Most Popular
-
1
Signs point to N. Korean troops in Russia-Ukraine combat zone
-
2
Rose's 'Apt.' redefines K-pop's global appeal
-
3
Two years on, thousands mourn Itaewon tragedy, calling for accountability
-
4
[Herald Interview] Love for K-drama, food defines 'Secret Ingredient'
-
5
Hanwha, HD Hyundai vie for Poland’s $2.7b submarine program
-
6
First lady’s controversies to top agenda at meeting of party leaders
-
7
[Photo News] Rallying against LGBTQ+
-
8
4 in 10 young South Koreans take up 'irregular' jobs: data
-
9
SM founder Lee Soo-man is back with A2O Entertainment
-
10
'1 million' Christians join anti-LGBTQ+ marriage rally
-
Moon reshuffles three top secretaries
Cheong Wa Dae on Friday named new senior presidential secretaries for civil affairs, job creation and civic society, with a wider Cabinet reshuffle expected next month. Kim Jo-won, head of Korea Aerospace Industries, was appointed senior secretary for civil affairs, replacing Cho Kuk. Cho served his post for 26 months since taking office in May 2017 as one of President Moon Jae-in’s first senior presidential secretaries. He is expected to be appointed as the next justice minister.&nb
July 26, 2019
-
[News Focus] Moon’s approval ratings slide in Seoul, Sejong: poll
SEJONG -- One year ago, President Moon Jae-in was gaining support from a dominant portion of people nationwide over his performance in state affairs.Moon’s approval rating had reached 67 percent, according to a poll conducted from July 17-19 last year by Gallup Korea. Only 25 percent of the 1,000 surveyed responded that they did not support him.His collective approval rating across the country was roughly in proportion to figures in the Seoul metropolitan area and North and South Chungcheo
July 25, 2019
-
Arrested North Korean spy suspect under investigation
A suspected North Korean spy, who was sent to the South and allegedly lived here as a Buddhist monk since last year, has been arrested, marking the first such case in nine years, authorities said Thursday.The National Intelligence Service reported details of the suspected North Korean spy to representative members of the National Assembly’s Intelligence Committee led by Rep. Lee Hye-hoon of the Bareunmirae Party on Thursday morning.“We are not in a situation to brief information on t
July 25, 2019
-
Moon calls for 'fundamental change' of state prosecution
President Moon Jae-in stressed Thursday that the South Korean people want a "fundamental change" of the state prosecution accused of having been often politically swayed, as the new chief prosecutor began his two-year tenure."(You) are assuming a very important post at a very important time," Moon told Yoon Seok-youl after presenting him a letter of appointment at Cheong Wa Dae.Yoon is a veteran prosecutor widely regarded as reform-minded and unyielding to outside pressure. H
July 25, 2019
-
S. Korea nationalizes 90 b won worth of colonial-era Japanese property
South Korea has completed the nationalization of land worth an estimated 90 billion won ($76.40 million) across the country that should have reverted to the state but was still registered under Japanese names following Japan's 1910-45 colonization of Korea, government data showed Thursday.The data, submitted to Kang Byung-won, a lawmaker of the ruling Democratic Party, by the Public Procurement Service, showed the service finished nationalizing 2.43 million square meters of property worth an est
July 25, 2019
-
[Newsmaker] National Assembly delegation leaves for US to discuss Japan trade curbs
A bipartisan delegation representing South Korea’s National Assembly left for Washington on Wednesday morning to meet with US and Japanese counterparts in hopes of finding a breakthrough in Japan’s latest trade restrictions. Following the five-day visit to Washington, a separate delegation is to visit Tokyo next week.“Japan argues that South Korea has violated international law, but does not provide details. I plan to address that during the Korea-US-Japan Trilateral Legislativ
July 24, 2019
-
Cho Kuk could be replaced as early as Thursday
President Moon Jae-in was expected to replace his top aides, including senior presidential secretary for civil affairs Cho Kuk, as early as Thursday.Cho, the longest serving senior presidential secretary in Moon’s office, will be succeeded by Kim Jo-won, chief executive of Korea Aerospace Industries, sources said.“We are in the final stage of vetting candidates for the three senior presidential secretary posts for civil affairs, jobs and civic society,” a source was quoted as s
July 24, 2019
-
[Newsmaker] Moon’s civil affairs secretary at center of yet another political feud
Cho Kuk, senior secretary to the president for civil affairs and justice, is once again in the spotlight, drawing fire from conservatives and fueling a feud between the ruling and opposition blocs. This time around, Cho -- a longtime target of the conservative opposition -- is drawing criticism for comments on social media related to Japan’s decision to impose trade restrictions in apparent retaliation over court rulings on Korean forced labor victims. While Cho has made over 40 posts
July 23, 2019
-
Ruling party, main opposition spar over diplomatic approach to Tokyo’s trade restrictions
The ongoing dispute between the ruling Democratic Party of Korea and the main opposition Liberty Korea Party on Tuesday spilled over to the government’s diplomatic approach in handling trade restrictions by Japan.The fresh round of tit-for-tat came a day after the National Assembly’s Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee passed a resolution pressing Tokyo to retract trade measures imposed on three key tech materials vital for Korean tech businesses.Stepping up criticism against t
July 23, 2019
-
Former top justice Yang released on bail
Former Supreme Court Chief Justice Yang Sung-tae was released on bail Monday after 179 days of detention over his role in a judiciary power abuse scandal.The Seoul Central District Court approved Yang's release on a bail of 300 million won ($255,000), attaching strict conditions that he stays in his residence in Seongnam, south of Seoul, and neither meets nor communicates with people related to his charges. He was also ordered to obtain court approval before traveling for longer than three days
July 22, 2019
-
Parliamentary panel set to adopt resolution against Japan's export curbs
The parliamentary foreign affairs committee on Monday adopted a parliamentary resolution calling on Japan to withdraw its curbs on exports to South Korea of key high-tech materials.In a bipartisan effort to tackle Japan's export restrictions, rival parties passed the resolution by consensus at a meeting of the panel.The committee originally planned to adopt it at the Friday meeting, but its move was scuttled as rival parties failed to fix the date for a parliamentary plenary session. But it stil
July 22, 2019
-
Assembly session ends without results
Days after the June extraordinary parliamentary session ended without addressing key bills, all eyes are on whether a July plenary session will be convened, amid a widening rift between the ruling and main opposition parties.The ruling Democratic Party of Korea on Sunday continued to call for the unconditional ratification of the extra budget bill submitted in April, butting heads with the main opposition Liberty Korea Party that insists on a parliamentary vote on a motion to call for the dismis
July 21, 2019
-
Parties fail to reach deal on June plenary meeting
Rival parties failed to reach a deal Friday to discuss conditions for a plenary meeting, effectively scuttling the passage of an extra budget bill during the June extraordinary parliamentary session.Friday is the final day of the extra session, but the National Assembly was unable to pass the budget bill and other key proposals amid heightened partisan tensions over a push by the opposition to get President Moon Jae-in to dismiss Defense Minister Jeong Kyeong-doo. Rival parties wrangled ove
July 19, 2019
-
S. Korea may review military info-sharing pact with Japan: Cheong Wa Dae official
A senior Cheong Wa Dae official said Thursday South Korea will review whether to renew a pact with Japan on sharing military information, if needed, according to a politician here."For now, (the government) has a position to maintain it. It can be reconsidered in accordance with (relevant) situations,"Chung Eui-yong, director of Cheong Wa Dae's national security office, was quoted by Rep. Sim Sang-jung, head of the progressive Justice Party, as saying during a closed-door meeting with
July 18, 2019
-
Moon, party leaders vow to work together to deal with Japan's economic reprisal
The government and political parties are to establish an emergency cooperation body to respond to Japan’s trade restrictions against South Korea, the parties and the presidential office said Thursday.The agreement, reached at a meeting of President Moon Jae-in and the leaders of five political parties, called on Japan to immediately withdraw the measures and said that any further trade restrictions would threaten the security of Northeast Asia. According to the agreement, the governme
July 18, 2019
-
Moon meets bipartisan parliamentary leaders amid deepening economic woes
President Moon Jae-in began talks with ruling and opposition party leaders Thursday afternoon on urgent issues that include Japan's trade pressure on South Korea and how to reinvigorate the local economy.They started the Cheong Wa Dae meeting at around 4 p.m. and it was scheduled to last about two hours.The occasion marks Moon's first formal group meeting with the heads of the five parties -- the ruling Democratic Party, the main opposition Liberty Korea Party, the center-right Bareunmirae Party
July 18, 2019
-
Chief financial regulator offers to resign
The head of South Korea's top financial regulator said Thursday he has offered to resign, ahead of an expected reshuffle of the Cabinet. Financial Services Commission Chairman Choi Jong-ku told reporters that he tendered his resignation for President Moon Jae-in to widen the scope of his choice before the expected Cabinet reshuffle.Choi, a former deputy finance minister who served at the finance ministry for about three decades, took the job in July 2017. Although one year remains in his t
July 18, 2019
-
Japan’s export curbs to top agenda of President Moon’s meeting with party leaders
President Moon Jae-in and chairpersons of five political parties will gather for a meeting at Cheong Wa Dae on Thursday afternoon to discuss ways to navigate Japan’s trade regulations.The chairpersons are Lee Hae-chan of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea, Hwang Kyo-ahn of the main opposition Liberty Korea Party, Sohn Hak-kyu of the minor conservative Bareunmirae Party, Chung Dong-young of the minor opposition Party for Democracy and Peace, Sim Sang-jeung of the progressive Justice Party
July 17, 2019
-
Ex-lawmaker found dead on mountain in western Seoul: police
Former legislator Chung Doo-un was found dead Wednesday afternoon at a mountain in Hongeun-dong, a neighborhood in Seoul’s western district of Seodaemun, according to police. Seoul Emergency Operations Center said Chung’s wife called police at around 4 p.m. after finding a note he had left behind. Police located him 30 minutes into their search at the mountain near an apartment where he used to live.Chung served as vice mayor of Seoul from 2000-2003, when eventual President Lee Myung
July 16, 2019
-
Moon defends PM’s overseas trips
President Moon Jae-in on Tuesday highlighted the role of the prime minister in diplomatic affairs, saying the country needs to operate a “two-top” system of summit diplomacy. “With the demand for summit diplomacy increasing rapidly, it has become difficult for the president to handle it alone. Therefore there is a need for the president and the prime minister to divide the roles to work on summit diplomacy together,” Moon said. Moon added that due to his government&
July 16, 2019