ministry

Jan. 8 (Asia Today) — South Korea’s Ministry of Unification said Thursday it will publicly livestream work reports by two affiliated organizations for the first time.

The ministry said the Inter-Korean Exchange and Cooperation Support Association and the Inter-Korean Hana Foundation will deliver their reports Wednesday at the inter-Korean talks headquarters conference room. The event will be streamed on the ministry’s UniTV channel.

A ministry official told reporters the live broadcast of an affiliated agency work report is unprecedented, adding that government ministries are now moving toward livestreaming work reports more broadly. The official said the ministry has received such reports when needed but they have not previously been made public.

President Lee Jae-myung received the first livestreamed work report last month. On Wednesday, senior presidential secretary for public relations and communication Lee Kyu-yeon said livestreamed policy briefings would be expanded to all 47 government ministries.

Lee said the government plans to livestream events led by the prime minister and ministries, major policy issues and matters of public interest. When ministries request live broadcasts on KTV, KTV will make them available to the public through television and YouTube channels. The Ministry of Unification is expected to use its own broadcast staff.

Lee said expanding live policy broadcasts is expected to improve transparency in government affairs and strengthen policy credibility.

— Reported by Asia Today; translated by UPI

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Acting U.S. Ambassador to South Korea Kevin Kim has left his post in Seoul and returned to the United States, the foreign ministry said Wednesday, amid speculation he may be assigned a new role in the Trump administration related to Korea issues.

Kim’s departure came just about two months after he took up the post as charge d’affaires at the U.S. Embassy in Seoul in October last year.

Kim succeeded then acting U.S. Ambassador Joseph Yun after the position had remained vacant since former U.S. Ambassador to Seoul Philip Goldberg left the post early last year following the launch of the second Trump administration.

Kim recently informed Seoul officials he returned to the U.S., according to the foreign ministry.

Jim Heller, deputy chief of mission at the U.S. Embassy in Seoul, is expected to serve as charge d’affaires until a new ambassador is appointed.

Sources say that Kim could be tapped for a new role handling Korea-related issues, possibly a position tasked with implementing the summit agreements reached between the allies on security and other matters, or dealing with North Korea issues.

Kim has likely been named a senior adviser to Allison Hooker, U.S. under secretary of state for political affairs, a diplomatic source said. Both Hooker and Kim were deeply involved in nuclear negotiations with North Korea during Trump’s first term, when denuclearization talks were in full swing.

Prior to his posting in Seoul, Kim served as U.S. deputy assistant secretary of state for China, Japan, Korea, Mongolia and Taiwan at the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs.

Kim’s departure leaves the ambassadorial post in Seoul vacant once again. Goldberg assumed the position more than a year after the Biden administration took office. It took about 18 months for Ambassador Harry Harris to take up the post under Trump’s first term.

Dec. 26 (Asia Today) — South Korea’s Ministry of Science and ICT (MSIT) said Thursday it had lodged a strong protest after Coupang unilaterally disclosed what it called investigation results into a customer data breach, stressing that the claims have not been verified by the ongoing joint probe.

In a press release, the ministry said a public-private joint investigation team is still closely examining the type, scale and cause of the data leak. “The assertions made by Coupang have not been confirmed by the joint investigation team,” MSIT said.

Earlier in the day, Coupang posted a notice on its website stating that it had identified the leaker and secured all devices and hard disk drives used in the breach. The company claimed that, based on its investigation to date, the leaker stored customer information limited to about 3,000 accounts and subsequently deleted all of it.

Coupang also said it used forensic evidence, including “digital fingerprints,” to identify a former employee responsible for the leak, adding that the individual confessed to all actions and provided a detailed account of how customer information was accessed.

MSIT reiterated that any conclusions regarding the incident must come from the joint public-private investigation, cautioning against premature disclosures that could mislead the public while the probe remains underway.

–Copyright by Asiatoday

Dec. 22 (Asia Today) — South Korea has surpassed 100 million barrels in government-held oil reserves as it seeks to bolster energy security against global supply disruptions, the industry ministry said Monday.

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said the government’s secured stockpile exceeded 100 million barrels after the final tanker shipment of the year arrived at the Korea National Oil Corporation’s Geoje oil reserve base.

Including about 95 million barrels held by private companies, South Korea now has enough oil to cover more than 210 days under International Energy Agency standards in an emergency, the ministry said.

South Korea, which relies on imports for its oil, adopted a national stockpiling plan in 1980 and has expanded reserves over about 45 years after experiencing global supply shocks during past oil crises, the ministry said.

The country now holds the fourth-largest oil reserves among the agency’s member countries, the ministry said, describing the stockpile as an energy safety net that can help respond to supply crises.

The ministry said it plans to strengthen crisis response capabilities and shift focus from simply expanding volume to improving the quality of reserves.

In its fifth petroleum stockpiling plan prepared earlier this month, the ministry said it would restructure reserves to prioritize oil grades better suited to domestic demand.

An industry ministry official said oil reserve bases operate under strict safety requirements and the government will phase out aging equipment and strengthen disaster response systems.

– Reported by Asia Today; translated by UPI

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Dec. 22 (Asia Today) — South Korea’s Ministry of Unification said Monday it has never reported to President Lee Jae-myung on reviewing constitutional amendments tied to a “peaceful two-state” approach as a way to bring North Korea to negotiations.

Unification Ministry spokesperson Yoon Min-ho said at a regular briefing that claims the ministry suggested reviewing constitutional changes during a closed-door work report on Friday were “completely false.”

“Reports saying that the ministry proposed reviewing constitutional amendments to draw North Korea into dialogue are untrue,” Yoon said. He added that the ministry neither raised nor examined such an issue during the briefing.

Earlier Monday, a media report said President Lee took a negative view of a purported ministry suggestion to review changes to Article 3 of the Constitution, which defines the territory of the Republic of Korea as the entire Korean Peninsula, in order to engage Pyongyang.

Yoon reiterated that no such proposal was made and said the ministry has not reviewed the matter.

He also said discussions with the U.S. Embassy on North Korea policy are expected to begin early next year. Preparations are also underway to set a schedule for regular vice-ministerial-level communication with the Foreign Ministry, he said.

On the issue of public access to North Korean media, Yoon said the ministry’s interpretation is that simply viewing North Korean outlets such as Rodong Sinmun does not violate the National Security Act.

– Reported by Asia Today; translated by UPI

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