South Korea - The Korea Times

Yeong-mi: voted word of 2018

An infographic by Realmeter shows “Yeong-mi,” the given name of a national curling team member shouted by the team leader Kim Eun-jung during the PyeongChang Winter Olympics, was picked as the “word for 2018.” / Courtesy of RealmeterBy Jung Hae-myoungThe word of 2018 was “Yeong-mi,” the given name of national curling team player Kim Yeong-mi, as the name was shouted dozens of times during the games by the team leader Kim Eun-jung during the PyeongChang Winter Olympics, a Realmeter poll showed, Monday.The pollster announced the results of the survey on the most talked about and most memorable words for 2018, with Yeong-mi gaining 18.5 percent of votes among 503 respondents. It was followed by the remark of Hong Joon-pyo, former leader of the main opposition, right-wing Liberty Korea Party. His Facebook post on Nov. 11 was seen to be a sarcastic jibe at the Moon Jae-in administration's sending of 200 tons of boxes of tangerines to North Korea. Hong wrote of the gesture, “Do the tangerine boxes contain only tangerines?” raising suspicions

Dec 31, 2018

Moon wraps up 2018 with record low approval rating of 45.9%

President Moon Jae-inPresident Moon Jae-in wrapped up this year with his approval rate hitting a record low amid an economic slowdown and the presidential office's alleged surveillance of civilians, a poll showed Monday.Moon's support came to 45.9 percent last week, down 1.2 percentage points from the previous week, according to the poll conducted by Realmeter of 2,011 people across the country.The decline apparently stemmed from a pile of negative news that includes the revelation by a former investigator that he collected information on civilians while working at the presidential office, the pollster said.Moon's approval rate reached 71.6 percent in the first week of January and peaked at 77.4 percent right after his first summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un on April 27.Since then, the support rate declined to 53.1 percent in the second week of September on sluggish economic data, but shot up to 65.3 percent two weeks later, aided by the inter-Korean summit in September in Pyongyang.But since October, the rate has been on the decline, hitting the 40-percent mark for the fir

Dec 31, 2018

Moon wraps up 2018 with record low approval rating of 45.9%

Cheong Wa Dae accused of pressuring state bank to remove KT&G chief

Shin Jae-in / Screengrab of YouTubeBy Jung Min-hoA former government official claimed that Cheong Wa Dae pressured a state bank to change the leadership of local tobacco maker KT&G.Shin Jae-in, who worked at the Ministry of Economy and Finance from 2014 to July this year, claimed the ministry ― at the presidential office's request ― pressured Industrial Bank of Korea, the second-largest shareholder of KT&G, to oppose the reappointment of its CEO Baek Bok-in at a shareholders’ meeting early this year.Shin claimed he leaked the documents about the ministry’s plan to broadcaster MBC, which broke the story in May.In a YouTube video, he said he felt “ashamed” of being part of the administration that was “abusing” its power. “That’s why I quit,” he added.The ministry denied his allegations, saying he was not in a position to know such information.IBK did oppose Baek’s reappointment, but he was kept on as KT&G CEO anyway.Check the video here:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fa3nP_zaxiI

Dec 30, 2018By Jung Min-ho

Cheong Wa Dae accused of pressuring state bank to remove KT&G chief

Whistleblower found alive after hinting at suicide

Top presidential aides to speak about surveillance claims

Cho Kuk, senior presidential secretary for civil affairs, attends a ceremony to appoint new Supreme Court justice Kim Sang-whan at the presidential office Cheong Wa Dae, Seoul, Friday. / YonhapBy Park Ji-wonPresident Moon Jae-in's top two aides ―chief of staff Im Jong-seok and civil affairs senior secretary Cho Kuk ― will speak about Cheong Wa Dae's alleged illegal surveillance of citizens at the National Assembly today.Lawmakers from ruling and opposition parties are expected to trade barbs over the illegal surveillance claims raised by Kim Tae-woo, a former Cheong Wa Dae staffer, who is now under a corruption investigation.Opposition parties have raised political offensives against the ruling camp over Kim's claims, while Cheong Wa Dae denied them.According to Cheong Wa Dae, Kim, a prosecution investigator who has worked under the Cheong Wa Dae special inspection team three times under the administrations of Lee Myung-bak, Park Geun-hye and Moon Jae-in, is making false accusations and releasing confidential information obtained during his time at the presidential office. Cheon

Dec 30, 2018By Park Ji-won

Top presidential aides to speak about surveillance claims

'Video release represents Abe's political intention'

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe listens to questions from Japanese reporters at his residence on Oct. 30 after South Korea's Supreme Court ruled for Nippon Steel and Sumitomo Metal to compensate victims of forced labor during Japan's colonial rule. / YonhapBy Kim Bo-eunA dispute is snowballing over Japan's release of footage of its warplane flying over a South Korean naval destroyer in the East Sea as reports stated the release of the video was ordered by the Japanese Prime Minister.Japan's defense ministry released the footage last week prompting immediate protests from South Korean authorities for “threatening acts” by a Japanese plane in international waters.Multiple Japanese media outlets reported that its defense ministry had been reluctant to release the video, concerned about generating a backlash from South Korea and further deteriorating relations, but did so on Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's order.The Sankei Shinbun reported that Abe called Japanese Defense Minister Takeshi Iwaya a day before the release, to deliver the order.This is seen as a political move ami

Dec 30, 2018By Kim Bo-eun

'Video release represents Abe's political intention'

Radar row worsens Korea-Japan ties

Top presidential aides to appear at Assembly

President Moon Jae-in, right, walks into a room inside Cheong Wa Dae for a tea meeting with new Supreme Court justice Kim Sang-hwan after giving him a letter of appointment at the presidential office on Dec. 28. YonhapBy Kim Yoo-chulPresident Moon Jae-in has ordered his chief of staff Im Jong-seok and senior civil affairs secretary Cho Kuk to appear at the National Assembly on Dec. 31 to explain Cheong Wa Dae's stance on allegations that the administration abused its power to conduct surveillance on private citizens.“At the request of opposition parties, Moon ordered Im and Cho to appear at the Assembly, Monday. The decision came after the Assembly passed a revised bill aimed at strengthening industrial safety measures amid growing public anger over the recent death of a young worker at a thermal power plant,” a senior Cheong Wa Dae official said, Friday.“As the President wants to apply the revised bill as quickly as possible for the safety of low-paid and contract workers, which would mandate companies to accept punishment in the event of industrial accidents, Moon

Dec 28, 2018By Kim Yoo-chul

Top presidential aides to appear at Assembly

Joint military committee to speed up inter-Korean tension easing

A guard post located on the South's side of the border county of Cheorwon, Gangwon Province, is being demolished on Nov. 15 as part of the fulfillment of the inter-Korean military agreement. / Joint Press CorpsSeoul, Pyongyang will fine-tune differences on military exercises, NLLBy Lee Min-hyung2018 has been a year of peace on the Korean Peninsula, with Seoul and Pyongyang setting a basic framework for reducing inter-Korean tension.For 2019, the two Koreas will give concrete shape to the framework by discussing taking more detailed steps to further relax the lingering military tension on the peninsula.Officials say a inter-Korean joint military committee, set to be established in the very near future, will stand at the center to speed up the drive for inter-Korean reconciliation.The two Koreas have yet to decide when to launch the committee. But as both sides have reached a consensus on its establishment, the committee will start its operation sometime in the first half of the year. It will focus on putting into practice the two Koreas' agreed-upon tension-easing steps.The committee

Dec 28, 2018By Lee Min-hyung

Joint military committee to speed up inter-Korean tension easing

INTERVIEW 'Kim Jong-un should meet Moon before Trump'

Assembly passes bill reinforcing worksite safety for temporary, contract workers

Kim Mi-sook, second from left, mother of Kim Yong-gyun, a subcontract worker who died in a conveyor belt accident earlier this month, sits with her eyes closed and hands folded together while watching the National Assembly's general assembly on Thursday. YonhapThe revision will take effect in January.The National Assembly on Thursday passed a revised bill aimed at strengthening industrial safety measures amid public anger over the recent death of a young contract worker at a power plant.The bill calls for contractors to take measures to better ensure the safety of irregular and contract workers and mandates stiffer punishment in the event of accidents.The so-called Kim Yong-gyun act is named after a 24-year-old subcontract worker who was killed in a conveyor belt accident earlier this month at a power plant in Taean, about 150 kilometers southwest of Seoul.His death has sparked public uproar about contract workers' safety and treatment at workplaces and prompted lawmakers to deliberate on the bill for its passage at the final plenary session of this year.The grieving mother hugs Lee

Dec 27, 2018

Assembly passes bill reinforcing worksite safety for temporary, contract workers

'Independent peace' to be theme for Kim Jong-un's New Year address

By Lee Min-hyung“Independent peace” could be the key phrase for North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's upcoming New Year address next year because the phrase conveys his affirmation for peace on the Korean Peninsula, experts said, Tuesday.In several face-to-face meetings with President Moon Jae-in, the young North leader said his regime is prepared to drop its nuclear program if security guarantees and economic benefits are confirmed. A second summit between Kim and U.S. President Donald Trump is anticipated for early next year. “It is likely Kim will underline that a new era of peace has arrived on the peninsula during his 2019 New Year address, as he hopes to take most of the credit for the rare momentum for peace here,” political commentator Lee Jin-gon said. Since 2013, Kim Jong-un has been delivering an annual address each year via state-run propaganda media outlets, including the Korean Central Television.Given the steadiness, the North's leader is widely expected to release his New Year address for 2019 in consideration that he has made global headlines this

Dec 27, 2018By Lee Min-hyung

'Independent peace' to be theme for Kim Jong-un's New Year address

Ryu Kwon-ha re-elected to head FNA

Ryu Kwon-ha, CEO of the Korea JoongAng Daily and FNA chairmanRyu Kwon-ha, CEO of the Korea JoongAng Daily, has been re-elected to head the Foreign Language Newspapers Association of Korea (FNA). Ryu will serve as the FNA's fourth chairman. The FNA, comprising The Korea Times, the Korea Herald, the Korea JoongAng Daily and the Aju Business Daily, was established in July 2015. The FNA works for joint research and cooperation in publishing foreign-language dailies in Korea.Ryu has been leading the Korea JoongAng Daily since 2013. He was formerly a writer for the JoongAng Ilbo, a Korean-language daily newspaper where he was the paper's German correspondent between 2003 and 2007. From 2007, he has served in various JoongAng Ilbo management positions including as chief secretary to chairman of the JoongAng Ilbo and JTBC.

Dec 27, 2018By Kim Ji-soo

Politics