Chosun

December 05, 2022 12:25 A new banknote in the UAE feature a nuclear power plant built by Korea. According to Gulf News on Sunday, the Central Bank of the UAE marked the country's 51st national day by unveiling the new 1,000 dirham note last week featuring the Barakah nuclear plant. The daily said it "highlights UAE's global achievements in space and clean energy." Work on the plant started in July 2012 under a project spearheaded by KEPCO. It consists of four nuclear reactors with three operating and one still under construction. The bill also features the UAE's first President Sheikh Zayed Al Nahyan, who is credited with launching the country's first interplanetary spacecraft called the Al-Amar. Korea Signs Truncated Nuclear Deal with UAE Special Envoy to Pitch Nuclear Plant Exports at UAE Meet UAE Picks French Firm to Help Run Korean-Built Nuclear Plant Copyright © Chosunilbo & Chosun.com … [Read more...] about UAE’s New Banknote Features Korean-Built Nuclear Plant

December 06, 2022 12:24 President Yoon Suk-yeol's approval rating has recovered to nearly 40 percent after a bumpy start to his term in office. In a Realmeter poll of 2,507 people last week, 38.9 percent of respondents approved of Yoon's performance, up 2.5 percentage points from a week earlier, while 58.9 percent disapproved, down 1.9 percentage points. It is the first time that Yoon's approval rating has approached 40 percent since the first week of July. His disapproval rating also dipped below 60 percent for the first time since July. Realmeter attributed the improvement to Yoon's tough response to an ongoing cargo truckers' strike and his decision to avoid controversy by stopping morning Q&A sessions with reporters. But there are still widespread calls for changes in his leadership style and cabinet. Yoon Strikes Humble Note After 100 Days in Office Yoon to Hold Press Conference Marking 100 Days in Office Yoon Returns from Vacation to … [Read more...] about Yoon’s Approval Rating Recovers

December 06, 2022 13:37 President Yoon Suk-yeol and Vietnamese President Nguyen Xuan Phuc on Monday agreed to expand cooperation in maritime security, the defense industry and other fields. Phuc arrived in Seoul the previous day on a three-day state visit marking the 30th anniversary of diplomatic relations. He is the first foreign leader to make a proper state visit since Yoon was inaugurated in May. Annual trade volume between the two countries amounted to US$493 million three decades ago and increased more than 164 times to $80.7 billion in 2021. This year Vietnam became Korea's third-largest trade partner after China and the U.S., edging out Japan. Korea invested $3.82 billion in Vietnam in the first three quarters this year, making it the second-largest investor after Singapore. Yoon said the two countries will prepare for the next 30 years based on their cooperative relations over the last three decades. The two leaders agreed to upgrade bilateral ties to a … [Read more...] about Korea, Vietnam Agree to Strengthen Ties

December 07, 2022 09:34 The first biennial defense white paper of the Yoon Suk-yeol administration will refer to North Korea as the "enemy" again for the first time since 2016. "We will make it clear in the white paper to be published next month that the North Korean regime, which continues nuclear weapons development and military threats, is South Korea's enemy," a Defense Ministry official told the Chonsun Ilbo on Tuesday. "We're checking for the last time if there is any more appropriate expression." The previous government of President Moon Jae-in, in an attempt at appeasement, stopped identifying North Korea in the white paper in 2018. Instead, it used the phrase "any force that threatens and infringes South Korea's sovereignty, territory, people and property." The question regularly makes headlines even though it might be regarded as purely semantic, and tempers run high on both sides of the argument. A Unification Ministry official said, "Even if we use the … [Read more...] about N.Korea Is Officially the Enemy Again

August 29, 2008 07:59 The 2008 Defense White Paper, to be published in December, will include a phrase emphasizing that the North Korean army remains a substantial threat. In a press release by the Defense Ministry on Thursday on the sixth month in office of Defense Minister Lee Sang-hee, the ministry promised to specify in the biennial paper “that the North Korean army is a clear and present threat." But the ministry hinted it will not use the old term "main enemy," saying, "Whether to define the North Korean army as the main enemy is only a matter of expression, which has nothing to do with the public perception of a clear and present threat or our preparedness." The term "main enemy" was first omitted in the 2004 Defense White Paper. The expression "North Korea's conventional military strength and weapons of mass destruction are the biggest threat” was used for the defense white papers in 2004 and 2006. Meanwhile, with regard to South Korean prisoners of war who remain … [Read more...] about Defense White Paper to Call N.Korea ‘Substantial Threat’

December 28, 2010 09:18 The Defense Ministry on Monday said it will describe the North Korean regime and military as an "enemy," instead of the old expression "main enemy," in its white paper 2010 due out on Thursday. This is the first time the defense white paper has described the North Korean regime as opposed to the country as an enemy. The white papers from 1995 to 2000 took North Korea as the "main enemy." Since 2004, they described the North as a "serious threat" or a "direct and serious threat." In the introductory part stating the "defense goals," the new white paper states, "The North poses a serious threat to security by developing and augmenting massive conventional military capabilities and weapons of mass destruction such as nuclear weapons and missiles, and through constant armed provocations like the torpedo attack on the Navy corvette Cheonan, and the shelling of Yeonpyeong Island. As long as the threat continues, the North Korean regime and military, … [Read more...] about Defense White Paper Defines N.Korean Regime as Enemy

May 07, 2010 12:06 North Korea on Thursday accused the South of trying to drum up public support for war, taking issue with the revival of the term "main enemy" when referring to the North. "The South Korean conservative regime's attempt to include in its defense white paper the concept of the North being the main enemy is designed to put a war against our republic in writing," the Minju Choson, the organ of the North Korean Cabinet, said Thursday. "This is an intolerable act of treason, arousing the indignation of our armed forces and people." It warned if the South "provokes a war, it will taste the power of the war deterrent that our military and people have been strengthening. It will have no time for regret. This is not empty talk." The official North Korean Web site Uriminzokkiri on Wednesday called moves to restore the term "main enemy" in the defense white paper, which was struck during the Roh Moo-hyun administration, "the most wicked theory of confrontation and … [Read more...] about N.Korea Upset at Becoming South’s ‘Main Enemy’ Again

December 27, 2010 13:33 The Defense Ministry will not use the old expression "main enemy" to describe North Korea in the 2010 white paper due out in a few days, it said Sunday. The ministry claims it is looking for a stronger term, but the decision could prove controversial amid escalating tensions on the Korean Peninsula after the sinking of the Navy corvette Cheonan and shelling of Yeonpyeong Island. The term "main enemy" was scrapped a few years ago because it was felt to be needlessly confrontational. There is also speculation that the decision aims to leave room for North Korea to see sense, improving the chances of better inter-Korean relations. A senior government official said, "The term 'main enemy' is used to refer to the worst among many enemies, so we judged that the expression was unsuitable both diplomatically and militarily. It will be replaced with a term that best describes the situation we are in." Copyright © Chosunilbo & Chosun.com … [Read more...] about No Comeback for ‘Main Enemy’ to Describe N.Korea