Seven confidants of ruling party presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung said Monday they will not take any appointed post even if Lee is elected, as they appealed for support for Lee amid sluggish support. The pledge from the seven former and current lawmakers, including the ruling Democratic Party's secretary-general Rep. Kim Young-jin and Rep. Jung Sung-ho, came as main opposition rival Yoon Suk-yeol has overtaken Lee in opinion polls. Earlier in the day, a survey showed Yoon is leading Lee wi

Prosecutors have opened a probe into allegations that main opposition presidential candidate Yoon Suk-yeol, while serving as prosecutor general, refused to conduct a raid on a religious sect accused of spreading COVID-19 following advice from a shamanic adviser, sources said Monday. The Segye Times daily carried a report on the allegations last week, saying Yoon refused to carry out a prosecution search into the Shincheonji Church of Jesus in February 2020 over quarantine violations, upon a rec

Ruling party presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung said Monday he will push for a "transportation revolution" to reduce commute times in the Seoul metropolitan area to less than 30 minutes by investing heavily in high-speed trains. Lee of the Democratic Party (DP) said he will pay particular attention to improving the job-housing proximity for residents of Gyeonggi Province, which surrounds Seoul, by expanding the construction of Great Train Express (GTX) commuter rail networks, subway

Main opposition presidential candidate Yoon Suk-yeol is leading his ruling party rival Lee Jae-myung with 42 percent public support against Lee's 36.8 percent, a survey showed Monday. Yoon of the People Power Party (PPP) gained 1.4 percentage points from the previous week, while Lee of the Democratic Party edged up 0.1 point, according to the Realmeter survey conducted on 3,046 adults from Jan. 16 to 21. Yoon led Lee by 5.2 percentage points, which was outside the margin of error of plus or mi

President Moon Jae-in returned home Saturday from a three-nation trip to the Middle East, where bolstering economic and defense cooperation was high on the agenda. 　 In the United Arab Emirates, South Korea signed a preliminary deal to sell Seoul‘s midrange surface-to-air missiles to the Persian Gulf nation, in the latest sign of deepening defense cooperation between the two nations. 　 The deal was signed after Moon held talks with UAE Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum i

National Assembly Speaker Park Byeong-seug met with Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa of Sri Lanka on Thursday to discuss expanding economic cooperation and minerals investment. Park made the two-day trip to Sri Lanka to celebrate the 45th anniversary of the two countries’ diplomatic relations. In the meeting with the Sri Lankan president, Park stressed how the economic structures of South Korea and Sri Lanka “complement” each other

A local court on Thursday dismissed an injunction request by the ruling Democratic Party (DP) to stop the sales of a book criticizing its presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung. The Seoul Northern District Court rejected the DP's application to ban Seoul-based publisher JW Books from selling and distributing the controversial book titled "Goodbye, Lee Jae-myung," citing the people's right to know and freedom of expression. The 240-page book, authored by lawyer Jang Young-ha, details a

‘Virus of incompetency’ more harmful than COVID-19 for regional governments, says Seo Cheol-mo

President Moon Jae-in arrived in Egypt on Wednesday to hold summit talks with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi with trade and the economy high on the agenda. Moon's visit to Cairo marks the first trip by a South Korean president to the African nation in 16 years, Moon's office said. The two leaders are expected to agree on a joint feasibility study for a bilateral free trade deal, which if sealed would be Korea's first free trade agreement with an African country. Moon will also attend

Main opposition presidential candidate Yoon Suk-yeol met with the Russian ambassador to Seoul on Wednesday and called for more investment and exchanges between the countries. Ambassador Andrey Kulik paid a visit to Yoon of the conservative People Power Party at the party's headquarters in Seoul, and the two discussed a range of areas including business and culture. "There should be more vigorous regional investment and economic and cultural exchanges, as well as strengthened cooperation o

Between various scandals, the leaking of private conversations and talks of possible unified candidacies, support for the three major candidates in Korea’s ongoing presidential race has fluctuated unpredictably throughout. But there are those who believe that hints lie in the faces of the three – the ruling party’s Lee Jae-myung, and opposition parties’ Yoon Suk-yeol and Ahn Cheol-soo -- and one can read them through the art of fortunetelling known as “gwansang.&r

Lee made apology over Kim’s remarks, causing a stir in the party

National Assembly Speaker Park Byeong-seug will visit Sri Lanka this week for talks on expanding cooperation in mineral resources, his office said Wednesday. Park will depart Wednesday and meet with his Sri Lankan counterpart Mahinda Abeywardena, as well as the country's President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa during the four-day trip. The two sides are expected to discuss potential agreements on securing Sri Lanka's rare minerals, preventing double taxation, aviation

Ruling party presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung said Wednesday he will institutionally recognize the virtual asset industry and guarantee various business opportunities. Lee of the Democratic Party made the remarks in a meeting with heads of the nation's four major cryptocurrency exchanges and industry experts in Seoul, apparently targeting voters in their 20s and 30s who have a relatively strong interest in virtual asset investments. Lee said he will prepare objective listing standards and

Main opposition presidential candidate Yoon Suk-yeol pledged Wednesday to ease the tax burden on profits from cryptocurrency investments by raising the threshold from the current 2.5 million won ($2,097) to 50 million won. Yoon of the conservative People Power Party announced the pledge at the party's headquarters, saying he will raise the bottom limit to the same level as stocks and give tax exemptions for returns of up to 50 million won. The candidate also said he will introduce a digital as