Journalist

Jun sung-min
  • Lee Praises NTS Chief Lim for Tracking Overseas Hidden Assets of Tax Delinquents
    Lee Praises NTS Chief Lim for Tracking Overseas Hidden Assets of Tax Delinquents President Lee Jae-myung applauded the National Tax Service on the 28th for tracking overseas hidden assets held by tax delinquents, calling tax fairness “a very important value.” In a post on X, formerly Twitter, Lee thanked NTS Commissioner Lim Gwang-hyeon for “working hard,” noting that Lim took the job after leaving his seat as a lawmaker. The NTS said the previous day it had recovered 33.9 billion won in overseas assets from delinquent taxpayers since Lee’s government launched in July last year. Lim wrote on X the previous day that the agency has recovered a total of 37.2 billion won in delinquent taxes from overseas since 2015, including 33.9 billion won during the nine months since Lee’s government took office. He added that recovery procedures are still underway in locations around the world. * This article has been translated by AI. 2026-04-28 08:45:16
  • South Korea Unveils Slogan for Kim Gu’s 150th Birth Anniversary UNESCO Commemoration
    South Korea Unveils Slogan for Kim Gu’s 150th Birth Anniversary UNESCO Commemoration “My Wish, Culture of Peace.” Prime Minister Kim Min-seok on Monday convened the Lee Jae-myung government’s first National Patriots and Veterans Committee meeting at the Government Complex Seoul. The committee finalized a plan to carry out commemorative projects for the UNESCO commemoration year marking the 150th anniversary of Kim Gu’s birth and announced the official slogan. The government chose “My Wish, Culture of Peace” to underscore what it called the universal value of Baekbeom’s ideas. The government said it will continue to refine and develop the plan through communication and cooperation with the Baekbeom Kim Gu Memorial Museum, the Korean National Commission for UNESCO, the Liberation Association, the cultural sector and young people. It set three main directions for the projects: “reexamining values,” “unity and solidarity,” and “remembrance and succession,” and said it will pursue commemorative programs under subthemes aligned with those goals. Planned flagship events include an international academic conference in July and August, a joint academic conference by the Baekbeom Kim Gu Memorial Museum and the National Museum of Korean Contemporary History in October, Gwanghwamun Culture Week in August, and the Baekbeom Award ceremony in August. * This article has been translated by AI. 2026-04-27 19:06:17
  • PM Kim Min-seok: Nation Must Honor Sacrifice With Lasting Support for Veterans
    PM Kim Min-seok: Nation Must Honor Sacrifice With Lasting Support for Veterans Prime Minister Kim Min-seok said April 27 that the government’s consistent goal is to build a country where honoring those who served becomes “common sense” and a source of pride. In opening remarks at the first National Patriots and Veterans Committee meeting of the new government, held at the Government Complex Seoul, Kim said veterans affairs is not simply about paying compensation for past sacrifice. “Through the memory of dedication, it binds the hearts of the people into one, and with that united strength opens the future of the Republic of Korea,” he said. Kim said it is a key government duty to ensure the state takes responsibility “to the end” for “special sacrifice” for the country and repays it in a special way, so the value of honoring service is remembered with the public and passed on to the next generation. Agenda items included the sixth basic plan for national veterans affairs development; a proposal to develop the National Hyochang Park as a major site of remembrance; a plan to bid to host the 2029 Invictus Games; and a plan to promote projects marking the 150th anniversary of the birth of independence leader Kim Gu. Ahead of the meeting, the committee also held an appointment ceremony for new members. Kim said their expertise and on-the-ground perspectives would help raise veterans policy to the next level, and urged them to pool their wisdom to elevate the honor of those who served the country and strengthen support for bereaved families.* This article has been translated by AI. 2026-04-27 18:24:06
  • South Korea Foreign Ministry Sets Up Korea-India Cooperation Task Force After Summit
    South Korea Foreign Ministry Sets Up Korea-India Cooperation Task Force After Summit South Korea’s Foreign Ministry said Sunday it has set up a “Korea-India Practical Cooperation Task Force” to carry out follow-up steps from the leaders’ summit. The ministry said the new team will move quickly and systematically to implement the summit agreements across areas including the economy, culture, people-to-people exchanges and cooperation with local governments. It said it will coordinate closely with relevant domestic ministries and agencies, and will actively use local networks in India, including South Korean diplomatic missions and honorary consuls. The task force is led by the ministry’s Asia-Pacific director-general and launched with eight working-level officials from the Asia-Pacific Affairs Bureau, the Bilateral Economic Diplomacy Bureau and the International Legal Affairs Bureau. The ministry said it also plans to add staff. The ministry said it held a video meeting Sunday with the South Korean Embassy in India and the consulates general in Chennai and Mumbai to discuss cooperation between headquarters and overseas missions. * This article has been translated by AI. 2026-04-27 17:30:18
  • Defense Vice Minister Lee Doo-hee Pledges Major Upgrades to Navy Shipboard Living Conditions
    Defense Vice Minister Lee Doo-hee Pledges Major Upgrades to Navy Shipboard Living Conditions “To ensure sustained operational capability in wartime and peacetime, it is important to quickly relieve crews’ operational fatigue. We will make major improvements to shipboard living conditions,” Defense Vice Minister Lee Doo-hee said. Lee visited the Navy’s 2nd Fleet Command on April 27 to inspect shipboard living conditions and barracks facilities for sailors and to encourage service members, the Ministry of National Defense said. The on-site inspection was arranged to push ahead with tasks recommended by a joint civilian-government-military special advisory panel to improve living conditions for troops’ physical and mental recovery, and with defense reform efforts to improve barracks conditions, the ministry said. Lee toured crew sleeping quarters aboard the destroyer Eulji Mundeok (DDH-I), which was docked at the 2nd Fleet naval base, and reviewed areas needing improvement. He also checked conditions at an onshore dormitory used by enlisted sailors assigned to fast patrol craft and other vessels. “We will continue improving conditions so that, while ship crews are waiting on shore, the onshore dormitory is a place for adequate rest and recovery,” Lee said. * This article has been translated by AI. 2026-04-27 15:51:17
  • South Korea, Australia to hold foreign ministers meeting in Seoul this week
    South Korea, Australia to hold foreign ministers' meeting in Seoul this week SEOUL, April 27 (AJP) - Foreign Minister Cho Hyun is scheduled to meet his Australian counterpart in Seoul later this week, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Monday. Cho is expected to discuss cooperation in various areas including the defense and energy sectors, during his meeting with Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong on Thursday. According to the ministry, the two sides will reaffirm their commitment to working together on shared challenges including the ongoing conflict in the Middle East and supply chain disruptions, while also exploring ways to deepen broader cooperation. Their meeting comes about a month after they spoke by phone and follows their meeting in October last year, when Wong visited South Korea to attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in the southeastern city of Gyeongju. Wong's trip to Seoul is part of her three-nation Asian tour, which will take her to China and Japan. With a "strong bilateral relationship underpinned by shared strategic interests, complementary economies and generational ties between our people," South Korea is "one of Australia's most important sources of refined fuels, including diesel, automotive gasoline and aviation fuel," she said in a press release. 2026-04-27 15:27:08
  • Audit Finds NTS Mis-scored Compliance Ratings, Wrongly Picked 120 Firms for Tax Audits
    Audit Finds NTS Mis-scored Compliance Ratings, Wrongly Picked 120 Firms for Tax Audits The National Tax Service mishandled parts of its corporate tax-compliance scoring by omitting certain evaluation items for thousands of companies, leading to 120 corporations being wrongly selected for tax audits in 2024 and 2025, the Board of Audit and Inspection said on the 27th. The audit board said a regular audit of the NTS conducted in May and June last year found 23 issues, including 11 cases requiring caution and 12 notifications. According to the findings, 30 corporations in 2024 and 90 in 2025 were improperly chosen for audits on suspicion of inaccurate filings. In assessing corporate compliance ratings used as a key audit-selection standard, the NTS failed to apply base scores of 18 to 32 points for some items and instead treated them as zero, making those companies appear less compliant than others, the audit board said. The audit board said similar problems occurred in selecting audit targets among individual business owners. Regional tax offices are supposed to choose actual audit targets in order of higher suspected evasion after receiving a list from NTS headquarters, but in 59 cases they selected targets arbitrarily, such as by simply following the order of names on the list. It also said five people who should have been audited were improperly excluded because checks on name matches and audit history were inadequate. The audit board also notified the NTS to prepare improvements, saying its “tax filing compliance evaluation system” was broadly unreasonably designed, including items unrelated to compliance. Auditors also found 22 cases in which assets were transferred within families in what appeared to be disguised gifts, but the NTS failed to filter them out and recognized them as sales transactions. Under the rules, if a recipient does not properly pay for transferred assets, the transaction should be presumed a gift and taxed accordingly. The audit board said the NTS did not properly collect additional taxes in deals that effectively looked like gifts, such as taking only a 10% down payment and treating the remainder as an interest-free loan. The audit board said it confirmed 22 cases, totaling 81.7 billion won, that lacked “customary and economic rationality” and raised doubts about their authenticity despite being accepted as sales. It said a re-examination is needed on whether to presume gifts to curb irregular transfers disguised as sales. The audit board also said the NTS took no action after receiving a list of people who improperly obtained value-added tax exemptions by lending their names to medical businesses, including so-called “paper-owner” hospitals. It warned that 31 billion won could go uncollected and that the NTS had already missed the assessment deadline for 26.7 billion won. * This article has been translated by AI. 2026-04-27 15:00:20
  • South Korea, Australia to Hold Foreign Ministers’ Talks on Energy Security, Defense Cooperation
    South Korea, Australia to Hold Foreign Ministers’ Talks on Energy Security, Defense Cooperation South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Hyun and Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong will meet in Seoul on April 30 to discuss cooperation in areas including energy and defense, the Foreign Ministry said Monday. According to the ministry, the two will hold South Korea-Australia foreign ministers’ talks on Wednesday afternoon, covering high-level exchanges, economic security, defense and the arms industry, and regional developments. The meeting will come about a month after the ministers spoke by phone on March 16. The ministry said the two sides will reaffirm their commitment to work together on shared challenges, including the situation in the Middle East and the energy security crisis, and will broadly discuss ways to deepen cooperation in other areas such as defense and the arms industry. Wong also visited South Korea during the APEC summit in Gyeongju last October and met with Cho. * This article has been translated by AI. 2026-04-27 11:38:01
  • DAPA Simplifies User Authentication and Approvals for Defense E-Procurement
    DAPA Simplifies User Authentication and Approvals for Defense E-Procurement The Defense Acquisition Program Administration has upgraded functions in the Defense e-Procurement System to improve convenience for participating companies and boost administrative efficiency. DAPA said on the 27th that the system is a core platform for defense procurement, used by about 500,000 registered users from the armed services and suppliers. About 20,000 people log in each day. Because the work is directly tied to national security, the system has required a high level of security. Until now, users joining bids had to repeatedly complete a three-step process — login, identity verification and electronic signature — creating inconvenience. DAPA said it strengthened security measures for storing and using authentication information, allowing the previous three-step procedure to be completed safely and more simply with a single initial login. It also revised the approval process for users already authorized on the Public Procurement Service’s Nara Marketplace. Those users previously had to obtain separate approvals again to take part in defense-related work, but under the government policy to link and integrate national systems, the additional approval step will be waived. DAPA said the change is expected to improve bidding efficiency by eliminating repetitive and inefficient procedures. Kim Kyung-ho, acting director general for planning and coordination at DAPA, said the changes are expected to resolve inconveniences for companies participating in the defense procurement market and improve ease of work. He added that through the ongoing project to advance the Defense e-Procurement System, DAPA will build a more user-friendly system and communicate more actively with customers. * This article has been translated by AI. 2026-04-27 09:21:05
  • Kim Jong Un Watches Mortar Drill on Anti-Japanese Guerrilla Founding Anniversary
    Kim Jong Un Watches Mortar Drill on Anti-Japanese Guerrilla Founding Anniversary Kim Jong Un, North Korea’s state affairs commission chairman, watched a mortar live-fire competition marking April 25, the anniversary of the founding of the Korean People’s Revolutionary Army, which Pyongyang portrays as an anti-Japanese guerrilla force and the roots of today’s military. The Korean Central News Agency said Sunday that Kim on April 25 visited a combined unit under a mechanized infantry division in the western region, congratulated service members and offered encouragement on the 94th anniversary of the force’s founding. KCNA said Kim laid a bouquet at a monument commemorating the achievements of state founder Kim Il Sung, observed a moment of silence and toured a revolutionary history museum. Kim said the party’s “unchanging” concept for building a strong military is that “the ideological elite-ization of soldiers is the invincible, sure-victory sword,” and said only an ideologically firm force that is constantly aware of its “lineage and roots” can “resolutely subdue and crush” any enemy. He said the unit should set an example for the entire military in political-ideological work and in completing combat readiness, in line with its characteristics and status, KCNA reported. Kim then observed the mortar competition by light infantry units under combined formations at multiple levels. KCNA said he was accompanied by Defense Minister No Kwang Chol, Ri Yong Gil, chief of the General Staff of the Korean People’s Army, and Kim Song Gi, director of the General Political Bureau, among other military leaders. Satisfied with the results, Kim said combat training should be organized to fully implement the party’s military strategic thinking and “Juche tactics,” focusing on building combat power capable of “completely annihilating” the enemy. He called for more intensive training competitions across the military by unit level and specialty, KCNA said. North Korea says the Korean People’s Revolutionary Army was organized by Kim Il Sung during anti-Japanese activities in Manchuria. Since 1978, it has designated April 25, 1932, as the founding anniversary of its armed forces and holds commemorative events. * This article has been translated by AI. 2026-04-26 17:15:16