Articles by Son Ji-hyoung
Son Ji-hyoung
consnow@heraldcorp.com-
Yoon's approval rating sinks to all-time low following election loss
President Yoon Suk Yeol's job approval rating hit an all-time low in the third week of April, as the ruling bloc reels from the repercussions of massive losses in the April 10 general election, a poll showed Thursday. Yoon's approval rating came to just 27 percent, the lowest since Yoon took office in May 2022, according to a poll conducted by the National Barometer Survey. The previous low was 28 percent in the second week of August 2022. The president's popularity plunged by 1
Politics April 18, 2024
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Yoon's office denies considering liberal figures for key posts
The presidential office on Wednesday denied rumors that President Yoon Suk Yeol, in his search for candidates for a new prime minister and key aides, reached out to liberal figures who formerly worked for his predecessor Moon Jae-in. The presidential office "has not considered any plans to hire former SMEs and Startups Minister Park Young-sun or Yang Jung-chul, former head of the Institute for Democracy," it said in a statement Wednesday. The Institute for Democracy is the main opposit
Politics April 17, 2024
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Yoon sorry for shortcomings but insists policies were right
President Yoon Suk Yeol said he and his administration will humbly accept the result of last week's general election, which renewed the main opposition's firm grip over the National Assembly for the next four years, stressing that he sees it as a reflection of public sentiment. "I will take heed of the public sentiment and communicate more with people with humility and flexibility," Yoon said in a Cabinet meeting held in his office in Seoul, with his opening remarks televised
Politics April 16, 2024
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Yoon flounders after election defeat
The main opposition party's attack on President Yoon Suk Yeol intensified on Monday, while his approval rating took the biggest weekly plunge since July 2022 in the wake of a crushing election defeat. With the 21st session of the National Assembly set to end its four-year lifetime in about 1 1/2 months, the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea doubled down on the besieged Yoon administration's political vulnerability. The party demanded that the National Assembly pass a bill calli
Politics April 15, 2024
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Seoul, London to co-host summit to discuss potential of AI in innovation, inclusion
South Korea and the United Kingdom will jointly host a summit in Seoul in May to discuss artificial intelligence technology's potential to achieve innovation and inclusion at an international level, and its safe development, the presidential office said Friday. The hybrid event "AI Seoul Summit" is scheduled to take place from May 21-22. On day one, leaders will hold virtual discussion sessions co-chaired by President Yoon Suk Yeol and UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. The next day,
Politics April 12, 2024
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Medical standoff enters 2nd stage after election, failed dialogue
The two-month medical standoff between the Yoon Suk Yeol administration and medical circles will likely enter its second stage, amid no signs of initiating talks over the government's medical school admission plan and the looming medical crisis following defiant doctors' mass resignations. The ruling bloc's crushing defeat in Wednesday's general election was a testament that voters "had brought judgment" to the ruling bloc, which pushed to increase the medical school admission quota be
Politics April 12, 2024
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Yoon's aides, PM offer to resign over election defeat
President Yoon Suk Yeol's aides and Prime Minister Han Duck-soo offered to step down from their posts, as the vote count on Thursday showed that the ruling conservative bloc took a landslide defeat in Wednesday's parliamentary elections. According to a source from the presidential office who declined to be named, Prime Minister Han "verbally expressed his intention to resign" to Yoon. Key aides who directly report to Yoon -- Chief of Staff Lee Kwan-sup and Director of National Policy S
Politics April 11, 2024
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Opposition parties expand Assembly dominance
Opposition parties secured a total of 192 seats in the 300-member National Assembly in the general election Wednesday, expanding their dominance in the parliament and threatening to constrain the ability of South Korea's conservative president to pursue his policy drive. The ruling bloc managed to defend the 100-seat threshold that could otherwise have deprived President Yoon Suk Yeol of his veto power, a vote count showed Thursday morning. It was a third victory in a row for the center-left, wh
Politics April 11, 2024
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Opposition wins by landslide
South Korea’s liberal main opposition party and its allies clinched a sweeping victory in Wednesday’s general election, an outcome which is expected to further frustrate President Yoon Suk Yeol’s pursuit of key initiatives over his remaining three years in office. With only six proportional representation seats left to be assigned, the Democratic Party of Korea and its satellite Minjoo Union Party had secured 172 seats in the single-chamber, 300-member National Assembly, accord
Politics April 10, 2024
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Yoon likely to face post-election political attacks
President Yoon Suk Yeol's fate was hanging in the balance as Koreans went to the polls Wednesday, The exit poll and the early ballot counting of the legislative general election suggested a gloomy outlook for the ruling bloc, which could send the conservative president into an early lame-duck phase, with three years remaining in his term. The exit poll suggested that opposition parties could secure two-thirds or more of the seats in the 300-member National Assembly, which would grant them enough
Politics April 10, 2024
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First lady remains out of public view on Election Day, inviting attacks
South Korea's controversy-ridden first lady, Kim Keon Hee, reportedly cast her vote unbeknownst to the public or apparently the presidential office, raising questions and drawing attacks from President Yoon Suk Yeol's political opponents. Liberal YouTube channel "Park Yeol TV" revealed in a post in the channel's community section on Tuesday that Kim had voted during early voting on Friday at a polling station in Itaewon 1-dong of Yongsan-gu, Seoul, which is near the presidential
Politics April 10, 2024
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Seoul rolls out W9.4tr package to bolster AI chips
President Yoon Suk Yeol on Tuesday rolled out a massive spending package to nurture the domestic chip industry and bolster artificial intelligence technology deployment through the AI-Chip Initiative. By 2027, Seoul will spend 9.4 trillion won ($6.94 billion) on AI chips, which are chips sophisticated enough to perform AI tasks and those that use AI technology to achieve greater power efficiency. The country will also introduce a new 1.4 trillion-won fund to spur the development of innovative te
Politics April 9, 2024
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S. Korea's housing market stabilizing, Yoon says
President Yoon Suk Yeol on Monday touted his administration's policy efforts as the reason behind the recent signs of the housing market stabilizing. Yoon said his conservative administration will spare no efforts to further stabilize the housing market, as the interest rate and the cost of construction remain high, posing hurdles for the housing supply in Seoul, which is suffering a shortage of affordable housing for prospective homeowners. "Now is the (optimal) time to normalize the housi
Politics April 8, 2024
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[KH Explains] Political leeks: Scallions become election attack line
The green onion, a beloved vegetable among South Koreans, has unexpectedly become the latest political weapon for opposition parties to attack President Yoon Suk Yeol and the ruling party. It all started with Yoon's visit to a hypermarket in southern Seoul on March 18, just before he rolled out measures to tame food prices in the country. There, Yoon noticed that a bundle of green onions weighing 1 kilogram was selling for 875 won ($0.65), significantly lower than the usual price of between
Politics April 7, 2024
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[Election 2024] Will S. Korea's political regionalism crumble?
South Korean politics has long been marked by a sharp east-west divide in its southern regions. In the southeast, Daegu, Busan, Ulsan and the Gyeongsang Provinces have been a conservative stronghold for decades, while the country’s southwest, including Gwangju and the Jeolla Provinces, has been a bastion for the left wing. In the 2020 legislative election, the center-left won in 27 out of 28 seats in Korea's southwest, while the conservatives won 56 out of 65 constituencies in the sou
Politics April 7, 2024
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