The two candidates representing the ruling party and the liberal opposition bloc are locked in a dead heat as recent opinion polls showed the race for Seoul mayor to be too tight to call. Some polls found that judge-turned-politician Na Kyung-won of the Grand National Party had already bridged the gap in voter support with lawyer and civic activist Park Won-soon, an opposition-backed independen...

President returns home from trip highlighted by ratification of free trade agreement President Lee Myung-bak’s state visit to the United States was a demonstration of their stronger alliance through the U.S. Congress ratification of the bilateral trade agreement. Lee returned home Sunday, wrapping up his five-day trip to the U.S., highlighted by the trade deal ratification on top of reaffirmati...

Summit talks focused on FTA, security partnership, North Korea WASHINGTON, D.C. ― President Lee Myung-bak on Thursday said Korea and the United States have agreed to develop their ties into an “even stronger alliance,” a day after the U.S. Congress ratified the two countries’ free trade agreement. “Here, where the Mutual Defense Treaty was signed by Korea and the United States in 1953, a new ch...

Summit talks focused on FTA, security alliance, North Korea WASHINGTON D.C. -- President Lee Myung-bak on Thursday said Korea and the U.S. have agreed to develop their ties into an “even stronger alliance,” a day after the U.S. Congress ratified the two countries’ free trade agreement. Lee also said he expects to see progress in inter-Korean relations and the North Korean nuclear stalemate as a...

Opposition steps up offensive against ruling party ahead of Seoul mayoral by-election Controversy over President Lee Myung-bak’s new retirement home plot in Seoul has deepened as opposition parties are stepping up their political offensive against the ruling party ahead of the upcoming Seoul mayoral by-election. Cheong Wa Dae and the ruling Grand National Party have moved quickly to fend off th...