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CEO & Publisher: Oh Young-jinDigital News Email: webmaster@koreatimes.co.krTel: 02-724-2114Online newspaper registration No: 서울,아52844Date of registration: 2020.02.05Masthead: The Korea TimesCopyright © koreatimes.co.kr. All rights reserved.

500,000 people to form 'human chain' along DMZ

Some 500,000 people will create a "human chain" along the 500-kilometer Demilitarized Zone bisecting South and North Korea in April to mark the first anniversary of an inter-Korean summit deal, a civic organization said Monday.During the summit on April 27 last year at the truce village of Panmunjom, South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un agreed to halt "all hostile acts" against each other, explore ways to enhance cross-border exchanges and pursue the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula."The purely civic campaign will take place April 27," an official at the DMZ Peace Chain (DPC) said during a news conference at the Press Center in Seoul.Participants will be collected by mid-February via committees to be set up by the DPC in cities and counties across the nation, the official said. "500,000 people is not a small number, but we'll be able to collect them as we've prepared for this event for a long time," the official said. The event also aims to mark the centennial of the March 1 Independence Movement, a nationwide march staged in 1919 to

Jan 28, 2019

Defense chiefs order stern action against Japan's threatening flybys

Defense Minister Jeong Kyeong-doo speaks on his visit to the Naval Operations Command in Busan, Saturday. / YonhapBy Kim Bo-eunDefense Minister Jeong Kyeong-doo ordered the Navy to take a stern response to Japanese warplanes' low-altitude flyovers.During a visit to the Naval Operations Command (NOC) in the country's southern port city of Busan on Jan. 26, Minister Jeong was briefed about four cases of maritime provocations by Japan's warplanes making low-altitude flights since last Dec. 20, the defense ministry said, Saturday. He called the recent four cases of Japanese airplanes making low-altitude flights close to Korean naval vessels “acts that can't be understood and accepted by any navies around the world.” But Jeong did not specify in detail what countermeasures the ministry is considering applying. The visit to the NOC, which was made without prior notice, was in response to Japan's Defense Minister Takeshi Iwaya's visit to the Kanagawa Prefecture's Atsugi naval airbase a day earlier. The Atsugi base is where Japan's patrol planes are stationed, including the one J

Jan 27, 2019By Kim Bo-eun
Defense chiefs order stern action against Japan's threatening flybys

'Biegun's new NK counterpart competent strategist'

Thae Yong-ho / Korea Times fileBy Kim Bo-eunNorth Korea's new working-level nuclear negotiator Kim Hyok-chol is a “competent strategist,” according to high-level North Korean defector Thae Yong-ho.Kim Hyok-chol, who accompanied North Korea's top official Kim Yong-chol at the high-level meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in Washington earlier this month, is set to replace Choe Son-hui, who had led working-level denuclearization talks with U.S. Special Representative for North Korea Stephen Biegun.In a post on his website thaeyongho.com, Thae, who claimed he worked with Kim for many years at the North's foreign ministry, said the North's Foreign Minister Ri Yong-ho and First Vice Foreign Minister Kim Kye-gwan “cultivated” Kim, who served previously as North Korea's ambassador to Spain.The blog post said Kim was born into a family of high-level diplomats, majored in French at Pyongyang University of Foreign Studies and began working at the foreign ministry in the early 2000s, where he was placed in the division for drawing up foreign policy.Kim Hyok

Jan 27, 2019By Kim Bo-eun
'Biegun's new NK counterpart competent strategist'

Politician-turned-star writer again declines to work for Cheong Wa Dae

Rhyu Si-min, center, speaks with Jung Tae-ho, left, the senior secretary for job creation of the presidential office during Rhyu's Youtube talk show “Alileo” on Jan. 19. / YonhapBy Park Ji-wonRhyu Si-min, a future presidential hopeful in the ruling camp, stressed again he will not work for the presidential office amid speculation about a 2022 presidential bid. Rhyu, the chairman of the Roh Moo-hyun Foundation, said Saturday during his newly launched Youtube talk show he would “never go to Cheong Wa Dae” because he has “bad teeth.”His response came after Jung Tae-ho, the senior secretary for job creation at the presidential office, complained that Cheong Wa Dae had a poor work environment claiming people there lost their teeth because they worked so hard. Jung was invited there to promote the government's job creation performance.The politician-turned-writer has been considered a leading prospective presidential candidate along with Prime Minister Lee Nak-yon in the ruling party, but does not want to be listed in polls, claiming he has retired from

Jan 27, 2019By Park Ji-won
Politician-turned-star writer again declines to work for Cheong Wa Dae

Moon rejects 'insulting' report for Trump

By Lee Min-hyungU.S. President Donald TrumpPresident Moon Jae-in has denied a media report that U.S. President Donald Trump demanded $1.2 billion (1.34 trillion won) annually from South Korea for defense costs when the leaders briefly met in Argentina in November.The JoongAng Ilbo newspaper, citing sources, reported Trump came up with the amount during a meeting with Moon on the sidelines of the G-20 summit in Buenos Aires.“(From time to time), Trump mentioned the issue of the defense cost-sharing, but he never made remarks on the specific terms or amount,” presidential spokesman Kim Eui-kyeom quoted Moon as saying, Friday.“No world leader speaks in such a manner,” Moon reportedly said. “The report could be an insult to Trump.” Kim added Trump briefly mentioned the issue with a view to reaching a final consensus over the renewal of a defense cost sharing deal in a reasonable manner.Seoul and Washington have engaged in talks on renewing the Special Measures Agreement (SMA), which expired in December, since March last year, but have failed to narrow

Jan 25, 2019By Lee Min-hyung
Moon rejects 'insulting' report for Trump

Moon meets two union chiefs

By Lee Min-hyungPresident Moon Jae-inPresident Moon Jae-in met with the leaders of the nation's two umbrella unions, Friday, to pave the way for the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions's (KCTU) possible participation in government-led talks on resolving labor issues. This was the first time since July last year that Moon had a meeting with KCTU Chairman Kim Myeong-hwan and Federation of Korean Trade Unions (FKTU) chief Kim Ju-young.Moon arranged the meeting to seek participation of the KCTU, which is bigger than the FKTU, in three-way consultations with the government and management, according to presidential aides.The KCTU has refused to join a government-led consultative body, the Economic, Social and Labor Council, citing the Moon administration's “biased” labor policy.However, KCTU chief Kim recently hinted at possibly joining the council, despite hardliners being still negative about this. The union plans to hold a general meeting Jan. 28 to decide on whether to participate in the council.The KCTU said it plans to deliver its stance on pending social issues, such as

Jan 25, 2019By Lee Min-hyung
Moon meets two union chiefs

Moon dismisses reports of Trump's $1.2 billion bill for USFK

President Moon Jae-inSouth Korean President Moon Jae-in on Friday dismissed recent reports that U.S. President Donald Trump has named a specific price for keeping U.S. troops in South Korea, saying the leaders simply do not speak in such a manner."Not just President Trump but no leader of any country in the world speaks in such a manner," the president was quoted as saying."Such reports can be an insult to President Trump," he added, according to his spokesman Kim Eui-kyeom.Moon's remarks follow news reports that claimed the U.S. president may have asked South Korea to pay US$1.2 billion as part of costs to maintain U.S. Forces in Korea.The earlier reports suggested the U.S. president may have filed such a request with his South Korean counterpart in their latest bilateral summit held on the sidelines of the Group of 20 summit in Buenos Aires late last year.President Moon noted the U.S. president has occasionally spoken about the South Korea-U.S. free trade agreement and the defense cost sharing program but never about detailed amounts or conditions, his spokesman told a press briefi

Jan 25, 2019
Moon dismisses reports of Trump's $1.2 billion bill for USFK
  • Let's pay Trump off

'Chun not eligible for National Cemetery burial'

By Kim Bo-eunChun Doo-hwanFormer President Chun Doo-hwan is not eligible to be buried at the National Cemetery, according to the Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs.“A person who has been convicted of one of the crimes stipulated in clause 1 of article 79 of the Act on the Honorable Treatment of and Support for Persons of Distinguished Service to the State cannot be buried at the National Cemetery,” the ministry said in response to an inquiry by Rep. Chun Jung-bae of the minor opposition Party for Democracy and Peace.Chun, who served as president from 1980 to 1988, was convicted of multiple charges including treason, for his December 1979 coup d'etat and suppressing a pro-democracy uprising in Gwangju on May 18, 1980.Over 600 people are estimated to have died in government troops' violent suppression of the movement.Chun, 87, was sentenced to life imprisonment and a 220 billion won fine in 1997, but he was pardoned by President Kim Young-sam the same year. He only paid a quarter of the fine.Earlier, a national poll conducted by Realmeter showed 61.5 percent of respo

Jan 24, 2019By Kim Bo-eun
'Chun not eligible for National Cemetery burial'

Kim Jong-un gets Trump's 'great' letter

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un was briefed by Kim Yong-chol, vice-chairman of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party, who met U.S. President Donald Trump in Washington last week, the North's Korean Central News Agency reported Thursday. / YonhapBy Kim Bo-eunNorth Korean leader Kim Jong-un expressed satisfaction after reading a letter from U.S. President Donald Trump, according to the North's state media, Thursday.The leader was briefed by a North Korean delegation led by Kim Yong-chol, vice-chairman of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party, who met with Trump and U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo recently in Washington, D.C., the North's Korean Central News Agency reported.The report said Kim received a letter from Trump, and highly evaluated President Trump for his determination after reading the “great” letter.“We trust President Trump's positive way of thinking and will wait with patience and good faith,” he was quoted as saying.Meanwhile, Pompeo stated his expectations for progress in North Korea's denuclearization process.“I believe at

Jan 24, 2019By Kim Bo-eun
Kim Jong-un gets Trump's 'great' letter

Seoul to introduce countermeasures against Japan's provocations

By Lee Min-hyungSeoul is considering introducing countermeasures against repeated maritime provocations by Tokyo amid escalating tension between the two in the wake of another Japanese aircraft's “threatening,” low-level flight near a South Korean warship Wednesday.On Thursday, the South's Ministry of National Defense unveiled radar recordings showing Japan's Self-Defense Forces' P3 maritime patrol aircraft “buzzing” the Navy destroyer Dae Jo Yeong. The photos included detailed readouts indicating how close the plane was flying to the warship.The move comes at a crucial juncture when the ongoing diplomatic conflict between Seoul and Tokyo shows no signs of abating, with the latter engaging in such provocations three times in the past week.South Korea strongly condemned what it called “provocative acts intended to intimidate” by Japan, and is planning measures against these.The defense ministry considers the provocations to be political in nature because Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, and Japan's defense and foreign affairs chiefs among other high-ranki

Jan 24, 2019By Lee Min-hyung
Seoul to introduce countermeasures against Japan's provocations
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