[Herald Interview] Ahn gunning for power transition

The post of Seoul mayor is a steppingstone toward taking power from the ruling bloc, according to Ahn Cheol-soo, the Seoul mayoral front-runner and head of the minor opposition People’s Party, saying the government's failures range from its COVID-19 response to its real estate policies.  Ahn said the government’s loose quarantine measures have prolonged the coronavirus crisis and put self-employed businesspeople and small business owners under even more pressure. 

Jan. 13, 2021

Seoul presses Biden camp on Singapore agreement: report

A local news report said Tuesday that the South Korean government is pressing the incoming Joe Biden administration in the US to recognize the Singapore joint statement signed by US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un to pave the way for the possible resumption of the Washington-Pyongyang dialogue. “A message has been delivered to the incoming Biden administration suggesting resuming talks with North Korea by returning to the Singapore spirit,” an unnamed ran

Jan. 12, 2021

S. Korea in talks to buy additional vaccines of different platform: PM

Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun said Tuesday that the government is working to purchase additional coronavirus vaccines of a different platform to better ensure the safe inoculation of the public. "The government has been working to purchase an additional quantity of vaccines of another platform and has seen substantial progress," Chung said during an interagency meeting on the COVID-19 response held at the government complex in Sejong, 120 kilometers south of Seoul. Chung said the gov

Jan. 12, 2021

Moon reaffirms willingness to talk with NK ‘anytime, anywhere’

President Moon Jae-in reaffirmed his willingness to talk with North Korea in his New Year’s address Monday, saying South Korea is ready to talk “anytime, anywhere and even in a non-face-to-face way.” “Dialogue and win-win cooperation are the key driving forces of the peace process on the Korean Peninsula,” he said in a live broadcast from Cheong Wa Dae in Seoul. “Our will to meet (with North Korea) anytime, anywhere, even in a non-face-to-face way, remains

Jan. 11, 2021

[Newsmaker] Unfair, ineffective social distancing rules must be revised: PM

Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun said Monday that social distancing rules that are considered either unfair or ineffective must be changed, suggesting that authorities may soon revise the state-mandated distancing scheme to address growing complaints among small business owners. "While mandating strict adherence (of distancing rules) in high-risk areas, bold revisions should be made on measures that are either unfair or ineffective," Chung said during an interagency meeting on the COVID-

Jan. 11, 2021

Moon says all S. Koreans will be given free COVID-19 vaccines

President Moon Jae-in said Monday that the government will provide all South Korean people with free-of-charge COVID-19 vaccines in phases starting next month. "(The government) will make sure that all of the people will be inoculated free of charge in accordance with priorities," he said in his New Year's address, assuring that inoculation will begin in February. Having signed contracts with some foreign vaccine makers, South Korea expects the first-batch delivery of products within

Jan. 11, 2021

Moon's approval rating dips to 35.5%: Realmeter

President Moon Jae-in's job approval rating has dropped to 35.5 percent, while the proportion of those critical of his leadership has hovered above 60 percent, a poll showed Monday. In the five-day tracking survey by Realmeter of 2,513 voters nationwide from last Monday, his approval rating fell 1.1 percentage point to 35.5 percent from a week earlier. It marked the sixth consecutive week that Moon's approval rating has stayed in the 30 percent range. Furthermore, 60.9 percent of respondents

Jan. 11, 2021

WHO chief seeks S. Korea's continued cooperation against coronavirus: Cheong Wa Dae

The head of the World Health Organization (WHO) has sent a letter to President Moon Jae-in and requested South Korea's continued support for the global fight against COVID-19, Cheong Wa Dae said Friday. In the letter, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that the rollout of new vaccines has given hope for the termination of the pandemic, according to Moon's spokesman Kang Min-seok. Tedros was quoted as adding that Moon's support for the COVAX Facility, a pooled procurement mech

Jan. 8, 2021

Moon to deliver New Year's address next Monday

President Moon Jae-in will issue his formal New Year's message next week, Cheong Wa Dae said Friday. During the address slated for Monday, he is expected to unveil policy priorities in the fifth year of his presidency, with South Korea locked in a prolonged fight against COVID-19. Moon plans to emphasize that people here will recover their daily lives through "win-win cooperation" and that they will head "with power" toward the goal of making South Korea a "leading cou

Jan. 8, 2021

Ex-Cheong Wa Dae inspector gets suspended sentence in official secrets leak case

A former special inspector of the presidential office Cheong Wa Dae was sentenced by a local court on Friday to a one-year prison term, suspended for two years, for leaking classified official secrets. The Suwon District Court in Suwon, south of Seoul, handed out the suspended jail sentence to Kim Tae-woo, who worked for Cheong Wa Dae's special inspection team between July 2017 and November 2018, after convicting him on charges of divulgence of official secrets. Kim, who was a prosecution inve

Jan. 8, 2021

Cheong Wa Dae denies report on pardons for Park, Lee

Cheong Wa Dae on Thursday flatly denied a report that the presidential office was considering ways to grant pardons to Park Geun-hye and Lee Myung-bak, the two former presidents jailed for abuses of power and corruption offenses. Earlier in the day, the Chosun Ilbo reported that Cheong Wa Dae was considering pardoning Park first while discussing other options like a suspension of prison sentence for Lee, citing unnamed sources from the ruling bloc. Pardons can only be granted by the presid

Jan. 7, 2021

Ex-Seoul mayor Oh announces conditional bid to run for reelection

Former two-term Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon on Thursday announced a conditional bid to run for the seat again in the upcoming by-election. Oh, also a former lawmaker affiliated with the main opposition People Power Party (PPP), said he will run in the Seoul mayor election slated for April 7 unless Ahn Cheol-soo, another main mayor candidate, joins the party. Ahn, head of the minor opposition People's Party, declared his Seoul mayoral bid last month, saying he wants to run as a "unified candida

Jan. 7, 2021

Ruling party kicks off review of new round of emergency relief handouts

The ruling Democratic Party (DP) has kicked off a review of a potential fourth round of stimulus checks, with a focus on whether they should be given to all or only business owners hit by the new coronavirus pandemic, officials said Wednesday. The move comes as the government is to start providing some 9.3 trillion won ($8.6 billion) next Monday to small merchants reeling from the COVID-19 outbreak as part of the country's third round of emergency coronavirus response handouts. Including the 1

Jan. 6, 2021

[Newsmaker] Public sharply divided over pardons for two ex-presidents in jail: poll

South Koreans were almost evenly divided on the idea of granting pardons to two former presidents currently in prison for corruption charges, a hotly debated topic recently brought up by the ruling party chief, a survey showed Wednesday. In a one-day survey by Realmeter conducted on 500 voters nationwide on Tuesday, 47.7 percent of respondents said they were in favor of providing amnesty to Lee Myung-bak and Park Geun-hye, while 48 percent said they were against the idea. The remaining 4.3 perc

Jan. 6, 2021

Ex-presidents' pardon debate continues within DP despite strong objection from base supporters

The political debate over the idea of offering pardons to two convicted former presidents continued to reverberate within the ruling Democratic Party (DP) on Tuesday, despite an earlier backlash from the party's base supporters. DP Chairman Lee Nak-yon stated Friday that he would ask President Moon Jae-in to grant pardons to Park Geun-hye and Lee Myung-bak -- two former conservative presidents in jail on corruption and influence-peddling charges -- at an appropriate time in order to transcend p

Jan. 5, 2021

Moon’s approval rating hinges on vaccine success

President Moon Jae-in is not a “lame duck” yet, but in the final stretch of his term he will need COVID-19 vaccines to win back public support, which has plummeted to record lows. Moon has to confront a number of hot-button issues this year, ranging from the coronavirus to the controversy over whether he should grant pardons to two former presidents. It is also likely that he will seek a breakthrough in the stalled denuclearization talks with North Korea and the upcoming Biden adm

Jan. 5, 2021

Moon prioritizes virus control, housing market stabilization in 2021 policy tasks

President Moon Jae-in stressed the urgency Tuesday of containing COVID-19, stabilizing the housing market and recovering the economy in the new year. "(We) start the new year with a heavy sense of responsibility," he said at the outset of the first Cabinet meeting of 2021. South Korea's top priority this year is "to get out of the long tunnel of the coronavirus as soon as possible," he emphasized. He described the country as standing at another watershed in its antivirus f

Jan. 5, 2021

Govt. aims for over 60% virus vaccination, herd immunity formation before fall: PM

South Korea is pushing to move up the schedule in bringing in new coronavirus vaccines in a bid to get over half of the population inoculated before fall, Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun has said. "The government's program is to complete the formation of herd immunity by inoculating 60-70 percent of the population (with vaccines) before autumn comes," Chung said Monday on a debate program on MBC TV. "Should the plan come through, South Korea will be one of the fastest countries to

Jan. 5, 2021

Moon requests parliamentary hearing on nominee to lead anti-corruption probe body

President Moon Jae-in has signed a formal request for the National Assembly to hold a confirmation hearing on his pick to become the inaugural chief of a high-profile corruption investigation agency, Cheong Wa Dae said Monday. Moon sealed the document and then his office sent it to the parliament, according to Cheong Wa Dae spokesman Kang Min-seok. The president nominated Kim Jin-wook, a former judge, as head of the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO) on Wednesday.

Jan. 4, 2021

Korea unveils new low-carbon bullet train

President Moon Jae-in started the year stressing a goal of reaching carbon neutrality during the unveiling of the nation’s new low-carbon, high-speed train -- the KTX-Eum -- in Wonju, Gangwon Province, Monday. “This year will mark the first year of the nation’s adoption of low-carbon, eco-friendly trains,” Moon said, calling trains key to the government’s push for sustainable growth with innovation, under the “Korean New Deal.” “Ultimately, Ko

Jan. 4, 2021