The minor Progressive Party, deemed to be more left-wing than the National Assembly’s majority-holding Democratic Party of Korea or the Justice Party, has returned to the National Assembly. The party’s Rep. Kang Sung-hee won 39 percent of the votes in Jeonju, a liberal constituency in North Jeolla Province, in a by-election on Wednesday, beating her Democratic Party-affiliated rival, who earned 32 percent. It took the Progressive Party, which was the Unified Progressive Party in a fo

Politics April 7, 2023

The ruling People Power Party on Friday elected police officer-turned-lawmaker Rep. Yun Jae-ok as its new floor leader. Yun won the majority of votes from fellow lawmakers of the party, with 65 out of the 109 present, in a two-horse race against his competitor, the four-time lawmaker Rep. Kim Hack-yong. In 2012, Yun became the first graduate of the Korean National Police University to win a National Assembly seat. He has since managed to be re-elected in the next two general elections to serve f

Politics April 7, 2023

The head of the ruling People Power Party said on Thursday South Korea may need a smaller National Assembly. Speaking at a meeting of the party leadership Thursday, Rep. Kim Gi-hyeon said the current 300 seats in the 75-year-old parliament “shouldn’t be considered absolute.” “The country’s Assembly started out with 200 seats and the Constitution states 200 seats or more -- so not necessarily 300 which is kind of seen as a fixture,” he said. He added that he be

Politics April 6, 2023

The speaker of South Korea’s National Assembly, Rep. Kim Jin-pyo, said he is seeking to form a union of South Korean and US legislators within this year. “There isn’t yet an official channel for dialogue between South Korea and the US legislatures. Given the history and the significance of the ROK-US alliance, a union of legislators of two countries is urgently needed,” he said in a statement following a dinner with US congressional delegation on Wednesday, referring to t

Politics April 6, 2023

Colin Crooks, the British ambassador to South Korea, told the ruling People Power Party leader Rep. Kim Gi-hyeon on Wednesday that South Korea is a country that shares the same values as the UK. “It is a country that supports Ukraine in particular, and also one that is faced with the North Korea challenge. We are countries that stand together in partnerships for peace,” the ambassador said, speaking in Korean. The ambassador said that watching the Ssangyong exercise between the South

Politics April 5, 2023

A delegation of Democratic Party of Korea lawmakers are heading to Japan for three days on Thursday ahead of the release of the wastewater stored at the earthquake-wrecked nuclear power plant in Fukushima. “There are so many unaddressed questions surrounding the wastewater being dumped in the waters and South Korea can’t leave it up to the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) alone,” Rep. Wi Seong-gon, part of the five-member delegation, told a press conference Wednesday.

Politics April 5, 2023

President Yoon Suk Yeol offered condolences to the victims of the 1947-1954 mass killings of civilians on Jeju Island on Monday. “I remain committed to my promise that I stand with the victims of the April 3 massacre,” Yoon said in a written address read by Prime Minister Han Duk-soo at the ceremony held at the peace park in Jeju City. The president said it is the “duty of our country as a liberal democracy to remember and honor the victims, survivors and their families, and al

Politics April 3, 2023

Rights activist-turned-lawmaker Rep. Ji Seong-ho of South Korea’s ruling People Power Party met with US Department of State officials on Thursday to discuss possible joint efforts in protecting the rights of North Korean defectors. “I think US officials showed deep interest in South Korea’s actions to improve the rights of North Korean residents and defectors, and the possible steps that the US can take,” Ji, who defected to South Korea in 2006, told The Korea Herald. &ld

Politics March 31, 2023

The main opposition Democratic Party of Korea Chair Rep. Lee Jae-myung was met by competing crowds of protesters as he appeared for trial at the Seoul Central District Court on Friday. One protester was seen throwing eggs at the opposition leader. Loud chants of “Arrest him!” from opponents followed Lee, while another crowd of well-wishers blasted songs from a carry-on speaker to muffle the boos. Lee did not respond to questions from reporters at the scene, while waving and smiling b

Politics March 31, 2023

Seoul prosecutors believe onetime presidential hopeful and Democratic Party of Korea head Rep. Lee Jae-myung planned a solo trip to North Korea while he was still the governor of Gyeonggi Province, which neighbors Seoul. According to the indictment the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office submitted to the National Assembly on Thursday, after then-Gyeonggi Gov. Lee was excluded from the 2018 inter-Korea summit, the provincial office planned for him to travel to North Korea separately.

Politics March 31, 2023

South Korea’s National Assembly members have a net worth of 2.3 billion won ($1.77 million) on average, minus the richest four who own over 50 billion won each. The parliamentary public service ethics committee on Thursday published the list of the changes in the net worth of the 296 Assembly members over last year compared to the year before, which showed that 33 or 11.1 percent held at least 5 billion won respectively. According to the list, 83 (28 percent) of the Assembly members were w

Politics March 31, 2023

South Korea’s main opposition on Wednesday rallied for President Yoon Suk Yeol to fire his foreign policy chiefs over the controversial updates to Japanese textbooks unveiled the day before. The Democratic Party of Korea blamed the “humiliating concessions” the president made in his recent summit in Tokyo for the revisions in Japan’s history education. Japan’s Education Ministry announced Tuesday the new curriculum guidelines that touched on some of the historical d

Politics March 29, 2023

Four high-level officials of a South Korean umbrella labor union were arrested Tuesday, in the latest development in a widening investigation into suspected North Korean espionage. In a statement Tuesday, investigative and intelligence authorities said they found “substantial evidence” to suspect the labor union officials of working with North Korean spies. In January, police and the intelligence service together searched the homes and offices of the four labor union officials and fo

Politics March 28, 2023

Chinese Ambassador Xing Haiming said Tuesday that Beijing supports a possible trilateral summit with South Korea and Japan. “We have continued to say so, and we will cooperate with South Korea’s efforts. South Korea is making a lot of efforts right now, and we hope that these efforts will lead to a good result,” the ambassador said. Xing’s remarks came during a meeting with the South Korean ruling People Power Party’s chair Rep. Kim Gi-hyeon, who was the first to su

Politics March 28, 2023

The International Criminal Court’s issuing of an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin is “one of the most courageous steps taken” and “one that would eventually lead to accountability,” according to the war crimes court’s former president Song Sang-hyun. However, bringing similar actions of international justice against North Korea’s leader Kim Jong-un would be far more challenging, according to the three-term ICC judge. Speaking to The Ko

Politics March 27, 2023