Yoon picks Park Jin as foreign minister in second round of Cabinet choices

President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol tapped eight new minister nominees for his Cabinet and a chief of staff on Wednesday, following his first eight nominations Sunday. For foreign minister, Yoon named four-term Rep. Park Jin of the People Power Party, who led his policy consultation delegation to Washington. Park is a diplomacy expert who started his career by passing the state’s foreign service exam in 1977. He served as the press secretary for foreign media at the presidential office for

April 13, 2022

Presidential transition team opposes Democratic Party’s prosecution reform push

President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol’s transition team on Wednesday criticized the Democratic Party of Korea’s plan to deprive the prosecution of its investigative power, calling on the liberal party to stop “destroying the Constitution.” Rep. Yoo Sang-beom, a senior member of the presidential transition committee, told reporters Wednesday that the committee is clearly against the plan to strip the prosecution of its powers, saying the move is directly against the Constitution

April 13, 2022

Transition team seeks to modify carbon neutrality plans, discard nuclear phase-out policy

The transition team's push to modify carbon neutrality plans of the current Moon Jae-in government will likely include reversal of its nuclear phase-out policy and changes in energy mix, officials said Wednesday. The transition committee called Tuesday for overhauling the country's carbon neutrality scheme, claiming that policies from the Moon administration actually increased greenhouse gas emissions and sticking to its plans will prompt electricity rate hikes and even lower the country's gross

April 13, 2022

Transition team considers legalizing tattooing by nonmedical professionals

President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol's transition team has been considering legalizing tattooing by nonmedical professionals, an official at the team said Wednesday, as tattoos are increasingly popular among young people. In South Korea, tattoo artists operate illegally because tattooing is currently governed by the Medical Service Act that only allows those with a medical license to provide tattoo services. "Under the current law, not only tattooists, but also people receiving treatment from them

April 13, 2022

Yoon to announce additional Cabinet nominations

President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol will announce a second round of Cabinet nominations Wednesday, his spokesperson said, a list that is expected to include at least seven minister nominees and his chief of staff. The nominations will be for the remaining 10 positions -- ministers of education, foreign affairs, unification, justice, interior and safety, labor, small and medium-sized enterprises, maritime affairs, agriculture and the environment. Yoon will announce the nominees at a press conference

April 13, 2022

[Newsmaker] Clashing ideas on military exemption for BTS

Whether the members of K-pop sensation BTS should be granted military exemptions has become the talk of the town, with the final date for the enlistment of the seven-member group’s oldest member, Jin, near the end of the year. In South Korea, nearly all able-bodied men in their 20s are obliged to serve in the military for about 18 months. There is an exemption and alternative service system where athletes and artists recognized to have promoted national prestige -- winning designated int

April 12, 2022

Seoul Mayor pledges city’s alliance with new government in housing policy

Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon said Tuesday that he would seek close cooperation with the incoming Yoon Suk-yeol administration on Seoul’s housing policy to increase housing supply and suppress runaway real estate prices. “I think it is important to work closely with the central government to increase the housing supply. But the city will approach the issue carefully so as not to cause any unnecessary surges of real estate prices,” Oh said during a press meeting held in line with th

April 12, 2022

[Reporter's Notebook] Lawmakers' Zelenskyy snub stains South Korea's image

South Korea became the 24th government to invite Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for a livestreamed speech on Monday, as the international community continues to express support for Ukraine’s fight against the Russian invasion. Zelenskyy gave his first virtual speech to the European Union on March 1 and spoke before political leaders of nations including the United States, Japan and Germany before speaking to South Korean lawmakers. Hosting Zelenskyy to speak to political leaders

April 12, 2022

US envoy for N. Korea to visit Seoul next week

US Special Representative for North Korea Sung Kim will visit South Korea next week to coordinate policy ahead of the launch of the new administration of President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol, sources said Tuesday. Kim is expected to arrive in Seoul around Monday and stay for four days to hold talks with his South Korean counterpart, Noh Kyu-duk, and other officials of the outgoing and incoming administrations. Kim's deputy, Jung Pak, is also expected to visit Seoul during the same period. Kim's visit c

April 12, 2022

Assembly speaker asks Sweden to help N. Korea return to dialogue

National Assembly Speaker Park Byeong-seug held talks with the speaker of Sweden's parliament, Andreas Norlen, on Monday, during which Park asked Sweden to help North Korea return to dialogue. Park told the visiting Norlen that Sweden "plays a role" for North Korea to return to dialogue, according to Park's office. In response, Norlen said Sweden will continue to support the peace and stability of the Korean Peninsula. North Korea has ratcheted up tensions by conducting an intercont

April 11, 2022

Yoon’s inauguration slogan is ‘New nation for people’; BTS not included

The slogan of President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol’s inauguration ceremony on May 10 is “Again, Korea! A new nation of people,” the presidential inauguration preparation committee said Monday. It also confirmed that boy band BTS will not perform at the ceremony. “The ceremony was planned considering the nation, which is taking a leap forward and where the people are the owners,” said Park Joo-sun, chairman of the presidential preparation committee. Regarding reports th

April 11, 2022

Chief prosecutor willing to risk job to protect investigative powers

South Korea’s chief prosecutor vowed to concentrate all efforts to protect the investigative power of the prosecution on Monday, as the Democratic Party of Korea looks to pass a contested bill that would remove all investigative powers from the prosecution. Prosecutor General Kim Oh-soo said in a meeting of senior prosecutors at the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office in Seoul on Monday that he would put his job and career on the line to stop the bill. The meeting was attended by heads of

April 11, 2022

6 in 10 people say PM nominee's hefty salary at law firm 'inappropriate'

Six in 10 South Koreans think Prime Minister nominee Han Duck-soo taking hefty salaries during his stint at a law firm following his public service retirement is inappropriate, a poll showed Monday. In the Korea Society Opinion Institute survey of 1,013 adults, 63.2 percent said it is inappropriate for high-ranking government officials like Han to serve as outside directors or advisers to private companies after their retirement from public service. Only 17.6 percent said such a practice is appr

April 11, 2022

PPP nominates Seoul, Busan mayors for reelection

Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon, Busan Mayor Park Hyeong-joon and North Gyeongsang Gov. Lee Cheol-woo were nominated for reelection in June's local elections, the People Power Party (PPP) said Monday. Park and Lee were the only candidates for nomination in their respective districts. Three applied for nomination for Seoul mayor, including Oh, and the party selected Oh for reelection, the PPP's nomination committee said. Oh and Park took office after winning last year's local by-elections. (Yonhap)

April 11, 2022

Former journalist Park Bo-gyoon appointed as first culture minister for Yoon

President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol on Sunday named Park Bo-gyoon to become his administration‘s first minister of culture, sports and tourism. Park, a former journalist and vice president of the JoongAng Ilbo newspaper, was the president of Korea News Editors’ Association in 2011. After he joined the People’s Power Party in July 2021, Park played a role as a special adviser in the party’s election committee and election headquarters. In March, Park became the special advis

April 10, 2022

Economics professor tapped for controversial Gender Equality Ministry

Kim Hyun-sook, a former lawmaker and economics professor at Soongsil University, who was named to head the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family, expressed her determination to assist the president-elect to smoothly carry out the abolition of the ministry on Sunday. Kim was a proportionate representative at the 19th parliament for the then Saenuri Party, predecessor of the People Power Party, and also served as the chief secretary on employment and welfare for the Park Geun-hye administratio

April 10, 2022

Song Young-gil prepared to lose in Seoul mayoral race

Rep. Song Young-gil, former Democratic Party of Korea chairman, defended his intent to run for Seoul mayor in the June 1 local elections, citing his party’s need for a heavyweight willing to sacrifice and contribute after the disappointing defeat in the presidential race. The five-term lawmaker said in a press briefing Sunday that he intends to officially start his campaign for the Seoul mayoral post in the following week, saying he is willing to give up his remaining two years of his leg

April 10, 2022

‘Smarter, more elaborate’ gender policies needed says PPP women lawmakers

President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol’s pledge to abolish the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family was a divisive one, raising ire from opponents who say it is a signal that Korea was about to backslide on women’s rights. But female lawmakers of the People Power Party, the conservative party to which Yoon is a member, say that efforts to promote women’s rights and policies related to family and youth -- which are currently handled by the Gender Equality Ministry -- will not be dis

April 10, 2022

Yoon makes first eight picks for Cabinet

President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol announced Sunday the first eight minister nominees for his incoming Cabinet, each of whom will undergo parliamentary confirmation hearings before final appointment. “The criteria for the personnel appointments was nothing more than whether the person would be the best suited to lead their designated fields,” Yoon said during a press briefing at the presidential transition committee headquarters in Seoul. For the first deputy prime minister and minis

April 10, 2022

Parties contemplate next leadership picks

South Korea’s two major political parties are gearing up for leadership change after the local elections and the start of the Yoon Suk-yeol administration. Inside the Democratic Party of Korea, the battle is between supporters of Lee Jae-myung, the former presidential nominee of the liberal party, and those supporting President Moon Jae-in, whose five-year term has only around a month left. Lee has been widely expected to run for the chairman seat at the party’s general convention

April 10, 2022