Gov. Lee vows to grow Seoul into global economic capital

Encouraged by his continued victory in the ruling bloc’s presidential primary race, Gyeonggi Province Gov. Lee Jae-myung is looking to solidify his position by targeting voters in Seoul with a promise to make it a global city on par with cities like New York and London. The leading presidential candidate for the ruling bloc said in a press conference Monday that he will turn Seoul into a global economic capital and a global center of business and finance. He envisions putting Yeouido, in

Oct. 4, 2021

Moon says S. Korea should take pride in latest missiles

President Moon Jae-in said South Koreans should be proud of the latest missiles the country has recently revealed, Moon’s communications secretary said Saturday in a post on Facebook. The post quoted Moon during a closed-door meeting with his senior secretaries a day after the launch. On Sept. 15, South Korea test-fired its first submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) from a homegrown submarine, along with an air-to-surface missile and a cruise missile. The Sout

Oct. 3, 2021

Capital relocation plan gains steam with National Assembly opening a branch in Sejong

After the National Assembly passed a bill last week to open a regional branch of the legislature in Sejong, eyes are watching to see how the plan will unfold and whether the long-debated capital relocation plan will finally get a boost. Lawmakers on Tuesday passed a revision to the National Assembly Act approving the establishment of a regional branch of the parliament in Sejong, the special self-governing city that serves as a second administrative capital for South Korea. Its passage comes n

Oct. 3, 2021

Gyeonggi Gov. Lee wins primary in southeastern region, cements lead in election race

Gyeonggi Province Gov. Lee Jae-myung scored a landslide victory in the ruling Democratic Party (DP)'s presidential primary in the southeast region Saturday, further consolidating his lead in the race to pick the party's flag bearer for the 2022 election. Lee won 55.3 percent of all 35,832 ballots cast by registered party members in the Busan-Ulsan-South Gyeongsang Province region, the eighth round of the party's 11-leg primary race, the party announced. Lee Nak-yon, formerly a prime minister a

Oct. 3, 2021

Scandal-tainted lawmaker offers to resign from National Assembly

Rep. Kwak Sang-do, an independent lawmaker who defected from the main opposition People Power Party a week ago, offered to resign from his parliamentary seat on Saturday amid mounting suspicions over his son receiving an unreasonably huge sum of severance pay from a firm at the center of a massive land development scandal. "I can no longer work as a member of parliament amid widespread misunderstanding and distrust toward me," Kwak said in a news conference at the National Assembly.

Oct. 2, 2021

[Newsmaker] Prosecutors arrest key suspect in Seongnam land development scandal

A key figure in the snowballing land development scandal in Seongnam, just south of Seoul, was arrested Friday for questioning over allegations that Gyeonggi Gov. Lee Jae-myung, the ruling Democratic Party's leading presidential contender, gave business favors to certain developers. Yoo Dong-gyu, former acting president of Seongnam Development Corp., was apprehended by prosecutors at a hospital Friday morning and was taken to the Seoul Central District Prosecutors Office. He was asked to appear

Oct. 1, 2021

Moon voices strong confidence in defense posture after N. Koera missile test

President Moon Jae-in voiced strong confidence in South Korea's defense posture Friday, saying he proposed an end-of-war declaration with North Korea based on such readiness and vowing to deal sternly with any threats to the country. His Armed Forces Day speech came hours after North Korea test-fired an anti-aircraft missile in the third missile launch in about two weeks. Earlier this week, the North tested what it claimed was a "hypersonic" missile. "I have pride in our solid sec

Oct. 1, 2021

S. Korea to begin last parliamentary audit under Moon

The National Assembly will launch its annual three-week audit of the government and state agencies Friday, the last such parliamentary inspection under the Moon Jae-in administration. A total of 745 government ministries and agencies will be subject to this year's parliamentary investigation to be simultaneously conducted by the assembly's 17 standing committees, according to legislative officials. The three-week event is predicted to be a scene of intense bipartisan disputes over a couple of sn

Oct. 1, 2021

Prosecutors said to confirm involvement of prosecutor in political meddling scandal

   Prosecutors investigating a political meddling scandal that possibly involves Yoon Seok-youl, a leading opposition presidential contender, have discovered circumstances on the implication of one of Yoon's former subordinates, informed officials said Thursday.    The scandal is centered on allegations that prosecutor Son Jun-sung asked the main opposition People Power Party (PPP) to file a complaint against three pro-government figures just before the general elections i

Sept. 30, 2021

Support for two leading presidential contenders rise together in tight race: poll

Public support for the two leading presidential contenders -- former Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl of the main opposition party and Gyeonggi Province Gov. Lee Jae-myung of the ruling party -- both increased in an opinion poll released Thursday with Yoon leading Lee by a small margin. In the poll of 2,043 voters conducted by Realmeter on Monday and Tuesday, Yoon of the People Power Party (PPP) retook the lead with support from 28 percent of the respondents, closely followed by Lee of the Dem

Sept. 30, 2021

Main opposition head urges cautious approach toward end-of-war declaration

The head of the main opposition People Power Party (PPP) on Thursday stressed the need to maintain caution in approaching President Moon Jae-in's proposal of seeking a declaration to formally end the Korean War. "There needs to be a cautious approach on the end-of-war declaration proposed by the Moon Jae-in administration, which has been reciprocated conditionally by North Korea," PPP Chairman Lee Jun-seok said during a supreme council meeting of the party. Last week, Moon proposed i

Sept. 30, 2021

Final vote for “fake news” bill pushed back again from fierce opposition

The ruling party walked back from its plan to put a controversial media bill for a final vote in face of strong opposition and stalled negotiations with the opposition bloc on Wednesday. The Democratic Party of Korea said in a press briefing on Wednesday evening that its senior party officials decided to give up trying to put the media bill up for a final vote at Wednesday’s plenary session of the National Assembly, the last one to be held in September. “We ruled that it would be d

Sept. 29, 2021

Debate continues on controversial media bill

Rival parties continue to clash over a controversial media bill that faces criticism for potentially undermining the freedom of press, signaling a chance for the ruling party to unilaterally use its dominant position in the legislative branch to pass the bill on a final vote. Floor leaders of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea and main opposition People Power Party met Wednesday morning for a meeting chaired by National Assembly Speaker Park Byeong-seug where they discussed making amendments

Sept. 29, 2021

Two Koreas could hold additional summit under next presidency of South: Cheong Wa Dae official

The two Koreas could hold an additional summit under the next presidency of the South if another meeting between the leaders isn't able to take place before the end of President Moon Jae-in's term next year, a senior Cheong Wa Dae official said Wednesday. Speculation of an inter-Korean summit has surfaced as of late, especially following Moon's proposal of signing a declaration on the end of the 1950-53 Korean War in his speech to the recent United Nations General Assembly. Last week, Kim Yo-jon

Sept. 29, 2021

Controversial land development project causes partisan turmoil

The fallout from a controversial land development project authorized by Gyeonggi Province Gov. Lee Jae-myung is expanding, threatening to bog down parties on both sides of the aisle. The case came to light just weeks earlier after it was reported that Lee allegedly gave business favors to Hwacheon Daeyu Asset Management in 2015 to help the firm take part in a land development project in Seongnam’s Daejang-dong when he was mayor of the city. Lee was accused of unlawfully aiding Hwacheon

Sept. 28, 2021

Cabinet passes revision bill to grant legal status to animals

The Cabinet approved a revision to the civil law Tuesday that would grant animals legal status as individuals with lives that deserve to be protected. The revision was proposed by the Ministry of Justice in July to add the new clause, "animals are not objects," to Article 82 of the Civil Code. Currently, animals are identified as "an object that takes up space" and are not separated from inanimate things, so animal abusers have been punished only for damaging property if th

Sept. 28, 2021

S. Korea pledges efforts to advance inter-Korean ties despite NK missile launch

South Korea will continue efforts to stabilize situations on the Korean Peninsula and advance stalled inter-Korean relations through dialogue and cooperation despite North Korea's latest missile test, the unification ministry said Tuesday. Earlier in the day, North Korea fired what appears to be one short-range missile into the East Sea. The firing came days after North Korea expressed a willingness to discuss the improvement of inter-Korean relations and even a summit between their leaders.

Sept. 28, 2021

Moon vows continued efforts through his term for response to pandemic, other challenges

President Moon Jae-in said Tuesday there will be no let-up in his administration's efforts till its last day to lay the groundwork for South Korea's "great transition" toward a better future. He cited the urgency of addressing the COVID-19 crisis, climate change and the fourth industrial revolution. "(We) are faced with an era of a great transition into digital civilization and green civilization. This is not the philosophy or choice of our government but a global trend," h

Sept. 28, 2021

Cabinet passes workplace disaster law enforcement decree amid discontent from manager, labor groups

An enforcement decree for the new workplace disaster law aimed at better protecting workers from industrial accidents was approved by the Cabinet on Tuesday despite criticisms from both management and labor groups. In January, the National Assembly passed a bill that strengthens the punishment for business owners and CEOs of companies with five or more employees in the event of serious workplace disasters. Under the new law set to take effect in January, business owners and CEOs could face a

Sept. 28, 2021

Rival parties to continue last-minute negotiations for 2nd day on controversial media bill

Rival parties will continue their negotiations Tuesday to find a negotiated solution to a controversial media bill under criticism for potentially undermining press freedom. Reps. Yun Ho-jung and Kim Gi-hyeon, floor leaders of the ruling Democratic Party (DP) and the main opposition People Power Party (PPP), respectively, will sit down for a meeting chaired by National Assembly Speaker Park Byeong-seug later in the morning to negotiate the ruling party-proposed amendment to the media arbitrati

Sept. 28, 2021