Voting begins across Seoul on Wednesday for the city’s first-ever plebiscite, which will determine how schoolchildren will be getting their lunches and the fate of Mayor Oh Se-hoon. A total of 2,206 polling stations across the capital will be open between 6 a.m. and 8 p.m. Some 8.3 million Seoulites are eligible to cast their ballot, including 20,640 foreign nationals residing in Seoul. Civic g...

President Lee Myung-bak on Monday agreed with Mongolian President Tsakhia Elbegdorj to upgrade the level of bilateral cooperation to a “comprehensive partnership,” portending greater opportunities for Koreans to do business in the mineral-rich country. In addition to expanding ties in developing energy and natural resources, the two leaders agreed during their summit talks in Ulan Bator to incre...

Turnout likely to decide winner in city’s first-ever plebiscite, mayor’s fate Seoul’s first-ever plebiscite will take place Wednesday, asking its citizens to decide whether all schoolchildren should be provided with free lunches regardless of their parents’ income. The vote, however, has turned into a battle between the country’s rival political forces and its results will serve as a barometer ...

DP leader presses party to revamp candidate nomination system Main opposition Democratic Party leader Sohn Hak-kyu on Sunday formally proposed that the entire opposition field a single candidate in next year’s presidential election, entering a tight match within the progressive bloc. “By uniting, we will win the parliamentary and presidential elections next year,” Sohn said in a speech at a ral...

SEOUL, Aug. 21 (Yonhap) -- Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon pledged Sunday to stake his mayorship on the results of this week's referendum on the city's free school lunch program, upping the ante in the controversial vote. Oh Se-hoon (Yonhap News) "I will stake my mayorship on the results of Wednesday's referendum and take full responsibility for them," he told a press conference in City Hall. "If my de...

President Lee Myung-bak’s nominee for Supreme Court chief justice is expected to bring the court’s political pendulum considerably to the right as he takes over from his liberal predecessor. Yang Sung-tae, who served as justice of the top court from 2005 to 2011 February, was named the new chief late Thursday. Upon the announcement, the presidential office called him a “respectable, stable and c...

Election commission bans mayor from picketing, probes education board for ‘encouraging’ vote boycott The nation’s conservative and liberal forces, siding with Seoul government and education authority respectively, exchanged barbs Friday, arguing about whether citizens should participate in the upcoming plebiscite on free school lunches. They also clashed over a decision by the city’s election c...

Cho Nam-ho, chairman of Hanjin Heavy Industries & Construction Co., apologized multiple times during a parliamentary hearing Thursday over a prolonged labor dispute at the company’s shipyard in Busan. Cho Nam-ho (left), chairman of Hanjin Heavy Industries & Construction Co., reads prepared documents ahead of a parliamentary hearing on the company’s recent labor dispute at the National Assembly i...

Business lobbying group chief agrees some markets should be only for small firms Lawmakers on Wednesday chided business giants for taking advantage of their dominant status to squeeze out suppliers and muscling in on business that should be run by smaller firms such as coffee shops and restaurants. The parliamentary panel for knowledge economy called on conglomerates to play a greater role in s...