The main opposition party on Monday officially rejected the ruling party’s proposal to build a neutral Cabinet, saying the Saenuri Party shares the blame with President Park Geun-hye for allowing the president’s close friend Choi Soon-sil to wield influence in state affairs behind the scenes. “Building a neutral Cabinet without finding out exactly what happened in the first place is nothing but a stopgap measure to shift the political landscape in their favor,” said Minjoo Party of Korea leader

Politics Oct. 31, 2016

Leaders of the ruling Saenuri Party on Monday vowed to navigate the embattled party through the current political turmoil amid calls for them to resign.Members of the party’s top decision-making Supreme Council decided that the current leadership should stay on to “pick up the pieces” of the Choi Soon-sil scandal, which has sent the approval ratings of both President Park Geun-hye and Saenuri to an all-time low.“For the time being, our focus is on navigating through this crisis,” said Saenuri le

Politics Oct. 31, 2016

When President Park Geun-hye took the podium last week to apologize for her dubious relationship with Choi soon-sil, the 64-year-old president appeared to be as frail and dispirited as ever. “She helped me when I was going through difficult times,” said Park in a nationally televised press conference, apparently referring to her tragic family history. Park, the daughter of military strongman Park Chung-hee, lost her mother in 1974 to a bullet meant for her father. Five years later, her father wa

Politics Oct. 30, 2016

Pressure continued to mount on President Park Geun-hye on Friday, as the scandal involving her confidante accused of meddling in key state affairs dented public trust in her management of state affairs. Park canceled a luncheon with members of a committee on the reunification of the peninsula and instead met with Rep. Lee Jung-hyun, the chairman of the ruling Saenuri Party, to discuss her course of action. Yet no words came from Cheong Wa Dae as of Friday evening as to what she will do to settle

Politics Oct. 28, 2016

Political bigwigs from rival parties Thursday urged President Park Geun-hye to build a bipartisan government, highlighting that the measure is the only way to salvage the nation amid the growing cronyism scandal involving Park’s confidante Choi Soon-sil. “I don’t think we can maintain the current system as the people don’t trust the nation,” said Kim Moo-sung, a former leader of the ruling Saenuri Party, adding that that he agreed with the idea to establish the bipartisan Cabinet proposed by pre

Politics Oct. 27, 2016

Prosecutorial investigation into President Park Geun-hye's confidante gained momentum Thursday as prosecutors raided government agencies and private entities involved with the case following the launch of a special investigation team earlier in the day.The prosecution’s special investigation squad seized documents and materials at the offices of the Ministry of Culture, Sport and Tourism as well as houses of board members from the K-Sports and Mir foundations, nonprofit groups known to be run by

Politics Oct. 27, 2016

With the cronyism scandal involving President Park Geun-hye’s confidante plunging political circles into a state of turmoil, political parties are trying to figure out what steps they should take to best handle the biggest political crisis of the current administration. Scrambling to come up with a recovery plan, Saenuri leadership Wednesday decided to join in the opposition-led move to have an independent investigation look into the allegations surrounding Choi Soon-sil. Its leaders earlier in

Politics Oct. 26, 2016

President Park Geun-hye’s liberal foes on Tuesday played down her apology as being insufficient, saying the president clearly lacked understanding of the gravity of her mistake -- letting her inner circle meddle in state affairs, not just in speech writing.　The main opposition Minjoo Party of Korea and People’s Party said that the president’s two-minute mea culpa stopped short of appeasing public outrage over the allegation that Cheong Wa Dae had leaked confidential presidential speeches to Park

Politics Oct. 25, 2016

Finishing up weeks of parliamentary state audit on government organizations, rival political parties are now bracing for another showdown at the National Assembly -- the parliamentary review for next year’s government budget. The budget review kicks off this week with President Park Geun-hye addressing the Assembly on Monday and the lawmakers inquiring Prime Minister and Finance Minister later in the week. Parliamentary committees, meanwhile, are to begin their month-long review session on Tuesd

Politics Oct. 23, 2016

After a humiliating defeat in the 2014 by-election for a parliamentary seat, former Gyeonggi Province Gov. Sohn Hak-kyu did not just cut all ties with the world of politics, he retreated from urban life to live in a mud-walled hut in a remote village in South Jeolla Province, spending most of his time reading books and meeting with local residents. 　The 68-year-old centrist came out of the wilderness Thursday and declared a return to politics, where ideological schisms are still prevalent among

Politics Oct. 20, 2016

Faced with attacks from both conservative foes and fellow liberals, Moon Jae-in, in 2012, had urged political parties to stop questioning his ability to deal with inter-Korea relations as a presidential candidate.“They are relying on McCarthyist tactics to launch yet another vicious ideological attacks,” Moon had said, then running for the country‘s top job on the ticket of the New Politics Alliance of Democracy, a precursor to today’s Minjoo Party of Korea.Throughout the 2012 race, Moon had str

Politics Oct. 19, 2016

While lawmakers continue their political tit-for-tat over bribery scandals involving President Park Geun-hye’s close associates, an unlikely figure has shifted political talk in a completely new direction. Former Foreign Minister Song Min-soon, in his memoir released last week, said that presidential aides and cabinet members serving at the previous, liberal Roh Moo-hyun administration had inquired of North Korea about whether Seoul should vote to adopt a 2007 UN resolution condemning Pyeongyang

Politics Oct. 17, 2016

South Korea’s former top diplomat’s memoir continued to deepen controversy Sunday over whether the main opposition party’s front-runner had consulted with North Korea before deciding to abstain from a vote to adopt a 2007 UN resolution condemning North Korea’s human rights situation.The ruling Saenuri Party intensified its criticism of former Minjoo Party of Korea Chairman Moon Jae-in, denouncing the liberal politician for inquiring North Korea’s opinion on the vote when he served as a chief of

Politics Oct. 16, 2016

On Oct. 9, 1983, a bomb went off at a national cemetery in Yangon, Burma, where scores of top South Korean government officials were waiting for the arrival of President Chun Doo-hwan. The attack, perpetrated by South Korea’s communist neighbor, brethren and foe North Korea, claimed 17 lives, including Seoul’s deputy prime minister, foreign minister, commerce minister and chief presidential secretary. Twenty-five-year-old 1st Lt. Chun In-bum, not related to the president, was just meters away fr

Defense Oct. 14, 2016

Opposition politicians Thursday heaped blistering criticism on President Park Geun-hye and her ruling camp over the allegation that the presidential office created a blacklist of dissenting artists to deny them state support.Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon, whose supporters in art circles were allegedly included in the blacklist, urged the National Assembly to investigate the scandal, saying that if found to be true, President Park should be impeached. “I can’t tolerate it anymore. If the same thing h

Politics Oct. 13, 2016