Debate ensues over need to pay back state debt with 9 trillion won

Acting Prime Minister and Finance Minister Choo Kyung-ho presided over a Cabinet meeting Tuesday amid lingering uncertainties over the National Assembly's confirmation of Prime Minister nominee Han Duck-soo. The opposition-controlled parliament has yet to endorse Han for the job of prime minister. In South Korea, the prime minister is the only Cabinet post that requires parliamentary approval. A parliamentary confirmation hearing committee of the DP has declared Han "unqualified,"

President Yoon Suk-yeol said Tuesday he will continue to review whether to appoint Health Minister nominee Chung Ho-young, who is accused of using his position to get his children into a medical school. Chung is one of the Cabinet nominees that have not been formally appointed, along with Prime Minister nominee Han Duck-soo, Justice Minister nominee Han Dong-hoon and Gender Minister nominee Kim Hyun-sook, as the main opposition Democratic Party has objected to their appointments. Asked whether h

Latest case hurts the party’s chances in local elections

Yoon asks for lawmakers’ support in supplementary budget bill, US-led alliance

The two candidates of the ruling and the main opposition parties are running neck and neck in a race for the governorship of Gyeonggi Province in the June local elections, a survey showed Monday. Kim Eun-hye, former lawmaker of the ruling People Power Party (PPP), led former Finance Minister Kim Dong-yeon of the main opposition Democratic Party (DP) 40.5 percent to 38.1 percent, according to the survey of 1,010 adults, conducted by Gallup Korea last Friday and Saturday. The gap of 2.4 percentage

South Korea will dispatch a delegation to the United Arab Emirates on Monday to express in-person condolences on the death of the country’s President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed al-Nahyan, the presidential office said Sunday. Sheikh Khalifa, who took over as the UAE president in 2004, succeeding his father, died on Friday aged 73. The delegation consists of Yoon’s chief of staff Chang Je-won, Korean Ambassador to the UAE Lee Seok-gu and Foreign Ministry senior officials. “

Rivalry brings competition rate dip to lowest-ever

President Yoon Suk-yeol on Friday appointed three more ministers, including the North Korea policy chief, with his Cabinet formation delayed by the main opposition party's refusal to endorse certain nominees. Yoon appointed Kwon Young-se as unification minister after the National Assembly adopted his confirmation hearing report the previous day. Yoon went ahead with the appointment of Park Bo-gyoon as culture minister and Won Hee-ryong as land minister though parliament failed to adopt hearing

Former President Moon Jae-in made his first social media posts since he moved to his hometown after his presidential term ended earlier in the week.  Moon revealed that he visited his parents’ graves and a temple near his house in Yangsan, South Gyeongsang Province, via posts on his Facebook and Twitter late Thursday. “Coming out for first time after returning to my hometown. I paid respects at my father and mother’s graves, and also visited Tongdosa temple,” M

Yoon put to test for balanced diplomacy in war of nerves between the US and China

Results likely to reflect sentiment on Yoon administration

Kim called homosexuality a ‘treatable’ mental disease and sexual slavery victims prostitutes

President Yoon Suk-yeol appointed Foreign Minister Park Jin and Interior Minister Lee Sang-min on Thursday, a presidential official said, amid a delay in their parliamentary confirmation process. The appointments will help meet the quorum for Yoon's first Cabinet meeting set for later in the day. Park is a lawmaker of the ruling People Power Party, and Lee is a former vice chief of the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission. (Yonhap)

President Yoon Suk-yeol is likely to tap Hwang Joon-kook, a former ambassador to Britain, as his first ambassador to the United Nations, sources said Thursday. Hwang is a former career member of the foreign service with years of experience handling the North Korean nuclear issue. He served as head of a supporters' association for Yoon during the presidential campaign. Under the Park Geun-hye administration, Hwang served as chief negotiator for defense cost-sharing negotiations with the United St