People Power Party eyes another win in 2024 parliamentary elections

President promises to put all efforts on reviving economy

Among the few consolation prizes for Democratic Party of Korea’s bitter loss in Wednesday’s local elections was the resounding victory won by its candidate Oh Young-hun in the race for the Jeju governor’s office. Born and raised in the southern resort island, the 53-year-old politician was the first Democratic Party candidate to be elected Jeju governor in 20 years. Woo Keun-min in 2002 was elected on the ticket of the Democratic Party’s forerunner, the Millennium Democr

Conservative bloc clinches 12 out of 17 metropolitan mayoral and provincial gubernatorial elections

South Korea's new coronavirus cases fell below 10,000 on Thursday due to fewer tests being conducted amid the previous day's local elections. The country added 9,898 COVID-19 infections, including 32 cases from overseas, bringing the total caseload to 18,129,313, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said. Daily infections have shown a downward trend after posting an all-time high of over 620,000 in mid-March. The death toll came to 24,212, up 15 from Wednesday, with t

MIRYANG -- Dozens of firefighting helicopters battled to bring a wildfire in the southeastern city of Miryang under control Thursday, as the blaze continued for the third day, scorching nearly 650 hectares of woodland, authorities said. The fire that broke out on a hill in Miryang, around 280 kilometers southeast of Seoul, early Tuesday, is continuing to spread rapidly, driven by strong winds and a dry spell. Forestry and firefighting authorities dispatched 53 helicopters to resume their firefig

South Korea and the Philippines will sign an arrangement later this week to strengthen support for each other's Korean War veterans and exchanges among their descendants, Seoul's veterans affairs ministry said Thursday. Veterans Affairs Minister Park Min-shik and senior Philippine officials, including Defense Secretary Delfin N. Lorenzana and Veterans Affairs Office Administrator Ernesto G. Carolina, are set to join the signing ceremony on Friday. During the 1950-53 war, the Philippine

President Yoon Suk-yeol said Thursday he takes the results of the local elections as a call from the people to revive the economy and improve their livelihoods. Yoon issued the statement through his spokesperson as the results of Wednesday's local elections and parliamentary by-elections were being finalized, with the ruling People Power Party securing 12 of the 17 key mayoral and gubernatorial races. "I thank the people as the local elections ended smoothly through mature civic awaren

North Korea reported over 96,000 new fever cases Thursday, with the daily tally remaining under 100,000 for the third consecutive day. More than 96,610 people showed symptoms of fever over a 24-hour period until 6 p.m. the previous day, the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said, citing data from the state emergency epidemic prevention headquarters. It provided no further information regarding additional deaths. The total number of fever cases since late April came to over 3.83 million

WASHINGTON -- Special US envoy for North Korea Sung Kim will visit South Korea this week for talks with his South Korean and Japanese counterparts on ways to deal with Pyongyang's recent missile launches and also help the impoverished country deal with COVID-19, the state department said Wednesday. Kim will make a three-day visit to Seoul from Thursday for talks with South Korea's Kim Gunn and Takehiro Funakoshi of Japan, according to the department. "Together they will discuss a

WASHINGTON -- US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Wednesday urged China to work with the US and the rest of the international community insisting that China can play a major role when it comes to global issues such as climate change and North Korea. His remarks come less than a week after China and Russia blocked a US-proposed UN Security Council resolution seeking to impose fresh UN sanctions on North Korea for its recent missile provocations. "China has a tremendous ability to use its

Counted ballots show People Power Party likely to win up to all but 4 regions

The ruling People Power Party was expected to score a major victory over the main opposition Democratic Party in the local elections Wednesday, taking mayorships in the country’s two largest cities, Seoul and Busan, according to an exit poll released by the country’s three major broadcasters, KBS, MBC and SBS. In Seoul, the People Power Party’s Mayor Oh Se-hoon showed a two-digit gap over the opposition’s Song Young-gil in the exit poll. According to exit polls released

Seoul’s education chief, Cho Hee-yeon, appeared likely to extend his term for a third time, with exit polls for Wednesday’s local elections showing him attracting 38.6 percent of the vote. The exit polls, conducted by terrestrial broadcasters KBS, MBC and SBS, had the liberal-leaning candidate snatching a victory against conservative-leaning opponents who had failed to merge their campaigns and bring together their supporter base. The runner-up in the exit polls was Cho Jun-hyuk, w

South Jeolla Province recorded the highest turnout in Wednesday’s local elections, data showed. According to the National Election Commission’s data, voter turnout in the region came to 58.5 percent, the highest among the 17 metropolitan cities and provinces, as of 8 p.m. The lowest turnout was recorded in Gwangju, at 37.7 percent.　 Overall voter turnout marked just 50.6 percent, the lowest recorded since the 2002 local election.