Trump to join virtual summit of APEC this week: Cheong Wa Dae official

US President Donald Trump plans to attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit to be held via video links this week, a Cheong Wa Dae official said Thursday. "As far as we know, President Trump is participating (in it)," the official told reporters on the condition of anonymity. President Moon Jae-in is also scheduled to join the session that will open on Friday night (Seoul time). APEC groups together 21 member countries in the Asia-Pacific, including China. It remai

Nov. 19, 2020

Starting salary for white-collar workers at large firms averages W33m

South Korean university graduates who land white-collar jobs at large corporations are paid an average of about 33 million won ($29,700) in annual starting salary as of June this year, government data showed Thursday. According to the data released by the labor ministry, local companies with more than 500 employees pay 33.47 million won on average to a worker who holds a job in business administration or accounting for less than one year after obtaining a bachelor's degree or higher. The avera

Nov. 19, 2020

Yoo reaffirms presidential bid

Former four-term conservative lawmaker Yoo Seong-min reaffirmed Wednesday his intention to run for president again in 2022, dismissing speculation that he might run for Seoul mayor. Yoo ran in the 2017 presidential election on the ticket of a now-disbanded center-right party. 　 Yoo said he had never considered entering the mayoral race, which will take place in April next year. The main opposition People Power Party, to which he belongs, didn’t ask him to run for mayor, he said during

Nov. 18, 2020

Opposition split over new airport, as ruling party rushes to alternative

The decision to review plans for a new airport in the country’s southeast is sending ripples through the political arena, with the ruling bloc pushing for a quick conclusion while the opposition appears divided. On Tuesday, the government effectively scrapped plans for expanding Gimhae International Airport in Busan, reigniting hopes for an airport on Gadeokdo, a small island also within Busan, connected by bridge to the mainland. On Wednesday, ruling Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker

Nov. 18, 2020

About 132,000 coronavirus-affected workers paid family care leave allowance

About 132,000 local workers have benefited from the government's paid family care leave program introduced in March this year to financially support working parents who are forced to take care of their children when day care centers, kindergartens and elementary schools are closed due to the coronavirus pandemic, the Ministry of Employment and Labor said Wednesday. The ministry said a total of 131,772 workers were paid 47.4 billion won ($42.9 million) in family care leave allowances from March

Nov. 18, 2020

Seoul city to expand contact tracing team amid virus resurgence

The Seoul city government said Wednesday it will increase the number of contact tracing agents from 30 to 190 amid a sharp rise in new coronavirus cases. By increasing their number, the city government said it will identify people who came into close contact with a COVID-19 patient and place them under quarantine within 24 hours of a confirmed infection. The measure comes as Seoul, the surrounding Gyeonggi Province and Gwangju, 330 kilometers south of the capital, are set to raise their social

Nov. 18, 2020

Legislation introduced to boost female share on corporate boards

A lawmaker proposed a bill Wednesday requiring a quota of female executives on the boards of major listed companies in a bid to help women rise beyond a corporate glass ceiling. The bill submitted by Rep. Yang Kyung-sook of the ruling Democratic Party proposes a revision to the Financial Investment Services and Capital Markets Act in a way that ensures a certain ratio of female members on the boards of stock market-listed companies whose assets surpass 2 trillion won ($1.8 billion). Nine other

Nov. 18, 2020

Ex-President Chun put on list of habitual tax delinquents for five years in a row

Former President Chun Doo-hwan has been included in the list of habitual tax delinquents for the fifth consecutive year, officials in Seoul said Wednesday. The Seoul government disclosed on its website (http://www.seoul.go.kr) the names and identities of 15,032 habitual tax evaders, who had more than 10 million won ($9,030) in delinquent local taxes as of Jan. 1, 2020, for longer than one year. A total of 1,050 individual tax delinquents with 83.2 billion won in arrears and 283 corporate tax d

Nov. 18, 2020

Gimhae airport plans scrapped; decision reignites wrangling over new airport

The plan to expand Gimhae International Airport requires a “fundamental review,” the government announced Tuesday, reigniting the debate over the location of an air travel hub in the country’s southeast. Tuesday’s decision appears to boost the chances of a new airport being built in another part of Busan, the country’s second-largest city. “The (Gimhae airport expansion) plan needs to be supplemented significantly, and will be insufficient for future chang

Nov. 17, 2020

Moon to join virtual summits of APEC, G20 this week

President Moon Jae-in will participate in back-to-back major multilateral summits to be held via video links this week, Cheong Wa Dae announced Tuesday. He is scheduled to attend an annual Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meeting on Friday, according to Cheong Wa Dae spokesman Kang Min-seok. In the session, the president plans to share South Korea's experience in the fight against COVID-19 and introduce its related contributions to the international community, such as the provision of

Nov. 17, 2020

People Power Party chief pushes for apology over jailed ex-presidents

The People Power Party’s interim leader Kim Chong-in is pushing the party to issue a public apology over the country’s two jailed former presidents, Lee Myung-bak and Park Geun-hye, who ran on previous iterations of the party’s flag. Regarding a news report on Kim’s remarks during a closed-door party meeting on Monday that he would apologize late this month or in early December, People Power Party Floor Leader Joo Ho-young said he supports Kim’s plan, although the

Nov. 17, 2020

Moon asks for public's cooperation to avoid further tightening of distancing rules

President Moon Jae-in said Tuesday that the decision to enforce stricter distancing rules in the greater Seoul area starting this week was an "unavoidable" measure, while asking for the people's cooperation to help curb the latest resurgence of new COVID-19 cases. "It may come as an inconvenience, but it was an unavoidable measure to prevent a further expansion (of new virus transmissions)," Moon said during a weekly Cabinet meeting held at Cheong Wa Dae. Earlier in the day

Nov. 17, 2020

Two prosecutors, one prosecutor-turned-lawyer grilled in Lime Asset probe

Two state prosecutors and one prosecutor-turned-lawyer were grilled by the prosecution office earlier this week over allegations that they received red-carpet treatment from a prime suspect behind a snowballing financial fraud scandal involving Lime Asset Management, informed officials said Tuesday. The rare summons came after Kim Bong-hyun, the former chairman of Star Mobility known as the main financial source for Lime Asset, claimed that he spent about 10 million won ($9,032) on July 12, 201

Nov. 17, 2020

Speculations grow on Seoul facing pressure to join trans-Pacific trade deal

Cheong Wa Dae downplayed speculations Sunday that the US could press South Korea into joining the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership, or CPTPP, as a balancing measure between China and the US. Such speculations are being fanned by the signing of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership or RCEP on Sunday. The deal creates one of the world’s largest free trade blocs, with the noticeable absence of the US. RCEP spans the 10 Association of Southeast Asian nations,

Nov. 16, 2020

National Assembly starts reviewing 556 trillion-won 2021 budget proposal

The National Assembly on Monday began deliberations on the government’s 556 trillion won ($502.12) budget for next year. The parliament’s Special Committee on Budget and Accounts held its first meeting Monday to tackle the government’s spending requests. The Moon Jae-in administration drew up the 555.8 trillion won budget bill for 2021, up 8.5 percent from 2020’s budget, with a focus on creating new jobs and reinvigorating the economy, which is struggling as a result

Nov. 16, 2020

Incheon to host first international ocean forum this week

INCHEON -- Maritime industry experts and entrepreneurs from home and abroad will gather in Incheon, home to Incheon International Airport, South Korea's main gateway, and Incheon Port, the nation's second-largest seaport, this week to open the city's first global ocean forum, the organizers said Monday. The Incheon International Ocean Forum (IIOF) 2020, hosted by the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries and the Incheon metropolitan government and organized by the Incheon Port Authority and South Ko

Nov. 16, 2020

IHO to decide on new way of naming seas amid East Sea naming row

The International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) will decide this week on whether to adopt a new way of naming seas that is expected to affect a long-running dispute between South Korea and Japan over what to call the East Sea. In its virtual general assembly to be held from Monday through Wednesday, the IHO will announce whether it will revise the "S-23," an IHO standard for world map production that marked the body of water between South Korea and Japan as the Sea of Japan, not the

Nov. 15, 2020

RCEP another impetus for export-reliant S. Korea

Rebuilding multilateralism and overcoming protectionism have been some of the most urgent tasks facing South Korea, which is heavily reliant on exports for its economy, amid the growing trade row between the United States and China along with an unprecedented pandemic. The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), signed by South Korean President Moon Jae-in and his counterparts on Sunday, will help South Korea further boost its outbound shipments. The China-initiated deal will be of

Nov. 15, 2020

Ruling party envisions moving National Assembly from Seoul to Sejong

The ruling Democratic Party of Korea is considering whether to move 11 of the country’s 18 parliamentary committees out of Seoul as part of a plan to relocate the National Assembly to Sejong, some 120 kilometers south of the capital. The relocation is included in the party’s master plan to make Sejong the true administrative capital of the country, party officials said. It is expected to be unveiled in the coming days.　 “We will develop Seoul into an economic and financial c

Nov. 15, 2020

Moon signs RCEP trade pact after summit with leaders of 14 nations

South Korea signed what will be the world's largest free trade agreement on Sunday after concluding related talks during a virtual summit of President Moon Jae-in and leaders of 14 partner countries. The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) involves 10 members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) as well as South Korea, China, Japan, Australia and New Zealand, and their combined gross domestic product accounts for a third of the world's total. "We note that

Nov. 15, 2020