A special parliamentary ethics committee is set to review two motions calling for disciplinary action against Rep. Kim Nam-kuk over dubious cryptocurrency transactions, yet it is unlikely the embattled lawmaker will be unseated. Kim left the main opposition Democratic Party to become an independent after it was revealed he owns a significant amount of coins, raising concerns about conflicts of interest and the source of the funds. Amid growing criticism that he is attempting to evade responsibil

The following is the text version of the address given by Justin Trudeau to South Korea’s National Assembly on Wednesday, transcribed and copyedited by The Korea Herald. -- Ed. Hello everyone. Annyeonghaseyo (“Hello” in Korean). Gamsahabnida (“Thank you”). I want to begin by thanking the speaker of the National Assembly, Kim Jin-pyo, and the secretary general of the National Assembly, Lee Kwang-jae, for their warm welcome. All esteemed members, it is an honor for me

As the COVID-19 health emergency is due to expire in South Korea, so are the remote medical service policy put in place to allow people access to health care amid physical distancing restrictions. The Ministry of Health and Welfare said Wednesday it was working on a plan to keep such remote care options available beyond the end of the pandemic's emergency status at the start of next month. According to the statistics provided by the ministry, a total of over 14 million people received care

A group of nurses said Wednesday that they will refuse to carry out doctors' orders for medical procedures that are illegal for them to proceed with, such as prescribing medication, performing surgery and collecting blood samples, in response to President Yoon Suk Yeol's veto of the Nursing Act. Announcing their first collective action since his rejection of the legislation, the Korean Nurses Association said they will also not follow doctors' orders to conduct ultrasound and elec

Prime minister says Seoul, Ottawa “need to be very best of friends”

The main opposition Democratic Party decided Wednesday to refer Rep. Kim Nam-kuk, a former party member, to the parliamentary ethics committee over his dubious cryptocurrency dealings. Kim departed from the DP earlier this week after revelations that he owned a significant amount of coins, fueling questions about the source of the funds and whether the independent lawmaker had access to insider information. DP leader Lee Jae-myung and other members of the party's leadership reached the decision

Proposed Bill: Partial Amendment to the Road Traffic Act Proposed by Rep. Kim Gi-hyeon (People Power Party) ● Although the number of driving under the influence cases has decreased throughout the past five years, the recidivism rate remains high in around 40 percent. As drunk driving tends to be habitual, the public has been demanding an effective system that preemptively prevents drunk driving. The US, Canada, Australia and other countries have adopted systems that require DUI offenders to inst

South Korean politicians on Tuesday launched a complete investigation of the virtual asset holdings of all National Assembly lawmakers amid a widening scandal involving their alleged murky possession or transfers of cryptocurrencies. The floor leaders of the ruling People Power Party and the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea are in talks to have each lawmaker voluntarily disclose of their current crypto asset holdings immediately regardless of the lack of mandatory disclosure rules, Re

Exercising his 2nd veto, Yoon says the bill exacerbates conflict; nurses vow to take collective action

Prosecutors raided two of South Korea's local cryptocurrency exchanges Monday as part of an investigation into the snowballing suspicions surrounding opposition lawmaker Kim Nam-kuk's digital assets, officials said. A team of investigators from the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors Office seized transaction records and other materials from Upbit and Bithumb, they said. The move came as Rep. Kim has come under fire following revelations he owned around 800,000 Wemix coins in 2021, wor

Eyes are on President Yoon Suk Yeol’s upcoming diplomatic engagements, with some speculating how the coming weeks could influence his still-low popularity at home, which has seen improvement since summits with the US and Japanese leaders. The five-day Realmeter poll conducted from May 8-12 found that 36.8 percent of Koreans approve of Yoon’s job performance -- a steady rise from three weeks ago, when the figure stood at 32.6 percent in the same weekly poll. In the last week of April,

The ruling People Power Party said Monday it plans to launch an internal task force to look into suspicions surrounding cryptocurrency dealings of opposition lawmaker Kim Nam-kuk. Kim has come under fire following revelations he owned around 800,000 Wemix coins in 2021, worth around 6 billion won ($4.5 million), a significant amount inconsistent with his frugal image. Suspicions have arisen over where the money came from and whether he used insider information. The first-term lawmaker of the mai

Investigators have identified two suspects who allegedly desecrated the grave site of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea's leader Lee Jae-myung’s parents, said officials at the North Gyeongsang Provincial Police on Sunday. The two male suspects, aged 83 and 70, are accused of digging holes around the grave in Bonghwa-gun, North Gyeongsang Province and burying six stones painted with some Chinese characters in them. The 83-year-old is said to be known for his expertise in fe

Rep. Kim Nam-kuk of the main opposition Democratic Party said Sunday he will leave the party amid snowballing allegations of his involvement in massive cryptocurrency dealings. "Today, I am briefly leaving the Democratic Party that I love," he wrote on his Facebook page. "I decided that it would not be right to be a burden to the party and party members any longer." Kim has come under fire following revelations he owned around 800,000 Wemix coins in 2021, worth around 6 billi

The main opposition Democratic Party on Saturday urged the government to withdraw its plan to send an inspection team to Japan to assess Tokyo's plan to discharge radioactive water from the crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant, saying it would only "give justification" to Japan's plan. Rep. Park Sung-joon, the Democratic Party's spokesperson, said the Japanese government has no plan to allow the Seoul delegation to inspect the safety of the release and will go ahead wi