Articles by Kim Arin
Kim Arin
arin@heraldcorp.com-
신원식 “여성 징병제 전혀 고려 안 해”
[코리아헤럴드=김아린 기자] 신원식 국방부 장관은 병력 감소 문제의 해법이 될 수 없다며 여성 징병제를 반대하는 입장을 밝혔다. 신 장관은 22일 본지와 인터뷰에서 병력 부족의 대안으로 거론되고 있는 여성 징병제에 대해 “국방부의 정책으로 전혀 고려하거나 검토하고 있지 않다”며 선을 그었다. 이어 여성 의무 복무는 “매우 신중한 접근과 사회적 합의가 필요하다”면서, “여성이 지원할 수 있는 폭을 넓혀 여군 비율을 확대하려 굉장히 노력하고 있지만, 의무를 지우는 것은 완전히 다른 차원”이라고 말했다. 다만 국방부는 “인구감소에 따른 병역자원의 감소가 안보위기로 이어질 수 있다는 상황을 엄중하게 인식하고, 이를 타개해 나가기 위한 정책들을 추진하고 있다”고 덧붙였다. 최근 정치권을 중심으로 여성 징병제를 논의해야 한다는 주장이 다시 제기됐는데, 이를 두고 신 장관은 “공론장에선 정책에 찬성하
한국어판 Jan. 24, 2024
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Kim Jong-un nostalgic for engagement approach of 2018: Seoul defense chief
Shin Won-sik, the minister of national defense of South Korea, says North Korean leader Kim Jong-un could carry out a nuclear weapons test at any time this year if he believes he could gain what he wants from the next US president by doing so. In an interview with The Korea Herald on Monday, the South Korean defense chief said North Korea’s Kim may seek to leverage the US presidential election in November to get the incoming administration in Washington to accede to his demands. North Kore
North Korea Jan. 23, 2024
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Seoul dismisses North Korea’s claims of undersea nuclear weapons test
The South Korean presidential office on Sunday said North Korea’s claims of having carried out a test of an underwater nuclear weapons system were probably overstated. In a primary analysis on North Korea’s announcement on Friday, an official with the presidential office in Seoul said that the purported test was “likely to be exaggerated and fabricated.” The development of an underwater nuclear-based weapons system is one of the key tasks outlined in North Korea’s f
Defense Jan. 21, 2024
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North Korea ready to welcome Putin’s state visit
North Korea says it is ready to host Russian President Vladimir Putin for a state visit. The state official Korea Central News Agency on Sunday said that Putin has expressed his willingness to visit Pyongyang, reporting the results of its Foreign Minister Choe Sun-hui’s recent trip to Moscow. “The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea warmly welcomes the state visit of comrade president of Russia, Vladimir Putin, to our country. We are ready to receive the best friend of the Ko
North Korea Jan. 21, 2024
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Increasingly more North Korean dissenters escaping to South
South Korea on Thursday reported a recent increase in defections of elite and younger North Koreans, who say they left because they are anti-regime. The Ministry of Unification in Seoul overseeing inter-Korean affairs said the number of defectors to the South hit 196 in 2023, which is about the triple the number of the two preceding years -- 2022’s 67 and 2021’s 63 -- when COVID-19 was still raging. According to the ministry, the defections of members of the North Korean elite seen l
North Korea Jan. 18, 2024
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South Korea’s spy chief vows to restore public faith in agency
Cho Tae-yong was sworn in on Wednesday as President Yoon Suk Yeol’s second director of the National Intelligence Service, filling the vacancy since his predecessor, Kim Kyou-hyun, left the post about two months ago. In his first address Wednesday as the NIS chief, Cho vowed to turn the NIS into an agency “worthy of the trust of the South Korean people” during his tenure -- in an apparent reference to the internal power struggle at the agency, which had spilled over into public
Politics Jan. 17, 2024
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North Korea conducts first ballistic missile test of year
North Korea fired a mid-range ballistic missile into the sea east of the Korean Peninsula on Sunday afternoon, according to South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff. This was the North’s first ballistic missile launch of the year, with the previous one on Dec. 18. “At approximately 2:55 p.m. on this day, a single intermediate-range ballistic missile was fired from the vicinity of Pyongyang toward the east coast, flying for about 1,000 kilometers before landing in the water,” t
Defense Jan. 14, 2024
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Taiwan election result could put S. Korea-China relations to test
The victory of Lai Ching-te of Taiwan's Democratic Progressive Party in the presidential election on Saturday will put the relationship between South Korea and China to the test, given Seoul's unique geopolitical position and the need to strike a balance between Beijing and Washington, according to experts in Seoul on Sunday. As China effectively refused to accept the result of the high-stakes election, concerns are mounting as South Korea's Yoon Suk Yeol administration has been
Foreign Affairs Jan. 14, 2024
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Ex-heads of rival parties talk possible union against political establishment
The former leaders of two rival parties spoke over coffee Sunday morning on possibly uniting against establishment politics ahead of the April general election to fill the National Assembly. Lee Nak-yon and Lee Jun-seok -- who once led the Democratic Party of Korea and the People Power Party, respectively -- met at a Starbucks near the National Assembly in Yeouido, central Seoul, for a brief chat on their potential political union. Rep. Kim Jong-min, who quit the Democratic Party last week, was
Politics Jan. 14, 2024
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Spy chief nominee says NIS won’t meddle in politics
Cho Tae-yong, who was nominated by President Yoon Suk Yeol last month for the National Intelligence Service’s top post, said Thursday he would steer clear of meddling in politics if he is confirmed as its director. During the confirmation hearing held at the National Assembly, Cho was asked to give his stance on the NIS’ history of getting involved in domestic politics, for which several of its high-level officials had been convicted. “I recognize that there had been such incid
Politics Jan. 11, 2024
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More lawmakers leave Democratic Party of Korea, accusing chief of crony politics
Three lawmakers on Wednesday said they were leaving the Democratic Party of Korea, marking yet another departure of longtime lawmakers from the main opposition that controls a clear majority in the National Assembly. Announcing their decision to leave the Democratic Party they had long been part of, Reps. Lee Won-wook, Kim Jong-min and Cho Eung-cheon cited their disagreements with the party’s chair, Rep. Lee Jae-myung, and the way he is running the party. The lawmakers, prominent members o
Politics Jan. 10, 2024
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North Korea broke now-defunct military pact with South 3,600 times: JCS
North Korea breached the recently scrapped 2018 inter-Korean military accord approximately 3,600 times, South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said Monday. The number of violations by North Korea, counted from the time the deal was reached six years ago, was announced following three consecutive days of North Korean provocations along the sea boundary. The JCS in Seoul told the press that due to North Korea’s firing of artillery shells near South Korean border islands over the past thre
Defense Jan. 8, 2024
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South Korea tells Russia to stop getting arms from North Korea
South Korea on Friday called on Russia to halt its arms deal with North Korea following a White House announcement that North Korean ballistic missiles were used in Russian attacks against Ukraine. A senior official of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Seoul said on this day that by hauling arms from North Korea, Russia was “contradicting” the United Nations Security Council resolutions despite being a permanent member. The official said that the Foreign Ministry, together with its
Politics Jan. 5, 2024
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Tensions rise as North Korea fires some 200 artillery shells near sea border
Tensions escalated on the Korean Peninsula on Friday morning as North Korea fired some 200 artillery shells into the sea north of the border. Immediately after the North fired the shells off its western coast, South Korean authorities issued evacuation orders on Yeonpyeong Island and Baekryeong Island. North Korea continued to fire shells for two hours until 11 a.m., the South Korean military said. The South’s military said no South Korean citizens or members of the armed forces were harme
Defense Jan. 5, 2024
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[Exclusive] Daughter Ju-ae Kim Jong-un’s ‘most likely successor’: Seoul spy service
South Korea’s spy agency sees North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s only publicly known child Ju-ae as his “most likely successor,” according to its latest analysis. According to a National Intelligence Service report seen by The Korea Herald, the spy service in Seoul believes Ju-ae is most likely to succeed her father as North Korea’s leader, based on her public appearances and reception. The NIS said in the analysis that besides Ju-ae, who was born in 2013, Kim has an
Politics Jan. 3, 2024
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