City of Seoul seizes cryptocurrencies from tax delinquents

The Seoul metropolitan government said Friday it has seized the cryptocurrencies of hundreds of top tax delinquents who hid their assets in digital form, becoming the country's first local government to do so. The city government said its tax collection department found the cryptocurrencies of 1,566 individuals and heads of companies in three cryptocurrency exchanges and seized more than 25 billion won ($22 million) in virtual assets from 676 of them. These 676 owed the government 28.4 billion

April 23, 2021

Moon raises carbon-cutting target as Biden resumes climate diplomacy

President Moon Jae-in on Thursday set more drastic cuts in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 than previously revealed to achieve a carbon-neutral Korea by 2050, at a two-day virtual climate summit ending Friday. The Leaders Summit on Climate, joined by 40 world leaders and hosted by US President Joe Biden seeking to restore US leadership on the carbon-cutting commitment, marks Washington’s return to the climate dialogue that the Donald Trump administration abandoned after withdrawing from

April 22, 2021

Gov't committee to screen new prosecutor general candidates next week

  The justice ministry said Thursday it will convene a special committee next week to review a list of recommended candidates to be the next prosecutor general. The prosector general candidate recommendation committee will gather on April 29 to review the eligibility of the candidates the ministry received since April 15. The nine-member committee headed by former Justice Minister Park Sang-ki is expected to produce a shortlist of three to four candidates to recommend to the justice min

April 22, 2021

[Newsmaker] New mayor of Seoul promises to make city 'leap again'

New Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon promised Thursday to bring hope and vitality to a city plagued by the COVID-19 pandemic and matters of people's livelihoods. Oh said he would make five pledges to the nation's capital of 10 million during a virtual inauguration ceremony held two weeks after he took office. Those promises, he implied, are based on the failures of the Moon Jae-in administration to address the plight of small business owners in a pandemic and fix a turbulent housing market. "The R

April 22, 2021

Moon still holds hope of Pyongyang joining Tokyo Olympics

President Moon Jae-in is not ruling out the possibility of North Korea participating in the upcoming Tokyo Olympics, which he said could pave the way for the two Koreas to co-host the 2032 Olympics, according to a senior Cheong Wa Dae official on Wednesday. “It remains to be seen whether North Korea will participate in the Tokyo Olympics. North Korea tends to make a big decision at the last minute,” the president reportedly said during a luncheon with the new mayors of Seoul and B

April 21, 2021

Parliament lifts arrest immunity of independent lawmaker at center of Easter Jet probe

The National Assembly on Wednesday passed a motion that allows prosecutors to arrest Rep. Lee Sang-jik, the founder of the cash-strapped budget carrier Eastar Jet under investigation on charges of embezzlement and breach of trust. The motion to allow the arrest of Lee was passed in a 206-38 vote at a plenary session of the National Assembly. Eleven people abstained from voting. Lee is currently under criminal investigation for allegedly colluding with a senior company official, who was indicte

April 21, 2021

Assembly speaker calls for vaccine cooperation from Europe

National Assembly Speaker Park Byeong-seug held talks with European Parliament President David Sassoli on Tuesday to discuss pending issues such as the supply of COVID-19 vaccines, Japan‘s wastewater release and peace process on the Korean Peninsula, among others. During the dialogue via video link, Park asked for Sassoli’s attention and cooperation from the European Parliament to allow vaccines produced in Europe to be introduced to Korea in a timely manner. Korea’s vaccin

April 21, 2021

Acting PM urges public to trust govt. virus response amid vaccine procurement woes

Acting Prime Minister Hong Nam-ki on Wednesday asked the public to have faith in the government's overall COVID-19 response amid a steadfast growth of new virus patients and concerns over South Korea's vaccine procurement capacity. "We ask that each individual remain alert and attentive in the current situation but also have faith in our test and medical capabilities, and trust our vaccine administration plan," Hong said during a daily interagency meeting on the coronavirus response.

April 21, 2021

Moon says public consensus needed for granting pardons to two jailed ex-presidents

President Moon Jae-in reaffirmed his prudent approach Wednesday toward the issue of whether to grant special pardons to two imprisoned former presidents, Lee Myung-bak and Park Geun-hye. He emphasized the need to consider public consensus on the politically sensitive matter and its possible impact on national unity during his luncheon meeting with Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon and Busan Mayor Park Heong-joon at Cheong Wa Dae. Moon was responding to a proposal from the Busan mayor that Moon take the m

April 21, 2021

City of Seoul toughens rules against sexual crimes in officialdom

The city of Seoul is introducing a new rule under which officials involved in sexual crimes will be expelled immediately, Mayor Oh Se-hoon said on Tuesday. Oh made the announcement during a press briefing arranged to formally apologize to the victim of alleged sexual harassment by his predecessor Park Won-soon. Park was found dead last July in an apparent suicide amid allegations that he harassed a female secretary. "I declare the immediate introduction of a 'one-strike-and-you're-out' ru

April 20, 2021

Govt. commission chief offers to resign over decision to reinvestigate Cheonan ship sinking

The chief of a presidential committee offered to resign on Tuesday, holding himself responsible for the committee's now-retracted decision to reinvestigate the deadly 2010 sinking of a South Korean warship by North Korea. Earlier this month, the Presidential Truth Commission on Deaths in the Military retracted the decision made in December to launch a fresh probe into the case in which the warship Cheonan went down near the Northern Limit Line (NLL), the de facto maritime border between the two

April 20, 2021

Moon joins Boao forum, urges multilateral cooperation with 'enhanced inclusiveness'

South Korean President Moon Jae-in proposed Tuesday that Asian countries strengthen multilateral cooperation with inclusiveness enhanced against the spread of protectionism and unilateralism. He was delivering a video message to the 2021 Boao Forum for Asia (BFA) held in the Chinese province of Hainan. The conference, themed "A World in Change," has brought together Chinese President Xi Jinping and leaders of several other Asian nations both online and offline. Participants included s

April 20, 2021

[Newsmaker] Yoon far ahead of rivals as presidential hopeful: poll

Former chief prosecutor Yoon Seok-youl, who rose to stardom by defying the Moon Jae-in administration’s prosecutorial reform drive, beat his closest rival by a whopping 16.2 percentage points in the latest poll on presidential preference. In the survey of 1,011 adults nationwide, conducted Friday by Realmeter and commissioned by YTN, 37.2 percent chose Yoon as their most preferred presidential hopeful. The second-most-popular choice was Gyeonggi Gov. Lee Jae-myung with 21 percent support

April 19, 2021

Moon to join Biden-hosted climate summit this week

South Korean President Moon Jae-in will participate in a multilateral meeting on climate change this week to be hosted by US President Joe Biden, Cheong Wa Dae said Monday. Moon is joining the virtual Leaders Summit on Climate, slated for Thursday and Friday, along with dozens of other heads of state, according to Cheong Wa Dae spokesperson Park Kyung-mee. Delivering a speech at a session to be held for two hours from 9 p.m. on Thursday (Seoul time), Moon plans to explain Seoul's commitment to

April 19, 2021

PM nominee vows to present new govt. stance on pandemic-related support

Prime Minister nominee Kim Boo-kyum said Monday he plans to deliver a fresh government stance in terms of the pandemic-related public support programs in his confirmation hearing. "Before everything else, I will try to find measures to give the public, fatigued by COVID-19, means of support, and prepare to deliver answers (at the confirmation hearing)," Kim told reporters as he arrived at his temporary office in central Seoul. Kim explained that he will consult with related agencies

April 19, 2021

Moon urges move toward 'more mature' democracy in S. Korea on historic anniversary

President Moon Jae-in called Monday for nonstop efforts to further develop South Korea's democracy, as the country commemorated its historic pro-democracy movement six decades ago. He paid tribute to the victims of the April 19 Revolution in 1960, which was led by students protesting vote-rigging in presidential elections by then President Rhee Syngman, during his visit to a national cemetery in Seoul. The two-week mass civilian protests led to the collapse of the Rhee government that had rule

April 19, 2021

Return of Chung Sye-kyun to set off race to win DP's ticket for presidential election

The imminent return of Chung Sye-kyun to the political realm, following his resignation as prime minister earlier this week, is expected to set off in earnest a high-stakes race to win the ruling Democratic Party's (DP) ticket to run in next year's presidential election.  Chung stepped down from the public office Friday after serving a 15-month stint, mainly preoccupied with the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.  The 71-year-old former six-term lawmaker has yet to officially decla

April 17, 2021

Govt. to mobilize full capacity to overcome COVID-19 as soon as possible: Chung

South Korea's outgoing prime minister said Friday the government will mobilize its full capacity to achieve herd immunity against COVID-19 and ultimately overcome the pandemic. "COVID-19 can never win against South Korea. The government will do everything it can to win this intense war against the virus as soon as possible," Chung Sye-kyun said while chairing his final daily interagency meeting on the coronavirus response held at the government complex in Seoul. Chung resigned from h

April 16, 2021

Moon replaces senior secretaries for political affairs, social policy, Cheong Wa Dae spokesperson

President Moon Jae-in replaced some of his senior secretaries at Cheong Wa Dae on Friday, a move coupled with a major Cabinet shake-up to name a prime minister. Former lawmaker Lee Cheol-hee was tapped as senior presidential secretary for political affairs, and Lee Tae-han, an audit official at the National Health Insurance Service, as senior secretary for social policy, Moon's office announced. The president also named Park Kyung-mee, secretary for education policy, as new Cheong Wa Dae spoke

April 16, 2021

Govt. team probes former LH executive over alleged speculation

A government probe team has been looking into allegations of real estate speculation by a former executive of the state housing developer, the Korea Land and Housing Corp. (LH), an official said Friday. The former executive was vice president of LH until his retirement in 2016 and is suspected of using insider information to purchase land and a four-story building in Seongnam, south of Seoul, in 2017, before the land was designated for redevelopment, according to the probe team. The suspect sol

April 16, 2021