The presidential office on Thursday announced plans to add a senior secretary position to the secretariat in a move apparently aimed at strengthening the office‘s policy coordination capabilities. “As there has been problems of communication with civil affairs and policy agendas, there needs to be a post that helps the presidential office, Cabinet and people to communicate with each other,” Pr...

The interim leader of the ruling People Power Party (PPP) apologized Thursday for turmoil from the party's leadership transition, vowing to win back people's support through "reform" and "unity." "The party sincerely apologizes to the people and our supporters and is reflecting on itself for failing to resolve the internal conflict and division and allowing the situation to evolve into a legal f...

President Yoon Suk-yeol said Thursday his press conference held the previous day to mark his first 100 days in office was intended to show that he will closely listen to the people's voices. "The purpose of yesterday's press conference was that I will closely look into and honor the people's words," he said as he arrived at the presidential office. The press conference was held as Yoon's image ...

Lee Jun-seok, the disgraced former leader of the ruling People Power Party, has launched a string of attacks on President Yoon Suk-yeol and his “pro-Yoon” rivals. Lee was unceremoniously dismissed as the party leader on Tuesday, as an interim leadership was sworn in. Lee, who was already suspended from the party by an intraparty ethics committee over a month ago, has made sure not to stay silent...

Yoon looks for ways to compensate forced laborers while stressing future relations with Japan

Prosecutors on Wednesday searched the Korea Coast Guard in the expanding probe into allegations surrounding the 2020 killing of a South Korean civil servant by North Korean soldiers. Officials from the Seoul Central District Prosecutors‘ Office searched the Coast Guard building in Incheon, and secured related documents from the Coast Guard’s security department, which first investigated the ca...

President Yoon Suk-yeol said Wednesday that South Korea cannot provide North Korea with security guarantees, but he does not want the status quo changed "unreasonably or by force." The remark, made in a press conference marking his 100 days in office, was seen as yet another olive branch to Pyongyang, days after he unveiled what he described as an "audacious" offer to rebuild the North's economy...

The main opposition Democratic Party (DP) was set Wednesday to endorse a revision to its charter aimed at raising the bar for party membership suspension for those facing criminal charges amid criticism it is aimed at shielding former presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung. The party's national convention preparatory committee adopted the envisioned revision a day earlier to state that only those ...

A Seoul court is set to hold a hearing Wednesday to review an injunction filed by the former chairman of the ruling People Power Party (PPP), Lee Jun-seok, against the party's leadership switch. The hearing comes a day after the PPP endorsed members of its emergency leadership committee, completing the leadership transition that removes then suspended party chief Lee Jun-seok from office. Five-t...

South Korean prosecutors searched the houses of Park Jie-won, Suh Hoon and Suh Wook in an investigation into allegations surrounding the death of a South Korean civil servant. Park served as the head of the National Intelligence Service, Suh Wook was the defense minister, and Suh Hoon was the head of the presidential National Security Council at the time of the civil servant’s death in 2020. Th...

Yoon says he would make changes in his office although the size is unlikely to be high

Prime Minister Han Duck-soo on Tuesday called for a new disaster response system to cope with climate change, as the heaviest rainfall in decades battered Seoul and its surrounding areas last week. "Due to climate change, unprecedented disasters have frequently occurred," Han told a Cabinet meeting, emphasizing the need to come up with a new response system to deal with natural disasters caused ...

Lawmakers from South Korea and Japan will visit Washington later this week as part of a US State Department invitation program, where they are expected to discuss various pending issues, including strengthening trilateral cooperation, officials said Tuesday. The South Korean participants are National Assembly Vice Speaker Chung Jin-suk, Reps. Kim Seok-ki and Kim Jung-jae from the ruling People P...

Conservative activists held a massive rally in downtown Seoul on Monday to celebrate Liberation Day, despite lingering concerns over COVID-19. About 20,000 members, according to police, of the far-right Liberty Unification Party led by Rev. Jun Kwang-hoon gathered in Gwanghwamun Square, which reopened earlier this month after a major facelift. Jun is a conservative pastor of Sarang Jeil Church ...

Yoon’s ratings show small rebound after weeks of decline