Moon replaces eight vice minister-level officials

President Moon Jae-in on Friday replaced eight vice minister-level officials, including those at the science and unification ministries, Cheong Wa Dae announced. Yong Hong-taek, the science ministry's director of research and development policy, was promoted to first vice science minister, and Cho Kyeong-sik, Cheong Wa Dae's secretary for digital innovation, was named second vice science minister. Choi Young-joon, the unification ministry's director for unification policy, was promoted to vice

March 26, 2021

PPP's Oh leads Seoul mayoral race backed by strong support from voters in 20s: poll

Oh Se-hoon, the main opposition party's Seoul mayoral candidate, outpaced his liberal rival Park Young-sun by nearly 20 percentage points, according to the latest public opinion poll Thursday. According to the Realmeter survey conducted on 806 voters in Seoul on Wednesday, 55 percent of the respondents said they will vote for Oh of the People Power Party (PPP) in the April 7 Seoul mayoral by-election, while 36.5 percent chose Park of the ruling Democratic Party (DP) as their preferred candidat

March 25, 2021

National Assembly approves W15tr extra budget to fight aftermath of COVID-19

The National Assembly on Thursday approved an extra budget worth nearly 15 trillion-won ($13.2 billion) to help prop up small merchants and the vulnerable hit hard by the yearlong COVID-19 pandemic. The bill's passage enables the country's fourth round of emergency relief assistance since the first case of the new coronavirus was confirmed in South Korea in January last year. The latest aid package, which will selectively benefit small business owners, the jobless and other vulnerable people,

March 25, 2021

Govt. data shows half of top public officials own land amid snowballing scandal

About half of top officials at the central government and state-run institutions own land as part of their wealth, a government report showed Thursday, amid mounting public outrage over a land speculation scandal involving public officials. According to the annual government report showing the latest state of personal wealth of 759 high-ranking officials at the central government and state-run institutions, 51.1 percent, or 388, possessed land as part of their wealth. Some of them owned land i

March 25, 2021

[Newsmaker] Former Seoul mayor far ahead of ruling candidate: poll

Two weeks before the April 7 by-election to choose Seoul’s next mayor, Oh Se-hoon, a former mayor and the sole candidate from the opposition bloc, is far ahead of Park Young-sun, former minister of SMEs and startups and the sole candidate from the ruling Democratic Party of Korea, a poll showed Wednesday. According to a Realmeter survey of 1,042 Seoulites aged 18 or older on March 22 and 23, Oh gained 48.9 percent support and Park stood at 29.2 percent support of respondents in the two-w

March 24, 2021

PM calls for virus alertness to ensure safe proceedings of April by-elections

Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun on Wednesday urged health authorities to remain guarded against potential new coronavirus outbreaks as to allow safe proceedings of the upcoming April by-elections. Citizens of Seoul and Busan, the nation's second-largest city in the southeast, will hit voting booths on April 7 to pick their new mayors in their respective by-elections. Nineteen other seats, mostly of local governments and councils, scattered across the country will also be up for grabs. The mayora

March 24, 2021

Moon, first lady receive AstraZeneca shots to attend G-7 summit in June

South Korean President Moon Jae-in and first lady Kim Jung-sook received their first doses of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine on Tuesday, in preparation to visit the United Kingdom for a Group of Seven summit in June. 　 Moon, 68, was administered the shot in his left arm at the Jongno-gu public health center near the presidential office, along with first lady Kim and nine Cheong Wa Dae aides, including national security adviser Suh Hoon, who are accompanying them to Britain in June. 　 Korea

March 23, 2021

Moon gets AstraZeneca vaccine shot to join G-7 summit in Britain

President Moon Jae-in received his first dose of AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine Tuesday, as he plans to attend a Group of Seven (G-7) summit to be held in Britain. He received the shot at the Jongno Ward public health center near the presidential compound in Seoul, along with first lady Kim Jung-sook and nine Cheong Wa Dae officials who will accompany them on a trip to Britain in June. The G-7 session is scheduled to take place in the seaside resort of Carbis Bay in Cornwall from June 11-13. M

March 23, 2021

Oh Se-hoon chosen to become unified opposition candidate for Seoul mayor

Ex-Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon beat software mogul-turned-politician Ahn Cheol-soo on Tuesday to become the single opposition candidate for the upcoming Seoul mayoral by-election, as opinion polls project a possible election victory for the opposition bloc. Oh, who is running on the ticket of the main opposition People Power Party (PPP), was declared the winner of a bipartisan primary against Ahn, the leader of the conservative minor People's Party (PP), according to the primary results. The victor

March 23, 2021

Justice minister dismayed at outcome of prosecutors' meeting to dismiss alleged perjury in ex-PM case

Justice Minister Park Beom-kye on Monday expressed dismay over senior prosecutors' decision to close the alleged perjury case involving former Prime Minister Han Myeong-sook, exposing a rift that has lingered for years between the ministry and the prosecution. While accepting the outcome, Park criticized the decision as tantamount to "protecting their own family." He said it is "questionable" if the meeting of prosecutors held to review the case properly reflected the int

March 22, 2021

Moon tries to ease public concern about AstraZeneca vaccine's safety

President Moon Jae-in reassured the people here Monday that the AstraZeneca vaccine in use against COVID-19 is safe, saying he will get a dose of it in person this week. He stressed that the safety and effectiveness of the vaccine "have been reaffirmed internationally." Last week, the World Health Organization (WHO) officially recommended that AstraZeneca vaccine shots continue. It is considered "at this time" that the benefits of the AstraZeneca vaccine outweigh its risks,

March 22, 2021

Moon's approval rating at all-time low of 34.1%: Realmeter

President Moon Jae-in's approval rating has fallen to its lowest point of 34.1 percent since he took office in 2017, Realmeter said Monday, citing the negative impact from a massive real estate speculation scandal involving public officials. In its five-day survey through last Friday on 2,510 adults nationwide, support for the president dropped 3.6 percentage points week-on-week. The previous low of 35.5 percent was recorded in the first week of January. The proportion of those who disapprove

March 22, 2021

Opposition frontrunners ahead of ruling party rival for Seoul mayoral by-election: poll

Two leading opposition candidates for next month's Seoul mayoral by-election are double digits ahead of their ruling party rival should their unify candidacy and run in  two-way race, a survey showed Sunday. Conducted by three pollsters, Ipsos, Korea Research and Hankook Research, the survey found that Oh Se-hoon of the main opposition people Power Party garnered 47 percent with Park Young-sun of the ruling Democratic Party winning 30.4 percent in a hypothetical two-way race. Ahn Cheol-so

March 21, 2021

[Newsmaker] Oh, Ahn to conduct survey for unifying Seoul mayor candidacies from Monday to Tuesday

Two leading opposition candidates for Seoul mayor will conduct a public opinion poll early this week to determine who should run as the single unified candidate in next month's by-election, their campaigns said Sunday. The campaigns for Oh Se-hoon of the main opposition People Power Party and Ahn Cheol-soo of the minor opposition People's Party said they agreed during working-level talks to hold the survey from Monday to Tuesday and announce the winner as soon as the results of the survey are o

March 21, 2021

Oh, Ahn agree on terms of survey for unifying Seoul mayor candidacies

The two leading opposition candidates for Seoul mayor agreed Saturday on the terms of a public opinion survey that will determine which of them runs as the single unified candidate in next month's by-election. Oh Se-hoon of the main opposition People Power Party and Ahn Cheol-soo of the minor conservative People's Party reached the deal after closed-door working-level talks between the two campaigns, both sides said. The public opinion survey will be conducted on mobile phone users only, not l

March 21, 2021

Biden says too many Asian Americans are living in fear

President Joe Biden strongly denounced violence against Asian Americans on Friday, saying too many of them have been forced to worry about their very safety amid a rise in hate crimes targeting Asian American communities in the US. He and Vice President Kamala Harris blamed the former administration for scapegoating Asian Americans for the COVID-19 pandemic. "They've been attacked, blamed, scapegoated and harassed. They've been verbally assaulted, physically assaulted, killed. Documented

March 20, 2021

Russian FM Lavrov to visit Seoul next week for talks on bilateral ties, peninsula issues

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will visit Seoul next week for talks with South Korean Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong on bilateral ties, Korean Peninsula issues and other matters, the foreign ministry said Thursday.  Lavrov will arrive here on Tuesday for a three-day visit. His talks with Chung are set to take place on Thursday after the ministers attend a ceremony on Wednesday to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the establishment of relations between the two countries. 

March 20, 2021

Assembly speaker discusses S. Korea-US alliance, NK issues with Nancy Pelosi

National Assembly Speaker Park Byeong-seug held a videoconference with US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Friday to discuss pending issues such as the South Korea-US alliance and North Korea’s nuclear weapons. During the meeting Park said that “the Korea-US alliance is a starting point and a crucial point of reference for Korea’s diplomacy and security and, as the US’ most successful alliance, serves as a bedrock for peace and stability in the region.” He went on t

March 19, 2021

Ahn Cheol-soo accepts PPP's terms in picking unified opposition Seoul mayor candidate

Ahn Cheol-soo, the Seoul mayoral candidate of the minor conservative People's Party (PP), said Friday he will accept the terms proposed by the main opposition People Power Party (PPP) in conducting public opinion surveys to determine a unified single opposition candidate in the April by-election. "I am accepting the (candidacy) unification methods demanded by interim PPP chairman Kim Chong-in and candidate Oh Se-hoon," Ahn said in a press conference held at the National Assembly. Ahn

March 19, 2021

Senior prosecutors meet over ex-prime minister's bribery case

Senior prosecutors met Friday to reexamine allegations of false testimony in a bribery case involving former Prime Minister Han Myeong-sook. Han, who served as prime minister from 2006-2007, was imprisoned from 2015-2017 after being convicted of accepting about 900 million won ($795,000) in illegal political funds from a late businessman while in office. As South Korea's first female prime minister, she is a representative figure of the country's contemporary liberal bloc. Supporters of the ru

March 19, 2021