Ex-FSC chief named as envoy for financial cooperation

Choi Jong-ku, a former top financial policymaker and regulator, has been named South Korea's ambassador for international financial cooperation -- a new role created to reassure trade partners and credit rating agencies of the country’s financial resilience amid political turmoil. Speaking at a Cabinet meeting, acting President Han Duck-soo said Tuesday that the 67-year-old Choi, who previously headed the Financial Services Commission and the Export-Import Bank of Korea, will "dedicate himself t

Dec. 24, 2024

Party leaders hold talks but differ on fundamentals

Leaders of South Korea's two major political parties held talks Wednesday in hopes of helping normalize state affairs, but the meeting ended with the two showing widely divergent views on how to address the power vacuum. At the meeting, the ruling People Power Party's acting Chair Rep. Kweon Seong-dong floated amending the portion of South Korea's Constitution that stipulates that the president serves a single five-year term. The main opposition Democratic Party of Korea's le

Dec. 18, 2024

NK casualties reported in Ukraine war

North Korean forces have suffered hundreds of casualties in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, according to estimates by an unnamed US official. In the Kursk region of Russia, which has been partly occupied by Ukrainian forces, a US official was quoted as saying by news reports Tuesday that "several hundred casualties is our latest estimate that (North Korea) has suffered." Around 10,000 North Korean troops are believed to have been deployed to engage in combat alongside Russian

Dec. 18, 2024

Parties clash over Han Duck-soo's authority to approve justices for Yoon Suk Yeol trial

South Korea’s main parties clashed Tuesday over whether acting President Han Duck-soo possesses the authority to approve Assembly nominations for new Constitutional Court justices, a move that could make it easier to confirm President Yoon Suk Yeol’s impeachment. Confirming the impeachment requires the approval of at least six Constitutional Court justices. With three of the nine justice positions vacant, Yoon would not be impeached without a unanimous decision by all incumbent justi

Dec. 17, 2024

Eyes on whether acting president will exercise veto power

South Korea's acting president, Han Duck-soo, is expected to test the waters by exercising the presidential veto powers delegated to him after President Yoon Suk Yeol's suspension on Saturday evening, despite repeated calls from the main opposition Democratic Party to abstain. A Cabinet meeting to be held before Saturday would allow the ruling conservative bloc to send six opposition-sponsored bills back to the National Assembly for a revote. Han, as acting president, is the person who

Dec. 16, 2024

Yoon Suk Yeol says he will never succumb to impeachment

President Yoon Suk Yeol said Saturday that he would never succumb to the threat of impeachment, after the National Assembly voted 204-85 in favor of a motion that could eventually dethrone the incumbent president. "I will never surrender," he said in his fifth address to the nation in the past two weeks since his imposition of martial law on Dec. 3. "I will cherish any reprimand, encouragement and support you show to me, and I will do my best for the country until the end," h

Dec. 14, 2024

How powerful will South Korea's acting president be?

With incumbent President Yoon Suk Yeol suspended after the National Assembly voted to impeach him, Prime Minister Han Duck-soo will take over as acting president for up to six months. Under Article 71 of the South Korean Constitution, if the president is deemed unable to perform duties for any reason, the prime minister shall assume the powers and duties of the incumbent president. Han's role as acting president started 7:24 p.m. Saturday evening, as soon as a copy of the impeachment resolu

Dec. 14, 2024

Broadcaster claims assassination plot; ruling party dismisses allegation

An alleged assassination plot was unable to proceed as planned as President Yoon Suk Yeol's martial law imposition on Dec. 3 was short-lived, claimed a liberal figure at the National Assembly on Friday. Radio show host Kim Ou-joon told lawmakers at the Assembly's Science, ICT, Broadcasting and Communications Committee that he had obtained information that troops dedicated to special operations were on standby for an assassination operation. Kim was earlier revealed to have been one of

Dec. 14, 2024

[Reporter's Notebook] Press freedoms taken for granted

It was another casual night after work on Dec. 3, replete with glasses of "somaek," a beer cocktail mixed with a shot of soju. No one at the reporters' unofficial dinner gathering with the administrative staff of President Yoon Suk Yeol's office had any idea that one of the biggest threat to South Korea's democracy in the 21st century was about to break out. Not too long into the dinner, news that the presidential office would make a "shocking announcement" spr

Dec. 13, 2024

Assembly vote on Yoon Suk Yeol's impeachment set for 4 p.m. Saturday

The National Assembly has rescheduled its vote on the motion to impeach President Yoon Suk Yeol, moving it up by an hour to 4 p.m. on Saturday, according to the office of National Assembly Speaker Rep. Woo Won-shik on Friday. This came after 190 lawmakers of all six opposition parties and independent lawmaker Rep. Kim Jong-min tabled the impeachment motion to the National Assembly at around 2 p.m. Under South Korean law, a voting session may convene 24 hours after the motion is tabled, and must

Dec. 13, 2024