Presidential candidate Yoon Suk-yeol of the main opposition People Power Party apologized Monday for the remarks made by his wife Kim Kun-hee, after a portion of the recordings of her phone calls with a reporter was made public by a local broadcaster. A day before, MBC had broadcast parts of the 52 recorded phone calls made between Lee Myung-soo, a reporter for YouTube channel Voice of Seoul, and Kim. In the revelation, Kim was shown to have made some remarks deemed inappropriate, such as hi

Politics Jan. 17, 2022

Presidential candidate Yoon Suk-yeol of the main opposition People Power Party announced on Sunday plans to “rebuild” Seoul, by reorganizing city spaces and relocating railroads and highways underground. At a press briefing, Yoon laid out four vision pillars with nine detailed pledges for Seoul, including plans to supply some 500,000 new homes and to foster the city as a global hub for finance and startup companies. “I will create Seoul to be more refreshing by moving railr

Politics Jan. 16, 2022

All members of the campaign team for presidential candidate Sim Sang-jung of the minor progressive Justice Party resigned Thursday, following Sim’s decision to suspend all campaign activities the day before. Sim, who has been struggling to raise her single-digit support rating, has put off all campaigning activities since late Wednesday saying she will take time for deliberation as the situation was “grave.” “The party’s campaign committee is aware of the seriousn

Politics Jan. 13, 2022

The idea of abolishing the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family has reemerged as a hot topic, after presidential candidate Yoon Suk-yeol of the main opposition People Power Party proposed it as an election pledge. When the conservative party candidate made the simple pledge in plain words, “Abolition of the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family,” via Facebook on Saturday without further elaboration, it immediately drew criticism from rivals as a move to woo male voters in their

Politics Jan. 12, 2022

Presidential candidate Yoon Suk-yeol of the main opposition People Power Party pledged Tuesday to provide a monthly allowance to parents to encourage childbirth, and to come up with compensation measures for small business owners suffering financial losses due to the COVID-19 pandemic. As North Korea fired a projectile identified as a ballistic missile into the East Sea earlier in the day, the conservative party candidate also highlighted the importance of international sanctions, and said the

Politics Jan. 11, 2022

As suspenseful music plays in the background, two politicians appear closely facing each other. One politician asks, “Did you know that the Moon Jae-in administration is raising the cost of electricity for charging electric vehicles?” The other answers, “Who will ride EVs then? What about the environment?” To this, his counterpart says, “We will freeze the electricity prices for the next five years!” This is the conversation between the main opposition Peopl

Politics Jan. 10, 2022

After another dramatic reconciliation with People Power Party Chairman Lee Jun-seok, Yoon Suk-yeol, the presidential candidate of the main opposition party, took the subway to work Friday, and took another step to recovering ties with the party leader. The party chairman welcomed Yoon’s move, saying it signals “the start” for a big change. Lee had said he recommended a number of electioneering activities that would soften the image of Yoon, who was formerly prosecutor general.

Politics Jan. 7, 2022

Presidential candidate Ahn Cheol-soo of the minor opposition People’s Party said Thursday he “can meet” with Yoon Suk-yeol, the nominee from the main opposition if Yoon made the request, showing a slight change in stance on uniting candidacies to win at the March presidential polls. When asked if he would meet with Yoon of the People Power Party to talk about uniting forces in a televised interview, Ahn said, “when politicians say we need to meet, we can. But whether we

Politics Jan. 7, 2022

The main opposition People Power Party’s internal conflict is intensifying, with some lawmakers demanding party leader Lee Jun-seok’s resignation despite presidential candidate Yoon Suk-yeol’s declaration of a “new start” for his campaign team. At the general meeting of lawmakers Thursday, Yoon and the members were discussing a resolution to recommend that party leader Lee Jun-seok resign. The results had not been released as of Thursday evening. Lee has come u

Politics Jan. 6, 2022

Yoon Suk-yeol, the presidential candidate of the main opposition party, on Wednesday disbanded his election campaign committee, following weeks of internal dispute. In a press conference, the nominee from the People Power Party said he is launching a new campaign team that is more compact for efficiency, and apologized again for conflicts and scandals raised in the party and surrounding his family. “The election committee is disbanded from today. Instead of giving posts to lawmakers, I

Politics Jan. 5, 2022

The main opposition People Power Party appears to be swamped with a power struggle, as the discord between the presidential candidate and his election campaign chief on running the campaign has come to the fore. As the election committee’s top chief, Kim Chong-in revealed to have excluded the party’s presidential candidate Yoon Suk-yeol in announcing the surprise renewal of the election committee, and reversing his on what he had agreed with Yoon, the presidential candid

Politics Jan. 4, 2022

Leaving just 66 days before the presidential election, the entire leadership of the main opposition People Power Party’s campaign committee resigned Monday, amid unending internal strife, constant gaffes and falling support. After the campaign chief Kim Chong-in announced earlier in the day that he would carry out a complete reform of the election committee, the party said all politicians holding a leader position at the election camp would resign from their posts, including all of the

Politics Jan. 3, 2022

Lee Jae-myung, the presidential candidate of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea, will accept cryptocurrency for campaign donations, his party said on Sunday, amid growing interest in virtual assets among young voters. According to Lee’s election committee, it will issue nonfungible tokens as receipts to those who donate virtual currencies to support the presidential nominee, starting from mid-January. Bitcoin, Ethereum and up to three other cryptocurrencies are under review. The committ

Politics Jan. 2, 2022

The main opposition People Power Party’s presidential candidate Yoon Suk-yeol on Sunday pledged to establish a digital system to integrate all government portals into one platform, and to provide “personalized” services to the people. “I want to transform the government into a digital platform government, which provides services to the people based on digital technology and big data,” Yoon said. Yoon said that the envisioned digital platform would “accurate

Politics Jan. 2, 2022

Yoon Suk-yeol, the presidential candidate of the main opposition party, on Thursday denounced the anti-corruption agency for checking phone logs of his family and dozens of lawmakers from his party. The day before, the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials came under fire over revelations that it had checked phone logs of hundreds of people, including the People Power Party’s presidential candidate and some 80 lawmakers from the conservative opposition party. &ldqu

Politics Dec. 30, 2021