Lee Jae-myung goes to Incheon; Ahn Cheol-soo heads to Seongnam

The incoming Yoon Suk-yeol government is planning to convert part of a US Forces Korea base adjacent to the new presidential office in Yongsan into a cultural space reminiscent of a "Little LA" and open it to the public in September, officials said Sunday. The 500,000-square-meter space is just outside the defense ministry headquarters, which is being converted into the new presidential office. The USFK plans to return the land to the South Korean government at the end of this month as

South Korean President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol has said he is willing to meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, but any talks should be made only when they would produce tangible results on the North‘s denuclearization or cross-border exchanges. “There is no reason to shun meetings (with Kim). But if such meetings are only for show and fail to make practical results on the denuclearization and our economic assistance to the North, they will not be helpful for denuclearizing the Nor

The ruling Democratic Party (DP) on Friday selected its former presidential nominee Lee Jae-myung as a candidate for parliamentary by-elections that will be held concurrently with the June 1 local elections. Lee, who lost to now President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol only by 0.73 percentage point in the March 9 presidential election, will run for a National Assembly seat representing a constituency in Gyeyang, Incheon, the DP said. "Our leadership recently asked Lee to run in a by-election for our e

Chinese Vice President Wang Qishan, considered one of the closest aides to Chinese President Xi Jinping, will be among the foreign guests attending incoming President Yoon Suk-yeol's inauguration ceremony next week, the organizing committee said Friday. Wang will be the highest-ranking Chinese official ever to attend a South Korean president's inauguration, indicating Xi's desire to foster good relations with the incoming government in Seoul. Other high-level guests at the May 10 ceremony will

Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum said Friday the current government's antivirus measures should be recognized as "successful" as he thanked people for their cooperation in the virus fight in his last COVID-19 response meeting before leaving office. "Some people say our return to normal was late compared with other countries, but if you look at objective data, our virus preventive measures deserve to be called successful," Kim said. "Until the crisis is completely over, we sho

President Moon Jae-in accepted the resignation of Prosecutor-General Kim Oh-soo. In a written briefing Friday, Cheong Wa Dae spokesperson Park Kyung-mi said, “President Moon accepted the resignation as it is difficult to procrastinate.“  Moon rejected the resignation of the prosecutor general once, but Kim expressed his resignation again to “take responsibility”, the presidential office said. Kim submitted his resignation after failing to block the passage of bil

US and China to send key personnel to highlight the gravity of alliance, bilateral relations

Lee Jae-myung, Ahn Cheol-soo speculated to join the race

South Korea's defense minister nominee on Wednesday vowed efforts to cement "cohesion" in the country's alliance with the United States and sharpen deterrence against North Korea's nuclear and missile threats. During a parliamentary confirmation hearing, Lee Jong-sup, a former three-star Army general, highlighted his vision of a "robust national defense and sturdy military based on science and technology" to respond proactively to "threats from all directi

Justice Minister nominee Han Dong-hoon said he will look for ways to minimize any negative impacts that the recently enacted laws on prosecution reform could have on ordinary people, according to a lawmaker Wednesday. Han made the remark in a document submitted to independent Rep. Yang Hyang-ja for his confirmation hearing, stressing ordinary people will take the brunt of the legislation centering on reducing and ultimately abolishing the prosecution's investigative powers. The legislation, cons

Prosecution left with power to investigate just two types of crimes

Tasks to require 209 trillion won, some policies of Moon in nuclear, real estate, prosecution to be reversed

President Moon Jae-in, in his final days in office, is set to hold his last Cabinet meeting Tuesday, in a bid to promulgate two controversial bills on prosecution reform. The Cabinet meeting will be held at 4 p.m., hours after the ruling Democratic Party (DP) railroaded the last-remaining bill on prosecution reform through the National Assembly amid opposition protest, completing its push to reduce and ultimately remove the prosecution's investigative powers. One of the laws is aimed at limiting

The ruling Democratic Party railroaded the last-remaining bill on prosecution reform through the National Assembly amid opposition protest Tuesday, completing its push to reduce and ultimately remove the prosecution's investigative powers. The revision to the Criminal Procedure Act, the remaining half of the ruling DP's prosecution reform legislation, was passed in a 164-3 vote, with seven abstentions in just three minutes after the opening of a parliamentary plenary session. The revision calls