Myeong Tae-kyun, the self-proclaimed power broker that many South Koreans had never heard of until two months ago, made a public appearance Friday as he arrived for questioning by prosecutors. He is the man driving the spiraling election drama surrounding the presidential couple and some of the most influential power players of the ruling People Power Party. The little-known man in mainstream Seoul circles apparently blew the whistle on President Yoon Suk Yeol’s wife Kim Keon Hee, claiming

Politics Nov. 8, 2024

First Lady Kim Keon Hee will not accompany President Yoon Suk Yeol on his planned state trips this month, a senior Yoon official told reporters Friday. The official said whether she would travel with the president in the future would be decided on a “case-by-case basis.” The decision follows the press conference by Yoon on Thursday where he said that the scope of his wife’s public role and appearances would depend on how South Koreans feel about it. “If the people like it

Politics Nov. 8, 2024

Democratic Party of Korea leader Rep. Lee Jae-myung on Friday praised US President-elect Donald Trump’s summit meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un during his first term as a “historic contribution to peace in the Korean Peninsula.” “The first Trump administration made a historic move of holding the first-ever summit with North Korea and contributed to peace in the Korean Peninsula,” he told a meeting of the party leadership. He said that as Trump won a seco

Politics Nov. 8, 2024

The websites of South Korean courts temporarily went down Thursday afternoon, a day after South Korean military websites suffered similar outages. The court websites, including that of the country’s largest Seoul central district court, were inaccessible due to suspected cyberattacks. The court administration office told reporters it suspects a distributed denial of service attack, in which servers are overwhelmed with large amounts of traffic to block access, by a potential foreign source

Politics Nov. 7, 2024

President Yoon Suk Yeol on Thursday struck down claims raised by North Korea that South Korean uncrewed aerial vehicles had entered its skies. “It’s not worth responding to these claims when it is North Korea that is in the wrong,” he said. The president’s remarks came in response to a question from a reporter during a press conference held at the presidential office in Yongsan-gu, central Seoul. “North Korean drones have crossed the border into our skies 10 times a

Politics Nov. 7, 2024

South Korean ruling party leader Han Dong-hoon said Thursday he believed US President-elect Donald Trump’s reelection will be a chance for South Korea and the US to deepen ties further. Speaking at Thursday’s meeting of the party leadership, Han Dong-hoon congratulated Trump on his victory. “My sincerest congratulations to Mr. Trump. I have said that his Asia priority policy would be an opportunity for deepening the South Korea-US relationship in a way that benefits both countr

Politics Nov. 7, 2024

South Korea’s main opposition Democratic Party of Korea congratulated Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump’s re-election as US president Wednesday. “President-elect Trump, while he was in office as the 45th president of the US, set a milestone in the history of the peace in the Korean Peninsula by leading North Korea-US summit,” the party said in a statement. “The Korean Peninsula is now in a more perilous situation than during President-elect Trump’

Politics Nov. 6, 2024

South Korea’s Ministry of National Defense website went down Tuesday afternoon after suffering potential cyberattacks. The Defense Ministry said Wednesday its website was targeted by a suspected distributed denial-of-service attack, which is when service is disrupted by a flood of traffic. The website of the Joint Chiefs of Staff was temporarily inaccessible Wednesday morning, with the Cyber Operations Command investigating whether attacks by foreign sources are responsible. While the JCS

Defense Nov. 6, 2024

North Korea on Tuesday fired short-range ballistic missiles into the sea east of the Korean Peninsula, hours before the US goes to the polls to elect its next president. The South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a brief announcement the missiles were launched at around 7:30 a.m. from a province south of Pyongyang and traveled 400 kilometers before landing in the waters. South Korean and US military and intelligence officials are analyzing details of the launch, including their type and rang

Defense Nov. 5, 2024

Han Dong-hoon, the leader of the ruling People Power Party, on Monday condemned North Korea for participating in Russia’s war in Ukraine. At a meeting of the party's leadership, Han said North Korean leader Kim Jong-un sending troops to Russia was a “serious challenge to international peace” and a “crime against humanity.” “The Kim Jong-un regime, with its decision to enter the war, has made it seem like the Korean Peninsula has something to do with the o

Politics Nov. 4, 2024

North Korea is believed to have dispatched thousands of soldiers to Russia to support its invasion of Ukraine, with thousands more anticipated to join by the year’s end, according to South Korean intelligence and military officials. While the National Intelligence Service said in its latest analysis the costs of North Korea stepping into the war seem to outweigh the benefits, other experts in Seoul say Pyongyang can now expect Moscow to have its back in a possible contingency on the Korean

North Korea Nov. 3, 2024

North Korea fired what could be a new intercontinental ballistic missile toward the sea east of the Korean Peninsula on Thursday, a day after South Korean defense intelligence authorities warned of Pyongyang preparing to stage large-scale provocations in the run-up to the US presidential election. The missile flew for approximately 86 minutes, the longest time of any North Korean missile to date, traveling about 1,000 kilometers before falling into the waters between North Korea and Japan, accor

Defense Oct. 31, 2024

The military cyber security authorities in Seoul said Wednessday they are on the lookout for North Korea possibly colluding with Russia in its cyber attacks against pro-Ukraine countries. According to Rep. Lee Seong-kweon, who was briefed by the Cyber Operations Command, North Korean attempts to infiltrate institutions affiliated with the South Korean military have increased significantly in the past couple of years. The military’s cyber security authorities are “on alert” for

Politics Oct. 30, 2024

The Defense Intelligence Agency in Seoul said Wednesday that North Korea may conduct its first nuclear weapons test in seven years ahead of the US presidential election, in what would be its seventh such test. In a closed-door briefing to the National Assembly intelligence committee, the Defense Intelligence Agency said North Korea will attempt to draw Washington’s attention by staging a major provocation such as a nuclear test ahead of the election that is less than a week away. “No

Politics Oct. 30, 2024

The South Korean intelligence agency said Tuesday that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s daughter Kim Ju-ae appears to be on a rising path to power. Citing the National Intelligence Service, Rep. Park Sun-won of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea told reporters there are growing signs suggesting a “clear elevation of Ju-ae’s status.” He was briefed on North Korea affairs by the NIS as vice chair of the National Assembly intelligence committee. The NIS said Kim&

Politics Oct. 29, 2024