Parliamentary speaker embarks on trip to Sweden, Germany

National Assembly Speaker Park Byeong-seug has embarked on a trip to Sweden and Germany as part of his parliamentary diplomacy aimed at strengthening bilateral cooperation, officials said Sunday. From Sunday through Tuesday, Park plans to visit Sweden, becoming the first South Korean parliamentary chief to visit the country since the two countries established diplomatic relations in 1959. In Stockholm on Monday, Park plans to pay a courtesy call on King Carl XVI Gustaf and meet Foreign Trade M

Sept. 27, 2020

Ruling party's leader urges N. Korea to swiftly agree to joint probe into killing

The leader of the ruling Democratic Party on Sunday urged North Korea to swiftly agree to a joint investigation with South Korea into the shooting death of a South Korean fisheries official in North Korean waters. Rep. Lee Nak-yon made the remark in a Facebook posting, saying the North's account of what happened is different from South Korea's findings, including whether the body of the 47-year-old official was set on fire or not. South Korea said the North shot and killed the fisheries offic

Sept. 27, 2020

Deputy security adviser recently visited US for talks on alliance, N. Korea: Cheong Wa Dae

South Korea's deputy national security adviser made an unannounced visit to Washington earlier this month for talks with US officials and experts on the bilateral alliance, North Korea and other issues, the presidential office Cheong Wa Dae said Sunday. Kim Hyung-chong visited the US capital from Sept. 16 to last Sunday, before President Moon Jae-in's Sept. 22 speech for the UN General Assembly that renewed his call for the declaration of a formal end to the 1950-53 Korean War and proposed a r

Sept. 27, 2020

[Newsmaker] Moon briefed 4 times on killed civil servant, UN message too late to be changed: Cheong Wa Dae

President Moon Jae-in was briefed on four occasions between Tuesday and Thursday on developments concerning the South Korean civil servant killed by the North Korean military, Cheong Wa Dae said. According to the presidential office, Moon was first briefed on the matter at 6:36 p.m. on Tuesday in the form of a written report. The report was made about three hours after the South’s military obtained intelligence that the civil servant was spotted by the North Korean military. At 10:30

Sept. 25, 2020

Moon vows firm response to threats to S. Koreans' lives, safety

President Moon Jae-in assured the South Korean people Friday that his government will deal resolutely with any act that threatens their lives and safety. He was addressing the 72nd Armed Forces Day ceremony held at the headquarters of the Special Warfare Command in Icheon, Gyeonggi Province, following reports that North Korea fatally shot a South Korean government official and burned his body earlier this week. Moon stressed that South Korea will further beef up its security and defense postur

Sept. 25, 2020

Founder of Eastar quits ruling party amid probe into airline's mass layoffs

Rep. Lee Sang-jik of the ruling Democratic Party, the founder of the embattled low-cost airline Eastar Jet, said he will leave the party Thursday amid a probe into unpaid wages and mass layoffs at the airline.  "I will cease to cause trouble for the party and leave it for a while," the two-term lawmaker said in a press conference at the National Assembly. He also apologized to Eastar employees and the public for causing concern. "I will do everything to revive Eastar Jet

Sept. 24, 2020

Ill-fated fisheries official said to have financial problems

The low-ranking South Korean fisheries official who was shot and burned by North Korea earlier this week after going missing in the Yellow Sea had financial problems, his colleagues said Thursday. The 47-year-old official, who belongs to the West Sea Fisheries Management Service, an organ under the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries, once considered filing for bankruptcy because of debt, they said. The official, whose identity was withheld, divorced four months ago and had reportedly borrowed m

Sept. 24, 2020

In call with Suga, Moon urges Japan to resolve forced labor issue

South Korean President Moon Jae-in had phone talks with Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga on Thursday, during which he proposed that the two countries seek an "optimum" resolution to the wartime forced labor issue at the center of soured bilateral relations. Moon noted there are different positions between the two sides on the issue of South Korean victims of Japan's World War II forced labor but expressed hope that Seoul and Tokyo will explore an "optimum" solution th

Sept. 24, 2020

PM says govt. won't permit any forms of mass rallies on national holiday

The government will not permit any modified forms of mass rallies in central Seoul on a national holiday early next month, the prime minister said Thursday as the country is bracing for a potential flare-up of COVID-19 cases ahead of the extended traditional holiday. The remark is seen as directed at "drive-thru" rallies proposed by some main opposition party members as an alternative to the prohibited mass outdoor rallies at Gwanghwamun in central Seoul on the Oct. 3 National Founda

Sept. 24, 2020

Opposition members propose 'drive-through' rallies on Oct. 3

Several members of the main opposition party have proposed "drive-through" rallies as an alternative to the mass anti-government protests planned for next month, drawing harsh criticism from the ruling party. The government has banned rallies of 10 or more people on the Oct. 3 National Foundation Day due to fears of another resurgence of the infectious coronavirus. Proponents of the idea say a drive-through will pose no risk to anti-COVID-19 efforts, while opponents blasted it as &q

Sept. 23, 2020

Parties agree on 4th supplementary budget

Rival parties on Tuesday agreed to process the fourth supplementary budget bill. The bill was set to be put to the parliamentary Special Committee on Budget and Accounts later in the day. The 7.8 trillion won ($6.7 billion) supplementary budget bill was put to the National Assembly on Sept. 11. The agreement was made at a meeting between the floor leaders of the ruling Democratic Party and the main opposition People Power Party, where a number of changes were made to the bill proposed by th

Sept. 22, 2020

Government to forge ahead with reform of 'power organizations'

President Moon Jae-in on Monday called on the government to step up efforts to complete the reform of the prosecutors’ office, police and state intelligence agency, saying that remaining tasks will require more effort despite the progress made so far. “Our government‘s reform of the power institutions is making irreversible progress,” Moon said at the meeting with government and ruling Democratic Party officials including Justice Minister Choo Mi-ae, Interior and Safety

Sept. 21, 2020

NIS chief says spy agency will never get involved in domestic politics

The head of South Korea's National Intelligence Service (NIS) said Monday that he will push to legislate a ban on the spy agency's involvement in domestic politics. NIS Director Park Jie-won made the remark during a press briefing on the government's plans to reform the NIS, prosecution and police. "(We) will make it clear legally that the NIS will never get involved in domestic politics under any circumstances," Park told reporters. He was appointed as head of the spy agency in Jul

Sept. 21, 2020

Main opposition party to launch probe into corruption allegations against lawmaker

The main opposition party will launch an emergency fact-finding mission to look into corruption allegations raised against one of its lawmakers, party officials said Monday. The special emergency fact-finding committee of the People Power Party (PPP) will be tasked with probing allegations that its lawmaker Park Duk-hyum illegally clinched construction orders from government agencies, they said. The three-term lawmaker is suspected of having clinched orders worth over 100 billion won ($86.13 m

Sept. 21, 2020

Moon urges continued push for reform of prosecution, police, state spy agency

President Moon Jae-in called Monday on the government to step up efforts to complete its drive to reform South Korea's prosecution service, police and state intelligence agency. He was speaking at his first Cheong Wa Dae meeting in 1 1/2 years on a related strategy with government ministers and senior ruling Democratic Party (DP) officials. "Our government's reform (work) of the power institutions is making irreversible progress," Moon said at the outset of the session. "Now, we

Sept. 21, 2020

S. Korea donates COVID-19 test kits worth 930m won to Afghanistan

South Korea has donated new coronavirus test kits worth 930 million won ($800,000) to Afghanistan, according to diplomatic officials Sunday. 　 The some 40,000 test kits of the real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) type were delivered on Saturday at Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, according to the South Korean embassy in Afghanistan. 　 A handoff ceremony was held at the airport, attended by Rhee Zha-hyoung, South Korean ambassador to Afghanistan, and Ahmad Jawad Osmani, acting

Sept. 20, 2020

Russia has no intel suggesting impending N. Korean SLBM test: Moscow official

Russia does not have any intelligence suggesting that North Korea is preparing to test-fire a submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM), a Moscow foreign ministry official has said amid speculation that Pyongyang could conduct a test next month. 　 Petr Ilichev, director of the department of international organizations at the Russian foreign ministry, said in an interview with the country‘s RIA Novosti news agency on Saturday that his country does not have any information of a possible N

Sept. 20, 2020

Moon is a big BTS fan: Cheong Wa Dae

President Moon Jae-in is a big fan of BTS, the Blue House said Sunday. Blue House spokesperson Kang Min-seok said in a press briefing Sunday that Moon likes the band’s songs and its dancing, and has praised the K-pop superstars in conversations with top officials. “BTS looks like a group of youngsters at their peak when listening to their songs and watching their dance moves,” Moon said, according to Kang. “It is sometimes difficult to follow (the lyrics of) K-pop band

Sept. 20, 2020

Proportion of women in high-ranking govt. posts reaches record high

The proportion of women among high-ranking officials in the central government has risen to an all-time high, a government report showed Sunday. According to the report on balanced personnel policy in the public sector, 7.9 percent, or 122, of 1,539 high-ranking civil servants in the central government were female as of the end of last year, up 19.6 percent from 102 recorded a year ago. It said both the number of senior female officials and their growth rate are the largest on record. High-r

Sept. 20, 2020

Former president's son apologizes after being expelled by ruling party

Rep. Kim Hong-gul, the youngest son of late former President Kim Dae-jung, issued an apology Saturday, one day after he was expelled from the ruling party amid controversy over his dubious amassing of properties. The Democratic Party stripped the first-term lawmaker of party membership Friday for underreporting wealth and refusing to cooperate with an in-house probe. "I accept the party's decision on the expulsion heavily and solemnly," Kim said in a message sent to reporters. "

Sept. 19, 2020