The would-be dissenters of the ruling Saenuri Party announced Friday a plan to establish their own political party in mid-January. The remaining lawmakers, meanwhile, have appointed an emergency leadership. “The new party will represent the true conservative (spirit) and set its core principles to center around citizens,” Rep. Choung Byoung-gug said after a meeting of Saenuri defectors early Friday morning. Thirty-four Saenuri lawmakers announced their intention to defect en masse on Wednesday.

Politics Dec. 23, 2016

Key figures in the President Park Geun-hye scandal, Choi Soon-sil and her daughter possess some 800 billion won ($667 million) worth of assets under borrowed names in Germany, a local daily reported Thursday. According to the Hankook Ilbo, German prosecutors are investigating Choi and her daughter Chung Yoo-ra for having created some 500 paper companies using the names of 10 affiliates, including Chung’s horseback riding coach and another associate in Europe, mainly in Germany. The newspaper cit

Social Affairs Dec. 22, 2016

South Korea’s ruling Saenuri Party is finally splitting, with about a quarter of its 128 lawmakers having declared their defection Wednesday to create a new political group.  A total of 31 lawmakers from the country’s only major conservative party gathered early in the morning at the National Assembly to announce their abandonment of party membership. Four more are set to follow suit, they revealed. “We decided to part from the fake conservatives and agreed to establish a new core to lead true c

Politics Dec. 21, 2016

The plausibility on the ruling Saenuri Party splitting took shape Tuesday as reformist nonmainstreamers gestured at defecting, following the pro-presidential group’s refusal to compromise over the interim party leadership.It is the claim of the reformists, who seek to distance themselves from the impeached President Park Geun-hye, that the party should tap Rep. Yoo Seong-min, a ranking non-Park figure, to steer the distressed party until the election of an official party leader.But the pro-Park

Politics Dec. 20, 2016

The ongoing parliamentary probe into the influence-peddling scandal involving President Park Geun-hye and her confidante Choi Soon-sil was hit Monday by allegations that lawmakers of the ruling Saenuri Party conspired perjury with one of the witnesses at last week’s parliamentary hearing. While the Saenuri’s reformist members demanded clarification, the opposition circle argued that the disputed members should be ousted immediately from the related parliamentary committee.The ruling Saenuri Part

Politics Dec. 19, 2016

Moon Jae-in, the current front-runner in the race for the next presidency of South Korea, vowed Thursday to reconsider several key foreign policies of impeached President Park Geun-hye, should he be elected. They include the controversial deployment here of a US-led missile defense system and the agreement with Japan about former sex slaves for the Japanese Army during World War II. “Any decision regarding the deployment of THAAD (Terminal High Altitude Area Defense anti-missile system) should b

Politics Dec. 16, 2016

Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn on Saturday instructed the military to step up vigilance against threats or any attempt to instigate national division from North Korea, his office said.The direction comes a day after the parliament impeached President Park Geun-hye for her alleged involvement in a high-profile corruption scandal.Hwang took over as acting president while the Constitutional Court has 180 days to determine whether to endorse the impeachment or not. Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn speaks

Politics Dec. 10, 2016

WASHINGTON (AFP) -- A secret CIA assessment has found that Russia sought to tip last month's US presidential election in Donald Trump's favor, The Washington Post reported Friday, a conclusion that drew an extraordinary rebuke from the president-elect's camp."These are the same people that said Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction," Trump's transition team said, launching a broadside against the spy agency."The election ended a long time ago in one of the biggest Electoral College vict

World News Dec. 10, 2016

WASHINGTON (Yonhap) -- The US Defense Department said Friday that it expects "policy consistency and continuity" on various issues with South Korea in the wake of the impeachment of President Park Geun-hye.Pentagon spokesman Commander Gary Ross gave the comment in response to a question from Yonhap News Agency whether the impeachment could have any impact on the planned deployment of the THAAD missile defense system to the South."We look forward to working with Prime Minister Hwang in his new ca

Diplomatic Circuit Dec. 10, 2016

To impeach the embattled head of state, at least 200 lawmakers from the 300-member National Assembly need to support the motion. Currently, opposition parties, which led the impeachment drive, together have 172 seats including those of like-minded independent members. To get Assembly approval, the impeachment bill is required to attract at least 28 lawmakers from Park’s ruling Saenuri Party. The ruling party, the largest political bloc in the Assembly with 129 seats, has been divided on whether

Politics Dec. 9, 2016

South Korea’s parliament will decide Friday whether to impeach President Park Geun-hye, with opposition lawmakers threatening to quit en masse if the vote fails. In their full-fledged efforts to push to remove Park from office, the three main opposition parties -- the Democratic Party of Korea, People’s Party and Justice Party -- pledged to resign from the National Assembly if the motion is rejected. “We are determined to pass the motion to take Park down from office, and tendered our resignatio

Politics Dec. 8, 2016

Jang Si-ho, the niece of President Park Geun-hye’s confidante Choi Soon-sil, appeared at parliamentary hearing Wednesday about 3:30 p.m. after previously refusing to attend, citing poor health.The National Assembly summoned 27 witnesses with 14 of them, including the key figure Choi, refusing to attend prior to the hearing.Jang was the only one among the absentees to respond to the parliament‘s order which was issued earlier in the morning. Jang Si-ho, the niece of Choi Soon-sil (Yonhap)Currentl

Politics Dec. 7, 2016

The second day of the parliamentary inquiry into President Park Geun-hye’s scandal on Wednesday produced little new information about Park and her longtime friend Choi Soon-sil who is accused of meddling in state affairs. Almost half of key witnesses were absent at the hearing, including Choi. Those who were in attendance spent most of their time denying allegations or claiming no knowledge or memory. Former chief presidential secreatry Kim Ki-choon testifies at a parliamentary hearing on Wednes

Politics Dec. 7, 2016