Yoon advised to veto bills over broadcast governance

Prime Minister Han Duck-soo on Tuesday advised President Yoon Suk Yeol to strike down four bills sponsored by the main opposition that are designed to curtail Yoon's influence over the boardroom reshuffle of South Korea's public broadcasters or their highest direct authorities. This comes as the latest in a prolonged tit-for-tat in South Korea's political landscape, where Yoon's political opponents continue to ram bills -- including ones similar to those already vetoed -- thr

Aug. 6, 2024

Cabinet passes motion requesting parliamentary reconsideration of 4 broadcasting bills

The Cabinet passed a motion Tuesday calling for parliamentary reconsideration of four bills aimed at changing the governance structure of public broadcasters. The motion, passed a week after the last of the four bills was railroaded by the opposition-controlled National Assembly, will be sent to President Yoon Suk Yeol. Should Yoon endorse it, the bills will be sent back to the Assembly for a revote. Three of the bills call for amending the Broadcasting Act, the Foundation for Broadcast Culture

Aug. 6, 2024

Assembly passes pro-labor ‘Yellow Envelope Bill’

The opposition-led National Assembly on Monday passed a pro-labor bill that seeks to limit employers from filing damage claims against workers during legitimate disputes and requires them to engage in collective bargaining with subcontractor labor unions, amid ongoing protest from the ruling party over the bill. The bill, dubbed the “Yellow Envelope Bill," which is a revision to the Trade Union and Labor Relations Adjustment Act, passed in a 177-2 vote during an afternoon plenary sess

Aug. 5, 2024

Yoon mulls speech after summer break

President Yoon Suk Yeol is considering delivering a speech to the nation over a set of domestic reform agendas to address crises in the fields of education, labor, medicine, and population, as well as the public pension's sustainability later this month, according to the presidential office Monday. According to the presidential office, Yoon will make public remarks after he returns to his post from his summer vacation next week, and before the first regular session of the 22nd National Asse

Aug. 5, 2024

[Bills in Focus] Easing discount store restrictions, securing AI usage policies

Proposed Bill: Partial Amendment to the Distribution Industry Development Act Proposed by Rep. Choi Soo-jin (People Power Party) ● The current act prescribes the establishment and modification registration of superstores and quasi-superstores in traditional commerce preservation areas, requiring persons who intend to open superstores, etc., to register and submit an evaluation report on the store’s impact on commercial districts and a regional cooperation plan. The act also requires the Ma

Aug. 5, 2024

Partisan gridlock to continue over contentious bills

Partisan gridlock in the National Assembly is unlikely to cease in upcoming weeks, with the opposition-led parliament having either passed or eyeing to vote in favor of more contentious bills, which President Yoon Suk Yeol is expected to veto. The opposition-led National Assembly late last month passed four broadcasting bills aimed at reducing the Yoon administration’s influence over public broadcasters, alongside a pro-labor revision bill to the Trade Union and Labor Relations Adjustment

Aug. 4, 2024

Yoon to leave for summer vacation next week

President Yoon Suk Yeol will leave for a summer vacation next week, his office said Friday. Yoon is scheduled to go on vacation starting next Monday, but the exact duration or itinerary have not been fixed and remain flexible, an official from the presidential office said. The official added that Yoon may visit a regional military facility to meet and encourage servicemen or a marketplace to inspect people's livelihoods, the official said. Earlier this week, Yoon urged Cabinet members to fu

Aug. 2, 2024

Impeachment motion for top broadcasting regulator passes

The National Assembly on Friday voted to pass the impeachment bill against Lee Jin-sook, the contested chair of South Korea’s top broadcasting regulator, the Korea Communications Commission. The bill passed just two days after President Yoon Suk Yeol confirmed her nomination. The lawmakers of the ruling People Power Party walked out of the session to boycott the bill led by the Democratic Party of Korea and minor opposition parties, whose seats take up a majority in the Assembly. The bill&

Aug. 2, 2024

Taipei hosts meeting of foreign lawmakers, South Korea absent

TAIPEI, Taiwan -- Foreign lawmakers from 24 countries gathered in Taipei, Taiwan to discuss China’s growing belligerence in the region at an annual meeting Tuesday. There was no South Korean representation at the meeting. South Korea currently has no member lawmakers on the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China, a group bringing together lawmakers from dozens of countries concerned about how democracies deal with Beijing. Both of the South Korean inaugural co-chairs -- former lawmakers Ji

Aug. 2, 2024

COVID-19 hospitalization surge fivefold in 3 weeks

The number of patients hospitalized after being diagnosed with COVID-19 surged fivefold in three weeks to late July, government data showed Friday. According to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, the number of inpatients diagnosed with COVID-19 during the fourth week of July reached 465, up over five times from the first week of the month at 91. Through the first four weeks of July, 929 patients were hospitalized for the highly contagious disease affecting the human respiratory sys

Aug. 2, 2024

Ruling party seeks expulsion of opposition lawmaker over defector remarks

South Korea's ruling People Power Party filed a motion Friday to expel opposition Democratic Party of Korea Rep. Rep. Choi Min-hee over alleged discriminatory comments against a North Korean defector-turned-lawmaker. The controversy came about at a Monday confirmation hearing for state broadcasting regulator chief Lee Jin-sook. Choi, chairing the Assembly's Science, ICT, Broadcasting and Communications Committee, reportedly told People Power Party Rep. Park Choong-kwon, who defected fr

Aug. 2, 2024

Opposition-led Assembly passes W13tr cash handout bill

A bill to dole out cash-equivalent vouchers universally to every South Korean citizen gained parliamentary approval at the opposition-controlled National Assembly on Friday, about four months after opposition leader Rep. Lee Jae-myung proposed the scheme. The 13 trillion-won ($9.4 billion) bill, designed to offer 250,000 won cash coupons to the entire 50 million population across the country, won 186 votes from 187 lawmakers present at the National Assembly. In South Korea's political lands

Aug. 2, 2024

Han tightens grip on ruling party

Han Dong-hoon, chair of the ruling People Power Party, nominated four-term lawmaker Rep. Kim Sang-hoon as the new policy chief of the ruling party, which would also make him one of the nine members of the party's supreme council, in an apparent move to tighten his grip on the party's decision-making body. The nomination of Kim will likely be confirmed at a general assembly of the People Power Party lawmakers next week. Han told reporters Friday that Kim is "highly competent."

Aug. 2, 2024

Ruling party policy chief steps down amid internal rift

People Power Party Rep. Jeong Jeom-sig, who is considered part of pro-Yoon Suk Yeol faction within the party, announced his resignation from his post as the party's policy chief, or a member of the party's supreme council, on Thursday. Jeong, in a surprise press conference held in the afternoon, said that he had decided to do so to prevent a further "split" in the ruling party. He added that current People Power Party Chair Han Dong-hoon requested him to resign. "It was

Aug. 1, 2024

Opposition parties float impeachment motion against new KCC head

Opposition parties on Thursday proposed a parliamentary impeachment motion against the new head of the state broadcasting regulator Lee Jin-sook who took office Wednesday, accusing her of making key decisions "unfairly" with only two of the five commissioners currently in office. The main opposition Democratic Party and five other minor parties floated an impeachment motion against the new regulator chief during a National Assembly plenary session held Thursday afternoon. This marks th

Aug. 1, 2024

Main opposition threatens impeachment of new broadcasting regulator head

President Yoon Suk Yeol on Wednesday officially approved Lee Jin-sook, a former journalist of Munhwa Broadcasting Corp., as the new chief of the country’s top broadcasting regulator amid threats from the main opposition to propose an impeachment motion against her. Lee’s term as the new chief of the Korea Communications Commission immediately began Wednesday, with the 63-year-old former reporter and ex-CEO of the public terrestrial broadcaster's Daejeon branch pledging to &ldquo

July 31, 2024

Yoon advises Han to embrace political allies

President Yoon Suk Yeol told the ruling People Power Party Chair Han Dong-hoon to embrace his political allies as they sat down for closed-door talks for about 1 1/2 hours Tuesday morning, the president's office said Wednesday. It was among the agenda items discussed at the highly anticipated meeting of Yoon and Han that took place in the presidential office from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. -- 30 minutes longer than initially planned. Yoon's chief of staff Chung Jin-suk was also in attendanc

July 31, 2024

Ex-Gyeonggi governor named new labor minister, but faces opposition

President Yoon Suk Yeol nominated Kim Moon-soo, a seasoned conservative politician and a former labor activist who recently served as the governor of Gyeonggi Province, as the new labor minister on Wednesday. Kim, who is currently a chair of the presidential advisory body the Economic, Social and Labor Council, will succeed Lee Jung-sik once he gets Yoon's final approval after going through a parliamentary hearing. Yoon is likely to push for appointing the former Gyeonggi governor without t

July 31, 2024

Assembly passes all 4 broadcasting bills despite ruling party objection

All four contentious bills aimed at reducing the Yoon Suk Yeol administration’s influence over public broadcasters here were passed by the opposition-led National Assembly Tuesday. The Assembly passed the revision to the Korea Educational Broadcasting System Act, railroaded by the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea, in a 189-0 vote during a plenary session in the morning. The move marks the passage of the last of four contentious broadcasting bills, with the amendments to the Broadc

July 30, 2024

Parliament confirms appointment of new police chief

The National Assembly confirmed the appointment of Cho Ji-ho as the country's new police chief Tuesday. The parliamentary committee on public administration and security adopted a confirmation hearing report on Cho's nomination as the commissioner-general of the Korean National Police Agency after holding a hearing the previous day. Adoption of the report is seen as parliamentary consent to the appointment, though the National Assembly has no power to reject the nomination and the pres

July 30, 2024