Anti-Yoon vs anti-‘586’: Main parties’ election strategies take shape

The campaign strategies for South Korea’s two major parties are starting to take shape as they fill candidacies for the legislative general election less than 50 days away. The Democratic Party of Korea, the main opposition that has a majority in the National Assembly, is playing the “Yoon Suk Yeol card,” seeking to capitalize on the strong anti-Yoon sentiment in the party’s base. Rep. Kim Min-seok, who is heading the Democratic Party general election situation room, told

Feb. 25, 2024

DP rift widens over candidate nomination process

An internal rift in the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea has widened amid accusations from current and outgoing party members that the candidate nomination process for the April legislative election is unfair and lacks transparency. Both the ruling People Power Party and the Democratic Party have been gradually selecting their candidates to run in South Korea's 253 constituencies. Lawmakers are either elected directly by the constituency or through a proportional representation system t

Feb. 25, 2024

Yoon appoints new vice science ministers

President Yoon Suk Yeol on Friday appointed experienced bureaucrats as new vice science ministers, his office said. Lee Chang-yune, the secretary-general of the Presidential Advisory Council on Science & Technology, was appointed to replace Cho Seong-kyung as the first vice science minister in charge of science technology policies, the presidential office said. Kang Do-hyun, director of ICT policy at the science ministry, was appointed to replace Park Yun-kyu as the second vice science minis

Feb. 23, 2024

Gender Ministry on course for disbandment

The Ministry of Gender Equality and Family faces dissolution as President Yoon Suk Yeol has decided to leave the position of minister of gender equality vacant, in an apparent drive to disband the ministry, one of his key election pledges. "President Yoon believes it is necessary to express his firm intention to fulfill the pledge at the administrative level, even if a legal revision has yet to be made," a senior presidential official said Thursday. Currently, two amendments to the Gov

Feb. 22, 2024

Yoon bets big on nuclear energy

President Yoon Suk Yeol on Thursday pledged to spend 4 trillion won ($3 billion) on nuclear energy research and development projects during his five-year term until 2027, bolstering his earlier commitment in July 2022 to reverse the nuclear phase-out policy. Yoon also set the goal of planning nuclear power projects that would earn the domestic nuclear energy industry a combined 3.3 trillion won, and promised to extend a total of 1 trillion won in special loans for industrywide support. Moreover,

Feb. 22, 2024

S. Korea to permit development in conservation area

South Korea is poised to ease regulations on greenfields protected by the government and permit land development projects in such conservation areas in provincial areas. President Yoon Suk Yeol said the eased rules related to protected areas designated as "greenbelt" could create economic value during the 13th session of the policy debate held in Ulsan on Wednesday. "The one-size-fits-all land regulations concerning the greenbelt designation will be addressed for the first time in

Feb. 21, 2024

Ruling party proposes new security council against NK threats

The ruling party's floor leader on Wednesday called for the establishment of a trilateral security council formed of members of the Cabinet and the two major parties to counter threats from North Korea. “North Korea is projected to step up its provocations ahead of our general election (scheduled for April 10) and the US presidential election (in November),” People Power Party Floor Leader Yun Jae-ok said in a keynote speech at a meeting of the National Assembly’s floor ne

Feb. 21, 2024

Yoon calls German, Danish leaders over postponed trip

President Yoon Suk Yeol called by phone his counterparts in Germany and Denmark Tuesday to provide an explanation for postponing his trip to the two European countries, according to his office on Wednesday. Yoon asked German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen for understanding for delaying his previously scheduled visit. Yoon had been set to depart Seoul this Sunday for a weeklong trip including a state visit to Germany. Yoon told Steinmeier and Frederi

Feb. 21, 2024

Yoon accepts resignation of gender equality minister

President Yoon Suk Yeol on Tuesday accepted the resignation of Gender Equality Minister Kim Hyun-sook, officials said, six months after she offered to step down over the failed Scout jamboree. Kim offered to resign in September to take responsibility for the mismanagement of the 25th World Scout Jamboree the previous month but was retained pending a replacement. Yoon had tapped Kim Haeng, a former member of the ruling People Power Party's interim leadership panel, as the new gender minister

Feb. 20, 2024

Yoon seeks German president's understanding on postponed state visit

President Yoon Suk Yeol spoke by phone with German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier on Tuesday and asked for his understanding regarding his decision to postpone his state visit to the European country, Yoon's office said. Yoon was planning to visit Germany and Denmark this week but postponed the trip four days before his scheduled departure. The presidential office did not give an official reason, though there was speculation the decision reflected his need to focus on domestic issues and

Feb. 20, 2024

Yoon to soon accept resignation of gender equality minister: officials

President Yoon Suk Yeol is expected to soon accept the resignation offer of Gender Equality Minister Kim Hyun-sook, officials said Tuesday. Kim offered to resign in September to take responsibility for the mismanagement of the 25th World Scout Jamboree the previous month but was retained pending a replacement. Yoon had tapped Kim Haeng, a former member of the ruling People Power Party's interim leadership panel, as the new gender minister, but she withdrew herself from consideration during

Feb. 20, 2024

Yoon says trainee doctors' collective actions 'cannot be tolerated'

President Yoon Suk Yeol on Tuesday said the collective action of trainee doctors to quit their jobs at teaching hospitals cannot be tolerated, and the government has the "constitutional responsibility" to manage medical resources to prevent the nation's medical system from collapsing. "We are seeing scheduled surgeries being scaled down or suspended, as the (trainee doctors') collective action to halt the provision of medical services was expected," Yoon told the Ca

Feb. 20, 2024

Dozens of KAIST alumni accuse presidential security of violence

Dozens of alumni from the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology on Tuesday accused the presidential security of abusing its power and exerting violence by forcibly removing a student from the graduation ceremony venue. The bodyguards of President Yoon Suk Yeol ejected an attendee, named Shin Min-gi, from the ceremony in Daejeon when he protested the budget cut in scientific technology research and development for this year during Yoon's commencement remarks on Friday. The alumni, co

Feb. 20, 2024

DP floor leader says democracy has regressed under Yoon govt., calls for support in general elections

Rep. Hong Ihk-pyo, the floor leader of the main opposition Democratic Party, said Tuesday that democracy has regressed under the government of President Yoon Suk Yeol, calling for voter support for the party in the April 10 parliamentary elections. Hong made the remarks during an address at the National Assembly as representative of the largest parliamentary negotiating bloc, asserting that the Yoon administration has failed to uphold fairness and common sense as previously promised. "In ju

Feb. 20, 2024

Yoon calls for utmost efforts to protect people's lives amid threat of doctors' walkout

President Yoon Suk Yeol called on the government Monday to make utmost efforts to protect the people's lives and health amid a looming walkout by doctors protesting a planned increase in the medical school enrollment quota, his office said. Yoon issued the call during his weekly meeting with Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, according to presidential spokesperson Kim Soo-kyung. "Please make utmost efforts in the response to protect the people's lives and health," he was quoted as

Feb. 19, 2024

First lady resumes duties after 2-month hiatus

Kim Keon Hee appeared to have resumed her engagements as South Korea's first lady, albeit unofficially, for the first time in over two months. Kim reportedly joined a lunch meeting with Netflix Chief Executive Officer Ted Sarandos and "Squid Game" star Lee Jung-jae, who had been received by President Yoon Suk Yeol on Saturday at the presidential residence in Yongsan-gu, Seoul. The initial statement from the presidential office about the meeting did not indicate that Kim was presen

Feb. 19, 2024

Election watchdog busts political deepfakes ahead of April general election

The South Korean constitutional agency overseeing election administration said Monday it formed a task force aimed at fighting artificial intelligence-generated deceitful content related to the general election in April. The National Election Commission said in a release that it busted a total of 129 deepfakes that were deemed to violate the laws on elections of public officials between Jan. 29 and Feb. 16. The “politically motivated” deepfakes were caught by the watchdog through a s

Feb. 19, 2024

Democratic Party recruits ex-official suspected in 2019 forced return of North Koreans

South Korea’s main opposition Democratic Party of Korea recruited a former National Intelligence Service official who was suspected of alleged wrongdoing in the forced repatriation of North Korean defectors in 2019, when former President Moon Jae-in was in office. Kim Joon-hwan was Moon’s deputy director at the NIS at the time the Democratic Party administration decided to return the two North Korean fishers forcibly. Several at the NIS, including then-director Suh Hoon, and the Moon

Feb. 19, 2024

[Election 2024] The 'big tent' trial: Will S. Korea's third party coalition succeed?

As South Korea heads into the general election scheduled for April 10, a group of recently launched parties have formed a coalition, a so-called “big tent” that has managed to make waves in the polls, despite the differences in approach and ideology of its constituent parts. The New Reform Party, launched by former ruling party leader Lee Jun-seok last month, is at the forefront of the coalition. Recently having absorbed four other distinct minor parties, the majority of its lawmaker

Feb. 19, 2024

National Assembly mulls revote of special probe bill against first lady

This month’s provisional session of the National Assembly is set to kick off on Monday, but the opposition-led Assembly has yet to decide when to cast a revote on the special probe bill against the first lady. The rival parties in recent weeks have locked horns over the timing of the revote after President Yoon Suk Yeol, on Jan. 5, vetoed a bill that would allow the Assembly to order a special investigation into the stock manipulation allegations surrounding his wife Kim Keon Hee. The bill

Feb. 18, 2024