With next year’s general election for the National Assembly looming, President Yoon Suk Yeol and his People Power Party are pledging to do more to make lives better for everyday South Koreans. In the latest briefing from the presidential office, Yoon was quoted by his press secretary as telling his staff to focus policy agendas to build economy that puts middle class and low-income earners first. “The South Korean people are always the priority,” the president said, asking his

Politics Oct. 22, 2023

Israel will be guided by NATO standards that uphold protection of civilians in armed conflicts as it fights Hamas -- the Islamist militant movement that controls Gaza --, Jerusalem’s top envoy in Seoul said Thursday. “Israel will respect the human rights, the history and the presence of Palestinians in the region. It is Hamas we are in a war against,” Akiva Tor, the Israeli ambassador, said in an interview with The Korea Herald. And in the war against Hamas Israel was “go

Politics Oct. 19, 2023

The Democratic Party of Korea leader Rep. Lee Jae-myung spent the entire day away from the National Assembly on Tuesday, attending Seoul court where he faces a criminal trial into real estate corruption scandals from his days as the mayor of Seongnam in Gyeonggi Province. Appearing at a Seoul court in the morning, Lee shunned questions from reporters. While defendant attendance is mandatory for criminal cases, the Democratic Party chair failed to attend the last trial held on Oct. 13, citing Ass

Politics Oct. 17, 2023

Two defector-turned-lawmakers in South Korea on Tuesday launched a series of efforts to condemn China over the recent deportation of escapees from North Korea, and to prevent a repetition. Ruling People Power Party Rep. Ji Seong-ho said he raised the issue of human rights violations by China over his meeting with Julie Turner, the US special envoy for North Korean human rights who is visiting Seoul for the first time since her appointment in July. Ji told The Korea Herald that over the hourlong

Politics Oct. 17, 2023

The ruling People Power Party, confronted with a deepening crisis following a landslide defeat in a key district by-election, on Monday introduced new leaders to helm key seats. With Monday’s shuffle, the post of the secretary-general is now held by the National Assembly interior committee’s executive secretary Rep. Lee Man-hee and the director of the party-run think tank Yeouido Institute and two-time lawmaker Rep. Kim Sung-won among other changes. Excluded from the latest shake-up

Politics Oct. 16, 2023

Calls are mounting for the South Korean election watchdog to apologize after it failed to fend off mock cyberattacks in a security evaluation by the country’s top spy agency. During a National Assembly audit of the National Election Commission held Friday, ruling People Power Party lawmakers demanded that the election service apologize for its allegedly lax cyber security and for not heeding the National Intelligence Service's warnings. Rep. Lee Man-hee of the ruling party accused the

Politics Oct. 13, 2023

The leadership of the ruling People Power Party on Thursday remained largely silent after Kim Tae-woo was defeated in a by-election widely seen as a barometer of public sentiment ahead of the general election next year. Kim was contending to be chief of Seoul’s western Gangseo -- a seat he vacated himself in May. Although polls leading to the election on Tuesday consistently showed Kim falling behind his Democratic Party of Korea rival Jin Gyo-hoon, he was defeated by a far greater margin

Politics Oct. 12, 2023

South Korea’s election service on Wednesday denied the spy agency verdict that voting systems remain vulnerable to foreign hacking, with at least seven known instances of attacks by North Korean hackers in the last two years. Responding to The Korea Herald, the National Election Commission said that the vulnerabilities in its systems may have been found in the latest security screenings led by the NIS due to internal information having been shared beforehand. “The mock cyberattacks w

Politics Oct. 11, 2023

South Korea’s election systems may be vulnerable to foreign hacking threats and are in need of fortification ahead of next year's general election, the National Intelligence Service said Tuesday. In a rare press briefing, the NIS shared the results of a cybersecurity screening that showed the election watchdog had been targeted by both attempted and successful attacks from North Korea and that it had remained unaware of the exposure. The NIS cybersecurity experts said that the electio

Politics Oct. 10, 2023

The National Assembly will begin the final audit before next year's legislative general election from Tuesday, with the ruling and opposition parties gearing up for a push to win over voters. The general election in April next year will decide if the Yoon Suk Yeol administration will have the support of a ruling People Power Party-controlled Assembly. The main opposition Democratic Party of Korea currently holds a substantial majority in the Assembly and has used it to put the brakes on several

Politics Oct. 9, 2023

Anticipation is building in Seoul ahead of the Oct. 11 by-election to choose the head of the capital city’s western district of Gangseo, which the two major parties’ strategists believe will offer a preview of the general election in April next year. The trends in early voting, which wrapped up Sunday, indicate a surprisingly high level of enthusiasm among voters. According to the National Election Commission, 113,313 voters -- or 22.6 percent of the 500,603 registered voters in th

Politics Oct. 8, 2023

[코리아헤럴드=김아린 기자] 국가정보원이 한국인터넷진흥원(KISA)과 합동으로 진행한 점검 결과, 중앙선거관리위원회의 사이버 보안상 취약점이 드러난 것으로 알려졌다. 6일 개최되는 국정원 브리핑에서 선관위 시스템의 보안적 결함에 대한 지적이 이루어질 예정이라고 여권 고위 관계자가 5일 전했다. 이 관계자는 선관위의 보안 실태에 대해 묻는 코리아헤럴드의 질의에, 이번 국정원 발표에서 “문제점이 지적이 될 것”이라고 밝혔다. 이어 이번 점검 결과의 중대성에 따라, 당 차원에서 선관위가 앞서 보안상 문제를 부인한 경위에 대한 책임 소재 문제도 따져야 한다고도 했다. 이 관계자는 “(선관위가) 자체 점검상 아무 문제가 없다고 주장하며 보안 점검을 거부했던 부분은 반드시 책임을 물어야 할 것”이라면서, 선관위원장 사퇴까지 거론할 정도의 사안으로 번질 수 있다고 내다봤다. 지난 5월 선관위는 북한의 해킹 공격 시도에도 국정원의 보안 점검 권고를 무시한

한국어판 Oct. 5, 2023

The confirmation hearings for President Yoon Suk Yeol’s nominations for three Cabinet posts have become the latest partisan battleground, as the nominees faced intense scrutiny appearing before the National Assembly on Thursday. The first day of the hearing for Kim Haeng, who has been tapped for the position of minister of gender equality and family, was interrupted by Democratic Party of Korea lawmakers’ vociferous objections to the nomination choice. The gender equality minister no

Politics Oct. 5, 2023

Over the long holiday weekend, South Korea’s ruling and opposition lawmakers campaigned across Gangseo in western Seoul, as the district is set to choose a new head in a by-election next week. With the general election six months away, the Gangseo-gu by-election on Oct. 11 will offer insight into voter sentiment in Seoul -- a swing electorate holding some 40 seats that can determine which party will win control of the National Assembly. Winning in Seoul will be essential for the ruling Peo

Politics Oct. 3, 2023

The main opposition Democratic Party of Korea on Tuesday elected Rep. Hong Ihk-pyo, a “pro-Lee Jae-myung” lawmaker who is serving his third term in the National Assembly, as its new floor leader. Hong’s election comes after the last one to hold the post, TV journalist-turned-lawmaker Rep. Park Kwang-on, known for his dovish approach, stepped down last week amid the passage of a critical motion on the party leader Rep. Lee Jae-myung’s possible arrest. In the acceptance spe

Politics Sept. 26, 2023