Pro-Yoon lawmaker slams police probe into Itaewon tragedy, calls for prosecution takeover

Rep. Chang Je-won of the ruling People Power Party on Wednesday slammed the ongoing police investigation into the deadly Itaewon crowd crush, calling on the prosecution to take over the case. Chang, one of President Yoon Suk-yeol's closest confidants, made the remarks in a Facebook post after a court denied an arrest warrant for Lee Im-jae, former chief of Yongsan Police Station covering the Itaewon district, earlier this week. A special police investigation team in charge of probing the ca

Dec. 7, 2022

South Korea elevates relations with Vietnam amid efforts to boost trade

The South Korean and Vietnamese presidents agreed to take ties to a higher level at a summit held in Seoul on Monday, as Asia’s fourth-largest economy steps up its push to expand its reach into Southeast Asia amid the rising US-China tech rivalry. The three-day summit, which started Sunday and had last taken place 11 years ago, is the latest highlight of the Yoon Suk-yeol administration’s drive to reduce its economic dependence on Seoul’s largest trading partners -- China and t

Dec. 5, 2022

Ex-spy chief slams Yoon over top Moon aide’s arrest

Park Jie-won, a former head of the National Intelligence Service under investigation over an alleged cover-up in North Korea’s killing of South Korean fisheries official Lee Dae-jun in 2020, told The Korea Herald the Yoon Suk-yeol administration was playing the communist card against his predecessor Moon Jae-in. “All I’m going to say is that the Yoon administration is cracking down on the Democratic Party by portraying Moon as a communist sympathizer,” he said over the ph

Dec. 5, 2022

Yoon likens local truckers strike to N. Korea’s nuclear threats

President Yoon Suk-yeol has likened the ongoing truckers strike to North Korea's nuclear threats, saying the government should respond sternly with principles like it does to protect the people from Pyongyang's repeated actions of menace. "If we had pursued (consistent) North Korea policies based on the principle of nuclear intolerance, we wouldn't be facing North Korea's nuclear threat as we do now," he was quoted as saying by multiple officials, according to Yonha

Dec. 5, 2022

S. Korea to hold policy meeting on N. Korea's human rights this week

South Korea plans to hold an interagency government meeting on its policy on North Korea's human rights situation this week in an effort to improve the North's rights conditions, according to the unification ministry Monday. The meeting, to be presided over by Vice Unification Minister Kim Ki-woong, will be held Friday to discuss ways to establish the government's basic plan to promote the North's rights records, the ministry said. The gathering, the second of its kind this y

Dec. 5, 2022

Presidential office to establish two new secretary positions

The presidential office is set to establish two new secretary positions to support the Yoon Suk-yeol administration's push to increase exports, officials said Monday. The new positions will be secretary to the president for policy coordination and secretary to the president for international law. The policy coordination secretary will work under the senior secretary for policy planning and be in charge of communicating and coordinating with government agencies to support nuclear power plant

Dec. 5, 2022

Yoon's approval rating rises to 38.9% : poll

President Yoon Suk-yeol's approval rating rose to 38.9 percent amid the government's stern response to an ongoing strike by unionized truck drivers, a poll showed Monday. Positive assessment of Yoon's performance climbed 2.5 percentage points from the previous week, posting an increase for the second consecutive week in a Realmeter poll, while negative assessment slid by 1.9 percentage points to 58.9 percent. The poll was conducted on 2,507 people nationwide from Monday to Friday

Dec. 5, 2022

Yoon attends nat'l prayer breakfast, renews pledge to defend liberty

President Yoon Suk-yeol attended a national prayer breakfast on Monday and renewed his pledge to defend liberty and democracy. Yoon attended the Christian prayer meeting with first lady Kim Keon-hee and thanked the South Korean Church for its dedication to the nation. The national prayer breakfast was launched in 1966 and has invited the president and the first lady to its gatherings once a year. "The internal and external environment surrounding us is not easy, but we are working to go for

Dec. 5, 2022

Yoon to preside over meeting to discuss measures against striking truckers

President Yoon Suk-yeol is set to preside over a minister-level meeting on Sunday to discuss measures against the prolonged strike by unionized truckers, a presidential official said. Yoon is expected to ask truckers to end their work stoppage while renewing stern measures against illegal acts. The strike is continuing for an 11th day, as truckers have demanded the government make permanent the guarantee of the minimum wage. The strike has caused major disruptions of shipments of cement and stee

Dec. 4, 2022

Court issues arrest warrant after ex-Cheong Wa Dae director

Seoul court on Saturday issued an arrest warrant for Suh Hoon, who served as the national security director at Cheong Wa Dae and headed the National Intelligence Service during the preceding administration. Suh is accused of orchestrating the deletion of intelligence records related to North Korea’s killing of Lee Dae-jun, a Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries official, at sea two years ago, and then falsifying official documents to suggest he willingly tried to defect from his country. He

Dec. 3, 2022

Five years sought for ex-justice minister in college admissions scandal

Prosecutors in Seoul are seeking five years in prison for Cho Kuk, who served briefly as justice minister during the Moon Jae-in administration, over a college admissions scandal involving his two children. Cho and his wife Chung Kyung-shim were sent to trial three years ago for making bogus certificates and forging credentials to get their children into prestigious schools, and accepting favors from the faculty. While Cho was senior secretary in Moon’s Cheong Wa Dae, his daughter received

Dec. 2, 2022

Former national security advisor awaits court decision on his arrest

Suh Hoon, ex-spy chief and former President Moon Jae-in’s national security director, was summoned to Seoul court on Friday for a questioning after prosecutors filed for an arrest warrant against him in an investigation into North Korea’s killing of South Korean fisheries official, Lee Dae-jun. Suh is accused of ordering the deletion of intelligence reports related to Lee’s case -- the day after he was shot then burned by North Korean soldiers on Sept. 9, 2020 -- while he was t

Dec. 2, 2022

[Photo News] Little Angels marks 60th year

Performers with the Little Angels staged a show titled "The Flight of Angels" at Sejong Center for Performing Arts in Seoul, Thursday. The show was directed to deliver a message for world peace as well as commemorate the troupe's 60th anniversary. (Im Se-jun/The Korea Herald)

Dec. 2, 2022

Ex-President Moon voices deep concern over probe into slain fisheries official

Former President Moon Jae-in on Thursday expressed deep concern over the prosecution's ongoing investigation into the 2020 death of a South Korean fisheries official at the hands of North Korea, saying that a "matter of national security" should not be a "subject of political strife." "I express deep concern over making a matter of national security a subject of political strife and these senseless acts that incapacitate the national security system and stomp on the

Dec. 1, 2022

Yoon to host Vietnamese leader in push for better ties with Southeast Asia

President Yoon Suk-yeol will meet with Vietnamese President Nguyen Xuan Phuc in Seoul on Monday to elevate their 30 years of diplomatic ties, as South Korea looks to expand its reach into Southeast Asia. During Phuc’s three-day state visit that starts Sunday -- the first of its kind Yoon will be hosting since he came to office in May -- the two leaders will discuss a number of topics from security and business to any other issues that need immediate attention, Yoon’s office said in a

Dec. 1, 2022

[From the Scene] Xi Jinping out: Chinese chant in Seoul

At minus five degrees Celsius on Wednesday evening, when the first cold wave warning of this year was issued, more than 200 Chinese and Koreans gathered for the first time to denounce Beijing’s zero-COVID policy and to demand President Xi Jinping to step down. The unprecedented uprising was the first protest by the Chinese against its authorities in Seoul amid ongoing “white paper” protests in mainland China in a symbolic protest against censorship. The protest was led by Chine

Dec. 1, 2022

Resign or be impeached: Embattled safety minister pressured to leave

Pressure is growing for Lee Sang-min to leave his post as minister of interior and safety in the wake of the deadly Halloween crowd crush, with the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea on Wednesday threatening to file a motion to impeach him if he doesn’t step down. The Democratic Party leadership held an emergency meeting on this day and decided to pass a proposal to dismiss the safety minister at the plenary session the following day on Thursday. If the safety minister doesn’t

Nov. 30, 2022

S. Korean PM appeals to BIE members to award 2030 Expo to Busan

Prime Minister Han Duck-soo on Tuesday appealed to members of the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE) to award the 2030 World Expo to the southern city of Busan. Han delivered a presentation on South Korea's bid to host the expo at the 171st General Assembly of the BIE, an intergovernmental body in charge of overseeing the Expo, in Paris. By hosting the expo, South Korea will share its "unique growth experience and develop international cooperation in overcoming human problems t

Nov. 29, 2022

From kimchi stew to building a wall: Where did Yoon’s media relations go awry?

A few days after taking office, President Yoon Suk-yeol made a surprise visit to the press room and casually reminded reporters of his promise to treat them to kimchi stew as a gesture of his desire to communicate with the media. Soon after, Yoon became the first president to hold morning interviews in the lobby of the presidential office, taking questions on contentious matters. At a press conference on the 100th day of his inauguration in August, Yoon said “I think the process of carry

Nov. 29, 2022

Moon landing in 2032, Mars by 2045: Yoon sets space goals

President Yoon Suk-yeol announced South Korea’s space economy road map with goals of landing on the moon and Mars in about two decades. The plan includes developing an independent projectile engine that can fly toward the moon within five years, “land on the moon in 2032” to start mining resources and “land on Mars in 2045," he said at a ceremony held to mark the government's new space plan. The plan was unveiled months after Korea became the 10th country in the

Nov. 28, 2022