High jumper Woo Sang-hyeok, swimmer Kim Seo-yeong named S. Korean flag bearers

FONTAINEBLEAU, France -- South Korea announced Sunday high jumper Woo Sang-hyeok and swimmer Kim Seo-yeong will be its flag bearers at the opening ceremony for the Paris Summer Olympics. Lee Kee-heung, president of the Korean Sport & Olympic Committee, made the announcement during an open house event at the South Korean training camp at the National Sports Center for Defense (CNSD) in Fontainebleau, about 60 kilometers south of the French capital. The opening ceremony is scheduled for Frid

July 21, 2024

[Wang Son-taek] Global interests and the US-China summit

It is very welcome that US President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping met at the APEC summit in San Francisco. The fact that the summit was held can be a success this time because the negative opinions of the US and China on the other side are strong. However, when looking at the dialogues between the two, we find that the approaches of both sides are short-sighted, narrow, and reactionary. If they want a practical solution for peaceful coexistence, they must take a long-term vision, g

Nov. 16, 2023

[ J. Bradford DeLong] The attention economy goes to court

The Google antitrust trial has finally shown just how much the world’s dominant search engine is willing -- and able -- to pay to be the default on smartphones and other devices: $26 billion in 2021 alone, $18 billion of which went to another tech giant, Apple. While Google has long tried to guard this number, it was always known to be large -- and so it is. What is Google paying for? When you set up a new iPhone, Apple could prompt you on which search engine to use as the default in its

Nov. 13, 2023

Weightlifting champion Jang Mi-ran tapped as vice minister

President Yoon Suk Yeol on Thursday named Jang Mi-ran, a physical education professor and former Olympic weightlifting champion, as the vice minister of culture and sports. Jang, 39, will become The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism's second vice minister, whose main responsibility is handling sports-related affairs, according to officials. With the ministry having two vice ministers, Jang will cooperate with the current first vice minister Chun Byong-geuk in overseeing the ministry&#

June 29, 2023

[Kim Seong-kon] After the summit: Back on track

To the great relief of both countries, the 2023 summit meeting between South Korea and the US turned out to be a remarkable success in many respects. The atmosphere was indeed congenial, based firmly on the mutual trust and companionship of fellow travelers on the challenging path to defend democracy against the threat of autocracy. The foreign press, too, favorably reported on the success of the summit. One of the highlights was President Yoon’s surprise song during the welcoming banquet

May 3, 2023

Olympic champion Choi Min-jeong grabs silver in women's 1,500m at ISU World Championships

Choi Min-jeong grabbed a silver medal at the International Skating Union (ISU) World Short Track Championships in Seoul on Saturday after finishing behind her Dutch rival Suzanne Schulting. The South Korean Olympic champion placed second in the women's 1,500 meter finals of the 2023 KB Financial Group ISU World Short Track Speed Skating Championships held at Mokdong Ice Rink in western Seoul. The 24-year-old came across the line in 2:31.448 behind Schulting despite efforts to overtake her.

March 11, 2023

Speed skater Kim Min-sun on fire in breakout season

Five major competitions into the 2022-2023 speed skating season, South Korean sprinter Kim Min-sun has gone a perfect 5-for-5 in the women's 500 meters, winning all of those races by a comfortable margin. This has been just the type of breakout campaign long expected of the 23-year-old, who won the 500m gold at the 2016 Winter Youth Olympics but fell short of hype at her first two regular Olympics in 2018 and 2022. Kim opened her International Skating Union World Cup season with a victory i

Dec. 19, 2022

In a first for Korea, sports photographer Kim Min-jae receives Pierre de Coubertin medal

Sports photographer Kim Min-jae has been awarded the Pierre de Coubertin Medal as the first Korean to receive the honor. The award was presented by IOC President Thomas Bach at Coex, Gangnam-gu on Wednesday. Bach is in Seoul for the 26th General Assembly of the Association of National Olympic Committees, which is being held from Tuesday to Friday. “It is such a great honor to receive the Coubertin Medal for the first time as a Korean and as a sports photographer. I will do my best to promo

Oct. 20, 2022

Former KSU chief seeks ISU presidency

The Korea Skating Union said Friday it has nominated Kim Jae-youl, president of Samsung Global Research, an in-house think tank, and formerly KSU president, as a presidential candidate for the International Skating Union. The KSU said Kim, equipped with vast experience in sports administration, has made significant contributions to the growth of the nation’s skating sports. “While serving as president (2011-2016), Kim played a pivotal role in the nation’s hosting of nine maj

April 22, 2022

Beijing 2022 medalists pull out of domestic competition

Skating medalists from the recent Beijing Winter Olympics have withdrawn from the domestic winter sports competition starting this week, the sport's national federation said Thursday. The Korea Skating Union (KSU) said speed skater Lee Seung-hoon and short tracker Lee Yu-bin have pulled out of the National Winter Sports Festival, which kicks off Friday. Lee Seung-hoon won the bronze medal in the men's mass start in Beijing last week. Lee Yu-bin was a member of the silver medal-winning team in th

Feb. 24, 2022

Beijing 2022 medalists returning to action at annual nat'l competition

There will be little time for rest for the weary South Korea medalists and other participating athletes from the recently concluded Beijing Winter Olympics, with an annual national winter sports competition starting Friday. The 103rd edition of the National Winter Sports Festival will run from Friday to Monday at multiple locations across the country. This year's event will start only five days after the end of Beijing 2022, where South Korea grabbed two gold medals, five silver medals and two b

Feb. 23, 2022

[BEIJING OLYMPICS] Bubble bursts: Beijing Winter Games end with muted celebration of athletes

BEIJING -- The Olympic flame in Beijing was extinguished on Sunday to mark the conclusion of the first Winter Games during the global COVID-19 pandemic, as a muted closing ceremony celebrated athletic feats from snow, ice and track over the past two weeks. The 24th Winter Olympics put participating athletes, officials, workforce and media into a bubble, or formally called the "closed-loop system," to keep them separated from the general public in the Chinese capital. They were confine

Feb. 20, 2022

[BEIJING OLYMPICS] Bobsledders struggle in S. Korea's last event at Beijing 2022

BEIJING -- There was no last-day magic this time, as the South Korean bobsleigh pilot Won Yun-jong failed to take his four-man team to the podium on Sunday in Beijing as he had done four years ago on home soil. Won, Kim Jin-su, Kim Dong-hyun and Jung Hyun-woo finished in 18th place in the four-man bobsleigh competition with a time of 3:58.02 after four runs at Yanqing National Sliding Centre in Yanqing District, northwestern Beijing. The first two runs took place on Saturday and the final two ru

Feb. 20, 2022

[BEIJING OLYMPICS] S. Korean Olympic chief lauds athletes' efforts, vows to develop more winter sports talent

BEIJING -- South Korea's top Olympic official praised strong efforts by the country's athletes at Beijing 2022 on Sunday, while also recognizing the need to nurture future Winter Olympic stars away from ice. Lee Kee-heung, president of the Korean Sport & Olympic Committee (KSOC), held a press conference in the Chinese capital to discuss South Korea's performance at the 2022 Winter Games. With the competition drawing to a conclusion Sunday, South Korea finished with two gold, five silver and

Feb. 20, 2022

[BEIJING OLYMPICS] S. Korea decides not to appeal Beijing short track refereeing to top sports court

BEIJING -- South Korea has decided not to appeal short track speed skating refereeing at Beijing 2022 to the top global sports tribunal, the country's Olympic chief said Sunday. At a press conference in Beijing, Korean Sport & Olympic Committee (KSOC) President Lee Kee-heung said the decision was reached after consultations with legal experts. The KSOC had earlier sought to take its appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) after two South Korean short track speed skaters, Hwang Dae

Feb. 20, 2022

[BEIJING OLYMPICS] Amid pandemic, controversy, S. Korea meets modest medal target in Beijing

BEIJING -- In late December, about a month and a half before the start of Beijing 2022, the Korean Sport & Olympic Committee (KSOC) announced a rather modest medal target: win one or two gold medals and finish around the top 15 in the medal race. That low target did not sit well with South Korean athletes, who voiced confidence they could exceed that number. Some close calls and unexpected challenges later, those athletes went out and met the goal right on the number. South Korea finished th

Feb. 20, 2022

[BEIJING OLYMPICS] Once teen prodigy, speed skater Chung Jae-won comes into his own with mass start silver

Chung Jae-won was born in the first year of the 21st century, a bundle of speed skating potential waiting to be tapped. The first glimpse of that talent came four years ago at PyeongChang 2018, when Chung, all of 16, earned the silver medal in the men’s team pursuit. A fuller realization occurred Saturday in Beijing, where Chung, still four months away from his 21st birthday, skated to the silver medal in the men’s mass start. At 7:47.18, Chung finished 0.07 bacK of the champion, B

Feb. 19, 2022

[BEIJING OLYMPICS] Veteran speed skater adds record-setting medal to Olympic legacy

Over his illustrious Olympic career spanning four competitions, South Korean speed skater Lee Seung-hoon has done nothing but win medals. And with the bronze medal in the men‘s mass start at Beijing 2022 on Saturday, Lee now has six medals for his career, more than any South Korean athlete in Winter Olympic history. With two golds, three silvers and one bronze, he is tied with two Summer Olympians for most medals by a South Korean: pistol shooter Jin Jong-oh and archer Kim Soo-nyung. &ld

Feb. 19, 2022

[BEIJING OLYMPICS] Bobsleigh pilot looking to repeat last-day drama

South Korean bobsleigh pilot Won Yun-jong led his four-man team to an unexpected silver medal on the final day of the 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang. With Beijing 2022 drawing to a conclusion Sunday, Won and his new-look four-man unit will try to repeat that performance from four years ago. The final two runs of the four-man bobsleigh competition will be the final event for South Korea in the Chinese capital. The race takes place at Yanqing National Sliding Centre in Yanqing, northwestern

Feb. 19, 2022

[BEIJING OLYMPICS] Speed skater going for record-setting medal in likely last Olympics

BEIJING -- Beijing 2022 could be the final Winter Games for the speed skater Lee Seung-hoon, who shares a South Korean Winter Olympic record with five career medals. Lee will take his one last crack at a medal at the National Speed Skating Oval in Beijing on Saturday in the men's mass start. Lee is the defending champion of the event, which will see skaters take a start en masse, a la short track style. At 33, Lee has been on the downslope. It became evident early in these Olympic Games, when he

Feb. 18, 2022