South Korean voters headed to the polls Wednesday for the country's 22nd parliamentary elections, as the country's political landscape continues to experience a deepening divide and increasing tensions. The outcome of the latest elections was expected to shape the policy road President Yoon Suk Yeol will walk for his remaining three years in office. The possible scenario of the liberal main opposition party maintaining a majority in the single-chamber, 300-member National Assembly was projected

Politics April 10, 2024

South Korea is poised to confront a pivotal moment Wednesday as much of the nation prepares to cast their votes for 300 new members of the National Assembly, in an election that will not only shape the political landscape of the country for the next four years but also serve as a crucial test for the president, who is currently a conservative. On the eve of the quadrennial Election Day, the rival parties fanned out to critical battleground districts Tuesday, making last-minute efforts to woo v

Politics April 9, 2024

Watching "Saturday Night Live Korea" on his laptop with a bowl of popcorn is how 33-year-old office worker Im Tae-ho unwinds after work. "I love that political satire sketches on 'SNL Korea' have returned stronger than ever this season," Im told The Korea Herald. "I feel like 'SNL Korea' is the only comedy show that dares to poke fun at politicians so brazenly in Korea. It's the only show that does political satire the right way," he added.

Politics April 8, 2024

More than 6.91 million South Korean voters headed to the polls as of 6 p.m. Friday to cast their ballots on the first day of the early voting for next week’s parliamentary election. Some 15.61 percent of all 44.28 million eligible voters here had cast their votes at a total of 3,565 polling stations across the country as of 6 p.m., according to the National Election Commission. The figure marked the highest turnout for a legislative election on the first day of early voting for the cited t

Politics April 5, 2024

Bae Yu-jin, a 33-year-old office worker in Seoul, has made several plans for April 10, when the nation’s 22nd legislative election is set to take place. But heading to the polls is not one of them. “I’m going to Daegu with my friend to blow off some steam,” Bae told The Korea Herald on Thursday. “I don’t think I’m going to vote this year. The past few months have been full of fighting and criticizing (between the two rival parties), and I don’t tru

Politics April 4, 2024

Overseas voter turnout for the April 10 general election hit an all-time high of 62.8 percent, but experts on Wednesday were divided as to whether the number will play a significant role in determining the fate of the South Korean legislative body. The state watchdog National Election Commission said in tentative data released Tuesday that 92,923 of an estimated 148,000 eligible overseas voters had cast their ballots for the upcoming election. Polls were open for a total of six days, from March

Politics April 3, 2024

Several candidates running for the April 10 general election have rolled out pledges to attract votes from pet owners in recent weeks, including tax benefits and setting up pet-friendly systems and facilities. Main opposition Democratic Party of Korea Rep. Kim Byung-wook, who is running for the Bundang-B constituency -- one of the two constituencies in the Bundang district located in Seoul's satellite city of Seongnam -- sees pet owners as key voters. Kim pledged to build a budget pet hotel

Politics April 2, 2024

  Over 45 percent of South Korea's voters are leaning towards supporting candidates from the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea in the upcoming April 10 general election, to keep the Yoon Suk Yeol government in check. The results of a poll conducted by Jowon C&I, commissioned by The Korea Herald and Herald Business from Mar. 25 to 27, indicate a positive trend for the Democratic Party on Sunday. Out of the total of 4,041 respondents aged 18 or older, 45.1 percent responded that &

Politics March 31, 2024

On a rainy Monday afternoon in Dongjak-gu, southwestern Seoul, four-term lawmaker and star politician Na Kyung-won stepped inside the underground Sadang Station around 5:50 p.m. to greet tired commuters returning home from work. Faces of several Dongjak-gu residents who spotted the 60-year-old former judge-turned-politician lit up as they approached her to shake hands. Some even took photos with her, acting like excited fans who finally met their rock star. Greeting commuters returning from wo

Politics March 27, 2024

The ruling party interim leader pledged Wednesday to relocate the National Assembly to the administrative city of Sejong to balance out the political power currently concentrated in the nation’s capital. Han Dong-hoon, the interim chief of the People Power Party, revealed plans to push for “complete relocation of the National Assembly to Sejong to end an era of Yeouido politics,” in a press conference held some two weeks ahead of the April 10 legislative election. Yeouido, an

Politics March 27, 2024

The New Reform Party, a "big tent” aimed at capturing voters disaffected with the main two parties, has been rattled by another round of internal rift ahead of the April 10 legislative election. The party’s Floor Leader Rep. Yang Hyang-ja on late Thursday pledged to continue supporting the New Reform Party, two days after she hinted at leaving. Yang had expressed disagreement with the list of candidates selected by the other leadership members for the upcoming election, and was

Politics March 22, 2024

A human rights lawyer who was nominated by the main opposition party to run as a candidate in the upcoming legislative election decided to withdraw her bid on Thursday, facing mounting criticism that she has provided legal defense to multiple convicted sexual offenders, including a child rapist. Cho Soo-jin announced she would not run in the April 10 general election through a Facebook post merely three days after she won a primary against two-term lawmaker Rep. Park Yong-jin in a key district i

Politics March 22, 2024

South Korea’s Ambassador to Australia and ex-Defense Minister Lee Jong-sup returned home Thursday as the rival parties here called for a tougher investigation into his alleged manipulation of a military probe into the death of a young marine last year. Lee landed in Korea via Incheon International Airport in the morning, 11 days after he flew to Australia to assume his role as top envoy to Australia. The departure on March 10 came two days after the Justice Ministry lifted Lee’s trav

Politics March 21, 2024

The Yoon Suk Yeol administration on Wednesday announced the regional allocation for 2,000 new slots for students at medical schools across the country, finalizing administrative procedures for the plan it has pushed for months, despite doctors staging a large-scale walkout. Prime Minister Han Duck-soo reaffirmed that the government’s plan, which was announced in February, fell in line with the Ministry of Education’s decision to allot 82 percent of the quota to medical schools outsid

Social Affairs March 20, 2024

A satellite of the ruling party and another launched by former Prime Minister Lee Nak-yon on Monday announced their list of candidates for the upcoming general election on April 10. The candidates will be vying for National Assembly seats through proportional representation under the current voting system. The People Future Party announced a total of 35 candidates, including Choi Bo-yun, a 45-year-old attorney with a spinal cord disability, and Park Chung-kwon, a 38-year-old North Korean defecto

Politics March 18, 2024