Articles by Son Ji-hyoung
Son Ji-hyoung
consnow@heraldcorp.com-
Yoon vows to remove hurdle for housing redevelopment projects
President Yoon Suk Yeol said Wednesday that his administration would push to ease regulations concerning the redevelopment of apartment buildings aged 30 years or older, by allowing projects to go ahead even if the existing buildings are safe for habitation. Any residential complex built before 1994 may apply for reconstruction. Previously, owners of the apartment units had to get a municipality's approval that the buildings in the complex were dangerous to live in, no matter how old they w
Politics Jan. 10, 2024
-
Presidential office introduces 3rd NSO deputy
A legal revision approved by South Korea's Cabinet on Tuesday would allow the presidential National Security Office to create a new deputy director position to be tasked with economic security and technological supremacy in the face of frequent industrial supply chain disruptions. As a result of the reorganization, the newly appointed deputy director of the NSO will be dedicated to stabilizing the supply chain, handling matters related to nuclear power plant exports and minimizing impacts f
Politics Jan. 9, 2024
-
Yoon vows to focus on living standards in 2024
President Yoon Suk Yeol reiterated his policy focus on Tuesday, saying that the new year should be a year to achieve a "recovery of ordinary people's livelihoods," during the first Cabinet meeting of the year he presided. According to Yoon, measures are being undertaken to help ordinary people refinance their mortgages via mobile apps, effective Tuesday, aimed potentially at offering a new term with a lower interest rate. In addition, a greater portion of the vulnerable will recei
Politics Jan. 9, 2024
-
Presidential office weighs erasing small business owners' late payment records
South Korea is considering removing late payments from the credit history of individuals or vendors who fell victim to the COVID-19 pandemic's economic fallout, possibly before the Lunar New Year's holiday in mid-February. President Yoon Suk Yeol's office "is in talks with the financial authorities to map out the timing of (the removal of delinquency on the credit reports) and the scope of its beneficiaries," said a source from the presidential office on Monday. In Korea, individuals f
Politics Jan. 8, 2024
-
Presidential office mulls revival of first lady's office
President Yoon Suk Yeol's office on Friday hinted at establishing an office dedicated to first lady Kim Keon Hee, reneging on a campaign pledge not to operate such an office during his term. The president is "considering the option to set up the office in case it wins public consent over the matter," said a source from the presidential office who declined to be named. The source did not elaborate on how to gauge public approval of the establishment. Earlier Friday, Yoon vetoed a specia
Politics Jan. 5, 2024
-
Yoon vetoes bill to investigate his wife
President Yoon Suk Yeol on Friday exercised his veto power to strike down a bill that would let the opposition-controlled National Assembly order a special investigation into first lady Kim Keon Hee's alleged involvement in stock manipulation. "(We) express a deep regret over the opposition bloc's unilateral move (to pass the bill to investigate the first lady) without bipartisan consent," presidential chief of staff Lee Kwan-sup told reporters. "Yoon has the obligation
Politics Jan. 5, 2024
-
S. Korea plans W11tr inflation relief, picks immigration boost as key goal
President Yoon Suk Yeol on Thursday reiterated his pledge to support the livelihoods of South Korean citizens, including 11 trillion-won ($8.4 billion) in funding to curb consumer inflation. Yoon's office expressed its intention to slow inflation, as measured by the monthly consumer price index, to less than 3 percent by June. The consumer price index in December jumped to 3.6 percent in 2023, compared with 5.1 percent in 2022. "We anticipate the price stability with the consumer price inde
Politics Jan. 4, 2024
-
Yoon to replace New Year briefings with debates
President Yoon Suk Yeol will hold a series of policy debates instead of receiving New Year briefings from each ministry, ditching formalities to lay out policy items aimed at improving people's livelihood, his office said Wednesday. The key agendas for Yoon's 2024 policy planning encompass housing, jobs, small- and medium-sized enterprises, public safety, caregiving, public transit, medical reform, media policy, low birth rate and energy. To touch upon these areas, at least 10 sessions
Politics Jan. 3, 2024
-
Yoon proposes abandoning investor income tax plan
President Yoon Suk Yeol on Tuesday proposed to withdraw South Korea's plan to introduce a net investment income tax scheme beginning in 2025. This came about a year after plans to impose the "financial investment income tax" on investors had been deferred for two years, meaning the new tax rule would go into effect in January next year. The rule, under the revision of the Income Tax Act, was initially passed in 2020 with bipartisan agreement. "Our plan to introduce the financ
Politics Jan. 2, 2024
-
Yoon reaffirms plan to upgrade extended deterrence in New Year
President Yoon Suk Yeol expressed confidence that a plan to bolster extended deterrence on the Korean Peninsula could materialize before the end of June in his New Year's speech to the nation Monday. "By the first half of this year, we will complete the enhanced (Republic of Korea)-US extended deterrence system to fundamentally deter any North Korean nuclear and missile threat," Yoon said in a televised speech from his office, referring to South Korea as the ROK. In April, Yoon an
Politics Jan. 1, 2024
-
Yoon appoints 3 top-level presidential secretaries
President Yoon Suk Yeol on Thursday appointed all three top-level presidential secretaries, promoting his chief policy secretary, Lee Kwan-sup, to chief of staff, appointing an economic expert to succeed Lee and tapping First Vice Foreign Minister Chang Ho-jin as his national security adviser. All of the ministerial-level presidential secretaries, who report directly to Yoon, will start work on Monday, the first day of 2024. Appointees do not have to go through a confirmation hearing at the Na
Politics Dec. 28, 2023
-
Seoul to defer workplace safety enforcement by 2 years
The conservative Yoon Suk Yeol administration and the ruling People Power Party on Wednesday agreed to defer by two years the enforcement of the controversial Serious Disasters Punishments Act, which can hold executives criminally liable for deadly workplace disasters. The announcement, made at a meeting with Labor Minister Lee Jung-sik and People Power Party lawmakers, is expected to extend the grace period of the rule to 2026 for small enterprises, as the law was initially poised to come into
Politics Dec. 27, 2023
-
Eyeing economic security, Yoon names NIS, foreign minister picks
South Korea’s presidential office on Tuesday announced another batch in the ongoing Cabinet reshuffle, with President Yoon Suk Yeol nominating his national security adviser to be chief of the intelligence agency and a former top envoy to the United Nations as new foreign minister. A new bureau dedicated to economic security in the presidential National Security Office will also be created as part of the reshuffle, his office said. According to the office, Yoon named Director of the Nationa
Politics Dec. 19, 2023
-
South Korea, Japan, US sharing North Korean missile data ‘24/7, all year round’
A trilateral scheme has kicked off for sharing data on North Korean missiles in real time among the defense chiefs of South Korea, Japan and the US. The Ministry of National Defense in Seoul said Tuesday its prelaunch inspections have found the missile data-sharing scheme to be “completely ready for operations” and currently “operating smoothly.” The Defense Ministry said the scheme would allow the three allies to detect North Korea’s missiles and share related info
Defense Dec. 19, 2023
-
Yoon pledges to break up e-commerce market monopoly
President Yoon Suk Yeol on Tuesday pledged stricter corrective measures and law enforcement on e-commerce players to curtail their dominance in South Korea's online market, claiming these marketplace operators were bullying mom-and-pop vendors and undermining consumer choice. This will accompany the Yoon administration's proposal of a new law to restrict business activities of e-commerce companies designated as "dominant platform business entities," which was announced later in the day
Politics Dec. 19, 2023
Most Popular
-
1
Over 80,000 millionaires, 20 billionaires in Seoul: report
-
2
Korean battery makers heave sigh of relief over 2-year IRA reprieve
-
3
Young Korean doctors seek plan B: cosmetic dermatology or overseas
-
4
Yoon apologizes over first lady’s Dior bag scandal, but accuses special probe attempt as political maneuvering
-
5
South Korea open to Indonesian proposal to cut KF-21 payments
-
6
Police seek arrest warrant for med student who killed girlfriend
-
7
Coupang earnings hit hard by losses from ailing Farfetch
-
8
[K-pop’s dilemma] Time, profit pressures work against originality
-
9
Girl hanging on bridge, police trying to rescue her both fall off; rescued immediately
-
10
[K-pop's dilemma] Is Hybe-Ador conflict a case of growing pains?