Seongnam Mayor Eun Soo-mi indicted on graft, corruption charges

Prosecutors on Tuesday indicted the mayor of Seongnam, south of Seoul, on charges of providing special favors to a police officer in return for receiving insider information about a police investigation into her alleged violation of the Political Funds Act. Seongnam Mayor Eun Soo-mi is accused of giving a 450 million won ($379,000) streetlight replacement project to an unidentified company in October 2018 at the request of the police officer who was in charge of a police probe into her case. A

Nov. 30, 2021

Yoon’s leadership put to test as interim conflict deepens

The leadership of the presidential candidate of the main opposition party is being put to the test, as strife appears to deepen between the election committee and party chief. On Tuesday, main opposition People Power Party Chairman Lee Jun-seok canceled all scheduled activities for the day without explanation, amid a growing gap between him and the party’s presidential nominee Yoon Seok-youl. A day earlier, Lee uploaded a Facebook post, reading “If that is the case, this is it,&r

Nov. 30, 2021

Main opposition leader cancels schedule amid speculation of possible resignation

The leader of the main opposition People Power Party canceled part of his official schedule Tuesday, adding weight to speculation he could resign over disagreements with the party's presidential nominee Yoon Seok-youl. The party informed reporters at short notice that Chairman Lee Jun-seok had canceled his attendance at a forum Tuesday morning, without providing a reason. The notice added to speculation Lee could be considering resigning from at least one of his official titles, including co-c

Nov. 30, 2021

Cardinal Yeom to retire as archbishop of Seoul

Cardinal Andrew Yeom Soo-jung will retire as the Catholic archbishop of Seoul and apostolic administrator of Pyongyang on Tuesday, after nine years of service in the post. The Archdiocese of Seoul said it will hold a Mass to mark Yeom's retirement at Myeongdong Cathedral in central Seoul at 10 a.m. with about 600 priests and faithfuls attending. Appointed as the archbishop of Seoul in May 2012, Yeom has since served in the post for about nine years. He will be replaced by Archbishop Peter Chu

Nov. 30, 2021

Leading candidates kick off regional rallies in swing region, ruling bloc stronghold

Presidential contenders pushed for support in the provinces Monday, with the opposition candidate visiting a key swing region and the ruling party candidate staying in a party stronghold. Yoon Seok-youl of the main opposition People Power Party chose the Chungcheong provinces as his first campaign destination after the formation of his election committee. “I am a son of Chungcheong and I can say Chungcheong is my hometown,” Yoon said before departing, speaking at the election com

Nov. 29, 2021

[Newsmaker] Presidential race riddled with accusations, denunciations

The race to the presidency has turned into a mudslinging contest, with the two leading candidates appearing to focus mainly on dragging each other down with accusations. The two-way race between Lee Jae-myung of the ruling party and his main opposition counterpart, Yoon Suk-yeol, has consisted largely of remarks questioning each other’s fitness for the chief post. The main opposition People Power Party on Monday called on Lee to accept a special counsel probe concerning a controversial l

Nov. 29, 2021

Govt. to suspend arrivals of migrant workers with travel records to southern Africa

South Korea plans to suspend arrivals of migrant workers with records of recent visits to southern African nations in order to block the inflow of the potentially more contagious omicron COVID-19 variant, officials said Monday. The labor ministry's plan, which could affect the entry of manual workers from 16 Asian countries, is in line with the earlier restriction placed on foreign arrivals from eight African countries over concerns of the emerging virus variant first reported in Africa. "

Nov. 29, 2021

Yoon leads Lee by 9.4% points in presidential race: survey

Presidential candidate Yoon Seok-youl of the main opposition People Power Party is leading his ruling Democratic Party rival Lee Jae-myung by 9.4 percentage points in a hypothetical multicandidate race, a survey showed Monday. Yoon had 46.3 percent support against Lee's 36.9 percent in the survey of 3,023 adults conducted last Monday to Friday by Realmeter. The difference fell outside the margin of error of plus or minus 1.8 percentage points at a 95 percent confidence level. Ahn Cheol-soo, t

Nov. 29, 2021

Leading presidential contenders stay tight in latest poll

The two leading presidential candidates remained neck and neck with each other in the latest survey released Sunday.    Yoon Seok-youl, the presidential nominee of the main opposition People Power Party, earned 38.9 percent support, while Lee Jae-myung, the candidate for the ruling Democratic Party, had 36.1 percent support in the poll conducted by Embrain Public.    Yoon's lead of 2.8 percentage points was within the margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points

Nov. 28, 2021

[Election 2022] D-100: Pundits’ take on outlook, impact and fallout

With just 100 days left for South Korea to pick its next president, the question comes down to what significance the race holds and how the landscape could change as voters prepare to cast their ballots on March 9. The candidates are new, and so is the theme of the race. The voters have changed, and what they look for is unique to Korea's political history. What candidates offer and how they present their views are critical at this point, with their ratings shifting every day. The Korea Heral

Nov. 28, 2021

Lee Jae-myung criticized for defending murderer nephew

The presidential candidate for the ruling Democratic Party of Korea is facing growing criticism for defending a nephew who brutally killed two women and for later downplaying the case, with the opposition questioning his fitness to hold office. Lee Jae-myung is a qualified lawyer in South Korea, having passed the bar exam in 1986, and he served as a defense attorney for his nephew when he was accused of murdering his girlfriend and her mother in 2006. But the fact that Lee defended his nephew

Nov. 28, 2021

Natl. Assembly speaker asks Oman, Bahrain to export urea solution to S. Korea

MADRID -- National Assembly Speaker Park Byeong-seug held meetings with his counterparts from Oman and Bahrain on Saturday during which he asked the two Middle East nations to export urea solution to South Korea. The meeting came as South Korea is scrambling to secure urea solution, the essential fluid used in diesel vehicles to cut emissions, after China imposed export curbs on urea to ease domestic supply bottlenecks. Park, who is in Madrid to attend the 143rd Inter-Parliamentary Union Asse

Nov. 28, 2021

Late ex-President Chun's wife apologizes for 'pains, scars' inflicted during his presidency

The wife of late former President Chun Doo-hwan, widely criticized for the bloody crackdown on a 1980 pro-democracy uprising in the southwestern city of Gwangju, issued an apology on Saturday for the "pains and scars" inflicted during his presidency. Lee Soon-ja made the apology in the first such move by Chun's family, as the bereaved family was preparing to carry his coffin out of a hospital in Seoul. Chun died Tuesday at age 90 from chronic ailments. "On behalf of my husband

Nov. 27, 2021

Moon appoints two deputy chiefs of spy agency

President Moon Jae-in on Friday appointed two deputy directors of the National Intelligence Service (NIS), the presidential office said. Moon appointed Park Sun-won, head of the NIS's planning and coordination office, as the first deputy director, while choosing Chun Se-young, senior official at the NIS's counter-espionage team, as the second deputy director. The first deputy director is tasked with gleaning intelligence on North Korea and overseas affairs, while the second deputy director is

Nov. 26, 2021

Yoon, Lee neck and neck at 42% vs 39.8%: survey

Yoon Seok-youl, the presidential nominee of the main opposition People Power Party, is neck and neck with ruling Democratic Party candidate Lee Jae-myung with 42 percent support against 39.8 percent, a survey showed Friday. The difference between the two was 2.2 percentage points, which was within the margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points at a 95 percent confidence level, according to the survey of 1,005 adults conducted Tuesday and Wednesday by the Korea Society Opinion Instit

Nov. 26, 2021

Yoon slams government's nuclear phase-out scheme

Yoon Seok-youl, the presidential candidate of the main opposition People Power Party (PPP), on Friday slammed the Moon Jae-in administration's nuclear phase-out policy, calling it "disaster caused from ignorance." The nuclear phase-out scheme set by Moon's government centers on slowly breaking away from nuclear energy by refraining from building additional plants while retiring old ones. Under the roadmap, South Korea plans to decrease the number of nuclear plants in operation to 17 b

Nov. 26, 2021

Lee pledges more subsidies for electric vehicles

Ruling Democratic Party presidential nominee Lee Jae-myung pledged Friday to expand government subsidies for the electric vehicle industry and increase the production of the cars. In a Facebook post, Lee said government subsidies have fallen far short of the amount needed to produce enough EVs to meet consumer demand. He noted the biggest obstacles to getting more EVs on roads are their high price and lack of charging facilities. "I will drastically expand the scope of subsidies in order

Nov. 26, 2021

Assembly speaker promotes Korea as site of WHO’s bio training center

National Assembly Speaker Park Byeong-seug met with the World Health Organization chief to discuss COVID-19 vaccine cooperation and the launch of the organization’s training hub, the speaker’s office said Thursday. During his visit to Switzerland, Park met with WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus at the WHO headquarters in Geneva on Tuesday and told him South Korea is an optimal place for the launch of its Global Biomanufacturing Workforce Training Hub, which is curren

Nov. 25, 2021

Lee seeks to break away from hard-line image in about-face

The Democratic Party’s presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung appears to have ditched his dogmatic views and hard-line stance, instead opting to woo voters with apologies and tears. On Wednesday, he apologized on behalf of his party for failing to empathize with the “painful hearts of the people,” and got down on his knees, saying he will apologize at every opportunity and bring about changes in the party. A day earlier, Lee apologized for using abusive language against his s

Nov. 25, 2021

Lee calls for tougher penalties, closer oversight on sex crimes in military

The presidential nominee for South Korea’s ruling party called for increased intervention and monitoring of the military as it continues to report sexual assault cases and raises the need for extensive reforms internally. Lee Jae-myung of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea said in a meeting with female reserve service members Thursday that the country's military should be able to allow the civilian sector to actively engage in monitoring the human rights issues within the "close-mi

Nov. 25, 2021