Main opposition to railroad multiple contentious bills after Chuseok

South Korea’s political climate post-Chuseok is likely to revert to a familiarly confrontational one, with the powerful opposition party poised to railroad several contentious bills, including those targeting President Yoon Suk Yeol and first lady Kim Keon Hee with special counsel investigations. At the National Assembly’s plenary session scheduled for Thursday, the liberal opposition Democratic Party of Korea plans to present three high-profile bills, Rep. Yoon Jong-kun, the party&r

Sept. 18, 2024

Yoon to visit Czech Republic with focus on nuclear energy cooperation

President Yoon Suk Yeol is set to visit the Czech Republic this week to solidify South Korea's bid to win a major nuclear energy project and deepen economic ties with the European nation. Yoon will embark on a four-day trip on Thursday for talks with Czech President Petr Pavel and Prime Minister Petr Fiala to expand cooperation in nuclear energy, trade, investment, technology and other areas. The visit comes two months after a consortium led by Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power was selected a

Sept. 18, 2024

[Bills in Focus] Breaking app market monopoly, strengthening AI content rules

Proposed Bill: Partial Amendment to the Telecommunications Business Act Proposed by Rep. Lee Jeong-heon (Democratic Party of Korea) ● To regulate app market monopolization and ensure the consumers’ right to choice, this amendment requires market-dominant app store operators, such as Google and Apple, to permit third-party payment options outside their app stores, such as via web browsers.   Proposed Bill: Partial Amendment to the Restriction of Special Taxation Act Proposed by Rep. Ki

Sept. 17, 2024

Yoon's approval rating hits new low: poll

The approval rating for President Yoon Suk Yeol has dropped to its lowest level since he took office in May 2022, a poll showed Monday. The survey, conducted by Realmeter and commissioned by a local news outlet, showed Yoon's positive rating at 27 percent, down by 2.9 percentage points from the previous week. The previous record low was 29.3 percent in the first week of August 2022. It marked the third consecutive week that Yoon's approval rating has fallen below 30 percent. The survey attribute

Sept. 16, 2024

Yoon encourages police officers, firefighters on duty during Chuseok holiday

President Yoon Suk Yeol on Sunday visited police and fire stations to encourage police officers and firefighters who are working for public safety during the Chuseok fall harvest holiday, his office said. Yoon visited Gwanak Police Station and Gangseo Fire Station in Seoul, where he was briefed on the situation on officers on duty during the holiday and expressed his thanks for their hard work, according to presidential spokesperson Jeong Hye-jeon. Yoon said since he took office, he has stressed

Sept. 16, 2024

Yoon says issue of separated families is 'most pressing task'

President Yoon Suk Yeol said Sunday that addressing the issue of family members separated by the 1950-53 Korean War is "the most pressing task." Yoon made the remark in a speech read on his behalf by Unification Minister Kim Yung-ho at a ceremony marking the second Separated Families Day. "The issue of separated families is the most pressing task we must resolve," Yoon said, noting that around 3,000 of the 130,000 applicants for government-arranged reunions die every year wit

Sept. 15, 2024

Trump says he'll be able to solve 'most' problems related to N. Korea, Iran via 'phone calls'

WASHINGTON -- Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump said Friday he will be able to solve "most of the problems" related to North Korea and Iran through "phone calls" and possibly in-person talks, as he commented on Pyongyang's rare disclosure of a nuclear facility and Tehran's supply of missiles to Russia. Trump highlighted his foreign policy chops during a press conference as various polls have shown the former president and his Democratic rival, Kamala

Sept. 14, 2024

US says 'only viable path' for peace is 'complete' Korean Peninsula denuclearization

WASHINGTON -- The "only viable path" toward lasting peace is through the "complete" denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, a State Department spokesperson said Friday, after North Korea made a rare disclosure of a uranium enrichment facility this week. The spokesperson made the remarks, renewing calls for Pyongyang to return to "constructive" dialogue and reaffirming America's "ironclad" security commitment to South Korea and Japan. The North'

Sept. 14, 2024

Yoon visits hospitals ahead of Chuseok holiday amid doctors' walkout

President Yoon Suk Yeol visited hospitals in Seoul on Friday to encourage medical staff and reaffirm the government's commitment to carry out health care reform measures to enhance essential medical services. The visit to two public emergency hospitals, the Seoul Medical Center and National Medical Center, came a day before the five-day Chuseok holiday to address concerns about potential disruptions in medical services amid a prolonged walkout by trainee doctors. It marks his second hospita

Sept. 13, 2024

NK unveils images of uranium enrichment facility for 1st time

North Korea made an unprecedented media disclosure of its uranium enrichment facility on Friday, with its leader Kim Jong-un inspecting rows of centrifuges in a clear display of the reclusive regime's nuclear ambitions. According to North Korea's state media outlets, Kim had inspected a control room of a uranium enrichment facility, and expressed satisfaction, after he was briefed about the technology North Korea had developed for the facility's centrifugal separators, sensors and controllers. T

Sept. 13, 2024

Yoon's approval rating sinks to lowest point since taking office

President Yoon Suk Yeol's approval rating fell to 20 percent, marking its lowest level since he took office in May 2022, a poll showed Friday. The survey, conducted by the polling agency Gallup Korea, showed that the positive assessment of Yoon's performance plunged 3 percentage points from the previous week, while his negative assessment reached an all-time high of 70 percent, up 3 percent from a week earlier. Yoon's handling of medical school quotas, the economy, and lack of com

Sept. 13, 2024

Presidential security official arrested for alleged fraud in presidential office relocation

A high-ranking official at the Presidential Security Service has been arrested on charges of illegally taking personal profits while supervising the relocation of the presidential office, sources said Friday. The Seoul Central District Prosecutors Office arrested a presidential security official, identified by his surname Jeong, and a construction broker, surnamed Kim, after obtaining arrest warrants the previous day, the legal sources said. In October last year, the Board of Audit and Inspectio

Sept. 13, 2024

Appellate court overturns ruling on Deutsche Motors case

The Seoul Central District Court on Thursday overturned the lower court's ruling on a man surnamed Son, who in 2023 was acquitted of charges of providing scammers linked to a 63.6 billion won ($47.4 million) investment fraud in the early 2010s with a trust account, allowing them to manage assets on behalf of himself or the trust's beneficiary. The case has been drawing public attention as President Yoon Suk Yeol's opponents claim that first lady Kim Keon Hee was also suspected to

Sept. 12, 2024

Yoon to visit Prague next week to forge 'nuclear energy alliance'

President Yoon Suk Yeol will visit the Czech Republic Thursday next week to forge the so-called "nuclear energy alliance," the presidential office said Thursday. The official visit comes ahead of next year's signing of South Korean firms' nuclear power plant construction bid valued at around 24 trillion won ($17.9 billion). It is the first visit by a South Korean leader to Central Europe's manufacturing powerhouse in nine years. Yoon will "convey the strong willingn

Sept. 12, 2024

Memorial ceremony for Sado miners to be held this year

The first-ever memorial ceremony for laborers in the Sado mines, a site associated with the forced labor of Koreans during Japan's 1910-45 colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula, will be held by the end of the year, Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul said Wednesday. "The ceremony at the Sado mines will be held by the end of the year," Cho said during a parliamentary session held by the National Assembly's Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee. "We are currently negotiating

Sept. 11, 2024

Yoon touts S. Korea as cybersecurity drill hub

President Yoon Suk Yeol touted South Korea as an international hub for cybersecurity drill exercises, while attending the inaugural Cyber Summit Korea 2024 in Seoul on Wednesday. Yoon said in his congratulatory speech at the event held at Coex in Gangnam, southern Seoul, that South Korea's long exposure to constant cyberspace attacks by "hostile actors" including North Korea has allowed the country to hone its defense capabilities and cybersecurity system. "Totalitarian sta

Sept. 11, 2024

Yoon raises ER physician fees temporarily

President Yoon Suk Yeol on Tuesday laid out a plan to raise physicians' fees temporarily during the next two weeks, as the crisis in short-staffed emergency rooms in South Korean hospitals is expected to deepen during the Chuseok holiday in mid-September. Yoon said in a Cabinet meeting that fees for emergency room doctors -- supported by the nation's universal single-payer health care system -- will be temporarily raised 3.5 times what they currently are during the period. The hikes wi

Sept. 10, 2024

Govt. to temporarily raise health insurance payments to hospitals for Chuseok holiday

President Yoon Suk Yeol said Tuesday the government will temporarily raise health insurance payments to hospitals for the upcoming Chuseok holiday to better reward their services and to prevent disruptions in emergency medical care. During a Cabinet meeting, Yoon addressed concerns over possible disruptions to the medical system during the extended holiday, which starts later this week, as a majority of junior doctors have stayed away from the job since February in protest of a sharp hike in the

Sept. 10, 2024

FSS chief urges banks to curb household debts

The head of the financial watchdog on Tuesday called for banks to curb a continuing rise in household lending. Lee Bok-hyun, chief of the Financial Supervisory Service, made the call in a meeting with the heads of 18 banks. "Should we fail to keep household debts at a proper level in the future, it may lead to increased economic burden by expanding market volatility and working as an obstacle to economic growth," Lee told the meeting. Tuesday's meeting follows reports that househo

Sept. 10, 2024

First lady likely to escape 'Dior bag' indictment

First lady Kim Keon Hee is unlikely to be indicted for alleged antigraft rule violations, as the final legal procedure concerning her acceptance of luxury gifts totaling over 5 million won ($3,730), including a Christian Dior bag, has been cleared. Outgoing Prosecutor General Lee One-seok told reporters on Monday on his way to his office in Seocho-gu in southern Seoul that he "respects" the recommendation Friday by a 15-member independent review panel of the Supreme Prosecutors' O

Sept. 9, 2024