Son-in-law of SK Group chief participated in US strikes on Iran
Kevin Liu Huang, the son-in-law of SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won, participated in the recent US and Israeli airstrike operations targeting Iran, according to his own social media post.
Huang, who is married to Chey's second daughter, Chey Min-jung, currently serves in the US Combined Special Operations Joint Task Force -- Central (CSOJTF-C), based in the Middle East. On Tuesday, local time, he shared insights into his deployment via LinkedIn.
"I thought deploying to the Middle East with a joint task force headquarters would be 'sleepy' vs. working in Ukraine or INDOPACOM (Indo-Pacific Command),' he wrote.
He went on to say he 'couldn't have imagined that within six short months: the Assad regime would fall, the Houthis would capitulate to our bombing attacks and we'd join the Israelis in bombing Iran directly."
Huang tied the knot with the Korean tycoon's daughter in Seoul in October last year.
A Chinese-American, Huang graduated from Harvard University and earned an MBA from Stanford University. After college, he joined the US Marine Corps. Since 2021, he has served as a reservist while also running a startup, continuing his affiliation with the Marine Corps.
Chey Min-jung also has a military background, an uncommon path for a member of a chaebol family. In 2014, she enlisted as a naval officer candidate and was deployed to the Gulf of Aden in 2015 with the Cheonghae Unit. In 2016, she served in the Korean Navy's Second Fleet Command, which defends the Northern Limit Line, the de facto maritime border with North Korea.
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Korea Herald
3 hours ago
- Korea Herald
[Lee Kyong-hee] Recalibrate moves for peace in Korea
One day in late 2017, after work at the Pentagon, then-US Secretary of Defense James Mattis quietly slipped into the National Cathedral in Washington. Mattis directed his security detail to allow him to enter alone so he could pray and reflect. 'What do you do if you've got to do it?' Mattis asked himself. 'You're going to incinerate a couple million people.' He had been in enough wars to know what one on the Korean Peninsula would entail. Now the question for him was how to fulfill his duty knowing his decisions might have epic consequences. President Donald Trump's maximum pressure on North Korea included not only draconian economic sanctions but verbal assaults against Kim Jong-un, including 'fire and fury' and 'nuclear obliteration.' Only the president could authorize the use of nuclear weapons, but Mattis believed the decision would rest on his recommendation. By then, the North Korean leader possessed, for the first time, both nuclear weapons and intercontinental ballistic missiles that could carry a nuclear warhead to the US homeland. Kim had been launching missiles at an alarming rate during the first year of Trump's presidency, including an unprecedented ICBM on July 4. The North conducted its sixth nuclear test -- its most recent one to date -- two months later. In his 2020 book, 'Rage,' Washington Post journalist Bob Woodward describes Mattis returning to the cathedral several more times that year 'to find peace before the moment came.' Woodward writes that, when he walked out of his last visit, Mattis had cleared the decks: 'I'm ready to go to work. I'm not going to think any more about the human tragedy.' Fortunately, things soon transpired in an entirely unexpected way. Kim offered to participate in the Winter Olympics to be hosted by South Korea in February 2018, setting off a whirlwind of cross-border exchanges, which would culminate in the first-ever summit talks between the United States and North Korea. In the past six years — from the 'no deal' in Hanoi in February 2019 to Trump's return to the White House for his second term earlier this year — the geopolitical matrix surrounding this peninsula has become tremendously more complicated. Inter-Korean relations as well as ties between Washington and Pyongyang have hit rock bottom. North Korea has noticeably strengthened its position with its renewed partnership with Russia, while the intensifying rivalry between the US and China is fundamentally rocking the global order. Against this volatile backdrop of international politics, it is with much interest — no doubt with caution as well — that one observes the North's unusual response to recent events that carry far-reaching significance. Amid the chaotic government turnover in the South and the US airstrikes on Iran's three key nuclear facilities, Pyongyang has responded with rarely seen restraint and composure. In the unstable wake of the US strikes in Iran, the North Korean Foreign Ministry expressed its serious concern and denounced the US government for violating Iran's territorial integrity and the United Nations Charter, but did not mention support for Tehran. The response is unexpected given Pyongyang's decadeslong friendly relationship with Tehran. The two countries are widely suspected of sharing weapons technology and underground construction know-how. It can be assumed that Kim Jong-un fears the US capability to carry out precision strikes using bunker-buster bombs. It can also be conjectured that Trump's unilateral action has only hardened Kim's determination to further accelerate his nuclear program and deepened his mistrust of Trump's North Korea policy. But it is too early to discern Kim's total calculus of the Middle East while developments in the region remain fluid. No less important, the North has shown reasonable prudence in responding to events in the South. Even when former President Yoon Suk Yeol and his defense chief were accused of trying to provoke the North into a military response to justify martial law, the North remained silent. In the past, such an allegation would have likely triggered bombastic rhetoric and threats. President Lee Jae-myung has quickly changed the political climate just weeks into his tenure. His picks for key Cabinet posts handling inter-Korean affairs send an explicit message. Chung Dong-young, the unification minister nominee, and Lee Jong-seok, now head of the National Intelligence Service, are known for their pro-detente activities under previous liberal administrations and have expressed commitments to inducing a thaw. Experience tells us that a breakthrough with the North should be cloaked in cautious optimism. We can expect Lee's pursuit of peace will continue. Ideally, Kim should respond and take the path to economic development to save the North Korean population from dire poverty — and keep a nuclear nightmare on the Korean Peninsula at bay. The X factor may be the US. Trump makes no secret of his desire for the Nobel Peace Prize. After taking an outsized role in the Middle East, perhaps he will reengage on the Korean Peninsula, where he often claims he prevented a major war. That could mean an unreliable partner for the Lee administration. Trump likes the spotlight on him alone and insists on setting terms. Trump's overture to Kim signifies a rare window of opportunity, but with risks of uncertainty. That burden will fall on Lee, who will have to take cautious steps — one at a time — resolutely and steadfastly toward peace.
Korea Herald
11 hours ago
- Korea Herald
Iran says 71 dead in Israeli strike on Tehran prison this month
An Israeli strike this month on Tehran's Evin prison killed 71 people, Iran's judiciary said, in one of the deadliest single Israeli attacks on Iranian soil. The June 23 strike killed inmates, prison staff, conscripted soldiers, and visiting family members, the official Mizan news agency reported Sunday, citing Iranian judiciary spokesman Asghar Jahangir. Jahangir said civilians living near the prison were also among the dead, with several others injured. He didn't provide a breakdown of casualties and the judiciary hasn't publicly released a list of victims. Evin prison, located in northwestern Tehran's populated urban core, is known for detaining political prisoners, dissidents and journalists, along with those convicted of criminal offenses. The attack took place hours before US President Donald Trump announced a ceasefire that went into effect on Tuesday, ending the deadliest and most intense confrontation yet between Israel and Iran that pushed the region to the brink of wider conflict. During this period, senior Iranian commanders and nuclear scientists were killed, Israeli forces targeted key military and nuclear sites and the US struck three major Iranian nuclear facilities. Both sides have threatened severe action in response to any new escalation, though the ceasefire appears to be holding so far. Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said Evin Prison was among the targets in the June 23 strikes that also included the internal security headquarters of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. Sunday's announcement comes as Iran holds weekend funeral processions for dozens of senior military and nuclear officials killed in Israeli strikes. The attacks have so far left 627 dead, including many civilians, according to Iran's Health Ministry. The attack marked another deadly chapter in Evin's recent history. In October 2022, eight people died in a fire that broke out at the prison amid nationwide protests sparked by the death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old woman who died in police custody after being arrested for allegedly violating Iran's Islamic dress code.
Korea Herald
11 hours ago
- Korea Herald
Korea's economy will run like a business for growth: finance minister nominee
Koo Yoon-cheol pushes productivity, real growth to boost public livelihoods South Korea's finance minister nominee, Koo Yoon-cheol, vowed Sunday to manage the national economy with the rigor of a private company, focusing on return on investment and making government spending more productive. 'South Korea must pursue real growth, and that requires a fundamental overhaul,' Koo said during a press briefing shortly after his nomination was announced. 'We must run the economy like 'Corporation Korea,' where the people are our shareholders.' Koo, tapped as the first finance minister under President Lee Jae Myung, will be responsible for steering the new administration's economic policy. His comments aligned closely with Lee's top priority of improving public livelihoods, a message the president has underscored since taking office. 'I feel a deep sense of responsibility in being nominated at a time when the Korean economy faces serious challenges,' Koo said. 'But responsibility alone isn't enough — we must act. The most urgent task is stabilizing prices and easing the burden on ordinary citizens.' Koo also pledged to revitalize regional economies outside the capital area and address seasonal safety concerns as Korea approaches the peak of summer. Externally, he pointed to rising risks from US tariff negotiations, the war in Ukraine, and tensions in the Middle East. 'I will respond actively and step by step to the challenges confronting our economy,' he said. A veteran of budget policy, Koo likened managing the national economy to running a business — where every investment must be justified by returns. 'It all begins with cost-benefit thinking,' he said. 'A company that makes bad investments eventually fails. The same applies to a country. Korea must ensure that every unit of spending delivers value — whether by cutting costs, raising revenue, or finding new engines of growth.' Koo reaffirmed the Lee administration's expansionary fiscal stance, but with a focus on measurable outcomes. 'We must approach fiscal policy from a performance-based perspective," he said. "If more spending leads to growth, we spend more. If it doesn't, we cut back. In the short term, we operate flexibly. But in the long term, what matters is spending productively — even if that means spending more — to ensure sustainable growth.' He also stressed the need for systemic reform and future-oriented investments. 'We'll invest strategically in emerging industries like AI to build new growth engines, ensuring all citizens share in the opportunities and rewards of economic expansion and creating a virtuous circle between national progress and public well-being," said Koo. A visiting professor of economics at Seoul National University, the minister nominee has long argued that AI is Korea's next great economic engine. In April, he reportedly said, 'Korea's golden time lies in the next five years — our future depends on AI.' The seasoned bureaucrat returns to the Finance Ministry after five years, having last served as second vice finance minister under President Moon Jae-in, overseeing budget and fiscal policy until May 2020. He previously held several high-level posts at the ministry, including director general for budget planning and for social spending, and was widely regarded as the architect of Moon's 'people-centered economy.' He also held senior positions in the presidential office under President Roh Moo-hyun, including director of government affairs and secretary for personnel. From May 2020 to June 2022, he led the office for government policy coordination. In announcing his nomination, the presidential office described Koo as 'someone who has long explored how to drive innovation in Korea,' and 'ideally positioned to chart a path for national growth, backed by deep expertise in finance and policy.' Koo steps into the role with considerable responsibility, following a nearly two-month vacancy after the sudden resignation of former finance minister Choi Sang-mok. Although the finance minister typically also serves as deputy prime minister for the economy, the presidential office did not clarify whether Koo would take on that role — fueling speculation of a broader structural shake-up. President Lee has previously proposed splitting the Finance Ministry into two branches, one for budgeting and another for fiscal policy, to curb its influence and bring budgetary oversight closer to the presidential office. He will be formally appointed following a parliamentary confirmation hearing. Once confirmed, Koo will immediately face a packed agenda — setting the new administration's economic direction, preparing next year's budget, and responding to trade risks and domestic headwinds. 'Having risen from one of the world's poorest countries to the brink of developed-nation status, Korea has already experienced what it means to lead globally — and I believe we can do it again, and must,' Koo said. 'The country must achieve real growth to ensure people's happiness. I will devote myself to making that happen — and to making sure the benefits of that growth return to the people and improve their lives.'
