second from left, floor leader of the Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) speaks at the National Assembly, Monday, after agreeing to work with the Bareunmirae Party, the Party for Democracy and Peace and the Justice Party to resolve a controversy over defamatory remarks made by Liberty Korea Party lawmakers against the May 18 Gwangju Democratization Movement. / YonhapBy Park Ji-wonFour political parties have agreed to work together to deprive three Liberty Korea Party (LKP) lawmakers of their seats over defamatory remarks they made against victims of the brutal military crackdown on the May 18 Gwangju Uprising in 1980.Floor leaders of the four parties — Rep. Hong Young-pyo of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK), Rep. Kim Kwan-young of the Bareunmirae Party, Rep. Chang Byoung-wan of the Party for Democracy and Peace (PDP) and Rep. Youn So-ha of the Justice Party —agreed Monday to push for the expulsion of the three from the legislature.They agreed to refer Kim Jin-tae, Lee Jong-myeong and Kim Soon-rye to the National Assembly Ethics Committee.During

Feb 11, 2019By Park Ji-won

Parties join hands to unseat three LKP lawmakers

Moon: Trump-Kim summit to produce 'specific, substantial' outcomes

President Moon Jae-in speaks at the start of a weekly meeting with his senior presidential secretaries at Cheong Wa Dae, Monday. YonhapBy Kim Yoo-chulPresident Moon Jae-in expressed the hope Monday that U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un can build off their first meeting to make “more specific and substantial progress” at their second summit, which he believes could help advance inter-Korean relations.“Beyond bringing a lasting peace with no threat of war threat, the two Koreas should open an era of economic prosperity with peace creating new growth engines,” Moon said in remarks at the start of a weekly meeting with senior presidential secretaries at Cheong Wa Dae, according to press pool reports.“Chances are that talks aimed at bringing a lasting peace on the Korean Peninsula are gathering momentum. This, which is happening for the first time since the end of the Korean War, is a chance that South Korea can't afford to lose,” the President said, referring to the upcoming summit between Trump and Kim later this month i

Feb 11, 2019By Kim Yoo-chul

Moon: Trump-Kim summit to produce 'specific, substantial' outcomes

North Korea can learn economy from Hanoi

People shop for decorations at a street market in Hanoi, Vietnam, Feb. 12, ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday. YonhapBy Kim Bo-eunVietnam’s capital of Hanoi can present a potential economic model for North Korea as it seeks to abandon its nuclear program in favor of economic development.Vietnam has been selected as the venue for the second summit between the leaders of North Korea and the U.S. as the country has friendly relations with both. Yet it is also significant that Hanoi was the heart of Vietnam’s “Doi moi” reform policy which established the country’s socialist-oriented market economy.While the resort city of Danang was a top candidate venue reportedly pushed by the U.S., North Korea was known to have sought Hanoi, as the North Korean Embassy is located there. Kim’s grandfather and former leader Kim Il-sung visited Hanoi on two occasions in 1958 and 1964, and held summits with then-Vietnamese leader Ho Chi Minh.Before the Doi moi policy was initiated in 1986, Vietnam was a centrally planned economy that suffered from extreme inflation and

Feb 11, 2019By Kim Bo-eun

North Korea can learn economy from Hanoi

USFK costs will keep plaguing S. Korea

Chang Won-sam, Korea's top negotiator in defense cost sharing negotiations signs an agreement with his U.S. counterpart Timothy Betts, a deputy assistant secretary at the U.S. Department of State, after reaching a provisional consensus on the renewal of the Seoul-Washington Special Measures Agreement this year, at the headquarters of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Sunday. / YonhapBy Lee Min-hyungSouth Korea will face growing pressure to bear more of the cost for the upkeep of the United States Forces Korea (USFK), as the recent Seoul-Washington Special Measures Agreement (SMA) is only valid for a year.Seoul wanted to renew the contract at longer intervals in consideration of intensifying U.S. pressure for it to pay more in defense cost sharing for the 28,500 U.S. troops hereHowever, this did not happen with Seoul and Washington signing a provisional one-year agreement Sunday on the renewal of the defense sharing contract. Under the 2019 SMA, the South will pay 1.04 trillion won ($923.13 million) and will have to renegotiate the deal next year.Last year, Seoul contributed 960.2 bill

Feb 11, 2019By Lee Min-hyung

Japan FM takes issue with Assembly speaker's remark

Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono / Korea Times fileBy Kim Bo-eunJapanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono on Sunday cautioned against National Assembly Speaker Moon Hee-sang's call for the Japanese Emperor to apologize for sexual slavery victims.Kono told reporters the Assembly speaker should be careful in his remarks, and that the issue was “completely and finally” resolved through a bilateral deal on sex slaves between Tokyo and Seoul in 2015, according to the Asahi Shimbun, Monday.Moon made the remarks in an interview with Bloomberg last week.In the interview, he referred to the Japanese Emperor Akihito as “the son of the main culprit of war crimes.”Akihito's late father Hirohito was the emperor during Japan's colonization of South Korea from 1910 to 1945, when Japan committed atrocities including sexually enslaving Korean women for its military.The Assembly speaker said the current emperor offering an apology, holding hands with surviving sex slave victims, would resolve the decades-long conflict over the issue.Moon expressed his hopes that Akihito would do t

Feb 11, 2019By Kim Bo-eun

Japan FM takes issue with Assembly speaker's remark

Main opposition leadership race in chaos

Candidates of the main opposition Liberty Korea Party's (LKP) leadership race prepare to make a joint announcement to boycott the party's national convention in Seoul, Monday. From left are Rep. Ahn Sang-soo, former Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon, Rep. Joo Ho-young, Rep. Shim Jae-cheol and Rep. Chung Woo-taik. / YonhapBy Park Ji-wonThe leadership race at the main opposition Liberty Korea Party (LKP) is being thrown into chaos after six out of eight contenders pledged to drop out Sunday.The six ― former LKP leader Hong Joon-pyo, former Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon, Reps. Shim Jae-cheol, Ahn Sang-soo, Chung Woo-taik and Joo Ho-young ― agreed to withdraw from the race unless the interim party leadership postpones a national convention for at least two weeks.They are demanding a delay of the convention, scheduled for Feb. 27, due to it clashing with a second summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, which is to be held on Feb. 27 and 28 in Vietnam. However, the leadership, led by Kim Byung-joon, decided to go ahead with the convention as scheduled, Friday, drawing

Feb 10, 2019By Park Ji-won

Main opposition leadership race in chaos

US-NK set to seek 'modest breakthrough'

In this Feb. 3, 2019, file photo, U.S. Special Representative for North Korea Stephen Biegun arrives at Incheon International Airport in Incheon, South Korea. Biegun has returned Friday, Feb. 8, 2019, AP-YonhapBy Kim Yoo-chulThe United States and North Korea should go into their second summit ready to agree to a “modest deal,” political analysts in Seoul said last week.They said the chances of the two countries reaching a “small or practical” deal in Vietnam later this month were far higher than in Singapore in June, last year, as both President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un want “something substantial and visible” from their second meeting.“Negotiators should aim for small, concrete achievements that serve the main parties' long-term interests. For Washington, progress toward verifying nuclear facilities and for Pyongyang, a commitment to negotiating an end to the Korean War. In addition, for both Koreas, a reopening of now-halted joint economic projects,” the International Crisis Group (ICS) said in a recent report.

Feb 8, 2019By Kim Yoo-chul

Hanoi selected as venue for 2nd US-North Korea summit: Trump

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