A taped telephone conversation between top lawmakers from the ruling party’s mainstream faction and a former lawmaker has sparked controversy over suspected influence-peddling during the party’s nomination for the April general election.According to the leaked conversation reported by local media on Monday, Reps. Choi Kyung-hwan and Yoon Sang-hyun -- who lead the faction close to President Park Geun-hye -- demanded a fellow member to change his constituency citing it is the president‘s intent.Re

Politics July 19, 2016

Debate is escalating over the violent protest during the prime minister’s visit to the potential site for a U.S. advanced missile system last week, with the ruling camp condemning the incident as a criminal act of violence and the opposition accusing the government of politicizing it.The Saenuri Party demanded firm punishment against the violent protesters who they said came from other neighborhoods to incite illegal activities. The opposition parties in turn rebuked the government for cracking

Politics July 18, 2016

A tripartite committee struck a deal over the weekend to raise next year’s minimum wage to 6,470 won ($5.70) per hour, but the decision failed to satisfy the key parties represented, with businesses and laborers each claiming the agreement was disappointing.On Saturday, the committee of representatives of labor unions, business groups and the government agreed to raise the minimum wage by 7.3 percent, a 0.8 percentage point lower than last year’s increase.Park Joon-sung, the chairman of the trip

Politics July 17, 2016

The National Assembly’s Speaker Rep. Chung Sye-kyun on Sunday called for the government to shift its hawkish stance toward North Korea and pledged parliamentary support for jump-starting long-stalled six-party talks. In a speech marking the 68th anniversary of Constitution Day, the top lawmaker also urged the political parties to speed up efforts to amend the Constitution, expressing hopes that the lawmakers will finish the job within the first half of their four-year term. “The 1987 Constitutio

Politics July 17, 2016

The research body under the South Korean National Assembly said on Thursday that the latest decision to deploy a U.S. missile system here could be subject to parliamentary approval, amid heated debate among the rivaling parties and the government over whether the security decision requires a legislative step.A report from the National Assembly Research Institute, released at the request of Rep. Kim Hae-young of The Minjoo Party of Korea, said that the agreement between Seoul and Washington to st

Politics July 14, 2016

The main opposition party’s former leader Rep. Moon Jae-in on Wednesday announced his opposition to the deployment of the U.S. missile system in South Korea, urging the government to reconsider the plan and seek out public consensus on the move. Moon Jae-in (Yonhap)　Meanwhile, the current Minjoo Party leader Rep. Kim Chong-in, dismissed Moon’s statement as a “personal opinion.” Kim reiterated that the nation should refrain from taking a “binary approach” toward the U.S. missile system and that t

Politics July 13, 2016

The government’s decision to deploy a U.S. advanced missile system in the southern part of South Korea has sparked backlash from ruling party lawmakers elected in the region, challenging the Saenuri Party’s leadership that supports the plan.The Saenuri Party lawmakers, whose constituencies are in Daegu and North Gyeongsang Province, issued a statement Wednesday, denouncing the government for choosing Seongju county, North Gyeongsang Province, as a location for the Terminal High Altitude Area Def

Politics July 13, 2016

South Korea’s main opposition party is grappling with internal division on its approach to the government’s decision to deploy U.S. missile defense system, showing a significant crevice in the center-left party‘s security platform.The Minjoo Party of Korea lawmakers on Tuesday failed to reach a consensus in a party meeting over whether to endorse the deployment of Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system. The attendants instead agreed to build an entity to study the issue and seek parliamentar

Politics July 12, 2016

The agreement between Washington and Seoul to deploy a U.S missile defense system in South Korea reignited political debate Monday over the efficacy of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system and whether the negotiation process lacked discussion with legislative bodies and the general public. The ruling Saenuri Party reiterated that THAAD was crucial to countering North Korea’s growing nuclear and missile threats. The opposition parties warned that the missile system could fail to fully p

Politics July 11, 2016

Every year, on the morning of June 25, the Korean War Veterans Memorial is greeted by a slew of government officials, military personnel and war veterans who gather to pay tribute to the fallen warriors of the Korean War that cost the lives of 130,000 Korean and 36,000 U.S. soldiers. But the 66th Anniversary this June had new additions to those honored -- fallen Korean soldiers who had served under the Korea Army Augmented to the 8th U.S. Army, or “KATUSA.” The names of 7,052 unknown heroes were

Defense July 8, 2016

Rep. Park Jie-won, the interim chief of the People’s Party, threatened Thursday to hold a parliamentary hearing over a former presidential secretary’s alleged attempt to censor South Korea’s public broadcaster in its coverage of the Sewol disaster in 2014. “Cheong Wa Dae should apologize for the intervention in media coverage,” Park said during a meeting of the National Assembly’s third-biggest party. “Otherwise, opposition parties will seek parliamentary measures to get to the bottom (of the sc

Politics July 7, 2016

Heated debate surrounded South Korea’s new national slogan on Wednesday with allegations of plagiarism raised by the main opposition party and the government refuting the claim immediately.    Rep. Sohn Hye-won of the Minjoo Party of Korea claimed that there are “unmistakable similarities” between Korea’s new logo “Creative Korea” and the French government’s “Creative France” logo used to promote French businesses.　Pointing to how both logos consist of letters in red and blue, the designer-turne

Politics July 6, 2016

Over the past few months, the populist movement has taken center stage in global politics. Ranging from presidential nominee Donald Trump in the U.S. to Brexit, antiestablishment sentiments are sweeping across some of the most advanced democracies in the world.On the exterior, South Korea seems to be unaffected by this phenomenon, as the nation stands mostly together in its prolonged confrontation with North Korea and in pursuit of economic growth. Politics may be boisterous, but the directions

Politics July 4, 2016

The National Assembly on Sunday vowed to establish stricter rules against lawmakers’ hiring of family members as aides amid growing public outrage over the practice.　The Assembly’s Secretary-General Woo Yoon-keun said that by the end of this month the Secretariat would set out a new code of ethics for lawmakers. The legislative body would gather relevant cases, canvass public opinions and propose the plan to parliamentary committees. 　The initiative has gained momentum since a number of lawmaker

Politics July 3, 2016

One of the most popular criticisms against mainstream politics in South Korea is that it has focused too much on political agendas serving the purposes of established politics with less appeal to the general public.　A case in point was the 19th National Assembly. A hefty portion of its four-year term was devoted to partisan standoff over contentious legislation, most of which has ended up turning into protracted ideological debates that soon eclipsed everyday matters.  Only about 45 percent of t

Politics June 27, 2016