Lee pledges 'transportation revolution' for Gyeonggi residents

Ruling party presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung said Monday he will push for a "transportation revolution" to reduce commute times in the Seoul metropolitan area to less than 30 minutes by investing heavily in high-speed trains. Lee of the Democratic Party (DP) said he will pay particular attention to improving the job-housing proximity for residents of Gyeonggi Province, which surrounds Seoul, by expanding the construction of Great Train Express (GTX) commuter rail networks, subway

Jan. 24, 2022

Yoon leads Lee 42% to 36.8%: poll

Main opposition presidential candidate Yoon Suk-yeol is leading his ruling party rival Lee Jae-myung with 42 percent public support against Lee's 36.8 percent, a survey showed Monday. Yoon of the People Power Party (PPP) gained 1.4 percentage points from the previous week, while Lee of the Democratic Party edged up 0.1 point, according to the Realmeter survey conducted on 3,046 adults from Jan. 16 to 21. Yoon led Lee by 5.2 percentage points, which was outside the margin of error of plus or mi

Jan. 24, 2022

Minor opposition candidates level criticism at Lee, Yoon

As the presidential election draws nearer, minor opposition candidates Ahn Cheol-soo and Sim Sang-jung are dishing out criticism against major candidates Lee Jae-myung and Yoon Suk-yeol, in apparent efforts to bring up their own support ratings. In a meeting with his supporters Saturday, Ahn Cheol-soo, the candidate for the People’s Party, criticized the phone call scandals related to Lee and Yoon in an effort to stress his lack of a “family risk.” “(This election) i

Jan. 23, 2022

Can Yoon Suk-yeol win on his own?

There is growing opinion that presidential nominee Yoon Suk-yeol of the main opposition People Power Party should go it alone in the ongoing race as some consider it unnecessary for him to unite forces with others when his ratings have already recovered lost ground. They believe there is no need for Yoon to merge forces with other opposition heavyweights for the election so it would become a two-way race between him and Lee Jae-myung of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea. Such views come at

Jan. 23, 2022

Moon returns home after trip to Middle East

President Moon Jae-in returned home Saturday from a three-nation trip to the Middle East, where bolstering economic and defense cooperation was high on the agenda. 　 In the United Arab Emirates, South Korea signed a preliminary deal to sell Seoul‘s midrange surface-to-air missiles to the Persian Gulf nation, in the latest sign of deepening defense cooperation between the two nations. 　 The deal was signed after Moon held talks with UAE Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum i

Jan. 22, 2022

Assembly speaker seeks support for Korean businesses in Sri Lanka

National Assembly Speaker Park Byeong-seug met with Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa of Sri Lanka on Thursday to discuss expanding economic cooperation and minerals investment. Park made the two-day trip to Sri Lanka to celebrate the 45th anniversary of the two countries’ diplomatic relations. In the meeting with the Sri Lankan president, Park stressed how the economic structures of South Korea and Sri Lanka “complement” each other

Jan. 21, 2022

Lee proposes meeting with other candidates to discuss increasing extra budget to W35tr

Ruling party presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung on Friday proposed an emergency meeting between all presidential candidates to discuss increasing an extra government budget under consideration to 35 trillion won ($29.3 billion) to support pandemic-hit merchants. Lee of the liberal Democratic Party (DP) made the proposal only hours after the Cabinet endorsed a 14 trillion won extra budget for the same purpose to be submitted to the National Assembly for approval. The amount of 35 trillion won

Jan. 21, 2022

Lee, Yoon neck-and-neck at 34% vs. 33%: poll

Ruling party presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung is running neck and neck with his main opposition rival Yoon Suk-yeol at 34 percent support against Yoon's 33 percent, a poll showed Friday. Lee of the liberal Democratic Party lost 3 percentage points from last week, while Yoon of the conservative People Power Party added 2 points, according to the Gallup Korea survey conducted on 1,002 adults from Tuesday to Thursday. Ahn Cheol-soo, the presidential candidate of the minor opposition People's

Jan. 21, 2022

[Election 2022] Fan clubs and phone recordings, candidates’ wives in spotlight

As the presidential election is drawing near, an unexpected figure jumped into the spotlight: Kim Keon-hee, the wife of Yoon Suk-yeol, the candidate from the main opposition People Power Party. After controversial recordings of her phone call with a reporter were published last weekend, Kim has gained an unusual fandom, with her online fan club witnessing its members grow exponentially in only a couple of days. While the latest phenomenon reflects the high expectations the electorate holds f

Jan. 20, 2022

Court rejects DP's injunction request to ban sales of anti-Lee book

A local court on Thursday dismissed an injunction request by the ruling Democratic Party (DP) to stop the sales of a book criticizing its presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung. The Seoul Northern District Court rejected the DP's application to ban Seoul-based publisher JW Books from selling and distributing the controversial book titled "Goodbye, Lee Jae-myung," citing the people's right to know and freedom of expression. The 240-page book, authored by lawyer Jang Young-ha, details a

Jan. 20, 2022

Yoon vows to deregulate virtual asset industry

Main opposition presidential candidate Yoon Suk-yeol vowed Thursday to deregulate the virtual asset industry to further promote its growth. Yoon of the conservative People Power Party said the industry should be allowed to operate without regulations unless they have been explicitly prohibited. "To realize the unlimited potential of the virtual asset market, we must overhaul regulations that are far from reality and unreasonable," he said at a virtual asset forum at a Seoul hotel. &

Jan. 20, 2022

Hwaseong mayor strives to support city’s rapid growth

Starting his fourth year in office, Hwaseong Mayor Seo Cheol-mo is far from complacent in his governing duties for a city rapidly growing across all sectors. While regional economies have been hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic and the social distancing measures that ensued, Seo believes the real “disease” local government should battle against is their “incompetency.” “New variants of the coronavirus continue to emerge, but there is no need to be excessively afr

Jan. 20, 2022

Lee pledges W1m basic income for cultural sector workers

Ruling party presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung pledged Thursday to offer an annual basic income of 1 million won ($840) to cultural sector workers. Lee of the liberal Democratic Party announced the pledge as part of his top six campaign promises for the cultural industry. "I will expand hallyu's global presence and open the horizon for the Republic of Korea and the United States to become the world's two leading powers for cultural content," Lee said at a campaign event in central

Jan. 20, 2022

Moon arrives in Egypt for summit focused on economic ties

President Moon Jae-in arrived in Egypt on Wednesday to hold summit talks with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi with trade and the economy high on the agenda. Moon's visit to Cairo marks the first trip by a South Korean president to the African nation in 16 years, Moon's office said. The two leaders are expected to agree on a joint feasibility study for a bilateral free trade deal, which if sealed would be Korea's first free trade agreement with an African country. Moon will also attend

Jan. 20, 2022

Yoon calls for more investment, exchanges between S. Korea, Russia

Main opposition presidential candidate Yoon Suk-yeol met with the Russian ambassador to Seoul on Wednesday and called for more investment and exchanges between the countries. Ambassador Andrey Kulik paid a visit to Yoon of the conservative People Power Party at the party's headquarters in Seoul, and the two discussed a range of areas including business and culture. "There should be more vigorous regional investment and economic and cultural exchanges, as well as strengthened cooperation o

Jan. 19, 2022

A battle of lion, tiger and turtle? Art of face reading offers peculiar take on presidential race

Between various scandals, the leaking of private conversations and talks of possible unified candidacies, support for the three major candidates in Korea’s ongoing presidential race has fluctuated unpredictably throughout. But there are those who believe that hints lie in the faces of the three – the ruling party’s Lee Jae-myung, and opposition parties’ Yoon Suk-yeol and Ahn Cheol-soo -- and one can read them through the art of fortunetelling known as “gwansang.&r

Jan. 19, 2022

Phone recordings become potholes for presidential hopefuls

Potentially damaging phone call recordings of presidential candidates and their family members continue to plague the election campaigns across the aisle, with the latest revelation hitting Lee Jae-myung of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea. Lee responded quickly, apologizing for the contents of his phone calls with his late brother, which were filled with insults. The recording transcripts were made public on Tuesday. “Although there is a difficult background that I cannot reveal,

Jan. 19, 2022

[KH Explains] Mysteries, scandals surround whistleblower’s death

Democratic Party presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung’s campaign has been marred by a level of drama unusual even by the standards of Korea’s convoluted and chaotic politics -- deaths of three individuals with links to allegations involving the candidate. The latest death was reported on Jan. 12, when the police found the body of lawyer named Lee Byung-chul in a motel room in Yangcheon-gu, western Seoul. He was found about three days after his sister reported him missing. His death

Jan. 19, 2022

Ahn up in arms against one-on-one debate

The minor opposition People’s Party presidential candidate Ahn Cheol-soo on Wednesday filed an injunction to stop the airing of the TV debate between presidential candidates of the Democratic Party of Korea and People Power Party, protesting the decision to exclude him. On Wednesday, Lee Tae-kyu, the head of the election committee at People’s Party, filed an injunction in Ahn’s name at the Seoul Western District Court to suspend three terrestrial TV stations KBS, MBC and SBS

Jan. 19, 2022

[Newsmaker] Forensic psychologist quits Yoon Suk-yeol campaign over his wife's remarks

Lee Soo-jung, a criminal psychology professor at Kyonggi University, stepped down as an advisor to the main opposition People Power Party’s election camp after apologizing to a victim of a #MeToo scandal for remarks made by presidential candidate Yoon Suk-yeol’s wife Kim Keon-hee about the matter. She told a local media outlet that apologizing to the victim Kim Ji-eun ”was my conscience,” adding, “I resigned in advance because there was a difference between my pos

Jan. 19, 2022