S. Koreans head to polls amid deepening political divide

South Korean voters headed to the polls Wednesday for the country's 22nd parliamentary elections, as the country's political landscape continues to experience a deepening divide and increasing tensions. The outcome of the latest elections was expected to shape the policy road President Yoon Suk Yeol will walk for his remaining three years in office. The possible scenario of the liberal main opposition party maintaining a majority in the single-chamber, 300-member National Assembly was projected

PoliticsApril 10, 2024

China extends hands to both Koreas in diplomatic dance

China is delicately navigating a diplomatic tightrope on the Korean Peninsula by simultaneously reaching out to both South and North Korea, amid the growing alignment between Russia and North Korea, and alongside heightened cooperation among South Korea, the United States and Japan. China has swiftly advanced its diplomatic agenda on the peninsula by agreeing to hold a long-stalled trilateral summit involving South Korea and Japan next month, while also dispatching its No. 3 official to North Ko

Foreign AffairsApril 10, 2024

[Election 2024] 3 focal points of general election

As South Koreans vote Wednesday to elect all 300 members of the National Assembly, there are some crucial questions and pivotal issues to keep an eye on. Here, The Korea Herald highlights three focal points before the results come in. 1. How big will the liberal presence be? The election's likely victor appears clear: the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea. The question is, how big will their win be? The liberal party held onto an absolute majority position in the previous parlia

PoliticsApril 10, 2024

First lady remains out of public view on Election Day, inviting attacks

  South Korea's controversy-ridden first lady, Kim Keon Hee, reportedly cast her vote unbeknownst to the public or apparently the presidential office, raising questions and drawing attacks from President Yoon Suk Yeol's political opponents. Liberal YouTube channel "Park Yeol TV" revealed in a post in the channel's community section on Tuesday that Kim had voted during early voting on Friday at a polling station in Itaewon 1-dong of Yongsan-gu, Seoul, which is near the presidential

PoliticsApril 10, 2024

Voter turnout at 56.4% at 2 p.m.

April 10, 2024, 2 p.m.   The nationwide voter turnout for the 2024 general election on Wednesday was 56.4 percent as of 2 p.m., 3.4 percentage points higher than the 53 percent recorded at the same time in the previous 2020 general election. The figure includes votes submitted in the two-day early voting period last week, which saw a record turnout of 31.28 percent of the electorate. Voter turnout for the election has been higher than the last general election for both the 1 p.m. and 2 p.m.

PoliticsApril 10, 2024

Court orders reinstatement after error costs citizenship of immigrant children

The Supreme Court recently ordered the reinstatement of South Korean citizenship for siblings born to a Chinese immigrant, who had been denied citizenship due to an administrative error that happened before their birth. The court ruled in favor of the plaintiffs in their administrative lawsuit against the Ministry of Justice, in which they challenged the ministry's 2019 decision that they were not South Koreans. The siblings were born in 1998 and 2001 to a South Korean man and a Chinese-b

Social AffairsApril 10, 2024

[Election 2024] What more famous voters said after voting

  Lee Myung-bak, who was president of South Korea from 2008-2013, shared his views on the current state of Korean politics, after voting at a polling station in Seoul’s Gangnam district. “It's a challenging time," he began, as he sought to answer a question about the meaning of today’s elections, and before pointing out, "Korean politics don’t really match the overall level of Korea.” Kwon Yang-sook, wife of the late former president Roh Moo-hyun, vot

PoliticsApril 10, 2024

[Election 2024] Election in numbers

  As Koreans head to the polls to elect their next representatives for the legislature, here’s a quick look at the vote by key numbers.   ►22: The number of the parliamentary session to be established as a result of the April 10 election. ►51.7: Length of the ballot paper in centimeters The ballot for proportional representatives is 51.7 centimeters long, listing 38 political parties vying for the 47 seats allocated to proportional representation. ►44.25 million: Number of eligib

PoliticsApril 10, 2024

Blinken renews concerns over support for Russia's defense industrial base from N. Korea, Iran, China

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken reiterated concerns Tuesday over military support for Russia's defense industrial base from North Korea, Iran and China, as Moscow continues its protracted war against Ukraine. Blinken made the remarks during a joint press conference with his British counterpart, David Cameron, in Washington, where they dealt with a range of bilateral and global issues, including what he termed, the "imperative" to get assistance to a war-ravaged Ukraine. "

Foreign AffairsApril 10, 2024

Sullivan stresses 'synergies' in trilateral cooperation among S. Korea, US, Japan

US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan highlighted "synergies" in trilateral cooperation between South Korea, the United States and Japan in security, technology and other fields on Tuesday, the eve of a summit between President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida. Sullivan made the remarks as he previewed the White House summit on what he called issues "across the board," including defense, space cooperation and research partnerships on critical technolog

Foreign AffairsApril 10, 2024

[Live updates: Election 2024]

Stay tuned to The Korea Herald's live coverage of the 2024 parliamentary elections. Opposition rejoices; Humbled ruling party says will watch election results till end April 10, 2024, 6:30 p.m. With exit polls predicting a bigger than expected victory for the liberal opposition Democratic Party and its allies, approaching the critical two-thirds majority, on Wednesday evening, the mood among the main two parties stood in stark contrast to each other. --------------------------------

PoliticsApril 10, 2024

Opposition victory ‘could turn Korea pro-China,’ ruling party chief warns in last rally

Han Dong-hoon, the ruling People Power Party leader, said that a Democratic Party of Korea victory in the National Assembly election slated for Wednesday would “topple South Korea-US alliance” and turn the country “pro-China” during a final rally on Tuesday evening in Seoul. Speaking to a crowd of supporters, Han said that the Democratic Party would “weaken cooperation with the US, sour relations with Japan once again to ‘xie xie’ with China,” refe

PoliticsApril 9, 2024

Yoon stresses medical reform 'for all' during visit to heart hospital

President Yoon Suk Yeol stressed Tuesday that medical reform should not come at the expense of the public or medical personnel but be made to satisfy both sides. Yoon made the point during a visit to a cardiovascular hospital in Bucheon, Gyeonggi Province, just southwest of Seoul, in his fourth such visit to a medical facility amid a prolonged walkout by junior doctors protesting a government plan to raise the medical school admissions quota. "Medical reform should be for all and not forcin

PoliticsApril 9, 2024

Doctors cancel joint press conference amid signs of internal rift

A doctors' lobby group said Tuesday it was canceling a planned joint press conference with other doctors' groups and medical professors, amid signs of an apparent rift within the medical community over how to respond to the government's plan to increase the medical student quota. The Korean Medical Association made the announcement, saying they need more time for negotiations with the trainee doctors who walked off their jobs seven weeks ago in protest against raising the medica

Social AffairsApril 9, 2024

[Election 2024] 5 races to watch

In elections, the big shot politicians don’t always get to clinch easy wins. In the April 10 general election, five prominent figures of South Korean party politics are vying for parliamentary seats via constituency races. The outcomes of these contests are poised to have a significant potential impact on their future paths. A defeat, in particular, could cast their political futures into doubt. How will they fare? Below is an overview of the five races. Lee Jun-seok Lee Jun-seok, who,

PoliticsApril 9, 2024

'Short hair means feminism' attacker gets 3 years in jail

A young man who assaulted a female convenience store clerk because she had short hair was sentenced to three years in jail Tuesday. The Jinju branch of the Changwon District Court found the defendant in his 20s guilty of attacking the female victim and another man in his 50s who tried to stop the assault. The assailant was also ordered to pay 2.5 million won ($1,800) in compensation to the owner of the convenience store, and 10 million won to the male victim for the severe injuries he sustained.

Social AffairsApril 9, 2024

China's No.3 official to visit N. Korea

China's top legislator and No. 3 official, Zhao Leji, is set to visit North Korea from Thursday to Saturday as the two countries mark the 75th anniversary of establishing diplomatic ties this year, China's Foreign Ministry announced Tuesday. The delegation of the Chinese Communist Party and the Chinese government, led by Zhao, will "make an official goodwill visit" to North Korea, the Chinese Foreign Ministry's spokesperson Mao Ning said. Mao explained that the invitatio

Foreign AffairsApril 9, 2024

Man finds pile of cash inside treadmill, returns it to owner

A 68-year-old man who returned a pile of cash he had found inside a discarded treadmill was commended Tuesday by local police. Ansan Sangrok Police Station presented a certificate of appreciation to Jeon Jang-pyo, a resident of Ansan, Gyeonggi Province, who found 48.7 million won ($36,000) in cash inside the broken machine at around 3:51 p.m. on Sunday. He reported his discovery to the police, who checked the surveillance footage to find that a woman in her 60s and another man had thrown away th

Social AffairsApril 9, 2024

[Herald Interview] Kazakhstan needs Korea's expertise via joint research, education: minister

Kazakhstan needs Korean expertise through joint partnerships to realize the Central Asian country's potential in education, research and technology, said Sayasat Nurbek, Kazakhstan's minister of science and higher education, in an interview with The Korea Herald on Monday. Nurbek was on a two-day visit to South Korea to deepen Kazakhstan-Korea collaboration in research and higher education. “We are buying a supercomputer this year. So we'll have computing power. But mostly w

Foreign AffairsApril 9, 2024

Perks of being a National Assembly member

Being a member of South Korea’s National Assembly comes with many perks, legal and otherwise. On top of having the power to legislate, conduct budget reviews, audit and investigate the government and its affiliated institutions, assembly members also enjoy benefits that are not directly related to their parliamentary role. Every election season, there is some initiative to “abolish the rights and privileges of lawmakers.” Han Dong-hoon, soon after taking office as the interim l

PoliticsApril 9, 2024