Man in his 40s nabbed for spray-painting slurs toward ex-President Moon

Police said Thursday they have nabbed a man in his 40s for scribbling slurs to former President Moon Jae-in on the outer walls of the prosecutors' office in southern Seoul. The man is accused of spray-painting swear words along with the names of the former president and former National Intelligence Service (NIS) Director Suh Hoon on the back gate of the Seoul High Prosecutors Office at 1:30 p.m. He also threw a rock at a glass window and fractured it, officials said. The man allegedly claim

Social AffairsApril 11, 2024

Police catch 1,681 over alleged election law violations

Police said Thursday they have caught 1,681 people and referred 46 of them to the prosecution for alleged irregularities related to the April 10 general elections. Of them, 1,468 people are undergoing investigations on charges of violating the election law, and 167 others were acquitted, according to the National Police Agency. It marks an increase of 24.5 percent, or 331 people, compared with the last general election, when 1,350 people were caught. By type of crime, those accused of spreading

Social AffairsApril 11, 2024

The weight of likely union of Democratic Party, rising third power

Cho Kuk, onetime justice minister under former President Moon Jae-in, is once again in the political limelight, nearly five years after he was dragged down by a corruption scandal in late 2019. His Rebuilding Korea Party, or the “Cho Kuk Revolution Party” as its Korean name suggests, emerged as the party with the highest number of proportional representation seats from the results of the National Assembly election on Wednesday, behind only those affiliated with the two major parties.

PoliticsApril 11, 2024

What led to ruling party’s defeat?

The ruling party’s bitter loss at Wednesday’s parliamentary elections was expected, with the majority of the voters hoping to "bring judgment" upon President Yoon Suk Yeol for failing to curb soaring food prices, end a prolonged doctors’ strike and quell a slew of scandals, critics said Thursday. The main opposition Democratic Party and its satellite party secured a total of 175 seats, while the ruling People Power Party and its sister party only won 108 seats of the

PoliticsApril 11, 2024

[New Analysis] What does electoral wipeout mean for Yoon’s foreign policy?

The main opposition Democratic Party of Korea's resounding victory in Wednesday's National Assembly election may leave President Yoon Suk Yeol confronted with a dilemma in the realm of foreign policy. In essence, the South Korean leader may find himself navigating a pressing need to prioritize foreign affairs, including his landmark rapprochement with Japan and trilateral cooperation with the United States and Japan, amid the looming specter of a lame-duck period. However, this imperative could

Foreign AffairsApril 11, 2024

Key conservative wins defy exit poll predictions

The atmosphere of election camps of the candidates vying for the 300-member seats in the National Assembly shifted minute by minute as the votes were counted throughout Wednesday night and into Thursday morning. Ferocious election battlefields, especially, where the results were hard to predict ended with major cliffhangers, as the victories predicted from the exit polls sponsored by South Korea’s major TV stations were disproven at the last minute. Lee Jun-seok, leader of the New Reform P

PoliticsApril 11, 2024

Despite landslide win, opposition party chief not yet home-free

  Wednesday’s general election concluded in a resounding victory for the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea, which took 175 seats of the National Assembly's 300 seats while the ruling People Power Party scraped up 108. While Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung celebrates what he called "a great victory of the people," the prospect of him becoming a front-runner for the next presidency is murkier than what the landslide victory may suggest. With Lee winning his own c

PoliticsApril 11, 2024

Meet the freshmen of S. Korea’s National Assembly

From a naturalized South Korean doctor of US missionary descent to a four-time Olympic pistol shooting champion and the former chief executive officer of the country’s largest business conglomerate, several new faces are pursuing a second career in politics through the April 10 general election. New to the National Assembly is Kwak Sang-eon of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea, who won an Assembly seat for Seoul’s Jongno constituency against the incumbent Rep. Choi Jae-hy

PoliticsApril 11, 2024

Ruling party leader quits after bitter loss, leaves room for political comeback

Han Dong-hoon’s 107-day journey as the ruling conservative party’s interim leader officially ended Thursday, after the People Power Party failed to take back the National Assembly through Wednesday’s parliamentary elections. The 51-year-old prosecutor-turned-politician announced his resignation from his position as chair of the People Power Party emergency response committee, saying that he takes responsibility for the election defeat. “The voice of the people is always r

PoliticsApril 11, 2024

Former biz leaders receive mixed results in election

Former corporate executives who ran for a seat at the National Assembly received mixed results as the votes from the general election were announced Thursday. The two headliners -- Koh Dong-jin, former president of Samsung Electronics, and Kong Young-woon, former president of Hyundai Motor -- found each other on opposite ends of the spectrum as the former won while the latter suffered a loss. Koh, who joined the ruling People Power Party in January, confirmed victory in the Gangnam-C constituenc

PoliticsApril 11, 2024

New parliament to have no independent member

    The new National Assembly of 300 members selected in Wednesday’s general election will be devoid of any independent members for the first time in over five decades. A total of 58 candidates without any political party affiliation ran in 254 constituency races, but none prevailed. The Assembly previously lacked a nonpartisan representative three past sessions spanning from 1963 through 1972. But that was before partisan politics firmly took root in Korea, with the "democr

PoliticsApril 11, 2024

2024 general election winners by constituency

The Korea Herald has compiled the English names of the winners of the 2024 general election's results by constituency provided by the National Election Commission on Thursday. -- Ed.  

Social AffairsApril 11, 2024

Old guard of the left makes return to parliament

Members of the center-left Democratic Party of Korea's old guard, each of them with political careers spanning several decades, made a splendid comeback in Wednesday’s general election in South Korea. The victories of Park Jie-won, Choo Mi-ae and Chung Dong-young are expected to give more strength to the opposition camp, which delivered a crushing defeat to President Yoon Suk Yeol and his conservative People Power Party. Choo, who will be returning to the National Assembly for a sixth term

PoliticsApril 11, 2024

Yoon's aides, PM offer to resign over election defeat

President Yoon Suk Yeol's aides and Prime Minister Han Duck-soo offered to step down from their posts, as the vote count on Thursday showed that the ruling conservative bloc took a landslide defeat in Wednesday's parliamentary elections. According to a source from the presidential office who declined to be named, Prime Minister Han "verbally expressed his intention to resign" to Yoon. Key aides who directly report to Yoon -- Chief of Staff Lee Kwan-sup and Director of National Policy S

PoliticsApril 11, 2024

Mysterious hotel deaths of 2 women, 2 men under probe

South Korean police said Thursday they are investigating the deaths of two women and two men at a hotel in Paju, Gyeonggi Province, with preliminary findings indicating the women were murdered by the men, who later jumped to their deaths from the building. Officers at Paju Police Station were investigating the case of a missing woman, which led them to a hotel in Yadang-dong, Paju on Wednesday. They tracked the victim to the hotel and knocked on the door of the room where the two men were stayin

Social AffairsApril 11, 2024

Robbery, assault suspect arrested after leaving victim naked, unconscious in a parking lot

A man has been arrested on suspicion of robbing and assaulting a woman and leaving her unconscious in a parking lot in North Jeolla Province, police said Thursday. Jeonju Deokjin Police Station is investigating a suspect in his 20s on possible charges of bodily injury resulting from robbery and other yet-unspecified sex crimes against the victim. The victim was found at around 12:30 p.m. Wednesday in a parking lot in Deokjin-gu, Jeonju. The victim had been bleeding from injuries on her face and

Social AffairsApril 11, 2024

NK leader vows to deal 'death-blow' to enemy in event of confrontation

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has vowed to mobilize all means to deal a "death-blow" to the country's enemy without hesitation should it opt for military confrontation with the North, state media said Thursday. Kim made the remark during his visit to the Kim Jong-il University of Military and Politics on Wednesday, the Korean Central News Agency said, calling the university named after Kim's late father a military training school for core commanding officers. "He said

North KoreaApril 11, 2024

Opposition parties expand Assembly dominance

Opposition parties secured a total of 192 seats in the 300-member National Assembly in the general election Wednesday, expanding their dominance in the parliament and threatening to constrain the ability of South Korea's conservative president to pursue his policy drive. The ruling bloc managed to defend the 100-seat threshold that could otherwise have deprived President Yoon Suk Yeol of his veto power, a vote count showed Thursday morning. It was a third victory in a row for the center-left, wh

PoliticsApril 11, 2024

DP wins resounding majority in crushing defeat for PPP

The main opposition Democratic Party retained a majority in the National Assembly in Wednesday's general elections in another major setback for the ruling People Power Party and President Yoon Suk Yeol. With almost all votes counted, the DP won 161 out of 254 directly contested seats, while the PPP won only 90 seats. Including proportional seats, the DP and its satellite party were expected to win 176 seats and the PPP and its satellite party 109 seats in the 300-member National Assembly. T

PoliticsApril 11, 2024

Opposition wins by landslide

South Korea’s liberal main opposition party and its allies clinched a sweeping victory in Wednesday’s general election, an outcome which is expected to further frustrate President Yoon Suk Yeol’s pursuit of key initiatives over his remaining three years in office. With only six proportional representation seats left to be assigned, the Democratic Party of Korea and its satellite Minjoo Union Party had secured 172 seats in the single-chamber, 300-member National Assembly, accord

PoliticsApril 10, 2024