PM says allowing new virus wave will be painful misstep amid resurgence woes

Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun on Wednesday stressed the importance of maintaining strict adherence to government measures against the new coronavirus pandemic, amid no clear signs of a letup in new cases and fears of an infection resurgence. "If we lose our sense of attentiveness and allow a fourth pandemic wave to break out, it will be a painful misstep," Chung said during a daily interagency meeting on the coronavirus response. South Korean health authorities have struggled to brin

March 17, 2021

Moon discusses digital partnership with Latin American countries

President Moon Jae-in on Tuesday held a meeting with ministers and ambassadors of Costa Rica, Guatemala, Colombia and Brazil to discuss digital partnership with Latin American countries. This is the president’s first face-to-face diplomatic meeting over the past year amid canceled or delayed state visits in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic. “Korea is an optimal and reliable partner for your envisioned transition towards an ecofriendly digital economy. Korea has

March 16, 2021

Seoul mayor candidate Park vows to strengthen ties with Europe

Park Young-sun, the Seoul mayor candidate of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea, has vowed to strengthen cooperation with Europe to drive the city to move toward a global city at a meeting with the European Chamber of Commerce in Korea on Monday. The candidate attended a special meeting hosted by the ECCK and shared opinions with European entrepreneurs on the business landscape in Seoul and ways to further develop Seoul into a global economic hub, the ECCK said Tuesday. During the meeting

March 16, 2021

Former Seoul mayor has highest poll rating

Less than a month before the April 7 by-election to choose Seoul’s next mayor, Oh Se-hoon, a former mayor and the sole candidate from the main opposition People Power Party, is ahead of both of the other major candidates -- People’s Party Chairman Ahn Cheol-soo and Park Young-sun, former minister of SMEs and startups and the sole candidate from the ruling Democratic Party of Korea -- a poll showed Tuesday. According to a Realmeter survey of 1,030 Seoulites aged 18 or older on March

March 16, 2021

Rival parties to seek special counsel probe into growing land speculation scandal

Rival parties tentatively agreed Tuesday to jointly seek an independent counsel investigation into a ballooning land speculation scandal. Rep. Joo Ho-young, floor leader of the main opposition People Power Party (PPP), said his party will seek to launch an independent counsel probe into the scandal, practically accepting the ruling Democratic Party's earlier call for the investigation. "I request the implementation of a special counsel probe, as well as a parliamentary investigation (in

March 16, 2021

Moon offers public apology over LH land speculation scandal

President Moon Jae-in apologized to the people Tuesday over alleged insider property speculation involving officials at the state-owned housing supply body, two weeks after the revelation of the case by civic groups. "I am sorry for having caused great concern to the people," he said at the start of a weekly Cabinet meeting. The case has brought about a "great sense of despondency and disappointment" among the public, he added. The apology followed a string of strong messa

March 16, 2021

Moon, first lady to receive COVID-19 vaccines next week

President Moon Jae-in and first lady Kim Jung-sook will receive COVID-19 vaccines on Tuesday next week ahead of their planned trip to the UK for the G-7 summit in June, Cheong Wa Dae said Monday. The presidential couple will be given the two-dose AstraZeneca vaccines like other citizens here, the presidential office added. “Their planned vaccination also aims to eradicate safety and efficacy concerns surrounding the AstraZeneca vaccine,” Moon’s spokesperson Kang Min-seok s

March 15, 2021

Moon pledges to clean up corruption in housing market

President Moon Jae-in on Monday vowed to root out corruption in the housing market, calling real estate speculation another form of “deep-rooted evil” that has long been prevalent in society. “Eradicating deep-rooted evil and restoring order in the real estate market will become one of the key goals in the remaining time of the administration,” Moon said in a weekly meeting with his key aides at Cheong Wa Dae. “We should keep in mind that this is the most import

March 15, 2021

Majority of experts say division, conflicts of S. Korean society at serious levels: survey

Nearly 90 percent of experts view the level of social division and conflicts in South Korea as serious, a survey by a parliamentary advisory committee showed Monday. In its survey conducted from March 2-6 on 1,801 experts in social, political or economic affairs who are registered in the National Assembly Library's database, 89 percent of the respondents said social division and conflicts within the country are at serious levels, according to a subunit of the Committee for National Cohesion tha

March 15, 2021

Moon's approval rating falls to five-week low amid LH land speculation scandal

President Moon Jae-in's approval rating dropped to its lowest in nine weeks, a poll showed Monday, as his administration struggles to calm public outcry over alleged speculative land purchases by officials at the state-owned housing supply enterprise. Public support for the ruling Democratic Party (DP) also dipped, while that for the main opposition People Power Party (PPP) ascended, with less than a month left before the all-important Seoul and Busan mayoral by-elections, according to Realmete

March 15, 2021

Former SMEs minister vows to expand hydrogen mobility in Seoul

Seoul mayoral candidate Park Young-sun says there are three things at the top of her agenda to make the city cleaner and safer if she is elected: Expanding green areas, boosting eco-friendly mobility and tackling the capital’s overflowing waste problem. In December, Seoul set a goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 40 percent by 2030 and going carbon neutral by 2050 in line with the global environmental trends. But the city has a long way to go as it struggles to combat worsening

March 14, 2021

Ex-prosecutor Yoon surges to tie with Gov. Lee atop monthly opinion poll

Gyeonggi Province Gov. Lee Jae-myung and former Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl were tied atop the list of potential candidates for next year's presidential election, a new poll showed Friday. Yoon has soared in opinion surveys since he resigned on March 4 in protest of the ruling Democratic Party (DP)'s push to create a new investigative body that reduces the prosecution's power. Gallup Korea, a pollster, said both Gov. Lee and Yoon garnered 24 percent of support in its latest survey conduc

March 12, 2021

Govt. identifies 20 LH officials suspected of land speculation

The government has identified seven more public officials suspected of buying land for speculation, bringing the total number to 20, Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun said Thursday, declaring a "war" against real estate crime. Chung said at a press conference that all the 20 people work for the state housing developer, Korea Land and Housing Corp. (LH), and purchased land mainly in the Gwangmyeong-Siheung area of Gyeonggi Province, which has been designated as the site of a major public h

March 11, 2021

Ruling party proposes parliamentary probe into all sitting lawmakers over land speculation scandal

The ruling Democratic Party (DP) proposed Thursday a parliamentary probe into all sitting lawmakers over a widening land speculation scandal, to which the main opposition party responded positively. "The justice and order of our society should be re-established by launching an investigation into all of the employees at state-run institutions, high-level government officials as well as lawmakers," Rep. Kim Tae-nyeon, acting chairman of the DP, said during a party meeting. The proposal

March 11, 2021

Over 70 more LH employees suspected of land speculation: lawmaker

An opposition lawmaker claimed Thursday that 74 more employees of the state housing corporation are suspected of having purchased land for speculation, the latest in a series of allegations over a growing corruption scandal. Rep. Kwak Sang-do of the main opposition People Power Party said an investigation revealed that 74 people, whose names matched those of Korea Land and Housing Corp. (LH) employees, made 64 land transactions in Gwangmyeong and Siheung, Gyeonggi Province, between early 2018 a

March 11, 2021

[Newsmaker] Moon says land speculation scandal ‘unacceptable’

President Moon Jae-in on Wednesday denounced the alleged speculative purchases of land by officials of the state-run housing developer, calling the snowballing insider trading scandal “unacceptable.”  “It is unacceptable that officials at public organizations or public servants make speculative land purchases based on related information. This is an act of undermining our society’s integrity and trust,” Moon said before a luncheon meeting with floor leaders o

March 10, 2021

DP floor leader Kim Tae-nyeon begins interim role as acting party chairman

Stepping into his interim role as the acting chairman of the ruling Democratic Party (DP), Rep. Kim Tae-nyeon pledged Wednesday to lead the party with an acute sense of urgency. "I will be serving in the (new) party seat with the acute determination to spend the two months as if they are two years," Kim said during a meeting of the top party council, which he presided over for the first time as the acting DP chairman. "With about a month to go before the April 7 by-elections (fo

March 10, 2021

PM calls for close cooperation between police, prosecution in LH probe

Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun instructed the police and prosecution on Wednesday to work closely together to get to the bottom of a massive land speculation scandal involving public officials. Chung called the police and prosecution chiefs to a meeting, along with the justice and interior ministers, to discuss how they can collaborate to investigate the allegations of speculative land purchases by Korea Land and Housing Corp. (LH) employees. "More important than anything is organic commun

March 10, 2021

[Newsmaker] Ex-opposition leader Hwang Kyo-ahn signals return to politics

Hwang Kyo-ahn, a former leader of the main opposition party who has been out of the public eye since an election defeat last year, said Wednesday he will rise up against what he calls the Moon Jae-in government's "tyranny," practically declaring his return to politics. "I will be the first to rise up, however meager (my capacity is). I will muster my courage ... to go 'among the people' again to share their indignation against the Moon administration and safeguard the spark of ho

March 10, 2021

Moon: LH officials' alleged land speculation 'unpardonable' act

President Moon Jae-in will have a luncheon meeting with floor leaders of the ruling Democratic Party (DP) on Wednesday, according to Cheong Wa Dae. Attending the session to be held at the presidential compound in Seoul are Rep. Kim Tae-nyeon, the DP's floor leader, and his party colleagues in charge of strategy and negotiations at the National Assembly. Kim has become the party's acting chief with the resignation of Lee Nak-yon the previous day. It would mark the first time for Moon to hold a

March 10, 2021