Most Popular
-
1
Tensions heighten ahead of first president-opposition chief meeting
-
2
Seoul to provide housing subsidy to married couples with newborns
-
3
New celebrity-endorsed therapy for face contouring requires only a pair of rubber bands
-
4
Rapper jailed after public street fight with another rapper
-
5
[KH Explains] No more 'Michael' at Kakao Games
-
6
Nominee for chief of anti-corruption body pledges 'independence, effectiveness'
-
7
Woman gets suspended term for injuring boyfriend with knife
-
8
Med schools expect 1,500+ new admission slots next year
-
9
Samsung chief bolsters ties with Germany’s Zeiss
-
10
KT launches new mobile plans for foreign residents
-
What to consider in NSC reorganization
Since the transition team for President-elect Park Geun-hye kicked off, how to reestablish the National Security Council has become one of the most controversial issues in regard to re-organizing the executive structure at Cheong Wa Dae. According to a media release, the council is expected to have a different structure and play a more comprehensive role than in former administrations. During Park’s presidency, the national security environment could become tougher than ever, including present a
Jan. 15, 2013
-
Science, maritime ministries revived
President-elect Park Geun-hye plans to create a super-ministry in charge of science, information and communications as the incoming leader seeks to promote innovation-based growth, the presidential transition committee announced Tuesday.Park will also revive the post of deputy prime minister of economy, to be taken on by the minister of strategy and finance, as the top control tower for coordinating economic policies. A new ministry of maritime affairs and fisheries will be reestablished while t
Jan. 15, 2013
-
Transition team opens Twitter account
The presidential transition team opened a Twitter account Tuesday in an effort to provide the public with more information on its activity and to collect suggestions and feedback, its spokesman said.The account at twitter.com/kor_2013 will be used to "swiftly deliver information related to the transition committee and to reflect public opinions in making the road map for the new government," spokesman Yoon Chang-jung told a regular news briefing.Since last week, the committee has also been recei
Jan. 15, 2013
-
Park’s transition in trouble
President-elect Park Geun-hye’s closemouthed transition team is under fire for running pell-mell without a control tower, leaving a sizeable dent in the incoming president’s quiet and determined leadership style that had anchored her political career throughout various crises.Park’s style is, on one hand, lauded for being principled, apolitical and consistent. But such pros are being increasingly overshadowed by accusations of being uncommunicative, suppressed and poorly informed.In the week sin
Jan. 14, 2013
-
[Newsmaker] Resignation of Park's aide fuels speculation
The sudden resignation by one of President-elect Park Geun-hye’s top security and deplomacy aides from her transition team is sparking speculation about the reasons, ranging from a policy rift or personal irregularities to dismissal for an information leak.The takeover team confirmed Sunday that Choi Dae-seok, a key architect of Park’s policy to engage North Korea, quit the subcommittee on defense, unification and foreign affairs the previous day.Neither gave the reason of his departure. Specula
Jan. 14, 2013
-
U.S. steps up policy for Asia-Pacific rebalancing
This is the 11th and last in a series of articles on the growing rivalry between the U.S. and China and its implications for the two Koreas and East Asia. -- Ed.The U.S. is stepping up its strategic engagement in the Asia-Pacific as an increasingly assertive China poses a challenge to the regional order and unnerves its allies and partners relying on its security assistance.Under its “rebalancing” policy toward the emerging center of power, Washington has been strengthening regional defense alli
Jan. 13, 2013
-
Park’s plans for gov’t organization expected later this week: official
President-elect Park Geun-hye’s plans for government reorganization are expected to be announced later this week after the transition team finishes receiving briefings from government bodies on Wednesday.While the transition team has made no official comment regarding the timing of the announcement, observers say that the process of drawing up the plans is likely to follow a schedule similar to that of the briefings. Along with the reorganization plans, candidates for various ministerial-level p
Jan. 13, 2013
-
DUP picks members for interim leadership panel
The main opposition Democratic United Party on Sunday picked seven current members to join its emergency leadership committee that will be tasked with moving forward from last month’s presidential election defeat.Reps. Sul Hoon, Kim Dong-cheol, Moon Byeong-ho, Park Hong-keun and Bae Jae-jeung have been picked to sit on the interim committee, a party spokesman said. The party also appointed former party supreme council member Lee Yong-deuk and Oh Jung-gi, a member of the DUP’s North Gyeongsang Pr
Jan. 13, 2013
-
Tension simmers again between prosecution, police
Tension simmered over the weekend as the police and the prosecution reported to the presidential transition team their positions on President-elect Park Geun-hye’s pledge to disperse the authorities’ concentrated power and eradicate outdated practices.On Sunday, the third day of the government briefing session, among the government organizations to debrief Park’s team were the Defense Acquisition Program Administration, the National Police Agency, and the Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affair
Jan. 13, 2013
-
Park to hold inaugration ceremony in National Assembly
President-elect Park Geun-hye will hold her inauguration ceremony on Feb. 25 at the square in front of the National Assembly’s main building in Yeouido, Seoul, the transition team said Sunday.“The venue was chosen as the National Assembly is the hall representing the will of the people,” said transition committee spokesman Yoon Chang-jung.Since 1992, all presidents have held their inauguration ceremonies at the same venue.On another note, the transition team said Park will meet with foreign envo
Jan. 13, 2013
-
Park’s policy drive put to test
The transition team’s job to build a policy blueprint for the incoming administration was put to the test over the weekend as it faced calls from some incumbent government officials to revise or supplement President-elect Park Geun-hye’s campaign pledges.The handover committee started to receive a weeklong policy briefing from government branches Friday. However, it seemed perplexed with some key government ministries directly expressing the difficulty of turning her pledges into actual policy.
Jan. 13, 2013
-
Transition team to keep public utility charges below consumer price gains
President-elect Park Geun-hye's transition team aims to keep public utility charges below gains in consumer prices to reflect the incoming administration's key policy goal of improving the livelihood of the people, sources said Sunday. A source in the transition committee told Yonhap News Agency that it is right for hikes in utility prices be kept to a minimum so as not to adversely affect the economy and the lives of ordinary people. "The goal is to encourage state-run utility companies to
Jan. 13, 2013
-
Park shows displeasure with government offices' selfishness: officials
President-elect Park Geun-hye has expressed displeasure with government offices' selfishness shown during their policy briefings for her transition team, her spokesman said Saturday.Park's transition team is getting briefings from major government agencies to work out policy blueprints for the new government to be installed on Feb. 25. It has so far received briefings from the ministries handling national defense and small and medium-size businesses, among others.According to her spokesman, Park
Jan. 12, 2013
-
Tax agency, intelligence body to give policy briefings before transition team
The transition team of President-elect Park Geun-hye will receive policy briefings from the national tax agency and the intelligence body Saturday, the second day of a key process to formulate a policy road map for the next government.The National Tax Service (NTS) and the National Intelligence Service (NIS) are scheduled to brief the transition team in the morning, followed by the Ministry of Knowledge Economy, the justice ministry and the Supreme Prosecutors' Office in the afternoon.Sources sa
Jan. 12, 2013
-
Park’s elderly pension plan stirs debate
Transition team officials are struggling to find ways to finance President-elect Park Geun-hye’s pledge to increase support for elderly people amid budget constraints and conflicting opinions. During the campaign Park promised a monthly cash allowance of 200,000 won ($190) for all Koreans aged 65 and over.An official at the handover committee on Thursday fielded an idea that the next government could tap into the national pension fund, a move that could draw an angry backlash from younger people
Jan. 11, 2013
-
Military cautious over service term
The Defense Ministry expressed caution Friday over President-elect Park Geun-hye’s election pledge to shorten compulsory military service during its policy briefing to her transition committee.It has argued that the plan to shorten the service term by three months to 18 months could result in a troop shortage and weaken overall combat capabilities, considering the country’s aging population.The presidential transition team began receiving policy briefings on the day from six of the 46 central go
Jan. 11, 2013
-
Park vows to boost science, technology sector
President-elect Park Geun-hye vowed Thursday to boost the country's science and technology sector, crediting it with driving economic growth both in the past and in the future, a spokesman said."Although there are many difficulties in the science and technology sector, I believe science and technology are the engine for future growth, and I will do my best to use developments in science and technology as a foundation for our country's advancement into a developed country," spokesman Park Sun-kyo
Jan. 10, 2013
-
Park team gets reality check
The presidential transition team begins receiving policy briefings from government branches Friday as incumbent officials are growing weary of the difficulty of turning President-elect Park Geun-hye’s pledges into actual policy. The week-long briefing sessions start with the Ministry of Health and Welfare, the Defense Ministry and the Small and Medium Business Administration, underscoring the incoming leader’s priorities of building a fair and inclusive economy and strengthening national securit
Jan. 10, 2013
-
Lawmakers plan tax-funded pension
Political parties maybe looking to set up a pension for former lawmakers to replace the subsidy they plan to reduce as part of their political reform plans.During last year’s presidential race, political reform was one of the main issues, and reducing the privileges afforded to politicians was a key item on that agenda.Among related issues, reducing the 1.2 million won ($1,130) per month subsidy given to the members of the Parliamentarians’ Society was one of the first things the two main partie
Jan. 10, 2013
-
Park vows warmer ties with Beijing
President-elect Park Geun-hye pledged to reinforce the strategic partnership between Korea and China during her meeting with special government envoys from Beijing on Thursday The four-member Chinese delegation led by vice foreign minister Zhang Zhijun made a courtesy call on Park at her temporary office in Tongeui-dong, downtown Seoul.The meeting came as Seoul and Washington are intensifying calls on Beijing to agree to propose tougher sanctions against North Korea over its long-range rocket la
Jan. 10, 2013