The main opposition People Power Party’s Yoon Suk-yeol confirmed his place as South Korea's next president after his opponent, Democratic Party of Korea candidate Lee Jae-myung, conceded defeat in the early hours of Thursday morning.  He will become the first former prosecutor to be elected president and the first president without any political experience. As of 3:55 a.m. on Thursday, with 98 percent of votes counted by the National Election Commission, Yoon had 48.6 perc

Politics March 10, 2022

Wednesday’s presidential election came down to a neck-and-neck race, with exit polls placing the two front-runners at less than 1 percentage point apart. At 7:30 p.m., the three terrestrial broadcasters KBS, MBC and SBS released the result of an exit survey conducted from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Wednesday. The Korea Election Pool commissioned three investigative agencies -- Hankook Research, Korea Research and Ipsos Korea -- to conduct exit surveys. And 1,480 investigators were dispatched

Politics March 9, 2022

US President Joe Biden sent a letter of appreciation to President Moon Jae-in for the South Korean government’s measures against Russia, including export controls and financial sanctions, over the Ukraine crisis, Cheong Wa Dae said Tuesday. Biden said in a letter that “Korea’s determined measures will be a strong message that it supports Ukraine’s sovereignty,” Cheong Wa Dae spokesperson Park Kyung-mi said in a written briefing on the same day. Biden stated in t

Foreign Affairs March 8, 2022

Marking the 8th International Women’s Day, President Moon Jae-in said there is still a culture that prevents gender equality in Korea and expects the next government to make progress. Moon posted a congratulatory message with a photo of a rose on his social networking services accounts, including Facebook and Twitter, on Tuesday. “The courageous voices of female workers who shouted human rights 114 years ago continue to this day,” he said. “I would like to thank ever

Politics March 8, 2022

Rep. Song Young-gil, head of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea, received hospital treatment Monday after being struck by an object wielded by an unidentified man while campaigning for the presidential election in the streets of Sinchon in Seoul. The suspect, arrested at the scene and transferred to a nearby police station, was seen wearing a hanbok-like outfit and was reportedly a YouTuber. He hit Song with a blunt weapon covered several times with a black bag,

Politics March 7, 2022

President Moon Jae-in opened the way for emergency financial support for the wildfire-hit areas of Uljin, North Gyeongsang Province, and Samcheok, Gangwon Province, by declaring them a special disaster zone Sunday. Accompanied by Minister of the Interior Jeon Hae-cheol and Lee Jin-seok, presidential secretary for state affairs, Moon visited the Uljin National Sports Center shelter where about 500 Uljin residents were staying after being urgently evacuated. Moon told residents at the site tha

Social Affairs March 6, 2022

South Korea will provide emergency humanitarian aid of $10 million for Ukrainian citizens and refugees, President Moon Jae-in said after a 30-minute phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy Thursday night. “We are on the phone again under a very unfortunate situation,” Moon was quoted as saying during the call, and expressed his deepest condolences to the victims and their bereaved families of the war in Ukraine. “We pay tribute to the courage and sacrifice o

Politics March 3, 2022

President Moon Jae-in said Thursday the government should strengthen its security capabilities for the next administration to respond to the complex security crisis agilely from the beginning. Moon presided over a National Security Council expansion ministerial meeting at Cheong Wa Dae the same day, receiving a report from the NSC on the prospects for security threats from last year through 2030. “The global security environment is changing rapidly,” Moon said at the meeting. &l

Politics March 3, 2022

Democratic Party candidate Lee Jae-myung asked Justice Party candidate Sim Sang-jung to work together to form a unified government when Sim criticized the ruling party for failing to create a safe working environment in a televised debate on Wednesday. Referring to Kim Yong-gyun, who died while working alone at the Taean Thermal Power Plant in 2018, Sim criticized the Democratic Party for failing to keep promises to hire subcontractor workers as full-time workers related to life and safety wo

Politics March 2, 2022

President Moon Jae-in on Tuesday urged Japan to face history and sympathize with the wounds of its neighboring countries in a ceremony to mark the March 1st Movement on Tuesday. Moon and his wife Kim Jung-sook attended the 103rd anniversary ceremony of the March 1st Movement at the National Memorial of the Korean Provisional Government in Seodaemun-gu, Seoul. The memorial hall, which was created as part of Moon’s presidential pledge, opened for the first time on the day. “Coopera

Politics March 1, 2022

South Korean presidential candidates’ stances on national security and foreign policy are emerging as key issues in the upcoming election as East-West tensions escalate over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Each candidate has insisted that their security views are the best for the country, while some of their attacks on rivals have backfired. The two frontrunners, the ruling Democratic Party of Korea’s Lee Jae-myung and the main opposition People Power Party’s Yoon Suk-yeo

Politics Feb. 28, 2022

Liberal leaning presidential candidates Lee Jae-myung of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea and Sim Sang-jeung of the minor progressive Justice Party bombarded Yoon Suk-yeol of the main opposition conservative People Power Party over security issues, citing the Ukraine crisis in a televised debate on Friday night. Over the topic of establishing peace on the Korean Peninsula and unification with North Korea, Sim criticized Yoon’s stance on South Korea’s possible participation in

Politics Feb. 25, 2022

South Korea and the United States have reached an agreement for the US to return 165,000 square meters from the Yongsan US Base in Seoul and Camp Red Cloud, a US Army camp located in Uijeongbu city, officials said Friday. Im Sang-woo, director of the North American Bureau of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and joint chairperson of the Korea-US Status of Forces Agreement, and Scott Pleus, deputy commander of the US Forces Korea, adopted a joint statement containing these details by phone on the

Politics Feb. 25, 2022

As Russia has launched a full-scale military attack on Ukraine despite global condemnation, President Moon Jae-in urged officials to check the situation and take a preemptive response through the Ukraine emergency response task force, the presidential office said Friday. Moon delivered these instructions at the Cheong Wa Dae meeting in the morning, spokesperson Park Kyung-mi said in a written briefing on the day. His remarks are related to the safety of Korean residents in Ukraine and the ec

Foreign Affairs Feb. 25, 2022

Rep. Hong Joon-pyo of the main opposition People Power Party said Russia’s invasion of Ukraine was caused by Ukraine’s lack of nuclear weapons. Other opposition politicians criticized the invasion, calling for more active support from the Korean government to support Ukraine. When asked by a supporter how he would have reacted to the current situation if he had been President of Ukraine, the senior politician and former presidential candidate replied, “The Ukraine crisis was

Politics Feb. 25, 2022