In the sweltering heat of South Korean summers, even the most powerful figures in Korea -- its presidents -- yearn for summer respite. Delve into the history of presidential summer vacations, their reading rituals that give the public a sneak peek into their minds and the seemingly unbreakable jinx of interrupted summer breaks. Obligatory reading list South Korean presidents like to reveal their summer reading lists, and their book picks often become bestsellers for the season. From these summ

Politics Aug. 12, 2023

Over 40,000 young scouts have gathered at a stadium in western Seoul for a K-pop concert, marking the conclusion of this year's World Scout Jamboree, which encountered difficulties due to a heat wave, a tropical storm and insufficient preparations. The closing ceremony is set to commence at 5:30 p.m., before a K-Pop show from 7-9 p.m. The Jamboree campground was abandoned as Typhoon Khanun approached the site, which had already struggled to cope with a scorching heat wave and insufficient amenit

Politics Aug. 11, 2023

The daughter of Cho Kuk, who served as justice minister for former President Moon Jae-in of the Democratic Party of Korea, was indicted on Thursday in the college admissions scandal that jailed her mother, Chung Kyung-shim. According to the prosecution, the former minister’s daughter Cho Min colluded with her mother in fabricating her own credentials as she applied for a medical school in Busan. Following the news of her indictment, Cho’s daughter said in a social statement on this d

Politics Aug. 10, 2023

South Korea’s major public housing corporation is facing multiple probes into its residential buildings found to be missing steel reinforcement that is needed to yield higher strength and protect against corrosion. After the safety violations surfaced, the ruling People Power Party and the Yoon Suk Yeol administration vowed a crackdown on unsafe or illegal building practices in the construction industry. The ruling party lawmakers on Tuesday visited an apartment building in Gyeonggi Provin

Politics Aug. 8, 2023

South Korea, terrorized by a series of stabbing sprees all over the country in the past month, is pondering if its police need more liberty in deploying force when confronting a suspect. Earlier this month President Yoon Suk Yeol said that the country’s “entire police force would be mobilized” to prevent the recurrence of stabbing attacks at random. But police officers on the front lines complain they are being held liable for use of force even when judged to be necessary on th

Politics Aug. 6, 2023

South Korea’s main opposition party on Thursday apologized after a lawmaker and key official suggested older people are not as deserving of the right to vote on decisions about the future. Kim Eun-kyung, who heads the Democratic Party of Korea’s reform committee, visited the office of the senior citizens’ association in Seoul’s central Yongsan district and apologized for saying earlier that older people’s votes should not count as much as votes from younger people.

Politics Aug. 3, 2023

When parties are competing for public approval, the outcome is usually rushed bills that backfire with unintended consequences once they take effect as law, according to Je Bang-hoon, a legislative aide of more than 15 years. “All bills, whether introduced by a lawmaker or submitted by a ministry, come to the Assembly to be considered. Lawmakers author and sign bills, all of whose process is prepared and assisted by aides like myself,” he said in an interview with The Korea Herald.

Politics Aug. 2, 2023

South Korean Rep. Ji Seong-ho, who fled North Korea in 2006, proposed a bill that protects North Korean escapees from having their cash assistance taken away by “brokers.” The bill, which seeks an amendment to the existing laws on the protection and resettlement of North Korean escapees, would allow them to open bank accounts for cash assistance that cannot be seized by a third party. The South Korean government has been providing financial assistance to people on basic income suppor

Politics July 31, 2023

The older brother of Lee Dae-jun, a fisheries official killed by North Korean troops at sea in September 2020, is on a two-day trip to Japan from Friday to meet with families of Japanese who were abducted by North Korea. The brother, Lee Rae-jin, told The Korea Herald on Friday that he hoped the meeting with Japanese families would be a new opportunity for a joint response to human rights violations perpetrated by North Korea. “In Korea and Japan the pain the families (of victims) shares i

Politics July 28, 2023

An official inquiry concluded on Friday that the flooding in an underpass that led to 14 deaths earlier this month was a preventable tragedy. The Office for Government Policy Coordination in a press briefing said its 10-day inquiry found a failure to respond to the flooding across the police and fire departments as well as the respective municipal offices. The underpass in Osong, a city near the government complex in North Chungcheong Province, was completely submerged in the morning of July 15

Politics July 28, 2023

South Korea’s National Intelligence Service believes the mobile device pictured next to North Korean leader Kim Jong-un earlier this month is likely a Chinese product, according to the state agency’s assessment obtained by the National Assembly on Thursday. In its assessment, the NIS said the foldable smartphone is believed to be a Chinese product smuggled in by rail after the cross-border freight train operations between North Korea and China resumed in September last year. The NIS

Politics July 27, 2023

[코리아헤럴드=김아린 기자] 김정은 북한 국무위원장이 소지한 것으로 보이는 ‘폴더블폰’은 중국산 제품으로 추정된다는 국가정보원의 평가가 나왔다. 27일 국회에 제출된 자료에 따르면, 국정원은 지난 12일 ‘화성-18형’ 시험발사 시찰 현장에서 포착된 폴더블폰이 철도편으로 밀수입된 중국 제품일 가능성이 있다고 보고, 상세한 반입 경로를 추적 중이다. 북한은 작년 8월 방역전 승리를 선포한 뒤, 150일여만인 9월부터 북중 화물열차 운행을 재개했다. 〈원문 기사〉 Foldable smartphone pictured with Kim Jong-un likely Chinese product: NIS South Korea’s National Intelligence Service believes the mobile device pictured next to North Korean leader Kim Jong-un earlier this mon

한국어판 July 27, 2023

People Power Party lawmakers on Thursday asked the Democratic Party of Korea to apologize after a former aide for one of its lawmakers, Rep. Sul Hoon, came under investigation over suspicion of leaking secrets obtained through the Assembly office. The former Democratic Party aide, who worked for Sul for nearly three years until March, is being investigated by the National Intelligence Service on suspicion of using the security clearance granted to some Assembly staff to access and leak classifie

Politics July 27, 2023

The recent suicide of a newly employed teacher, who is believed to have suffered from bullying by parents as well as overwork, has sparked a dialogue in Korea to come up with policies to respond to the widespread bullying of teachers in public schools. Leading officials from the ruling People Power Party met with Minister of Education Lee Ju-ho on Wednesday to discuss measures to protect teachers from harassment and violence perpetrated by both parents and students. “At our public schools,

Politics July 26, 2023

Recent statements by Kim Yo-jong, the sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, referring to South Korea by its official name, the Republic of Korea, show a “clear intention to be offensive,” according to South Korean national intelligence authorities. In a series of statements issued earlier this month, Kim Yo-jong referred to South Korea as the Republic of Korea, in a rare move which some -- including defector-turned-lawmaker Rep. Tae Yong-ho -- have interpreted as North Korea rec

Politics July 25, 2023