Main opposition lawmaker's home, office raided over suspected illegal political funds

Prosecutors raided the home and an office of Rep. Youn Kwan-suk of the main opposition Democratic Party on Wednesday over suspicions he took illegal political funds. The Seoul Central District Prosecutors Office sent investigators to Youn's home and office in his constituency and other locations to seize evidence, including account books from the party's convention in 2021. Prosecutors suspect Youn received illegal political funds from Kang Rae-gu, the then head of the Association of

April 12, 2023

Opposition leader says alleged US eavesdropping 'disappointing' if true

Opposition leader Lee Jae-myung said Tuesday that recent allegations of the United States' eavesdropping on South Korea's presidential office would be "very disappointing" if true. Lee of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea made the remark during a press conference hosted by the Foreign Correspondents' Club, referring to the reported leak of purported Pentagon documents with information that US intelligence services eavesdropped on South Korean presidential off

April 11, 2023

Details in US intel leak ‘altered’: Yoon’s office

President Yoon Suk Yeol’s first deputy national security adviser has played down the significance of the recent leak of highly classified US intelligence documents involving South Korea, shortly before boarding a plane to the US to discuss a Seoul-Washington summit scheduled for late April. Kim Tae-hyo, the adviser, told reporters Tuesday at Incheon International Airport that most of the information released online “was altered” and that this conclusion is shared by both Korean

April 11, 2023

Yoon's office sees little chance of conversation leak through eavesdropping

The office of President Yoon Suk Yeol has tentatively concluded that there is little chance of internal discussions having been intercepted by the US intelligence community, according to Yoon's aides. They have stressed that the presidential office in central Seoul is equipped with a system to prevent such eavesdropping in the wake of news reports, based on purported Pentagon documents, that Washington secretly listened to conversations of top South Korean officials. "Now that it'

April 11, 2023

Yoon’s office to request ‘appropriate measures’ from US over spying fiasco

The presidential office said Monday it would request "appropriate measures" from the US if necessary after the two countries finish assessing allegations that the US intelligence agency had wiretapped the South Korean government. The US reports that brought the spying allegations to light are "not confirmed fact," a senior official from the presidential office told reporters, stressing that fact-checking must come first. It is also difficult to rule out the possibility that i

April 10, 2023

Korea to 'consult' with US over alleged wiretapping of national security office

The South Korean presidential office said on Sunday it “will have necessary consultations with the US side” following a high-profile American media report that the US intelligence services had wiretapped the Korean government regarding its arms support for Ukraine. The New York Times reported on Saturday that a significant amount of classified documents from the US Department of Defense were leaked on social media. At least two of the documents contained internal discussions of the K

April 9, 2023

Govt. to mediate over nursing bill as strike looms

A coalition of South Korean medical technicians and doctors’ rights activist groups is considering a strike, as long-awaited bills aimed at easing nursing regulations and banning convicted doctors from returning to work are to be tabled at the National Assembly as early as Thursday. A spokesperson of the ruling People Power Party Yoo Sang-bum said Sunday the government and the PPP would try to find a middle ground after collecting opinions of the parties concerned, with a special committee

April 9, 2023

Yoon vows to build 'warm society' in Easter message

President Yoon Suk Yeol issued an Easter message Sunday, saying he will work hard to make South Korea a warmhearted society. "Jesus' resurrection is a message of salvation that mankind can be reborn by practicing love," Yoon said in a Facebook post. "I wish the love of Jesus will fill the entire world. Our government will work hard to build a warm society." (Yonhap)

April 9, 2023

Formerly disbanded ‘far-left’ party re-enters Assembly

The minor Progressive Party, deemed to be more left-wing than the National Assembly’s majority-holding Democratic Party of Korea or the Justice Party, has returned to the National Assembly. The party’s Rep. Kang Sung-hee won 39 percent of the votes in Jeonju, a liberal constituency in North Jeolla Province, in a by-election on Wednesday, beating her Democratic Party-affiliated rival, who earned 32 percent. It took the Progressive Party, which was the Unified Progressive Party in a fo

April 7, 2023

Ex-Yoon camp director elected ruling party floor leader

The ruling People Power Party on Friday elected police officer-turned-lawmaker Rep. Yun Jae-ok as its new floor leader. Yun won the majority of votes from fellow lawmakers of the party, with 65 out of the 109 present, in a two-horse race against his competitor, the four-time lawmaker Rep. Kim Hack-yong. In 2012, Yun became the first graduate of the Korean National Police University to win a National Assembly seat. He has since managed to be re-elected in the next two general elections to serve f

April 7, 2023

South Korea needs smaller Assembly: ruling party head

The head of the ruling People Power Party said on Thursday South Korea may need a smaller National Assembly. Speaking at a meeting of the party leadership Thursday, Rep. Kim Gi-hyeon said the current 300 seats in the 75-year-old parliament “shouldn’t be considered absolute.” “The country’s Assembly started out with 200 seats and the Constitution states 200 seats or more -- so not necessarily 300 which is kind of seen as a fixture,” he said. He added that he be

April 6, 2023

Speaker floats plan for South Korea-US legislators union

The speaker of South Korea’s National Assembly, Rep. Kim Jin-pyo, said he is seeking to form a union of South Korean and US legislators within this year. “There isn’t yet an official channel for dialogue between South Korea and the US legislatures. Given the history and the significance of the ROK-US alliance, a union of legislators of two countries is urgently needed,” he said in a statement following a dinner with US congressional delegation on Wednesday, referring to t

April 6, 2023

Yoon asks municipalities to unite for Busan’s World Expo bid

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol on Thursday urged leaders of local governments to go all out in support of Busan’s bid to host the World Expo 2030. During a regional cooperation council meeting held in the afternoon, the president said that hosting the global event is a task for the whole country, calling on central and local governments to work as “one team.” “The (Busan) Expo will be an international event where we can share our development experiences with the int

April 6, 2023

PM urges more efforts to win public support for Japan policy, veto of grain act

Prime Minister Han Duck-soo on Thursday stressed the need for the government to step up efforts to broaden public support for its push to mend relations with Japan and President Yoon Suk Yeol's decision to veto a controversial revision to the Grain Management Act. The measures have been taken "only for the people and national interest," he said at the outset of a policy coordination meeting with ministers. During an interpellation session at the National Assembly earlier this week

April 6, 2023

Ruling party leader proposes cutting at least 30 National Assembly seats

Ruling People Power Party leader Kim Gi-hyeon on Thursday proposed that the number of lawmakers be reduced by at least 30 starting in next year's general elections. Kim made the remarks as the National Assembly is set to launch a Whole House Committee meeting for the first time in 20 years next week to discuss possible reform measures for the country's election policy. The Assembly currently consists of 300 seats, with the main opposition Democratic Party and the People Power Party hol

April 6, 2023

Minor progressive Jinbo Party wins parliamentary seat for 1st time

A candidate of the minor progressive Jinbo Party has won a parliamentary by-election, giving the party its first-ever seat in the National Assembly. Candidate Kang Sung-hee won 39.07 percent of votes against independent candidate Rym Chung-yeap, who won 32.11 percent, in the by-election held in the southwestern city of Jeonju, about 190 kilometers south of Seoul, on Wednesday. Kang, 50, graduated from Hankuk University of Foreign Studies in Seoul and was an executive member of a labor union of n

April 6, 2023

UK, South Korea ‘allies rooted in shared values’: envoy

Colin Crooks, the British ambassador to South Korea, told the ruling People Power Party leader Rep. Kim Gi-hyeon on Wednesday that South Korea is a country that shares the same values as the UK. “It is a country that supports Ukraine in particular, and also one that is faced with the North Korea challenge. We are countries that stand together in partnerships for peace,” the ambassador said, speaking in Korean. The ambassador said that watching the Ssangyong exercise between the South

April 5, 2023

South Korean delegation to visit Japan over Fukushima wastewater release

A delegation of Democratic Party of Korea lawmakers are heading to Japan for three days on Thursday ahead of the release of the wastewater stored at the earthquake-wrecked nuclear power plant in Fukushima. “There are so many unaddressed questions surrounding the wastewater being dumped in the waters and South Korea can’t leave it up to the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) alone,” Rep. Wi Seong-gon, part of the five-member delegation, told a press conference Wednesday.

April 5, 2023

BIE delegation visits main proposed Expo site

The delegation dispatched by the Bureau International des Expositions kicked off its second day in Busan by receiving a third presentation about Busan’s Expo bid from the bidding committee for the international exhibition. The presentation was delivered by professor Jin Yang-kyo of Hongik University’s Graduate School of Architecture and Urban Development about the venue and by Shin Jae-hyun, the new ambassador for international relations for Busan, about the city’s forecast of

April 5, 2023

Bullying records to be reflected in university admissions, job applications

Students with a history of bullying will have their records reflected in the regular college admissions process, while the government considers extending the bullying record retention period so that any history of bullying will follow perpetrators as they apply for jobs after college. During a consultation meeting led by the ruling People Power Party and the government on Wednesday to combat the growing cases of school violence across the nation, Rep. Park Dae-chul, head of the National Assembly

April 5, 2023