The ruling People Power Party warned about the possibility of a National Assembly investigation and independent counsel probe regarding a North Korean repatriation case on Thursday. The Moon Jae-in government ignored the law and decided to forcibly send the defectors to North Korea through arbitrary judgment, said Rep Kweon Seong-dong, floor leader of the ruling party, at a senior party officials meeting on Thursday. “We will consider detailed measures such as conducting a state investiga

Yoon may grant his first pardon as president on Liberation Day

South Korea’s rival parties remain deadlocked over which party will hold chair positions for which legislative committees in the latter half of the 21st National Assembly, with the legislative branch effectively stalled since late May. The ruling People Power Party and main opposition Democratic Party of Korea drew a preliminary compromise on July 4 to elect Rep. Kim Jin-pyo as the new National Assembly speaker, but they only agreed to hold talks in naming chairs for the committees. Addi

President Yoon Suk-yeol instructed officials Thursday to find ways to protect ordinary citizens from the financial pressures of high inflation and high interest rates. Yoon made the remark a day after the Bank of Korea delivered an unprecedented 0.5 percentage-point rate hike in a preemptive bid to fight fast-growing inflation pressure from high energy and commodity prices. "The rate hike was an inevitable step to control inflation, but that burden must not be passed on to the socially vuln

Thursday on whether to keep or abolish the death penalty, the first such debate in 12 years after the punishment was ruled constitutional twice in 1996 and 2010. The case began as a man convicted of killing his parents filed a constitutional petition challenging capital punishment in 2019, together with the Committee for Justice and Peace of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Korea, after prosecutors demanded the death penalty for him. He was later sentenced to life in prison. South Korea

Rep. Lee Jae-myung, former presidential candidate of the main opposition Democratic Party (DP), will declare his bid for the party's chairmanship on Sunday, an aide said. The DP plans to hold a national convention on Aug. 28 to elect a new leader, and whether Lee will run for the party leadership has been a point of contention within the DP amid a power struggle between pro- and anti-Lee lawmakers. Supporters say Lee is the right person to lead the party, while opponents argue that he shoul

Sister of controversial right-wing YouTuber quits presidential office

’97 Generation’ challenges Lee Jae-myung

It is important to ensure people‘s livelihoods not affected by economic crisis, Yoon says

Move seen as Lee’s effort to fight back against six-month suspension

President Yoon Suk-yeol's new official residence is likely to be ready as early as this week, allowing him and first lady Kim Keon-hee to move in by next month, an official said Tuesday. The foreign minister's official residence is currently being renovated to be used as the new presidential residence in line with Yoon's decision to relocate the presidential office to the defense ministry compound nearby. Yoon took office in May after winning the election on a pledge to move the p

Prime Minister Han Duck-soo on Tuesday called for a fundamental reform of the labor market, as the government seeks to promote job creation led by the private sector. "For sustainable recovery of employment, a fundamental improvement in the job market is needed," Han told a Cabinet meeting, urging ministers to "make more efforts to create an environment in which jobs are created by the private sector." Citing the labor ministry's data, Han said indicators of the job mark

Issues surrounding the first lady, ruling party scandals eat away at ratings

Presidential office says it is due to coronavirus resurge, but critics blame his unprepared remarks

Lee Jun-seok stays silent after early vows to promptly fight back