Rep. Kim Gi-hyeon, who campaigned on his ability to work closely with President Yoon Suk Yeol, was elected to lead the People Power Party on Wednesday. Kim, who earned 52.9 percent of more than 460,000 votes cast, said in an acceptance speech that he would commit to lead the party to victory in next year’s general election. “To do that our party has to work for the people, and show that we are making the lives of South Koreans better,” he said. The runner-up to Kim was Rep. Ahn

Politics March 8, 2023

The lawmakers on the National Assembly’s intelligence committee said Tuesday that North Korea may hold large-scale military exercises between March and April, in response to planned joint drills between South Korea and the US. More specifically, intelligence committee member Rep. Youn Kun-young of the Democratic Party of Korea told reporters in a closed-door briefing that North Korea may conduct an ICBM test on a normal trajectory as well as test-fire a new solid fuel-based ICBM sometime t

Politics March 7, 2023

South Korea National Assembly Speaker Kim Jin-pyo is heading to Turkey on Wednesday for the eighth MIKTA parliamentary speakers’ meeting. MIKTA is the informal grouping of Mexico, Indonesia, South Korea, Turkey and Australia. In a release on Tuesday, the National Assembly speaker’s office said that at the MIKTA meeting, Kim would “seek joint responses at the parliamentary level” on issues such as sustainable development. The office also said the speaker would “appea

Politics March 7, 2023

South Korean opposition lawmakers on Tuesday signed a statement welcoming the re-introduction of the US House of Representatives bill calling for efforts to achieve a formal end to the Korean War. “We, 166 lawmakers of South Korea, thank the members of the US Congress for their insight on and dedication to building peace on the Korean Peninsula,” the South Korean lawmakers from the main opposition Democratic Party and the minor progressive Justice Party said in the statement. “

Politics March 7, 2023

The race to be the new chairperson of the ruling People Power Party is turning into a contest between candidates who have President Yoon Suk Yeol’s apparent backing and those who do not. Rep. Ahn Cheol-soo, the three-time presidential contender who is now vying to lead the People Power Party, said Sunday he was competing on an “uneven playing field,” citing the latest allegations of the presidential office’s behind-the-scenes push for another leading candidate, Rep. Kim G

Politics March 5, 2023

The recent indictment of former President Moon Jae-in’s top officials in the investigation of the forced return of two North Korean fishermen in 2019 is “nothing more than political revenge,” an ex-Moon aide and sitting lawmaker said. “This is political revenge against the last administration -- nothing more, nothing less,” Democratic Party of Korea Rep. Youn Kun-young, who served as the state affairs monitoring director in Moon’s Cheong Wa Dae, told The Korea

Politics March 2, 2023

The South Korean government once again held firm in its stance that Russians coming to the country to avoid being drafted in the war in Ukraine would not qualify as refugees. In a message to reporters on Wednesday, the Ministry of Justice said it would appeal Incheon District Court’s Feb. 14 decision that two of the three Russian men who arrived here in October should be allowed the chance to apply for refugee status here. “The Justice Ministry has decided to appeal the court’s

Social Affairs March 1, 2023

The narrow defeat of a National Assembly motion to arrest Democratic Party of Korea chairperson Rep. Lee Jae-myung on Monday has angered supporters, while the party continued to rally behind its legally embattled leader. The vote, which proceeded anonymously at the Monday plenary session, split 139 in favor to 138 against, below the minimum threshold of 149 votes required for the motion to pass. Nine votes were abstentions and 11 were deemed as invalid. The Democratic Party, which holds 169 seat

Politics Feb. 28, 2023

Democratic Party of Korea leader Rep. Lee Jae-myung avoided facing an arrest warrant by a close margin in a National Assembly vote on Monday, despite earlier pledges from the party that the motion will be defeated by “an overwhelming majority.” The motion to allow a judge to consider an arrest warrant for Lee, submitted to the National Assembly last week by the Seoul Central District Court, was rejected in an anonymous vote. The vote split 139 in favor to 138 against, failing to meet

Politics Feb. 27, 2023

A large crowd turned out at a series of vigils and rallies held outside the Russian Embassy in Seoul on Friday and Saturday to show support for Ukraine, one year since Russia’s invasion of the country. Chants denouncing Russia -- “Withdraw Russian troops from Ukraine! If Russia stops fighting, there is no war!” -- rung around the square near the embassy, as Ukraine supporters and anti-war demonstrators gathered. One of them was Andrei Litvinov, a Ukrainian teacher at a school i

Social Affairs Feb. 26, 2023

The South Korean government said Friday it would resume radiation testing for defectors from near North Korea’s nuclear test site in Punggye-ri to check for possible exposure. Lee Hyo-jung, the Ministry of Unification’s deputy spokesperson, said in a briefing that from this year testing will be offered to North Koreans who lived in Kilju or nearby regions after North Korea’s first nuclear test in 2006, if they are willing. There are 881 defectors who would be eligible for the t

Politics Feb. 24, 2023

Twenty-five lawmakers on Thursday together signed a bill to investigate the war crimes of South Korean troops during the Vietnam War. “For years the Vietnamese victims have asked for the South Korean government’s acknowledgement of the civilian killings linked to South Korean soldiers, as well as an official apology and compensation. No such steps have been taken by the South Korean government to date,” Rep. Kang Min-jung, one of the lawmakers who authored the bill, said in a p

Politics Feb. 23, 2023

The launch event for a foundation aimed at connecting Korean diaspora youth called K-Diaspora World Solidarity was held Thursday at a National Assembly building. Democratic Party of Korea Rep. So Byung-chul said in an address that he hoped the foundation would serve as “a platform for networking among young Koreans all over the world” and that it would “connect a scattered diaspora.” “I hope that the foundation will serve as a center for discovering Korean culture a

Social Affairs Feb. 23, 2023

The Democratic Party of Korea’s legally troubled Chairperson Rep. Lee Jae-myung went on a lengthy rant at a press conference Thursday, just days ahead of a National Assembly vote that could send the arrest warrant filed for him to court. Lee, once again denying any wrongdoing, called the prosecutors’ investigations into corruption controversies from his time as Gyeonggi Province governor and Seongnam mayor “political propaganda.” “What prosecutors said in the warran

Politics Feb. 23, 2023

South Korean hospitals are scrambling to keep their children’s units running, with the government declaring emergency measures Wednesday to keep the faltering pediatric health care system afloat. In an emergency briefing, Minister of Health and Welfare Cho Kyoo-hong said his ministry would be adding more public pediatric intensive care centers, and implement a compensation system that will prompt larger hospitals to operate pediatric emergency rooms around the clock. “Investments in

Politics Feb. 22, 2023