[Newsmaker] Top prosecutors offer to resign en masse in protest over reform legislation

Prosecutor General Kim Oh-soo, his deputy and the chiefs of all six high prosecutors' offices across the nation offered to resign en masse Friday after the ruling and opposition parties agreed on legislation that would reduce and eventually scrap the prosecution's investigative powers. The unprecedented move came after the ruling Democratic Party and the main opposition People Power Party reached agreement on prosecution reform legislation in a breakthrough compromise that defused tensions over

April 22, 2022

People Power Party convenes ethics committee over claims Lee Jun-seok accepted sexual favors

Lee Jun-seok is facing possible penalties from his own People Power Party over allegations he accepted sexual favors as bribes on two instances in 2013. At a meeting on Thursday evening, the party voted unanimously in favor of convening an ethics committee to decide whether a disciplinary action against Lee is warranted.  When the allegations first surfaced in December last year, the party decided not to consider the matter through its ethics committee process, with the preside

April 22, 2022

Eating at cinemas, indoor sports facilities to be allowed from next week: PM

Eating inside movie theaters, indoor gyms and religious facilities will be permitted starting next week, Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum said Friday, following the government's lifting of social distancing restrictions earlier this week. Eating on trains and express buses will also be allowed as the government further eased COVID-19 curbs comes as part of efforts to return to normal life. "The average daily number of virus cases has declined about 40 percent from a week ago, while the downward

April 22, 2022

Yoon asks biz sector to make efforts to host World Expo 2030 in Busan

BUSAN/SEOUL -- President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol on Friday asked South Korean business leaders to work together to ensure the country's port city of Busan can win the bid to host the 2030 World Expo. Yoon made the call in a meeting with senior executives of major South Korean conglomerates, including Samsung, Hyundai and SK, at the Busan Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Yoon asked the business sector to play an "active role" in helping Busan win the bid. The participants agreed to work to

April 22, 2022

Transition team emphasizes denuclearization as Moon, Kim exchange letters

President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol's transition team called Friday for "peace and prosperity through denuclearization" after revelations that President Moon Jae-in exchanged letters with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. "I believe it is a great cause of people to achieve peace and prosperity through denuclearization," a transition team official said, commenting on the exchange of letters between Moon and Kim. According to the North's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), Kim

April 22, 2022

Cheong Wa Dae confirms exchange of letters with NK leader

The office of President Moon Jae-in on Friday confirmed an exchange of letters between Moon and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. Presidential spokesperson Park Kyung-mee said Cheong Wa Dae plans to brief the media on the letters. According to the North's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), Kim received a letter from Moon on Wednesday and sent a reply letter the next day. The KCNA said Moon and Kim held the same view that inter-Korean relations would "improve and develop" if the

April 22, 2022

[News Focus] Plans for new presidential residence raise concerns

President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol is reviewing the foreign minister’s residence as a new candidate to use as the presidential residence, after finding that the initial choice, the residence of the Army chief of staff, would cost too much to renovate. But with the change in decision coming less than three weeks before the presidential inauguration, it has been met with public criticisms for being “helter-skelter” in handling the relocation. As the official residence of the forei

April 21, 2022

Internal feud erupts within Democratic Party over prosecution reform bill

Facing immense opposition from almost all sides, cracks are emerging within the Democratic Party of Korea among its legislators over the controversial prosecution reform bill. Rep. Park Hong-keun, floor leader of the Democratic Party, on Thursday requested a plenary session of the National Assembly to be held Friday to pass proposed revisions to the Criminal Procedure Act and the Prosecutors’ Office Act. The request comes as the party seeks to pass the bill that would strip the prosecutio

April 21, 2022

Shinzo Abe visits controversial shrine, sparks fury in Seoul

Japanese former and current prime ministers showing respect to a shrine housing a number of war criminals is fanning controversy in Korea as President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol’s delegation to Tokyo is set to depart Sunday. On Thursday, former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe visited Yasukuni Shrine, which includes the enshrinement of Class A war criminals. This is his sixth visit since resigning from office. At Yasukuni Shrine, 14 Class A war criminals of the Pacific War, including Hideki T

April 21, 2022

Moon formally appoints new BOK chief

President Moon Jae-in formally appointed a former veteran International Monetary Fund official, Rhee Chang-yong, as new head of the Bank of Korea (BOK) on Thursday after the National Assembly adopted a report on his confirmation hearing. Rhee, former director of the Asia and Pacific department at the IMF, was nominated last month to succeed former BOK Gov. Lee Ju-yeol, whose term ended on March 31. During a parliamentary hearing, Rhee said the BOK will continue to tighten its monetary policy to

April 21, 2022

Seoul City asks Yoon’s transition team to lower property taxes

The Seoul Metropolitan Government has proposed the transition team of President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol to ease the country’s taxes on property, it said Wednesday. 　 The Seoul city government said it delivered its property tax revision scheme to the transition team on Tuesday. The proposal asks the transition team to bump up the minimum value of property in the highest tax bracket from the current 500 million won ($404,000) to 900 million won. Officials from the Seoul city government expl

April 20, 2022

Ruling party resorts to opposition cosplay to ram through prosecution bill

The Democratic Party has pulled out all the stops to ensure that the bill to strip prosecutors of their investigative powers can go through, despite escalating conflicts with the prosecution and opposition parties. Rep. Min Hyung-bae on Wednesday left the Democratic Party and became an independent, a move that would allow the party to push the controversial bill through referral to the agenda coordination committee. Min is a member of the National Assembly’s Legislation and Judiciary C

April 20, 2022

Party rules Song Young-gil, Park Ju-min out of Seoul mayor contention

The leadership of the Democratic Party of Korea has ruled out Reps. Song Young-gil and Park Ju-min from the Seoul mayoral candidate selection, sparking an internal feud over whether it was fair to exclude key figures without undergoing primaries. The internal nomination committee of the liberal party decided late Tuesday to exclude Song and Park from the list of possible nominees in the upcoming local elections, hinting the party will search for another candidate to bear its flag and compete wi

April 20, 2022

Moon blames indifference for mobility problems on people with disabilities

President Moon Jae-in on Wednesday called for more efforts to help improve mobility for the disabled, saying society's indifference is blamed for their mobility problems. "We must blame ourselves for our lack of interest for disabled people's right to move," Moon said in a message to mark the 42nd Day of People with Disabilities. "A world without discrimination is the path we should go." "The pace of disabled and non-disabled people is also different, but we are living t

April 20, 2022

Natl. Assembly speaker shelves overseas trip amid tension over prosecution reform legislation

National Assembly Speaker Park Byeong-seug has put an overseas travel plan on hold, an official said Wednesday, amid the ruling Democratic Party's push for legislation that would deprive the prosecution of its investigative powers. The decision was seen as aimed at giving the DP more time to consider the controversial legislation without rushing as the party has vowed to pass the bills through the National Assembly before Park departs on a 10-day trip to the United States and Canada later this w

April 20, 2022

FM's official residence emerges as new venue for Yoon's presidential residence

The foreign minister's official residence is being considered as a new venue for incoming President Yoon Suk-yeol's residence, officials said Wednesday. The official residence of the Army chief of staff had originally been considered a top candidate for Yoon's residence following his plan to relocate the presidential office Cheong Wa Dae to the defense ministry compound in Yongsan, central Seoul. But officials said the Army chief's home is too outdated and run-down for a presidential residence.

April 20, 2022

Yoon to invite 41,000 for his inauguration ceremony amid eased virus distancing

A larger than previously planned number of people will be invited to attend President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol's inaugural ceremony slated for early next month amid eased virus restrictions, according to Yoon's transition team Tuesday. Some 41,000 people are expected to attend the ceremony, including political leaders, citizens and bereaved families of sailors killed in North Korea's sinking of the Cheonan warship in 2010, the transition team said. The transition team said more people than previo

April 19, 2022

Justice minister nominee controversy - justified fear or political calculations?

President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol’s nomination of his closest confidant, senior prosecutor Han Dong-hoon, as the minister of justice has been met with fierce backlash from opponents, who take it as a signal foreshadowing political retribution. With the country set for a change in power upon Yoon’s inauguration, Han’s nomination has come as a spark to the volatile situation surrounding the prosecution reform drive of the current ruling Democratic Party of Korea. The Democratic P

April 19, 2022

Prosecution fights at all levels to protect investigative powers

The first nationwide meeting of junior prosecutors in 19 years has been called, as the prosecution continues to vocally oppose the legislative push to strip investigative powers from the law enforcement agency, despite growing calls for the ruling party to stop acting against public interest. At 7 p.m. Tuesday at the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office in Seocho-gu, southern Seoul, around 150 junior prosecutors from offices across South Korea were scheduled to gather and express discontent with p

April 19, 2022

Moon thanks people, medical workers as S. Korea returns to normal life

President Moon Jae-in on Tuesday thanked people and medical workers for their efforts to battle COVID-19 as South Korea removed all social distancing measures, except a mask mandate, and returned to normal life. "With social distancing fully lifted, people regained their daily lives," Moon told a Cabinet meeting. "I sincerely thank people, epidemic prevention and medical workers for their cooperation." Starting Monday, restaurants, cafes and many other business establishments

April 19, 2022