The National Assembly is set to pass the government's 2022 budget before Thursday's deadline after increasing the sum by 3.5 trillion won ($2.97 billion) to 607.9 trillion won, a ruling party official said. "The ruling and opposition parties have nearly reached an agreement on tax revenues and expenditures, as well as the amount of net increase," the Democratic Party official told Yonhap News Ag...

The ruling Democratic Party and the main opposition People Power Party reached a tentative agreement Wednesday to pass next year's government budget at 607 trillion won ($515 billion), officials said. The agreement was reached during a bipartisan negotiation meeting headed by Rep. Yun Ho-jung and Rep. Kim Gi-hyeon, floor leaders of the DP and PPP, respectively, along with Finance Minister Hong N...

Lee Jae-myung, the presidential candidate of the ruling Democratic Party (DP), on Wednesday called for Japan to swiftly carry out a South Korean Supreme Court order to compensate wartime forced labor victims. "Turning away does not make history disappear," Lee wrote on his Facebook page. "It should respond to the victim's pain with a sincere apology and find realistic ways to carry out the compe...

Lee Jun-seok switches off cellphone after being ‘passed’, reports say he is in Busan

President Moon Jae-in on Wednesday lauded the cooperative movement's role in promoting social responsibility on a range of issues, including environment and society. "The spirit of corporate federations, which has become an important axis of the global economy, must become a value of our society and the world," Moon said at the opening ceremony of the 33rd World Cooperative Congress. Moon said ...

National security adviser Suh Hoon will visit China this week to meet with Beijing's top diplomat, Cheong Wa Dae said Wednesday, as Seoul pushes to declare a formal end to the 1950-53 Korean War. Suh will visit the northeastern port city of Tianjin on Thursday and Friday at the invitation of Chinese Communist Party foreign affairs chief Yang Jiechi, the presidential office said. The two plan to...

A Seoul court questioned a former opposition lawmaker Wednesday to determine whether to approve an arrest warrant for him on charges of accepting bribes in the form of severance pay for his son from an asset firm at the center of a massive development corruption scandal. Kwak Sang-do quit the main opposition People Power Party and ultimately gave up his parliamentary seat following revelations t...

The National Assembly on Tuesday approved a revision to the Income Tax Act that calls for easing a threshold of capital gains tax exemption on real estate sales for those with only one home. The bottom limit of the assessed value of real estate properties subject to capital gains tax will be raised from 900 million won ($756,000) to 1.2 billion won for owners of only one home following approval ...

Prosecutors on Tuesday indicted the mayor of Seongnam, south of Seoul, on charges of providing special favors to a police officer in return for receiving insider information about a police investigation into her alleged violation of the Political Funds Act. Seongnam Mayor Eun Soo-mi is accused of giving a 450 million won ($379,000) streetlight replacement project to an unidentified company in Oc...

Main opposition People Power Party leader cancels all activities, feeding speculations of resignation

The leader of the main opposition People Power Party canceled part of his official schedule Tuesday, adding weight to speculation he could resign over disagreements with the party's presidential nominee Yoon Seok-youl. The party informed reporters at short notice that Chairman Lee Jun-seok had canceled his attendance at a forum Tuesday morning, without providing a reason. The notice added to sp...

Cardinal Andrew Yeom Soo-jung will retire as the Catholic archbishop of Seoul and apostolic administrator of Pyongyang on Tuesday, after nine years of service in the post. The Archdiocese of Seoul said it will hold a Mass to mark Yeom's retirement at Myeongdong Cathedral in central Seoul at 10 a.m. with about 600 priests and faithfuls attending. Appointed as the archbishop of Seoul in May 2012,...

Meanwhile, Lee Jae-myung of the ruling Democratic Party continued his campaign in Gwangju, vowing to become an “economy first” president, wrapping up his five-day trip to the liberal stronghold Honam region. Honam encompasses Gwangju, South Jeolla Province and North Jeolla Province. “From now on, my only goal is to become an ‘economy president.’ I will concentrate all my ability to fill in peopl...

Misbehavior, suspicion cloud candidates’ promises and visions

South Korea plans to suspend arrivals of migrant workers with records of recent visits to southern African nations in order to block the inflow of the potentially more contagious omicron COVID-19 variant, officials said Monday. The labor ministry's plan, which could affect the entry of manual workers from 16 Asian countries, is in line with the earlier restriction placed on foreign arrivals from...