Seoul to work with US to uphold 15% tariff rate: Cheong Wa Dae

South Korea said Friday it would continue consultations with the Trump administration to ensure that new US tariffs imposed under Section 301 of the Trade Act do not push the tariffs on Korean goods above the 15 percent agreed upon by the two countries last year. “South Korea and the United States share the understanding that the tariff agreement should be honored,” a Cheong Wa Dae official said on condition of anonymity. “We plan to consult closely with the US side to ensure that the 15 percent

2026-07-24 11:01:15:00

Lee pledges to confront housing bubble, even at ‘political cost’

President Lee Jae Myung pledged to push ahead with housing policy reforms despite expected “conflict and resistance” and even at a “political cost,” warning that without urgent action, a property bubble could plunge South Korea into decades of economic stagnation. Speaking at a 195-minute, live-broadcast policy forum Thursday, Lee weighed changes to property holding and capital gains taxes and mortgage lending rules as his government moves to overhaul real estate policy to curb speculative deman

2026-07-23 11:10:18:00

Lee takes Korea’s AI ambitions to Silicon Valley

President Lee Jae Myung will meet four titans of the US artificial intelligence industry and convene an AI summit in San Francisco, seeking investment and partnerships to turn South Korea’s three flagship megaprojects into tangible results. Lee will hold separate meetings Friday with Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang and Broadcom President and CEO Hock Tan, presidential policy chief Kim Yong-beom said at a press briefing Wednesday. “President Lee aims to

2026-07-22 18:18:00:00

Universal access to healthcare key to provincial revival: Lee

President Lee Jae Myung on Wednesday cast easy access to quality healthcare as a prerequisite for narrowing regional disparities in access to medical services and reviving South Korea's quieter regions. Presiding over a meeting at Cheong Wa Dae, he called for a stronger government role in reversing the concentration of patients and medical resources in the Seoul metropolitan area. “Both demand and supply are concentrated in one place. We must find a way to address this problem, and I believe the

2026-07-22 15:17:55:00

Seoul says no US request to deploy warship to Strait of Hormuz

South Korea’s presidential office said Wednesday that the United States had made no new request for Seoul to deploy a warship to the Strait of Hormuz, while reaffirming its commitment to make a “substantive contribution” to ensuring freedom of navigation through the waterway. The clarification came after local daily Dong-A Ilbo reported earlier Wednesday that the Trump administration had recently asked South Korea to contribute assets, including a warship, amid renewed hostilities with Iran. The

2026-07-22 14:53:49:00

Lee says Gwangju fab not in scope of labor dispute

President Lee Jae Myung rejected the Samsung Electronics labor union’s claim that the company’s decision to build a semiconductor plant in Gwangju should be subject to a labor dispute, directing the Labor Ministry to define clear boundaries for such disputes. Lee raised the issue, which wasn’t on the official agenda, near the end of the live-broadcast portion of the weekly Cabinet meeting on Tuesday. Though the president did not directly name the company, his remarks came after Samsung Electroni

2026-07-21 14:35:20:00

Assembly still idle 50 days into new session as contentious bills queue up

The National Assembly has still not resumed normal operations nearly seven weeks into its new session, as rival parties remain deadlocked over the allocation of committee chairs. The Assembly cannot carry out its legislative and oversight functions until all committee chairs are selected. Even if the impasse breaks, the rival parties will plunge into a series of high-stakes battles over prosecution reform, special counsel investigations into the former president and first lady, and a proposed sp

2026-07-19 14:10:29:00

Lee urges DP to reconsider candidate deposit hike for leadership race

President Lee Jae Myung on Sunday called on the ruling Democratic Party of Korea to reconsider its decision to raise candidate registration deposits for its upcoming leadership election, saying the move could undermine equal access to politics. The remarks came after the Democratic Party raised the registration deposits for candidates running for party chair and Supreme Council seats in its Aug. 17 leadership election, drawing criticism that the higher deposits would make it harder for younger a

2026-07-19 14:03:22:00

France, Korea to deepen strategic solidarity, envoy says on Bastille Day

France and South Korea are moving to deepen their “strategic solidarity” as wars in Europe and the Middle East expose how closely their security and economic interests have become intertwined, French Ambassador to Korea Philippe Bertoux said Tuesday. Speaking at a Bastille Day reception in Seoul, Bertoux portrayed bilateral relations as entering a more consequential phase, extending beyond traditional diplomacy and trade to encompass military security, vulnerable shipping routes and emerging tec

2026-07-15 15:52:56:00

Lee calls for AI-led fight against fake news, bigger role for Data Ministry

President Lee Jae Myung on Wednesday urged the country's data agency to serve as the nation's chief data officer, or CDO, while calling for broader use of artificial intelligence to identify and counter fake news and misinformation. Lee also floated the idea of elevating the status of the Ministry of Data and Statistics from the current vice ministerial level to a ministerial-level agency while convening the first session of a second round of briefings from all ministries and government agencies

2026-07-15 15:22:27:00