President Yoon Suk Yeol is facing mounting pressure to clarify his stance regarding the revelation of an alleged graft case involving first lady Kim Keon Hee. A Gallup Korea's poll on Friday showed that 63 percent of South Korean people disapproved of Yoon's performance in the fourth week of January, up 5 percentage points from the week before. Yoon's disapproval rating has hit its highest point in nine months since April 2023, when his remarks suggested that the past during Japan's colonial occ

Politics Jan. 28, 2024

President Yoon Suk Yeol's office announced on Thursday it has created a new senior secretary post for science and technology to embolden the administration's push for research and development. Park Sang-ook, associate professor of science policy at Seoul National University, will take the new role, according to Yoon's office. Park, under Sung Tae-yoon, presidential chief of staff for policy, will supervise four presidential secretaries -- each dedicated to R&D-related policy,

Politics Jan. 25, 2024

South Korea on Thursday unveiled a spending package worth 134 trillion won ($100.4 billion) to achieve a 30-minute commute for residents in the Greater Seoul area, mainly through a new suburban rail network called the GTX. The plan encompasses spending 38.6 trillion won to build GTX routes aimed at shrinking daily commute times to a quarter of what they are currently. The GTX, or Great Train Express, will comprise six lines covering the Greater Seoul area, as well as potentially parts of Gangwon

Politics Jan. 25, 2024

President Yoon Suk Yeol and the People Power Party's interim leader Han Dong-hoon met on Tuesday at a traditional market in Seocheon, South Chungcheong Province, signaling their efforts to mend the political rift that stemmed from differing views toward allegations of graft involving first lady Kim Keon Hee and questions about Han's fairness in the candidate nomination process. Han told reporters at Seoul Station, as he returned to the capital city after the surprise trip, his "deep respect

Politics Jan. 23, 2024

President Yoon Suk Yeol on Tuesday picked his former boss Park Sung-jae, who led the Seoul High Prosecutors' Office, as the nominee for the minister of justice. The Justice Ministry oversees legal affairs, correctional services, the prosecution service and immigration. The nominee must go through a confirmation hearing in the National Assembly before receiving Yoon's final approval. Presidential Chief of Staff Lee Kwan-sup said Park would be a good fit for the Yoon administration'

Politics Jan. 23, 2024

The ruling People Power Party on Monday recruited Koh Dong-jin, a former president of Samsung Electronics who was considered to be the driving force behind the launch of the Galaxy range of mobile devices. On the same day, the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea brought in Kong Young-woon, a former president of Hyundai Motor dedicated to the company's strategy planning and communications. Both figures, who formerly represented South Korea's largest business conglomerates, are lik

Politics Jan. 22, 2024

The minor opposition progressive Jinbo Party demanded on Friday that President Yoon Suk Yeol apologize and dismiss the head of the presidential security service, Kim Yong-hyun, a day after Jinbo Party lawmaker Rep. Kang Sung-hee was forcibly removed from a ceremony to celebrate the launch of Jeonbuk State. Kang, 51, represents the Eul constituency in Jeonju, Jeonbuk State's capital, and is the only member of the National Assembly from the Jinbo Party. The former labor activist won a parliam

Politics Jan. 19, 2024

North Korea's state media Korean Central News Agency reported on Friday it had conducted a test of its underwater nuclear weapon system in the sea off the Korean Peninsula's east coast. The test of "Haeil 5-23," a system of underwater drones capable of covert nuclear attacks on naval forces and ports, was carried out in a show of protest against a joint maritime military drill of South Korea, Japan and the United States held earlier this week, the KCNA reported. The trilatera

North Korea Jan. 19, 2024

The United Nations should break its silence over the growing North Korean provocations, including the latest test-firing of long-range missiles, said Hwang Joon-kook, permanent representative of South Korea to the UN, on Thursday. Hwang was quoted as saying by news reports that "the UN Security Council needs to break the silence over the way it (reacts)" to North Korean issues, adding it has become a "big question" for the UN Security Council to answer. The remarks came after

North Korea Jan. 19, 2024

Commotion erupted Thursday as minor progressive Jinbo Party lawmaker Rep. Kang Sung-hee was dragged out of a venue in Jeonju, Jeonbuk State, after telling President Yoon Suk Yeol to change his policies. He was physically removed during a ceremony at Moak Hall at Sori Arts Center in Jeonju by the president's four bodyguards after he "did not let go of the handshake with Yoon and shouted at him," according to a source at the presidential office who declined to be named. Kang was forced o

Politics Jan. 18, 2024

A new law to elevate North Jeolla Province to Jeonbuk State came into effect on Thursday, giving the region the autonomy to foster new industries in the field of agricultural biotechnology, the silver economy and the K-pop industry, as well as burgeoning technologies related to batteries and autonomous mobility. President Yoon Suk Yeol hailed Jeonbuk State's elevation by a special law promulgated in December as the momentum needed for rebalancing national growth -- one of his policy focal points

Politics Jan. 18, 2024

President Yoon Suk Yeol on Wednesday said the excessive taxation on corporations trading on the stock market here could be outdated, hinting at easing the tax burden. Yoon claimed that easing tax burden on corporations was a prerequisite to boosting stock market value. More than a quarter of Korea's 50 million population trade shares -- more than double compared to five years before. "We need to find a new angle at which the inheritance tax and other types of extra taxes (on corporations) a

Politics Jan. 17, 2024

President Yoon Suk Yeol on Tuesday urged the National Assembly to pass a revision bill aimed at deferring the enforcement of a workplace safety act that would hold executives of a company criminally liable for a deadly incident at work. Yoon stressed that time is running out for the National Assembly to delay the implementation of the controversial Serious Disasters Punishments Act. The revision bill seeks to defer the implementation of the act by two years until 2026 for businesses with 49 empl

Politics Jan. 16, 2024

President Yoon Suk Yeol said on Monday that the semiconductor chip cluster in southern Gyeonggi Province will draw combined investments of 622 trillion won ($471.4 billion) for facilities and create 3 million jobs. With the investments, South Korea plans to double the number of chip-producing plants across southern Gyeonggi Province to 37. The investments came along with South Korea‘s plan to consolidate chip plants -- including 16 new ones to be built by 2047 -- into a large chip cluster

Politics Jan. 15, 2024

The victory of Lai Ching-te of Taiwan's Democratic Progressive Party in the presidential election on Saturday will put the relationship between South Korea and China to the test, given Seoul's unique geopolitical position and the need to strike a balance between Beijing and Washington, according to experts in Seoul on Sunday. As China effectively refused to accept the result of the high-stakes election, concerns are mounting as South Korea's Yoon Suk Yeol administration has been

Foreign Affairs Jan. 14, 2024