The Supreme Court on Thursday confirmed a two-year prison sentence for a former environment minister of the Moon Jae-in administration, charged with abusing her ministerial power to force ranking officials from the previous administration to resign from public posts. Kim Eun-kyung was indicted on charges of forcing 13 executives at environment ministry-affiliated public institutions who were appointed by the previous Park Geun-hye administration to resign from their seats between 2017 and 2018.

The presidential National Security Council (NSC) held an emergency meeting Thursday and expressed strong regret over North Korea's latest projectile launch, the presidential office said. North Korea fired two apparent short-range ballistic missiles toward the East Sea earlier in the day, in the North's sixth show of force this month. The standing members of the NSC said it is "very regrettable that North Korea's repeated missile launches are contrary to the request of Korea and the intern

The main opposition People Power Party (PPP) proposed Thursday that the two leading presidential candidates hold a one-on-one debate on top of an expanded televised debate. Rep. Sung Il-jong, the party's lead negotiator for arranging TV debates, made the proposal in a press conference at the PPP headquarters, a day after a court stopped the country's three major broadcasters from hosting a one-on-one debate between its candidate Yoon Suk-yeol and ruling Democratic Party (DP) candidate Lee Jae-m

Ruling party presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung said Wednesday he will push to shorten the workweek from five days to 4 1/2 days if elected in March. Lee of the liberal Democratic Party announced a set of campaign pledges for laborers at a workers' welfare center in Bucheon, just west of Seoul. "I will begin a social dialogue for the introduction of a 4 1/2-day workweek and push for a trial project for its phased implementation," he said, offering to provide various incentives to b

President Moon Jae-in expressed hope Wednesday for a free trade deal with Mexico as he exchanged letters with Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador to celebrate the 60th anniversary of establishing diplomatic ties between the two countries. Moon said in the letter that a free trade pact between the two countries would support a post-pandemic economic recovery. The two sides launched free trade talks in 2006, but the negotiations have been stalled since 2008 amid opposition from business

The presidential National Security Council (NSC) has discussed tensions between Russia and Ukraine, including how the crisis will affect South Korea's economy and the situation in Northeast Asia, a senior presidential official said Wednesday. National security adviser Suh Hoon presided over an NSC meeting Tuesday and checked measures to ensure the safety of Korean nationals in Ukraine, according to Park Soo-hyun, a senior presidential secretary for public communication. The meeting also checke

President Moon Jae-in will preside over a COVID-19 response meeting Wednesday, a senior presidential official said, after the country's daily coronavirus cases shot up to over 13,000 amid the rapid spread of the omicron variant. Due to anti-virus guidelines, the meeting will be held with a small group of ministers, including Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum. Other health-related ministers will join the meeting virtually, according to Park Soo-hyun, a senior presidential secretary for public communic

Main opposition presidential candidate Yoon Suk-yeol is leading his ruling party rival Lee Jae-myung with 44.7 percent public support against Lee's 35.6 percent, a survey showed Wednesday. Yoon of the People Power Party (PPP) gained 5.5 percentage points from a Jan. 10-11 survey, while Lee of the Democratic Party lost 1.3 points, according to the Realmeter survey conducted on 1,018 adults from Monday to Tuesday. Yoon led Lee by 9.1 percentage points, which was outside the margin of error of pl

Main opposition presidential candidate Yoon Suk-yeol said Tuesday he will scrap the nuclear phaseout policy and reduce the proportion of fossil fuel generation by a third to cut fine dust emissions by more than 30 percent. Yoon of the conservative People Power Party made the remarks while announcing his election pledges on the environment and agriculture at the party's headquarters in Seoul. Yoon said he, if elected president in March, will do his utmost to reduce fine dust pollution by abolis

Parliamentary Speaker Park Byeong-seug will visit China next month and attend the opening ceremony of the Beijing Winter Olympics, the National Assembly said Tuesday. He is scheduled to visit Beijing from Feb. 3-6 at the invitation of Li Zhanshu, chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress. They will discuss ways to boost exchanges between the parliaments of the two countries, which mark the 30th anniversary of diplomatic relations this year, the National Assembly said

Ruling party presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung pledged Tuesday to provide a basic income of up to 1 million won ($836) to residents of farming and fishing villages if elected in March. Lee of the liberal Democratic Party announced the pledge at a press conference in Pocheon, 46 kilometers north of Seoul, as he canvassed voters in Gyeonggi Province for a third day. Lee said he will increase the agriculture and fisheries industries' share of the government budget to 5 percent and conduct deve

Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum on Monday asked people to refrain from traveling during the Lunar New Year holiday, as the highly transmissible omicron variant is beginning to tighten its grip on South Korea. Millions of people usually travel across the nation to meet relatives or visit tourist spots during the holiday for Lunar New Year that falls on Feb. 1 this year. The holiday runs from Jan. 31 to Feb. 2. Kim called for people to get booster shots if they want to travel during the holiday. &q

Unification of candidates has always been hot-button issue in Korean presidential elections

President Moon Jae-in on Monday instructed the government to swiftly shift to new response measures to cope with the spread of the omicron variant, warning the nation could see a surge in infections in the short term. "The spread of omicron is very fast, making it the dominant strain, and the number of confirmed cases could surge in a short period of time," Moon said, according to Park Soo-hyun, senior presidential secretary for public communication. Moon urged the government to &quo

President Moon Jae-in will not hold a New Year's press conference as he focuses on handling the COVID-19 situation with the highly transmissible omicron variant becoming the dominant strain in South Korea, a senior presidential official said Monday. The presidential office had been preparing for the New Year's press conference as Moon wrapped up his eight-day visit to the Middle East last Saturday. "In a situation where the omicron variant has become the dominant strain, the New Year's pr