Spy chief nominee draws fire over his role in 2000 inter-Korean summit, academic records

National Intelligence Service Director nominee Park Jie-won on Monday pledged to be “reborn” as a civil servant, while drawing heavy fire from the main opposition party over his involvement in illegal transfer of funds to North Korea in 2000. Park is a former lawmaker who served four terms in the National Assembly between 1992 and 2020. Park has also served as a culture minister and was chief of staff to the president during the 1998 to 2003 Kim Dae-jung administration. At Park&

July 27, 2020

Moon appoints new unification minister to serve as point man on Pyongyang

President Moon Jae-in appointed Lee In-young, a four-term ruling party lawmaker, Monday as new unification minister in charge of inter-Korean relations, Cheong Wa Dae announced. Accordingly, Lee's tenure has begun as of the day, Cheong Wa Dae spokesman Kang Min-seok wrote in a text message to reporters. Lee, who served as floor leader of the Democratic Party, was nominated early this month to lead the Ministry of Unification. Moon hopes Lee will play a role in efforts to produce a breakthroug

July 27, 2020

Ruling party adopts report on unification minister nominee

The ruling Democratic Party on Friday adopted the confirmed hearing report on Rep. Lee In-young, the unification minister nominee. The report was adopted by the parliamentary Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee in the absence of lawmakers of the main opposition United Future Party. The main opposition had demanded Lee to provide documents regarding his son’s health and other items regarding is son, but Lee declined, prompting the United Future Party lawmakers to exit the committe

July 24, 2020

Controversy brewing over ruling party's renewal of capital relocation plan

The ruling Democratic Party (DP) has been stepping up efforts to renew a more than decade-old plan to relocate South Korea's administrative capital to Sejong, south of Seoul, in the face of strong protests from opposition lawmakers. During a party meeting on Thursday, DP floor leader Kim Tae-nyeon expressed his determination to "follow through" with the capital relocation vision to help tackle overpopulation in Seoul and nearby cities. He then announced a plan to launch a special par

July 24, 2020

Moon replaces five secretaries; ex-vice defense minister installed in NSC

President Moon Jae-in appointed Suh Choo-suk, former vice defense minister, as the No. 2 official at Cheong Wa Dae's national security office Friday in a reshuffle of his secretaries. Suh replaces Kim You-geun, deputy director of national security, and he will double as chief of the secretariat of the National Security Council (NSC). Suh served as vice defense minister from 2017-2019, when he led a national defense reform drive. He worked as senior presidential secretary for unification and s

July 24, 2020

Cheong Wa Dae issues message of comfort for late mayor's alleged sexual abuse victim

The office of President Moon Jae-in broke its silence Thursday about the politically sensitive issue related to the allegations that late Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon sexually harassed a former secretary, conveying a message of comfort to the victim. "We offer words of comfort to the victim," Cheong Wa Dae spokesman Kang Min-seok said at a press briefing when asked about the presidential office's position on the matter. Park was found dead earlier this month after his former secretary

July 23, 2020

S. Korea reviews G7 summit issue in NSC meeting, Cheong Wa Dae says

South Korea's top security officials on Thursday discussed the issue of a G7 summit that the United States is expected to host later this year, Cheong Wa Dae said. During the weekly standing committee meeting of the National Security Council (NSC), the officials "reviewed the situation on the push for this year's G7 summit and discussed the direction of South Korea's participation in the case that it's held," the presidential office said in a press release. In addition, they agreed

July 23, 2020

Unification minister nominee pledges to put Seoul in lead on NK issues

Unification Minister nominee Lee In-young said Thursday that he will focus on having Seoul take the lead on North Korean issues, ushering in the “time of the South and North.” Lee, a fourth-term lawmaker with the ruling Democratic Party, also mentioned the Seoul-Washington working group on North Korean issues and US Forces Korea, saying the working group has a role in resolving the issues on the Korean Peninsula. 　 Speaking at his confirmation hearing, Lee said that while inter-Ko

July 23, 2020

Gyeonggi gov. rises as contender for ruling party presidential candidacy

Gyeonggi Province Gov. Lee Jae-myung is rapidly rising as a potential presidential contender for the ruling Democratic Party of Korea, buoyed by his actions in the COVID-19 pandemic and the recent Supreme Court ruling that effectively acquit him on a charge that could have crippled his career. According to Gallup Korea surveys, support for Lee as a potential future president has grown rapidly in recent months. In a survey conducted in the second week of January, Lee ranked fourth among pote

July 22, 2020

Aug. 17 designated as temporary holiday, creating one-off long weekend

Aug. 17 has been designated as a temporary holiday, creating a one-off long weekend from Aug. 15 through Aug. 17, the government said Tuesday. The Cabinet approved the holiday plan in light of Liberation Day falling on Saturday and a growing public fatigue from the drawn-out fight against the COVID-19 outbreak. “We hope to give a short, but precious rest time to people tired from battling the coronavirus,” President Moon Jae-in said at the weekly meeting. Under the Regulations

July 21, 2020

Ruling party rekindles administrative capital drive

The ruling Democratic Party of Korea is reengaging the drive to establish an administrative capital, as it seeks a breakthrough in real estate issues. The issue, which was put to rest in 2004, was revived following Democratic Party Floor Leader Rep. Kim Tae-nyeon’s address to the parliament on Monday. In 2004, the Constitutional Court ruled that the plans were unconstitutional, saying that Seoul being Korea’s capital is an established fact under “customary constitution.&rdqu

July 21, 2020

Ruling party’s by-elections dilemma: Seoul and Busan ‘too big to let go’

The two vacant mayoral seats left behind by disgraced heavyweights from the ruling Democratic Party of Korea have put the party in a bind. To field candidates for the posts in Seoul and Busan in by-elections next year, it will have to break its own rules and campaign promises. But the country’s two largest cities, with a combined population of over 13 million, are too big to lose. The Seoul office has been vacant since Mayor Park Won-soon, who belonged to the ruling party, died earli

July 21, 2020

S. Korea designates Aug. 17 as temporary holiday for virus-weary people

The South Korean government on Tuesday designated Aug. 17 as a temporary national holiday, allowing workers in the nation to have three consecutive days off during the summer season that's feared to be dampened by the drawn-out fight against the novel coronavirus. The Cabinet approved the plan to add the post-weekend holiday on the August calendar during a weekly meeting chaired by President Moon Jae-in at Cheong Wa Dae in Seoul. Moon said the designation is intended to give a "short but

July 21, 2020

Ruling party floor leader proposes relocation of Cheong Wa Dae to Sejong

Ruling Democratic Party of Korea Floor Leader Kim Tae-nyeon on Monday proposed relocating the National Assembly and the presidential office, Cheong Wa Dae, from Seoul to the administrative city of Sejong to curb housing prices. “Through active discussions, the National Assembly, Cheong Wa Dae and central government ministries should move to Sejong in order to alleviate overcrowding and real estate problems in the Greater Seoul area,” Kim said during a floor negotiation speech at

July 20, 2020

Moon backs preserving 'greenbelt' development restriction zone, govt. says

President Moon Jae-in has decided to preserve the "greenbelt" development restriction zones around Seoul, dismissing a call for using parts of the areas as land for the construction of housing, the prime minister's office said Monday. Moon revealed the position during a weekly meeting with Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun, it said in a press release. They agreed instead to strive to find available sites in land owned by the state and public institutions, it added. The government is se

July 20, 2020

Govt. to expand employment insurance to all workers by 2025: minister

South Korea plans to put all working citizens under employment insurance coverage by 2025 as part of its ambitious policy project aimed at overcoming the new coronavirus pandemic, the labor minister said Monday. With the plan, some 21 million people are forecast to be covered by the state employment insurance scheme by 2025, compared with the current figure that falls short of 14 million. The five-year project does not include soldiers, public servants and faculty at private schools who are

July 20, 2020

PM Chung calls for 'caution' in mulling opening greenbelt zones

Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun called Sunday for "caution" in considering lifting greenbelt zones in the Seoul metropolitan area to address the country's housing supply shortage, warning they can't be restored once damaged. The ruling Democratic Party and the government have been weighing the option of lifting the development restrictions on greenbelt zones, although activists and other opponents raised concerns over its environmental impact and claimed it should be mulled only as a &

July 19, 2020

Local governments pushing to hand out additional pandemic relief money

Several local governments are again planning to dole out pandemic relief funds to help their residents cope with the economic impact of the coronavirus outbreak, informed officials said Saturday. The government of Daegu, the city hit hard by a massive COVID-19 outbreak months earlier, announced a plan earlier this week to pay 100,000 won ($83) each to all its 2.42 million citizens this fall, as part of its second disaster relief package. The city, about 300 kilometers southeast of Seoul, said

July 18, 2020

Govt. to expand job insurance, IT jobs under New Deal project

President Moon Jae-in's ambitious policy project aimed at helping overcome the new coronavirus pandemic is expected to include expansion of employment insurance coverage and fostering of IT jobs for young job seekers. Earlier this week, Moon announced plans to invest 160 trillion won ($133 billion) by 2025 to create 1.9 million jobs under the Korean version of the New Deal. He described it as a campaign for the "grand transformation" of the nation in preparation for the post-coronavi

July 18, 2020

S. Korean assembly speaker proposes peace talks with N. Korean counterpart

National Assembly Speaker Rep. Park Byeong-seug on Friday proposed talks with his North Korean counterpart to discuss ways to enhance peace and cooperation between the two countries. The dialogue offer by Park, who left the ruling Democratic Party last month to serve as the assembly speaker, came as inter-Korean relations are stalemated after the North's provocative detonation of an inter-Korean liaison office in its territory a month earlier. "The arbiters of the Korean Peninsula's fate

July 17, 2020