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Hyonhee Shin
For Hyonhee Shin's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Oct 4, 2021
Two Koreas reopen hotlines as Pyongyang urges Seoul to mend ties
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un expressed his willingness last week to reactivate the hotlines, which were cut off in early August.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Sep 30, 2021
South Korea's ruling party retreats on 'fake news' law after backlash
Opposition politicians, human rights activists and both conservative and liberal leaning media organizations said the amendments would shield those in power from legitimate scrutiny.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Aug 24, 2021
U.S. scraps plan to use Japanese bases for Afghan refugees, sources say
The planned move would have also involved bases in South Korea, an idea the government in Seoul responded positively to.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Aug 20, 2021
South Korea's Moon dismisses link with activists charged with spying for North
Under usual procedures in South Korea, authorities have not identified the activists nor has the identity of their lawyers been disclosed.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jul 28, 2021
North and South Korea in talks over summit and reopening liaison office
South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un have been exploring ways to improve strained ties by exchanging multiple letters since April.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Jul 16, 2021
South Korean youth fight 'click war' in hunt for COVID-19 vaccines
Many young South Koreans feel unfairly singled out by authorities as the main driver of its COVID-19 outbreak, even as the government prioritizes vaccine distribution to older people.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics / ANALYSIS
Jul 3, 2021
Kim's reshuffles serve to keep North Korea elite in line as crises mount
What may be the most significant reshuffle of top North Korean officials in years by leader Kim Jong Un serves as a warning to the ruling elite, analysts say.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
May 19, 2021
South Korea's Moon seeks urgency on North Korea and a vaccine deal at summit with Biden
Moon is scheduled to arrive in Washington on Thursday for a four-day stay, which will include a series of meetings with Biden.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
May 12, 2021
South Korea's COVID-19 vaccine shortages overshadow Moon-Biden summit
Uncertainties in the country's vaccine rollout amid global shortages and shipment delays are deepening public skepticism over Seoul's goal of reaching herd immunity by November.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Oct 29, 2020
South Korea expresses 'serious concern' over any radioactive water dump
The view was expressed during meetings between Japanese and South Korean officials, the first since Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga took office.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / FOCUS
Feb 19, 2019
North Korea's 'socialist utopia' needs mass labor, but growing market economy threatens model
In January, thousands of North Korean students traveled to Mount Paektu, a sacred site where the ruling family claims its roots and where leader Kim Jong Un is building a massive economic hub in the alpine town of Samjiyon.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Jan 26, 2019
Amid tensions with Japan, South Korea to boost world awareness on wartime sex abuses
South Korea is committed to advancing relations with Japan but its foreign minister says Seoul will step up efforts to share with the world its experience of Japanese wartime atrocities, including sexual violence against its women.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Dec 6, 2018
Growing split in Seoul over North Korea threatens detente and nuclear talks
When Seoul was preparing to open a liaison office in the North Korean city of Kaesong this summer after a decade of virtually no contact with its longtime enemy, South Korean officials had heated debates over whether they should seek approval from Washington.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Sep 4, 2018
South Korea may seek change in controversial military exemption for athletes
South Korea may seek to revise its military exemption program for athletes amid calls for stricter rules after the country's soccer and baseball teams earned the exemption by winning gold medals at the Asian Games over the weekend.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / ANALYSIS
Aug 21, 2018
As food crisis threatens, humanitarian aid for North Korea grinds to a halt
Humanitarian aid for North Korea has nearly ground to a halt this year as the United States steps up the enforcement of sanctions, despite warnings of a potential food crisis and improving relations with Pyongyang, aid groups say.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / ANALYSIS
Jul 19, 2018
North Korean leader Kim underscores shift in focus to economy with rebukes of industrial facility officials
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's strident rebukes of officials during recent trips to industrial sites were aimed at rallying support at home for his economic drive and convincing outsiders about his willingness to denuclearize.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
May 30, 2018
Kim Yong Chol: The former spy chief sent by North Korea for talks in the U.S.
When Kim Yong Chol lands in New York this week, he will become the most senior North Korean envoy to hold talks with American officials on U.S. soil in 18 years.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Jan 10, 2018
The challenge of turning inter-Korean thaw into longer-term detente
A day of smiles and jokes at the first inter-Korean talks in two years quickly evaporated Tuesday night when the North's chief negotiator threatened to walk out after the South Korean side brought up Pyongyang's nuclear and missile programs.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / ANALYSIS
Dec 1, 2017
The thinking behind Kim Jong Un's 'madness'
On an icy December day in 2011, North Korea's new leader Kim Jong Un was accompanied by seven advisers as they escorted the hearse that carried his father, Kim Jong Il, through the streets of Pyongyang.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics / ANALYSIS
Nov 22, 2017
Inside Kim Jong Un's inner circle, top aides' fates shift
When Kim Jong Un sat down in September to order the sixth and largest of North Korea's nuclear tests, Hwang Pyong So sat by his side, his khaki military uniform conspicuous among the suits at the table, photos released by state media at the time showed.

Longform

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