Korea must lead global chip supply chain: Moon

President Moon Jae-in on Thursday stressed that South Korea must continue to lead the global chip supply chain and pledged support for the local semiconductor industry, amid the prolonged chip shortage and intensifying US-China trade tensions. 　 Moon called the semiconductor sector a “core national strategic industry” that will decide the country’s economy going forward, as he convened an “expanded meeting” of economy-related ministers at Cheong Wa Dae to tackle wa

April 15, 2021

Cheong Wa Dae to soon announce PM's resignation, replacement nomination: sources

Cheong Wa Dae was widely expected to announce the resignation of Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun and the nomination of his replacement this week, according to ruling party and presidential office insiders Thursday. "Prime Minister Chung has already offered his resignation to President Moon Jae-in. My understanding is that there will be an official announcement Friday," a source familiar with the matter told Yonhap News Agency. According to the source and others, a new prime minister no

April 15, 2021

Chief policymaker wary of rising home prices sparked by redevelopment hopes

South Korea's finance minister on Thursday expressed concerns that home prices in Seoul have picked up on expectations for eased rules on redevelopment housing projects, a key policy plan by the new Seoul mayor. Mayor Oh Se-hoon took office last week with a pledge to ease regulations on redeveloping old apartments in the capital in a bid to help increase the home supply in the densely populated area. Sale prices of apartments in Seoul rose 0.07 percent this week, accelerating from a 0.05 perce

April 15, 2021

Ruling party slams Seoul mayor's push to introduce new COVID-19 rules

The ruling Democratic Party (DP) on Wednesday slammed Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon's plan to introduce new COVID-19 rules in the city, calling the idea an act of "holding people's lives hostage." Oh, a member of the main opposition People Power Party, took office on Thursday after winning the mayoral by-election over Park Young-sun of the DP by a landslide. One of his early focuses has been helping small businesses survive the pandemic by looking at ways to keep them open for longer hours,

April 14, 2021

Political parties press Tokyo further over Fukushima water discharge decision

South Korea's political parties on Wednesday continued to express firm oppositions to Japan's decision to release radiation-tainted water into the sea from its wrecked Fukushima nuclear power plant. Tokyo announced Tuesday that it plans to start releasing massive amounts of radioactive water, which has been stored in tanks at the wrecked Fukushima nuclear plant, in two years. South Korea has expressed strong opposition towards Japan's controversial decision and pledged to take necessary measu

April 14, 2021

Moon to Japan's envoy: There's 'great concern' over plan to release contaminated water

South Korean President Moon Jae-in delivered a message of "great concern" Wednesday over Japan's decision to dump a huge amount of contaminated wastewater from a crippled nuclear plant into the Pacific Ocean. Speaking directly to Japan's new ambassador here, Koichi Aiboshi, the president said that there is great concern among South Koreans, as the two nations are geographically close to each other and share the sea, according to Cheong Wa Dae spokesman Kang Min-seok. He asked the env

April 14, 2021

[Newsmaker] Moon orders probe into alleged corruption by Cheong Wa Dae secretary

President Moon Jae-in instructed Cheong Wa Dae on Wednesday to look immediately and thoroughly into allegations of corruption involving his secretary for culture. The move came after a news report that a local company established in 2004 by the secretary, Jun Hyo-gwan, won a dozen contracts, worth a total of 5.1 billion won ($4.5 million), with the Seoul metropolitan government on culture-related projects while he was serving as a senior official in charge of innovation planning affairs at City

April 14, 2021

Moon orders new Marine Corps chief to protect fishermen near border

President Moon Jae-in issued a special order Tuesday for the new top commander of South Korea's Marine Corps to redouble efforts for the protection of the country's fishermen in the Yellow Sea. In particular, the waters close to the sea border with North Korea are regarded as a flashpoint. Chinese fishing boats have frequented there as well. After receiving a promotion report from Lt. Gen. Kim Tae-sung, commandant of the Marine Corps, at Cheong Wa Dae, Moon told him to pay special attention to

April 13, 2021

No fireworks as Moon, Oh hold first Cabinet meeting

President Moon Jae-in presided over a weekly Cabinet meeting on Tuesday, with newly-elected Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon – the only participant from the opposition conservative bloc – in attendance for the first time.  The first encounter between Moon and Oh drew keen attention as it came after the ruling Democratic Party of Korea's loss in last week’s mayoral by-elections in Seoul and Busan, dealing a crushing blow to the president and his administration.  “Unlike

April 13, 2021

Moon says S. Korea may face 'explosive' wave of coronavirus infections

President Moon Jae-in warned Monday that South Korea may be drawn into an "explosive" wave of COVID-19 infections if it fails to contain the current phase of the pandemic. "It's a perilous situation that could lead to an explosive pandemic if we let our guard down," he stressed during an emergency interagency meeting on responding to the coronavirus. The Cheong Wa Dae session was attended by top government officials, including Health Minister Kwon Deok-cheol and Jung Eun-ky

April 12, 2021

Korea’s property tax revenue-to-GDP ratio 1.7 times OECD average

South Korea’s tax revenue in proportion to its gross domestic product is still lower than average for members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, though it has gradually gone up. The country’s property tax revenue, however, accounted for 3.3 percent of its GDP, nearly 1.7 times the OECD average of 1.9 percent, a state-funded think tank said. Among the 37 OECD members, Korea’s taxes were relatively low overall in proportion to the size of its economy,

April 12, 2021

After election defeat, Moon to announce Cabinet revamp ‘soon’

President Moon Jae-in, whose job approval ratings fell again to the lowest this week, is seeking to turn his political fortunes around with a sizeable change in his Cabinet makeup, according to Cheong Wa Dae sources on Monday. The pending reshuffle is expected to involve senior presidential secretary for civil affairs Choi Jae-sung, Prime Minister Chung Se-kyun and Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki. Choi had allegedly offered his resignation following the crushing election defeat of the ruling De

April 12, 2021

Moon calls LG-SK deal on EV battery trade fortunate, meaningful

President Moon Jae-in said Monday it is fortunate and meaningful that two South Korean electric vehicle (EV) battery makers -- LG and SK -- have reached a deal on ending their legal dispute on electric vehicle batteries. He stressed the importance of the stability in global supply amid accelerating technological changes. "The agreement between the two companies is very meaningful in that it is in both the national interests and the long-term interests of individual companies for domestic

April 12, 2021

Cheong Wa Dae denies report US requested S. Korea join Quad

South Korea's presidential office on Sunday denied as "incorrect" a Japanese report that the United States asked Seoul to join the US-led Quad forum. The Yomiuri Shimbun, a major Japanese daily, reported earlier in the day that US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan had strongly requested Seoul join the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue group, also known as Quad, during a meeting with his South Korean counterpart Suh Hoon early this month. "(The newspaper's) citation is very i

April 11, 2021

[Newsmaker] S. Korean PM arrives in Iran: report

South Korean Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun arrived in Iran on Sunday, a report said, as Seoul seeks to improve relations with Tehran amid lingering tension over Iranian funds frozen in Korea under US sanctions. Chung's three-day trip to Tehran came days after Tehran released a Korean oil tanker and its captain three months after its seizure over alleged oil pollution, paving the way for better bilateral relations. The Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) reported that Chung is slated to meet wi

April 11, 2021

Moon to preside over meetings on COVID-19, economy next week

President Moon Jae-in is to preside over a string of emergency meetings on pending quarantine and economic issues next week, officials said Saturday, in accordance with his earlier pledge to concentrate on improving people's livelihoods following the ruling party's crushing by-election defeat. Moon will attend a special meeting of COVID-19-related ministers and top officials at Cheong Wa Dae on Monday to inspect vaccine supply plans and government quarantine measures, according to presidential

April 10, 2021

S. Korea to begin KF-21 fighter production, deploy up to 120 units by 2032: Moon

President Moon Jae-in said Friday that South Korea is set to begin production of the country's next-generation indigenous fighter jet prototype with a goal of deploying up to 120 units for use in real combat by 2032. Moon announced the plan at an unveiling event of the KF-21 Boramae fighter prototype held at the Korea Aerospace Industries headquarters in the southern city of Sacheon, South Gyeongsang Province. South Korea began the 8.8 trillion-won ($7.9 billion) program to replace the Air For

April 9, 2021

DP's emergency committee chief vows reform after crushing election defeat

The ruling Democratic Party (DP) on Friday pledged to carry out a set of thorough reform measures to win back voters, following its crushing by-election defeat earlier this week. "The DP will come out of the trap of 'naeronambul' as soon as possible," Rep. Do Jong-hwan, the head of the DP's emergency response committee, said during its first meeting held at the National Assembly. Naeronambul is a popular saying in South Korea, which criticizes hypocritical behaviors or having double

April 9, 2021

Young ruling party lawmakers say prosecution reform failed to win public support

Five young lawmakers of the Democratic Party said Friday that their party's campaign for prosecution reform may have failed to win public consensus, possibly leading to its devastating defeats in this week's mayoral by-elections in Seoul and Busan. The five lawmakers -- Reps. Oh Yeong-hwan, Lee So-young, Jang Kyung-tae, Jang Chul-min and Jeon Yong-gi -- made the critical remarks on the party's yearlong drive to weaken the power of the prosecution while reflecting on the causes of its election d

April 9, 2021

Seoul mayor orders review of city's COVID-19 response

The new mayor of Seoul ordered his administration on Friday to review the city's response to COVID-19 thus far, saying the current virus restrictions have failed to address the people's needs. Oh Se-hoon made the remark during a COVID-19 response meeting attended by senior city officials on his second day of work following his landslide win in Wednesday's mayoral by-election. "We've been dealing with COVID-19 for almost a year and four months, but to tell you the truth, I think it's time

April 9, 2021