Police unlikely to seek charges against safety minister, Seoul mayor

The floor leader of the main opposition Democratic Party on Wednesday threatened to impeach the interior minister over the Itaewon crowd crush should the minister continue to refuse to voluntarily resign. The DP has called on President Yoon Suk-yeol to fire Interior Minister Lee Sang-min, railroading a dismissal motion against Lee in December to hold him responsible for the Oct. 29 tragedy that has killed 159 people. The presidential office said the motion, which is not legally binding, should b

Population committee chief and ruling party chief contender Na calls for open immigration policy to tackle Korea's low birth rate

The office of President Yoon Suk-yeol said Tuesday that South Korea and the United States are in talks over sharing information and jointly implementing plans involving US nuclear assets, after US President Joe Biden denied the allies were discussing joint nuclear exercises. Yoon said in a recent newspaper interview that the two sides were in talks over joint planning and exercises involving US nuclear assets to counter North Korea's nuclear threats. When asked by a reporter at the White House o

BUSAN/YANGSAN, South Gyeongsang Province -- In one of his first steps in the new year, Democratic Party of Korea chair Rep. Lee Jae-myung on Monday visited the residence of former President Moon Jae-in, skipping President Yoon Suk-yeol’s New Year event held on the same day. Monday’s meeting took place behind closed doors, with at least hundreds of meters from the vicinity of the ex-president’s residence barricaded, barring access to dozens of reporters who were there. Lee left

President meets key political figures except for opposition leader who declined to attend

Prime Minister Han Duck-soo said Monday the government will keep up the pace of labor, education and pension reforms this year, in an effort to increase productivity and revive the economy. "We will carry out in earnest the three major reforms of labor, education and pension, and the three major innovations of the finance, service and public sectors," Han told the government's kick-off ceremony for the new year. "In particular, labor reform will succeed without fail," Ha

President Yoon Suk-yeol's approval rating fell for the first time in three weeks following the intrusion of North Korean drones into South Korea's airspace last week, a poll showed Monday. In the poll of 2,511 voters conducted by Realmeter from Monday to Friday last week, 40 percent positively assessed Yoon's job performance, down 1.2 percentage points from the previous week. Yoon's disapproval rating was 57.2 percent, up 0.6 percentage point. The fall could be attributable t

President uses New Year address to call for labor, education, pension reforms for long-term prosperity

Former President Lee Myung-bak returned home from hospital Friday, after being granted a special pardon by President Yoon Suk-yeol on Tuesday. Speaking in front of his residence in Nonhyeon-dong in Gangnam, Lee said national unity was needed to overcome the global crisis and for South Korea to become a good country. “People have suffered from COVID-19 for the past three years, and I would like to express my comfort. For South Korea to over the global crisis, we need everyone to pull togeth

Efforts to live up to being global player will be hallmark of Yoon’s presidency

A special delegation led by the ruling People Power Party’s interim chief, Chung Jin-suk, will attend the inauguration ceremony of Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on Jan. 1, the presidential office said Wednesday. Chung will deliver a letter from President Yoon Suk-yeol expressing his expectation to “work closely with the new Brazilian government to further deepen and develop the comprehensive cooperative partnership” between the two countries. Elected for the thi

President Yoon Suk-yeol berated Defense Minister Lee Jong-sup over the military's failed operation against five North Korean drones that entered South Korean airspace earlier this week, officials said Wednesday. Yoon met with Lee on Tuesday morning and was briefed on the military's response to the North's violation of South Korean airspace the previous day. The drones flew across the Military Demarcation Line separating the two Koreas, with one flying over northern parts of Seoul, but the South

Minister of Interior and Safety Lee Sang-min said “the golden hour had already past” in explanation of his tardy arrival at the scene of the fatal crowd crush in Seoul’s Itaewon on Oct. 29. His remarks came during Tuesday’s parliamentary questioning of Cabinet ministers, police chiefs and other heads of institutions as part of the National Assembly probe into the Halloween disaster that killed 158 people. “It was already late,” the safety minister replied to R

President Yoon Suk-yeol on Tuesday granted special pardons to 1,373 people ahead of the upcoming New Year, including former President Lee Myung-bak and several key political aides to both of his conservative and liberal predecessors, calling the decision an opportunity to "clear up the past” and "unite" the power of the nation. Among the list, former South Gyeongsang Province Gov. Kim Kyung-soo was included but without reinstatement. A reinstatement would allow him to wo