Moon hopes for closer parliamentary ties between S. Korea, Austria

VIENNA -- South Korean President Moon Jae-in met Monday with the leader of Austria's parliament and expressed hope for closer cooperation between the two countries' lawmakers. Moon and Wolfgang Sobotka, president of the Austrian National Council, had discussions on such issues as relations between the countries and their parliamentary-level exchanges, according to Cheong Wa Dae, the presidential office. Sobotka hailed a decision by the governments of the two countries to upgrade bilateral ties

June 15, 2021

Moon meets mayor of Vienna, hopes for its ties with S. Korean cities

VIENNA -- South Korean President Moon Jae-in visited the city hall of Vienna on Monday and met with the mayor of the Austrian capital. Upon arriving at the city hall, Moon signed a guest book, in accordance with a long tradition for visiting foreign dignitaries, Cheong Wa Dae said. Speaking to Mayor Michael Ludwig, Moon expressed hope that Vienna, known for creative and sustainable urban development, will promote cooperative ties with South Korea's local governments, especially on smart city p

June 15, 2021

Ex-President Chun again avoids attendance of appellate court hearing on defamation case

Former President Chun Doo-hwan again failed to attend an appellate court hearing held Monday to deal with his defamation case related to a late Catholic priest's testimony about the military's brutal crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrators in the southeastern city in 1980. Last November, the Gwangju District Court sentenced Chun to eight months in prison, suspended for two years, on charges of defaming the late Catholic Priest Cho Pius, who testified to having witnessed Chun's troops shooting

June 14, 2021

[Newsmaker] Support for opposition party grows, driven by rise of young leader

Support for the main opposition People Power Party (PPP) continued to grow last week, apparently driven by the ascent of a new leader, widening its gap with the ruling Democratic Party (DP) to nearly 10 percentage points, a poll showed Monday. In a Realmeter survey conducted from June 7-11, the PPP scored 39.1 percent of backing, up 1.1 percentage points from the previous week. It is close to its highest-ever point of 39.4 percent posted during the first week of April. The DP's support fell 0.

June 14, 2021

S. Korea, Australia to deepen ties on low-carbon energy use

CORNWALL, Britain -- South Korean President Moon Jae-in and Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison agreed Saturday to broaden bilateral economic cooperation, especially on hydrogen use and other low-carbon technologies. They had one-on-one talks on the sidelines of an annual summit of the Group of Seven (G-7) here. They were invited to the session as guests. Moon and Morrison shared the view that their participation in the session reflects the G-7 member states' "high expectations"

June 12, 2021

Moon meets AstraZeneca's CEO to discuss vaccine cooperation

CORNWALL, Britain, -- South Korean President Moon Jae-in had a meeting with the head of AstraZeneca on Saturday and reaffirmed the importance of continued cooperation in the global supply of COVID-19 vaccines, Moon's office said. During talks here with Pascal Soriot, executive director and CEO of the pharmaceutical firm, based in Cambridge, Britain, Moon requested that the two sides maintain collaboration in the biohealth sector for the stable production and supply of coronavirus vaccines, acco

June 12, 2021

Moon praises ascent of main opposition's new young chairman as historic feat

President Moon Jae-in on Friday congratulated Lee Jun-seok of the main opposition party on being elected as the youngest person ever to lead a major political party in modern Korean history, praising his win as a sign of transformation for the country. Lee, 36, was elected chairman of the People Power Party (PPP) earlier in the day, taking the helm of the main opposition party as the youngest-ever leader of a mainstream party in modern South Korean politics. Following the announcement of Lee's

June 11, 2021

Moon leaves for G-7 summit in weeklong Europe trip

President Moon Jae-in is set to leave for the UK on Friday to attend the three-day G-7 summit in Cornwall. The meeting, which runs on June 11-13, will discuss coronavirus vaccines, economic recovery and climate change. South Korea is one of four countries, along with Australia, India and South Africa, invited to join this year’s meeting. India is taking part in the event virtually. On the sidelines of the meeting, Moon will hold bilateral summits with the UK, Australia and the EU. It

June 11, 2021

Who is new young leader of conservative People Power Party?

Attention is now being paid to Lee Jun-seok, who became the first person to lead the conservative main opposition People Power Party while still in his 30s. The 36-year-old graduated from the elite Seoul Science High School and holds a bachelor’s degree in economics and computer science from Harvard University. One of the “Park Geun-hye kids” who were drawn into politics by Park in 2011, when she was the head of Saenuri Party, a predecessor of People Power Party, and befor

June 11, 2021

36-year-old Lee Jun-seok becomes new leader of People Power Party

Lee Jun-seok, a 36-year-old politician, won the leadership election for the opposition People Power Party, becoming the youngest ever leader of the nation’s main conservative party. On Friday, Lee defeated his rival Na Kyung-won, a former floor leader of the party, to claim the chairmanship, the party said. Earlier, the People Power Party’s election commission conducted a vote on 328,000 electors from Monday to Thursday. The final winner was determined by a combination of vo

June 11, 2021

Ruling party-govt. meeting canceled after DP chairman's aide gets coronavirus

A scheduled policy meeting between the ruling Democratic Party (DP) and the government was canceled Friday after an aide of DP Chairman Song Young-gil was confirmed to have COVID-19. "An aide of Chairman Song tested positive for COVID-19 this morning. We're aware that a member of the Seoul city council who the aide met Wednesday also tested positive," a DP official said. Following the news, the party called off its scheduled policy coordination meeting with senior government official

June 11, 2021

Ruling party lawmaker tests positive for coronavirus

Rep. Ahn Gyu-back of the ruling Democratic Party tested positive for the coronavirus Thursday, his office said. He is the second sitting legislator to be diagnosed with COVID-19 after Rep. Lee Gae-ho of the same party, who tested positive in April. Ahn's office said the four-term lawmaker came into contact with a local party official, who was infected with the coronavirus, during an event on Sunday. His aides went into self-isolation, it said. (Yonhap)

June 10, 2021

Lawmaker apologizes for using BTS photos to promote bill on tattoos

Rep. Ryu Ho-jeong of the progressive minor Justice Party apologized Thursday for using photos of BTS member Jungkook to promote her bill on legalizing tattooing. "I want to give my apology if there were people hurt (by the action)," Ryu told a radio program by local broadcaster MBC. "As a fan of BTS myself, I hated their acts of artistic expression getting restricted," the lawmaker noted. Ryu came under heat for uploading photos of Jungkook on her Twitter account on Tues

June 10, 2021

Moon says June 10 democratic protest sprit is 'noble asset' for S. Korea

President Moon Jae-in on Thursday commemorated a historic pro-democracy uprising here in 1987, describing its spirit as a "noble asset" to be passed to future generations. "The spirit of the June 10 Democratic Protest is a noble asset that should be inherited by future generations," he wrote on his social media accounts. He was referring to an uprising, initiated by college students and joined by other citizens, against the authoritarian rule of Chun Doo-hwan 34 years ago.

June 10, 2021

[Newsmaker] Ex-prosecutor general leads presidential hopefuls' poll with record high support rate: Realmeter

Former Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl saw his support rating reach a fresh record high in the latest poll of potential presidential candidates released Thursday, amid signs of his imminent political debut. In the Realmeter survey on 2,013 voters nationwide conducted from Monday to Tuesday, 35.1 percent picked Yoon as their most favored candidate for next year's presidential election, up 4.6 percentage points from last month. It is the highest support that Yoon has received in Realmeter's mo

June 10, 2021

DP to supply over 10,000 houses in capital region under special project

The ruling Democratic Party (DP) said Thursday it will supply more than 10,000 houses in six cities near Seoul starting next year through a special project aimed at stabilizing the overheated real estate market. The so-called "home for anyone" project, unveiled by the party's special committee on real estate, is the latest in the DP's policy efforts to rein in runaway property prices, seen as a major reason for its debilitating defeat in the Seoul and Busan mayoral by-elections in Apr

June 10, 2021

Moon urges full probe into Gwangju building collapse

President Moon Jae-in ordered a thorough probe Thursday into the collapse of a five-story building that killed at least nine people, according to Cheong Wa Dae. Eight others were injured, as debris from the building being demolished in a redevelopment project fell on a bus stopped on a nearby street in the southwestern city of Gwangju on Wednesday afternoon. The president received briefings by phone from Interior and Safety Minister Jeon Hae-cheol and Gwangju Mayor Lee Yong-sup on the tragedy.

June 10, 2021

S. Korea, US launch expert group on vaccine partnership under summit accord

South Korea and the United States have established a senior-level expert group to follow up on their summit deal on their "vaccine partnership," Cheong Wa Dae said Thursday. The inaugural session of the task force was held via video link the previous night with government officials of the two sides in attendance, it said in a press release. They included a dozen representatives from the White House, the Department of Health and Human Services, and the US International Development Fin

June 10, 2021

‘Take the bandages off BTS’: pro-tattoo lawmaker

Rep. Ryu Ho-jeong of the minor progressive Justice Party posted photos of BTS member Jungkook on Tuesday to gain support for a bill that would legalize and regulate tattooing in South Korea. Jungkook has tattoos on his hands and arms, but he covers them with bandages when he appears on national television because of a Korea Communications Commission rule against showing tattoos on TV.  In lengthy Facebook and Instagram posts, which contained photographs of Jungkook with bandages covering

June 9, 2021

Moon set for weeklong visits to Britain, Austria, Spain from Friday

President Moon Jae-in will make a trip to Britain for the Group of Seven (G-7) summit this weekend followed by state visits to Austria and Spain for talks on bilateral ties, Cheong Wa Dae announced Wednesday. Moon plans to leave for the British coastal county of Cornwall on Friday to attend the G-7 session as a guest at Prime Minister Boris Johnson's invitation. It will be Moon's first attendance at the G-7's annual summit. He was invited to last year's meeting, which was supposed to be hosted

June 9, 2021