Lee Chul-sungDebate flared Friday over the National Police Agency’s Commissioner General Lee Chul-sung as he refused to resign and give way to an incoming successor under the new Moon Jae-in administration.“I do not yet intend to offer my resignation,” the police chief told reporters late Thursday, dismissing the burgeoning speculations that he would step down as did Prosecutor General Kim Soo-nam earlier in the day.The nation’s police chief is appointed for a two-year term but it has been conv

Politics May 12, 2017

Hong Joon-pyo, the runner-up conservative candidate who lost to Moon Jae-in in the May 9 presidential election, will not bid for his party’s chairmanship, according to in-party officials.“Former South Gyeongsang Gov. Hong Joon-pyo will not go for the party chairmanship,” Rep. Chung Woo-taik, floor leader of the conservative Liberty Korea Party, said Thursday in a radio interview with MBC. Former South Gyeongsang Gov. Hong Joon-pyo (Yonhap)It wouldn’t make Hong look so good in the eye of the publ

Politics May 11, 2017

President Moon Jae-in is expected to pick a celebrity law professor as new senior presidential secretary for civil affairs, the announcement likely to be made as early as within Thursday, according to local media reports.Cho Kuk, criminal law professor at Seoul National University’s Law School, was listed as top potential to assume the key post, which involves arranging the president‘s legal affairs and communicating with investigation bodies.Reputed not only for his academic status as SNU profe

Politics May 11, 2017

President Moon Jae-in exchanged a phone call with US President Donald Trump late on Wednesday, marking his first official interaction with a foreign head of state since taking office as South Korea’s 19th president earlier the same day.Both state chiefs underlined the importance of their bilateral ties amid the recently escalating turbulence in the Korean Peninsula and in the surrounding states. South Korea's President Moon Jae-in (right) receives a call from US counterpart Donald Trump late Wed

Politics May 10, 2017

The duty-free units of Lotte Group and Hotel Shilla Co. have won licenses for the new duty-free stores at the new Incheon airport terminal due to open later in the year, the customs authority said Saturday. Lotte Duty Free and Shilla Duty Free tendered their preliminary bids late last month for two sections of Incheon International Airport terminal (T2), slated to start operation in October, and they were shortlisted by the Incheon International Airport Corp. last week.  (Yonhap)Due to an amendm

Industry April 29, 2017

South Korea's top presidential candidates denounced North Korea Saturday after the communist state launched a ballistic missile and apparently failed.The missile flew to a maximum altitude of 71 kilometers before exploding midair, according to the South's Joint Chiefs of Staff, just 10 days ahead of the presidential election on May 9. South Korea's leading presidential candidates hold up cards with the Korean letters for "Let's vote." From left are Moon Jae-in, Sim Sang-jeung, Yoo Seong-min, Ahn

Politics April 29, 2017

Samsung Electronics Co. regained the top status in the global smartphone market in the first quarter of the year, even before the release of its latest Galaxy S8, data showed Saturday.The South Korean tech giant sold about 7.9 million smartphones during the January-March period to account for a market share of 22.8 percent, the data compiled by industry tracker IDC showed. Its US archrival Apple Inc. came in second with a 14.9 percent share. (Yonhap)The latest figure marks a turnaround from the

Technology April 29, 2017

South Korea's airports and expressways are experiencing extreme congestion Saturday, as many people take advantage of extended holidays from late April to early May to visit popular tourist destinations at home and abroad.Incheon International Airport, the gateway to Seoul, said that approximately 174,000 departure and arrival passengers, including 89,300 bound for foreign countries, are expected to use the airport on Saturday alone. (Yonhap)The Korea Expressway Corp. said that major expressways

Social Affairs April 29, 2017

South Korea's top diplomat warned the international community against rushing to resume talks with North Korea without confirming its intentions, his ministry said Saturday.Speaking at the UN Security Council's special meeting on North Korea in New York Friday (local time), Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se pointed out the communist nation is not interested in any dialogue on its own denuclearization.What it wants is to be recognized as a nuclear power for "disarmament talks," he said. South Korean

North Korea April 29, 2017

Presidential candidates on Friday argued over Washington’s pressure on Seoul to pay for a US missile defense system to be stationed on the peninsula.The top five candidates sat in a televised debated hosted by the National Election Broadcasting Debate Commission, the last debate to be held prior to the election on May 9. The top five presidential candidates on Friday sit in the last televised debate hosted by the National Election Broadcasting Debate Commission. (From left) Moon Jae-in of the De

Politics April 28, 2017