Former PM Lee ahead of front-runner Yoon in hypothetical two-way matchup, poll shows

Former Prime Minister Lee Nak-yon, who was a distant third in recent polls on presidential hopefuls, surprisingly topped conservative front-runner Yoon Seok-youl in a hypothetical two-way matchup, a survey showed Tuesday. Lee, who also served as the chief of the ruling Democratic Party (DP), scored 43.7 percent compared to former Prosecutor General Yoon's 41.2 percent in the poll conducted by WinGKorea Consulting. The result came as Yoon, a leading conservative candidate, is facing growing att

PoliticsJuly 13, 2021

Youngest opposition chief's leadership hits snag over controversial steps

The leadership of the country's youngest-ever main opposition chief is being brought into question over a string of controversial political steps, one month after he rose to the party's top seat with a big media splash. Lee Jun-seok, chairman of the People Power Party (PPP), drew a major backlash not only from the ruling bloc but also inside his own party over a misguided agreement with his ruling party counterpart a day earlier to provide COVID-19 relief funds to all citizens. Lee and Rep. So

PoliticsJuly 13, 2021

Incoming Vatican Prefect You Heung-sik vows to foster priests for the current era

SEJONG -- South Korean archbishop Lazzaro You Heung-sik said Tuesday he will make "cultivating Catholic priests the era calls for" his top priority as the new prefect of Congregation for the Clergy of the Holy See. Last month, You was named to the post responsible for overseeing education and other matters regarding about 500,000 priests and deacons across the globe. The 69-year-old Catholic priest is the first South Korean appointed to a secretary position at the Vatican. "I w

Social AffairsJuly 13, 2021

[Newsmaker] Yoon unlikely to join opposition party soon

Ex-chief prosecutor and presidential contender Yoon Seok-youl appears more focused on bringing together centrists than joining the main opposition People Power Party, while former chief state auditor Choe Jae-hyeong is likely to join the party as another presidential hopeful, according to figures in close contact with the two men. Political critic Chin Jung-kwon said he met with Yoon last week and it seemed like the former prosecutor general “intends to stay outside the PPP for a while.&r

PoliticsJuly 13, 2021

[News Focus] 1 in 8 Korean women aged 70 or over

SEJONG -- Female Koreans are greatly contributing to the situation of the nation heading toward becoming a superaged society, as their average age and life span are far higher than those of men. According to the Ministry of Interior and Safety, the number of women aged 70 or over here came to 3.38 million as of June. This age group made up 13 percent (more than 1 in 8 women) of the total female population of 25.9 million. This contrasted from the portion of men aged 70 or over of the total ma

Social AffairsJuly 13, 2021

S. Korea reports 252 breakthrough infections, 143 of them with Janssen vaccine

South Korea has confirmed a total of 252 breakthrough COVID-19 infections involving people who tested positive for COVID-19 even after being administered with the full-dose vaccine regimen here, health authorities said Tuesday. Of the total, 143 were administered with Johnson & Johnson's Janssen COVID-19 vaccine followed by 59 with Pfizer's and 50 with AstraZeneca's, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said. The KDCA said similar cases may increase as the country's vacci

Social AffairsJuly 13, 2021

Uptick in delta variant cases in store amid 4th wave of pandemic

South Korea has confirmed 536 more cases of four major contagious variants of the new coronavirus over the past week, including 374 cases of the highly transmissible delta variant, health authorities said Tuesday. The caseload of such infections reached 3,353 here, with the number of delta cases first reported in India tallied at 790, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA). Of the newly confirmed variant cases over the cited period, there were 395 local infections

Social AffairsJuly 13, 2021

UN says 42 percent of North Koreans undernourished

Around 42 percent of North Koreans were undernourished last year, a UN report said Tuesday, as the impoverished nation faces acute food insecurity amid the prolonged pandemic and severe weather conditions, compounded by international sanctions. 　 As many as 10.9 million people in North Korea, or 42.24 percent of the population, were undernourished from 2018 to 2020, according to the report jointly published by five UN agencies, including the Food and Agriculture Organization, the World Food Pr

North KoreaJuly 13, 2021

Park Jin from opposition party to run for president

With the race for the presidential election kicking into gear, a string of senior lawmakers from the main opposition People Power Party are announcing their candidacies one after another. Four-term lawmaker Park Jin on Tuesday declared his bid, becoming the third current lawmaker from the People Power Party to enter the fray, following Ha Tae-keung and Yun Hee-suk. Considered a diplomacy expert in the National Assembly, Park is known to be close to US President Joe Biden. He visited the US

PoliticsJuly 13, 2021

2022 minimum wage set at 9,160 won, falling short of Moon’s campaign promise

South Korea has set its minimum wage level for 2022 at 9,160 won ($8) per hour, up 5.05 percent from this year’s 8,720 won, after labor and business presented vastly different views on how the rate should be set to assist those suffering from the COVID-19 pandemic. The Minimum Wage Commission chose the middle ground. Yet the agreement reached late Monday was not well received, drawing fire from both labor and business representatives. The commission consists of 27 members, nine each from

Social AffairsJuly 13, 2021

[Newsmaker] Both employers and hard-line labor groups disgruntled with new minimum wage

The Minimum Wage Commission's decision on Monday to raise next year's minimum hourly wage 5.1 percent to 9,160 won ($7.98) drew heavy criticism from employers' and hard-line labor groups. Officials at the Federation of Korean Trade Unions (FKTU), the more moderate of South Korea's two major umbrella labor unions, said Tuesday they will accept the state commission's minimum wage decision. But the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU), an umbrella union known for its militant labor movemen

Social AffairsJuly 13, 2021

Seoul records 1st 'tropical night' of year

Seoul recorded the year’s first “tropical night” from Monday evening through Tuesday morning, the Korea Meteorological Administration said Tuesday. Usually observed during summertime in Korea, tropical nights are defined as when minimum temperatures hit 25 degrees Celsius or above after 6 p.m. and before 9 a.m. According to the KMA, this year’s first tropical night in Seoul happened 23 days earlier than it did last year. The sweaty nighttime phenomenon was also recor

Social AffairsJuly 13, 2021

Main opposition lawmaker tests positive for COVID-19

A sitting lawmaker affiliated with the main opposition People Power Party (PPP) tested positive for COVID-19 on Tuesday, party officials said. Rep. Jeong Jeom-sig based in the southern coastal city of Tongyeong was confirmed to have contracted the new coronavirus after attending a meeting last week with a journalist who tested positive for the virus, PPP floor leader Rep. Kim Gi-hyeon said. "Jeong attended a meeting of (PPP) lawmakers representing South Gyeongsang Province last Thursday,

PoliticsJuly 13, 2021

Moon taps former judge as vice justice minister

President Moon Jae-in on Tuesday nominated Kang Sung-kook, a former judge currently serving as a senior justice ministry official, as his new vice justice minister, Cheong Wa Dae said. Kang, head of the ministry's legal affairs bureau, will fill the vacancy left when former Vice Justice Minister Lee Yong-gu resigned in early June after he was embroiled in a controversy over his unpunished assault of a taxi driver last year, according to presidential spokesperson Park Kyung-mee. Kang's term will

PoliticsJuly 13, 2021

Scorching heat wave blankets South Korea

The scorching weather continued to grip South Korea on Tuesday with heat advisories and warnings in place for most of the country. Forecasters warned a stronger heat wave will strike next week following an early end of the monsoon season. The Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA) forecast daytime highs will rise above 33 C in Seoul, Daejeon, Gangneung, Jeju and other cities, and to 35 C in Daegu on Tuesday. Heat alerts have been in effect across the country. Heat advisories and warnings a

Social AffairsJuly 13, 2021

NK propaganda website warns S. Korea against staging joint military drill with US

A North Korean propaganda outlet on Tuesday warned South Korea against pushing ahead with its planned joint military drill with the United States, saying that war exercises and peace cannot go hand in hand. Uriminzokkiri, a North Korean propaganda website, issued the warning as South Korea and the US are expected to hold the joint military drill in August. Seoul's defense ministry earlier said that the allies are discussing when and how to stage their annual summertime military exercise. "

North KoreaJuly 13, 2021

[Diplomatic Circuit] A Philosophy that Empowers from Within

Thailand is a dedicated advocate for global sustainable development. The kingdom has been promoting its homegrown Sufficiency Economy Philosophy as an alternative approach to achieving the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals. First introduced by King Bhumibol Adulyadej after the Asian financial crisis in 1997, the SEP has become Thailand’s development concept that is universally applicable. The philosophy is a culmination of the king’s reflections from decades of ex

Foreign AffairsJuly 13, 2021

S. Korea expresses strong protest over Japan's renewed Dokdo claims in defense white paper

South Korea expressed strong protest Tuesday over Japan's renewed claims to the East Sea islets of Dokdo in an annual defense policy paper, calling for Tokyo to immediately retract its "futile" claims. The ministries of foreign affairs and national defense called in Hirohisa Soma, deputy chief of mission at the Japanese Embassy in Seoul, and Col. Takashi Matshmoto, a defense attache, respectively, to lodge a protest. "Our government strongly protests Japan's futile territorial c

Foreign AffairsJuly 13, 2021

[Diplomatic Circuit] Yun Sang-koo receives Order of the British Empire

     Yun Sang-koo, director of the Rotary Foundation and eldest son of fourth Korean President Yun Po-sun, received the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, conferred by Queen Elizabeth II, at a ceremony held at the British ambassador’s residence in Seoul on Thursday. “Yun Sang-koo brought great creativity into commemorating his father’s association with Edinburgh University, providing the funds and ideas for a series of symposiums which have brought tog

Foreign AffairsJuly 13, 2021

[Diplomatic Circuit] Indonesian batik enters Korea’s online market

　Indonesian batik fabric will now be available online in the Korean market after Wastra Cantik Indonesia (Batik Chic) signed an agreement with online retailer Idus. According to Indonesia’s top envoy to Korea Umar Hadi, the introduction of the country’s traditional dyed fabric to the Korean market will lead to wealth creation not only for the two parties, but also for small and medium-sized enterprises dealing in batik. Hadi said the landmark agreement between a Korean e-commerce

Foreign AffairsJuly 13, 2021