Moon pledges Korea’s bigger role as ‘advanced nation’

President Moon Jae-in on Tuesday pledged to play a bigger role in the international community, touting the nation’s recent status upgrade as an “advanced nation” as recognized by an UN agency last week. “I’m very proud that the status change is the first of its kind since the establishment of the UN Conference on Trade and Development in 1964,” the president said at the start of a weekly Cabinet meeting at Cheong Wa Dae. “We will continue to move for

July 6, 2021

Ex-top prosecutor Yoon ahead of Gyeonggi Gov. Lee in latest polls

Former Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl maintained his lead over Gyeonggi Province Gov. Lee Jae-myung in two polls on presidential hopefuls released Monday. In a Realmeter survey conducted over the weekend, Yoon came out on top with 33.9 percent of support, with Lee trailing at 26.3 percent. Former Prime Minister Lee Nak-yon was a distant third at 12.5 percent, with others who have thrown their hats into the ring only garnering single digits of support. Realmeter polled 1,015 South Koreans ag

July 6, 2021

Main opposition party selects 20-something co-spokespeople

With a 36-year-old leader in charge, the main opposition People Power Party selected a pair of 27-year-olds as its new co-spokespeople. The party will continue to serve the youth, with Lim Seung-ho and Yang Jun-woo having finished first and second in the final round of the open audition for the PPP spokespeople positions. Lim is a former deputy youth spokesman for the central-right Bareun Party. Yang was previously unemployed and, in his own words, "was playing video games at home and tak

July 5, 2021

Moon warns of stern punishment against acts of hampering antivirus fight

President Moon Jae-in warned Monday again that the government will take stern measures against the violation of social distancing rules. He made clear that illegal massive rallies cannot be an exception, apparently referring to collective action by the members of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU), a major umbrella labor union, last weekend. "(The government) can't help taking stern legal steps against collective actions, including illegal large-scale rallies, that violate so

July 5, 2021

Rival parties to pass COVID-19 response extra budget bill by late July

Rival parties agreed Monday to advance the latest COVID-19 response extra budget bill through the National Assembly by late July. The agreement was made during a meeting earlier in the day between Rep. Han Byung-do and Rep. Choo Kyung-ho, deputy floor leaders of the ruling Democratic Party and the main opposition People Power Party, respectively. Under the agreement, the parties will work toward approving the supplementary budget bill in a plenary parliamentary meeting by July 23 and host a re

July 5, 2021

Former ruling party leader Lee Nak-yon runs for president

Former Democratic Party leader Rep. Lee Nak-yon announced his presidential bid Monday. With Lee’s announcement, the race among the ruling bloc’s “Big Three” -- the others being Gyeonggi Gov. Lee Jae-myung and former Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun -- began in earnest. In a video clip released on YouTube at 10 a.m., the former prime minister and Democratic Party leader presented a five-point policy blueprint for South Korea that consisted of a new approach to social welf

July 5, 2021

S. Korea, Netherlands to hold virtual summit talks Wednesday

The leaders of South Korea and the Netherlands will hold virtual summit talks this week on bilateral ties and global issues, Cheong Wa Dae announced Monday. President Moon Jae-in plans to have the summit with Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte on Wednesday, according to Cheong Wa Dae spokesperson Park Kyung-mee. The summit, the first between the two sides in three years, comes amid an increasing need for them to cooperate, especially on semiconductors, renewable energy and other future industries

July 5, 2021

Moon says his govt. should maintain political neutrality amid presidential election race

President Moon Jae-in stressed the need Monday for his administration to maintain political neutrality, as South Korea's political parties have effectively entered the presidential election season, according to his office. The president issued the message during a meeting with his Cheong Wa Dae aides, according to his spokesperson Park Kyung-mee. Moon was quoted as saying that Cheong Wa Dae and the government should "thoroughly" maintain political neutrality. He called on them to co

July 5, 2021

Ex-Prime Minister Lee Nak-yon declares presidential bid

Ex-Prime Minister Lee Nak-yon officially launched his presidential bid Monday, pledging to recover the country's dwindling middle class. Lee, also a former five-term lawmaker and ex-chief of the ruling Democratic Party, announced that he will join the race to win the party's ticket to run in the March 9 presidential election. With the slogan of "a country that safeguards my life," Lee focused his campaign message on his pledges to relieve the country's growing economic disparity and

July 5, 2021

Gyeonggi Gov. Lee ahead of ex-prosecution chief Yoon in latest poll

Gyeonggi Province Gov. Lee Jae-myung garnered more support than former Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl in the latest poll on prospective presidential contenders released Sunday. In the survey by Global Research, Lee received 44.7 percent of support, while Yoon had 36.7 percent in a hypothetical one-on-one battle. The gap was larger than the poll's margin of error of 3.1 percentage points. It was conducted from last Wednesday to Friday on 1,000 people aged 18 and older and had a 95 percent co

July 4, 2021

GCF board endorses $500m for new projects to support climate action

SEJONG -- The Green Climate Fund (GCF), the South Korea-based United Nations climate fund aimed at helping poor nations fight global warming, has approved $500 million in funding for new projects and programs, according to Seoul's finance ministry Sunday. During a virtual meeting held from June 28 to July 2, the GCF's board discussed new funding and accreditation proposals. Launched in late 2010, the GCF aims to channel money from industrialized nations to developing countries to help them tac

July 4, 2021

Probe into reactor shutdown wrapped up amid dispute over additional indictment charge

A high-profile criminal investigation into an early shutdown of the country's second-oldest nuclear reactor has wrapped up, along with indictments of former Cheong Wa Dae and energy ministry officials on power abuse charges. State prosecutors have looked into the circumstances surrounding the closure of Wolsong-1, which was shut down some three years earlier than scheduled in late 2019, by the state-run Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power Co. based on an economic viability survey. The decision wa

July 3, 2021

‘Consumption will lead to more consumption’

Gov. Lee Jae-myung of Gyeonggi Province asserted his determination to root out unfairness and inequality in a recorded speech released Thursday, in which he announced his presidential bid. The video was made public on social media. Reiterating his signature policy, universal basic income, Lee vowed to turn a crisis into an opportunity to make Korea a world-leading economy, with the public sector paving the way for the private sector to increase investment and innovation. Similarly, the Gyeon

July 2, 2021

[Newsmaker] Poll shows former prosecution chief Yoon slightly ahead of Gyeonggi Gov. Lee

A new poll on prospective presidential contenders released Friday showed former Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl with a slight edge over his ruling party rival, Gyeonggi Province Gov. Lee Jae-myung. In the survey by Gallup Korea, Yoon received 25 percent of support, up 4 percentage points from a month before. He overtook Lee, whose rating stayed put at 24 percent. The survey conducted from Tuesday to Thursday was the first opinion poll after Yoon, with no party allegiance, announced his inte

July 2, 2021

[KH Explains] Who is Lee Jae-myung?

The life story of Gyeonggi Province Gov. Lee Jae-myung, one of the top contenders for the presidential election next March, is a quintessential rags-to-riches tale in South Korea. His policy initiatives and past works, as well as his political philosophy, have been controversial and criticized by many, but to call the path that he has walked to date as simply dramatic could be an understatement. From being a young factory worker to assuming the top gubernatorial post of this country, Lee is on

July 2, 2021

Ex-prosecutor general's mother-in-law gets 3-year prison term

The mother-in-law of former Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl, a leading presidential hopeful, was sentenced to three years in prison Friday, kicking off a political firestorm ahead of the 2022 election. The local district court in Uijeongbu, 23 kilometers north of Seoul, convicted the 74-year-old, surnamed Choi, of collaborating with three business partners to establish a medical foundation and open a long-term care hospital for senior citizens in February 2013, despite having no medical quali

July 2, 2021

Moon marks S. Korea's feat against Japan's industrial material export control

President Moon Jae-in attended an event Friday to commemorate South Korea's successful response so far to Japan's unilateral export curbs. He described Tokyo's measure, launched in early July 2019, as tantamount to a "surprise attack." It restricted exports of three key industrial materials -- photoresist, etching gas and fluorinated polyimide -- to South Korea, apparently in protest against its handling of diplomatic issues related to shared history. The Moon administration soon opt

July 2, 2021

Cheong Wa Dae trapped in ‘one house’ rule

Issues surrounding real estate continue to plague President Moon Jae-in, with yet another property speculation scandal adding a new name to the growing string of top aides who have resigned from their positions. On Sunday, Kim Gi-pyo, Moon’s anti-corruption secretary, offered his resignation, just two days after allegations were raised over his recent property declaration involving loans worth billions of won. According to the declaration, he owns assets worth 9.12 billion won ($8.05 mi

July 1, 2021

Ex-prosecutor general does not rule out joining main opposition party

Yoon Seok-youl, a former top prosecutor and leading presidential hopeful, has said he may join the main opposition People Power Party (PPP) if it is deemed necessary for the opposition block's win in next year's presidential election. "It is possible (for me) to ally with the PPP, and even enter the party if necessary for a change of government," Yoon said during a TV interview Wednesday. Lacking powerful presidential contenders, the conservative party has urged the former prosecutor

July 1, 2021

Gyeonggi Gov. Lee Jae-myung announces presidential bid

Gyeonggi Province Gov. Lee Jae-myung officially announced his presidential bid Thursday, vowing to ensure fairness and to turn a crisis into an opportunity with powerful economic policies. Using a prerecorded video released via social media channels including YouTube and Facebook, Lee signaled the beginning of his presidential campaign by reading Article 1 of the Constitution. “The Republic of Korea shall be a democratic republic. The sovereignty of the Republic of Korea shall reside in

July 1, 2021