President Yoon Suk-yeol's approval rating rose to 41.1 percent, breaking through the 40 percent threshold for the first time since June, a poll showed Monday. The positive assessment of Yoon's performance added 2.7 percentage points from the previous week, while the negative assessment slipped 2 percentage points to 56.8 percent, according to the Realmeter survey of 2,509 people aged 18 and older from Monday to Friday last week. It marked the first time in 24 weeks that Yoon's app

President Yoon Suk-yeol named Jee Young-mee, CEO of Institut Pasteur Korea, to lead the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, the presidential office said Friday. Jee replaces incumbent chief Peck Kyong-ran, who offered to resign earlier in the day. The newly tapped commissioner of the public health agency is a veteran of infectious diseases with more than 20 years of experience in health and research institutions. Jee received her M.D. from Seoul National University’s College of Me

Justice minister says drug crime can be stopped if 'war-like efforts' made

South Korea has voted in favor of a resolution ousting Iran from a UN women's body on Wednesday, along with 28 other countries, amid Tehran's monthslong crackdown on protests. The 54-member UN Economic and Social Council adopted a resolution to oust Iran from the Commission on the Status of Women, effectively removing Tehran from the remainder of its four-year term till 2026. Eight countries, including China and Russia, voted against the resolution. Linda Thomas-Greenfield, the US amba

Former President Moon Jae-in on Wednesday was sued by the family of South Korea government official Lee Dae-jun, who was killed by North Korean soldiers near the sea border over two years ago. The lawsuit comes as onetime officials at Moon’s Cheong Wa Dae and Cabinet are being summoned by prosecutors one by one for questioning. Lee Rae-jin, the late official’s older brother, accused Moon of failing to perform his duties as the president and lying about the circumstances surrounding t

President Yoon Suk-yeol has canceled his attendance at the opening ceremony of a nuclear power reactor in southern South Korea on Wednesday due to extreme weather conditions, his office said. Yoon had been scheduled to visit Uljin, 223 kilometers southeast of Seoul, to mark the beginning of commercial operations at the Shin Hanul No. 1 nuclear reactor, which took 10 years to build and was completed in 2020. "The local government is working in emergency mode due to the cold wave," the p

Former South Gyeongsang Province Govt. Kim Kyoung-soo has said he does not want to be released from prison on parole amid speculation he will be granted a special pardon by President Yoon Suk-yeol later this month. Kim, who has been serving a two-year sentence on opinion rigging charges, stated his case in a handwritten note posted by his wife on his Facebook page Tuesday, saying he rejects the conditions for parole, which include "clear indications of regret." "As someone who has

President warns truckers who refuse to return to work will be held accountable ‘until the end'

President Yoon Suk-yeol called Tuesday for a quick "normalization" of the national health insurance system, saying the previous government's expanded coverage led to a waste of financial resources. Yoon issued the call during a Cabinet meeting in what was seen as an indication of his intent to scrap the health insurance policy of the previous Moon Jae-in administration, which centered on expanding coverage and lowering the burden of hospital bills on households. "Normalizatio

President Yoon Suk-yeol invited National Assembly Speaker Kim Jin-pyo to dinner at the official presidential residence last week and requested his help with passing the government's 2023 budget plan, sources said Tuesday. The dinner was held last Wednesday and also attended by Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, Supreme Court Chief Justice Kim Meong-su and Constitutional Court President Yoo Nam-seok, according to the sources. "I understand they held candid talks," a ruling bloc official

President Yoon Suk-yeol on Monday called for bipartisan cooperation to pass the 2023 budget plan, saying there can be no partisanship in handling people's livelihood matters. Yoon issued the call during a weekly meeting with Prime Minister Han Duck-soo at his office, days after the National Assembly missed the legal deadline to pass the national budget amid a standoff between the ruling and opposition parties. "President Yoon Suk-yeol expressed regret over the delay in the passage of

The Seoul Metropolitan Government said trains would pass without stopping in the case of severe delays at subway stations due to a disabled advocacy group’s protests on Tuesday. Solidarity Against Disability Discrimination announced Monday it would stage subway-riding protests at Seoul's Samgakji Station on Line Nos. 4 and 6 at 8 a.m. and 2 p.m. the following day. A city official said, “This does not mean that trains will not stop unconditionally. If a serious train delay occurs

President Yoon Suk-yeol appears to be considering granting presidential pardons to politicians and businessmen currently serving jail time, including former President Lee Myung-bak and former South Gyeongsang Province Gov. Kim Kyoung-soo, by the end of this year, according to reports quoting multiple sources from the ruling bloc. The Ministry of Justice is expected to open a pardon review committee on Dec. 20 to review the candidates and announce the final list immediately after the Cabinet meet

Strike ended, but conflict over minimum freight rate system is ongoing

Interior Minister Lee Sang-min attended a closed-door government meeting after the opposition-controlled National Assembly passed a dismissal motion against him the previous day, sources said Monday. Lee's attendance has been interpreted as signaling President Yoon Suk-yeol's intention to reject the motion and keep him in office. Yoon has not commented on the motion, but he is known to have consistently opposed the opposition-led push to dismiss Lee to hold him responsible for the gove