Yoon may meet Biden shortly after taking office in May

As South Korean President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol received a congratulatory call from US President Joe Biden hours after his election victory Thursday, drawing keen attention is when they will meet. Observers say they may hold their first summit talks as early as in late May. Biden is reportedly considering a visit to Japan in late May for a Quad summit, which will offer a chance for him to make a stopover in South Korea. Yoon is slated to be inaugurated on May 10. If they meet before the end of the

March 10, 2022

Moon congratulates President-elect Yoon on winning election

President Moon Jae-in on Thursday congratulated President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol on winning the presidential election as they held a telephone conversation, Moon's spokesperson said. Moon told Yoon that they need to hold a meeting to discuss a smooth transition of power and his administration will provide support for the next administration's inauguration, presidential spokesperson Park Kyung-mee told reporters. Moon asked Yoon to restore national unity and heal national division shown in the ele

March 10, 2022

Japan's prime minister hopes to work together with S. Korea's newly-elected leader

TOKYO -- Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida reportedly congratulated South Korea's President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol Thursday on his election win and expressed hope to work together to improve Seoul-Tokyo ties. He was quoted as saying the strained relations between the neighbors need to improve, especially as "healthy" bilateral ties are "indispensable" amid major challenges in the international community. There has been no report of Yoon and Kishida having a direct phone conv

March 10, 2022

President-elect Yoon holds phone conversation with Biden

President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol held a phone conversation with US President Joe Biden on Thursday, during which they reaffirmed the strong alliance against North Korea's repeated launches of ballistic missiles, according to officials in Yoon's party. Biden congratulated Yoon on winning the presidential election and invited the conservative president-elect of South Korea to the White House, officials of the People Power Party (PPP) said. During the 20-minute conversation, Yoon emphasized the need

March 10, 2022

Desire for regime change leads prosecutor general to presidency

   On June 29, 2021, a political novice declared his bid for the presidency, vowing to achieve a transfer of power away from the administration that took him to the peak of his profession. Riding on the back of a public desire for the same goal, it took him only nine months to make good on his promise. Yoon Suk-yeol was an aggressive, hard-nosed prosecutor, helping to convict former presidents and business tycoons on corruption charges. His unyielding reputation eventually led Pres

March 10, 2022

S. Korea likely to return to nuclear power generation under new govt.

South Korea is likely to make a U-turn from its yearslong nuclear phase-out drive as President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol has vowed to scrap the policy and make the country a powerhouse in nuclear power generation. President Moon Jae-in has championed breaking away from nuclear energy since his inauguration in 2017 by retiring old plants and refraining from building new ones. But Yoon, as presidential candidate of the main opposition People Power Party, slammed the policy and pledged to use nuclear pow

March 10, 2022

Chronology of major events in President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol's biography

The following is a chronology of major events related to President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol. -- Dec. 18, 1960: Born in Seoul -- 1979: Graduates from Chungam High School in Seoul -- 1983: Graduates from Seoul National University with an undergraduate degree in law -- 1988: Graduates from Seoul National University's School of Law with a master's degree -- 1991: Passes the 33rd state bar exam on his ninth try -- 1994: Completes courses at Judicial Research & Training Institute -- 1994-2001: Works at

March 10, 2022

PPP sweeps 4 of 5 seats in parliamentary by-elections

The main opposition People Power Party (PPP) claimed four of the five National Assembly seats up for grabs in by-elections, putting the icing on the cake in its victory during a tightly fought presidential race. The by-election result will increase the conservative PPP's presence at the National Assembly to 110 seats, though the number is still far behind the ruling Democratic Party (DP)'s 172 seats in the 300-member National Assembly The PPP's first win came in Anseong, south of Seoul, where ve

March 10, 2022

Yoon confirms of victory, says he will repay the people

As the poll confirmed of his victory, President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol arrived at the party’s campaign headquarter to deliver his speech at an early dawn on Thursday. Ahn Cheol-soo, the chief of the minor opposition People’s Party who dropped out of the race to merge campaign with Yoon, also came to celebrate the victory wearing a red tie to match the color of the main opposition party. “I believe (the presidential election) was a very heated, and passionate race. In that proc

March 10, 2022

Lee Jae-myung accepts defeat in close-fought presidential election

Presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung of the liberal Democratic Party of Korea conceded defeat early Thursday, to confirm the victory of his rival Yoon Suk-yeol of the conservative People Power Party. Lee said in a speech made at around 3:50 a.m. Thursday at the Democratic Party headquarters in Yeouido, western Seoul, that he solemnly accepted the people’s choice. By 3:37 a.m., 96.22 percent of the ballots were counted, with Lee pulling in 47.79 percent of the total -- 0.81 percentag

March 10, 2022

Yoon Suk-yeol elected president by fine margin

The main opposition People Power Party’s Yoon Suk-yeol confirmed his place as South Korea's next president after his opponent, Democratic Party of Korea candidate Lee Jae-myung, conceded defeat in the early hours of Thursday morning.  He will become the first former prosecutor to be elected president and the first president without any political experience. As of 3:55 a.m. on Thursday, with 98 percent of votes counted by the National Election Commission, Yoon had 48.6 perc

March 10, 2022

Gap in vote count widens to hint at Yoon’s victory

Presidential candidate Yoon Suk-yeol of the main opposition party looks to be on course for victory as the gap in vote tallies has widened during counting. With 85 percent of votes counted as of 2:13 a.m. Thursday, 48.64 percent were for Yoon, against 47.78 percent for the ruling party candidate Lee Jae-myung. Although about 15 percent of votes remained to be counted, some media outlets and the country’s largest portal Naver rated Yoon’s win as “likely.” By Jo He-rim (

March 10, 2022

Justice Party candidate accepts outcome, vows to work for change

 Rep. Sim Sang-jung, the presidential candidate for the minor left-wing Justice Party, said she and her party accepted the outcome of the 20th presidential election as her share of the vote stood at 2.24 percent with 59 percent of votes counted. Sim said in a speech at her party’s situation room in Yeouido, Seoul, that she “solemnly accepts” the results and vowed that the Justice Party would make efforts again to win the minds of voters who want meaningful change to their

March 10, 2022

Ballot count in progress, Yoon edges ahead

With the ballot count in full swing, People Power Party members cheered on as its flagbearer Yoon Suk-yeol took the lead over ruling party rival Lee Jae-myung after midnight on Thursday. With about half of ballots counted as of 12:31 a.m., Yoon edged past Lee of the Democratic Party of Korea, to garner 48.3 of the counted ballots to 48.2. As Yoon’s vote total closed in Lee’s, a number of the party’s lawmakers including the election campaign chief Rep. Kwon Young-se and the

March 10, 2022

Irregularities continue to fan electoral fraud accusations

Accusations of electoral fraud continued to surface Wednesday, as several problems with ballot handling during the 20th presidential election were reported. Local media outlet Segye Ilbo reported 10:13 p.m. Wednesday that a polling station in Incheon found a batch of ballots in a different color, forcing election officials there to halt the vote count at 10 p.m. Ballot papers used in Wednesday’s election are white, but ballots printed on yellowish paper were found in one of the ballot box

March 10, 2022

Voter turnout falls short of last election’s record

Voter turnout for this year’s presidential election reached 77.1 percent, similar to the figures from the previous election. Nearly 8 in 10 eligible South Korean voters cast their votes to elect a new president, including ballots from two days of early voting. Approximately 34 million out of 44.2 million eligible voters ultimately cast their ballots. A final figure is expected to come out sometime Thursday. The preliminary tally released less than two hours after polls closed at 7:30 p.m

March 9, 2022

People Power Party less than excited by exit poll results

Members of the main opposition People Power Party appeared to be less than excited after the exit poll results released by the major broadcasters showed an unexpectedly tight race Wednesday evening. At the party’s election headquarters set up inside the National Assembly, People Power Party leadership, including the party’s Chairman Lee Jun-seok and election campaign chief Rep. Kwon Young-se, had come to watch the exit poll results that emerged after polls officially closed nationw

March 9, 2022

Exit polls show neck-and-neck presidential race

Wednesday’s presidential election came down to a neck-and-neck race, with exit polls placing the two front-runners at less than 1 percentage point apart. At 7:30 p.m., the three terrestrial broadcasters KBS, MBC and SBS released the result of an exit survey conducted from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Wednesday. The Korea Election Pool commissioned three investigative agencies -- Hankook Research, Korea Research and Ipsos Korea -- to conduct exit surveys. And 1,480 investigators were dispatched

March 9, 2022

Ruling party officials shout for joy upon release of exit poll results

Officials with the ruling Democratic Party of Korea cheered with joy upon release of exit poll results that hinted at a tight race between its presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung and Yoon Suk-yeol of the main opposition People Power Party. Upon release of results from a joint exit poll by KBS, MBC and SBS, Democratic Party officials screamed in joy and chanted Lee‘s name loudly at a situation room they prepared inside the National Assembly. The joint exit poll by the three terrestrial b

March 9, 2022

Lee and Yoon run neck and neck race: exit poll

The ruling liberal Democratic Party of Korea’s Lee Jae-myung and the conservative People Power Party’s Yoon Suk-yeol are running neck and neck in the presidential election, exit polls showed Wednesday evening. According to an exit poll conducted by the country’s three major broadcast companies -- SBS, KBS and MBC -- the People Power Party’s Yoon is expected to take over 48.4 percent of the vote, edging out his competitor Lee at 47.8 percent. On the other hand, accordi

March 9, 2022