It’s time for a new policy approach to North Korea from the incumbent Moon Jae-in administration’s Korean Peninsula Peace Process, Rep. Park Jin, the nominee for foreign minister, said Monday. Making his first trip to the preparation office for the parliamentary confirmation hearing, Park of President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol’s People Power Party also denounced Pyongyang’s recent missile launches, calling them a threat to peace on the Korean Peninsula. “North Korea h

Foreign Affairs April 18, 2022

Seoul will send relief goods for Koreans under a massive mandatory COVID-19 lockdown in Shanghai, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Friday. “While Shanghai City announced to ease the lockdown measures, some areas are still in lockdown so we are closely monitoring the situation and putting effort to resolve problems for the people in those neighborhoods,” the Foreign Ministry said. The South Korean consulate general in Shanghai has obtained two vehicle passes from the Chinese g

Foreign Affairs April 15, 2022

South Korean Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong expressed “serious concerns” over Russia’s alleged killing of civilians in Ukraine and promised to provide humanitarian support during a phone call with his Ukrainian counterpart, his office said Friday. Speaking with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, Chung explained how South Korea plans to provide humanitarian assistance of worth $30 million to Ukraine, in addition to the previous $10 million in support. Chung also exp

Foreign Affairs April 15, 2022

Yoon’s office says president-elect will pay more attention to Ahn, who said recommendations were ignored President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol and transition committee chief Ahn Cheol-soo resolved their differences following a fallout over Cabinet nominations, Yoon’s spokesperson said Friday. “The dinner meeting took place in a very friendly atmosphere for the two (Yoon and Ahn) to reaffirm of their joint goal for a coalition government,” Bae Hyun-jin, Yoon’s spokesper

Politics April 15, 2022

US Special Representative for North Korea Sung Kim will travel to Seoul on Monday for a five-day trip to discuss the situation on the Korean Peninsula and the joint response to North Korea’s recent intercontinental ballistic missile provocation, the US State Department said Thursday. 　 “During his visit, Special Representative Kim will meet with Republic of Korea (ROK) Special Representative for Korean Peninsula Peace and Security Affairs Noh Kyu-duk and other senior ROK officials t

Politics April 15, 2022

President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol announced the final two minister nominees on Thursday, finishing up the first round of nominations for his incoming Cabinet. Yoon announced his choices for the other 16 ministerial posts in the past two rounds of announcements. In the press briefing, Yoon tapped Lee Jung-sik for minister of employment and labor. Lee formerly served as secretary general of the Korea Labor and Employment Service, and a top administrator for the Federation of Korean Trade Unions, an

Politics April 14, 2022

President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol tapped eight new minister nominees for his Cabinet and a chief of staff on Wednesday, following his first eight nominations Sunday. For foreign minister, Yoon named four-term Rep. Park Jin of the People Power Party, who led his policy consultation delegation to Washington. Park is a diplomacy expert who started his career by passing the state’s foreign service exam in 1977. He served as the press secretary for foreign media at the presidential office for

Politics April 13, 2022

Whether the members of K-pop sensation BTS should be granted military exemptions has become the talk of the town, with the final date for the enlistment of the seven-member group’s oldest member, Jin, near the end of the year. In South Korea, nearly all able-bodied men in their 20s are obliged to serve in the military for about 18 months. There is an exemption and alternative service system where athletes and artists recognized to have promoted national prestige -- winning designated int

Politics April 12, 2022

Kim Hyun-sook, a former lawmaker and economics professor at Soongsil University, who was named to head the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family, expressed her determination to assist the president-elect to smoothly carry out the abolition of the ministry on Sunday. Kim was a proportionate representative at the 19th parliament for the then Saenuri Party, predecessor of the People Power Party, and also served as the chief secretary on employment and welfare for the Park Geun-hye administratio

Politics April 10, 2022

President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol’s pledge to abolish the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family was a divisive one, raising ire from opponents who say it is a signal that Korea was about to backslide on women’s rights. But female lawmakers of the People Power Party, the conservative party to which Yoon is a member, say that efforts to promote women’s rights and policies related to family and youth -- which are currently handled by the Gender Equality Ministry -- will not be dis

Politics April 10, 2022

President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol announced Sunday the first eight minister nominees for his incoming Cabinet, each of whom will undergo parliamentary confirmation hearings before final appointment. “The criteria for the personnel appointments was nothing more than whether the person would be the best suited to lead their designated fields,” Yoon said during a press briefing at the presidential transition committee headquarters in Seoul. For the first deputy prime minister and minis

Politics April 10, 2022

President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol’s delegation discussed the possible deployment of US strategic assets on the Korean Peninsula with US national security adviser Jake Sullivan, as they agreed on the need for extended deterrence against Pyongyang’s nuclear threats, the chief delegate said Tuesday. In their 40-minute meeting in Washington, the delegation and the US side recognized North Korea’s development of nuclear weapons as threats, and agreed on strengthening the bilateral all

Politics April 6, 2022

Washington agreed to raise the level of strategic alliance with South Korea and agreed on the need for complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearization (CVID) of North Korea, the chief of President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol’s policy consultation delegation said during his trip to the United States on Monday (US time). Rep. Park Jin of the People Power Party, who is leading Yoon’s delegation, said he had also discussed the importance of the Extended Deterrence Strategy and Consulta

Politics April 5, 2022

The presidential transition committee for President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol has collected reports on current affairs that need to be handled by the incoming government, and will use them to develop tangible policies, the committee spokesperson said Monday. “In the general meeting, each of the subcommittees at the transition committee submitted the first rough draft of reports on current affairs to designate the priority state tasks. The committee will now review the reports to further develo

Politics April 4, 2022

In shaping his Cabinet, the president-elect office is considering several former vice ministers and seasoned politicians as likely members, including Rep. Park Jin for Foreign Ministry and Rep. Choo Kyung-ho for the economy, according to sources Monday. 　 Kim Eun-hye, the spokesperson for President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol said Monday that Yoon would be spending much time reviewing the potential candidates for his Cabinet this week. “We are making efforts so that we can release the formatio

Politics April 4, 2022