President Moon Jae-in instructed national university hospitals on Monday to focus their medical resources on caring for critically ill COVID-19 patients. Moon's order came as the country has seen a surge in serious cases, with the number hitting an all-time high of 1,025 on Sunday amid a shortage of hospital beds across the country. "I ask national university hospitals to focus their medical capacities on treating critically ill COVID-19 patients," Moon said during a meeting with his

The ruling Democratic Party of Korea is concentrating fire on Kim Keon-hee -- People Power Party presidential candidate Yoon Suk-yeol’s wife -- raising one allegation after another related to her career history. Adding on to the allegedly inaccurate information on Kim’s resume that she sent to universities while applying for teaching positions, the Democratic Party is raising suspicions on Kim’s claims to have studied at New York University. The ruling party claims that whi

Park Geun-hye remains hospitalized as her health gets worse

Yoon Suk-yeol, the presidential candidate of the main opposition People Power Party, on Monday vowed to double war veterans' allowances and improve welfare for service members as he targeted military voters ahead of the March 9 election. "I will improve disability criteria so that veterans who sacrificed themselves for the country do not feel disappointed," Yoon said in a Facebook post, referring to veterans of the Korean War and the Vietnam War. Yoon added that he will reform the

A 31-year-old feminist politician joined the campaign of main opposition presidential nominee Yoon Suk-yeol on Monday in a surprise move expected to widen the conservative candidate's appeal among young female voters. Shin Ji-ye, a vocal feminist who currently heads the non-profit Korean Women's Political Network, was named senior deputy chair of the Saesidae Preparatory Committee, an organization that works directly under Yoon to woo moderates and liberals with an affinity for the conservative

Ruling party presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung and his main opposition rival Yoon Suk-yeol are in an increasingly tight race, with one opinion poll putting Lee ahead of Yoon and another survey showing contrary results. In a Korea Society Opinion Institute (KSOI) survey of 1,008 adults, Lee led with 40.3 percent against Yoon's 37.4 percent, though the gap was within the margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points at the 95 percent confidence level. But a Realmeter poll of 3,043 pe

Police have earmarked over 700 million won ($590,000) for the security details of major presidential candidates, officials said Monday. According to police, 762 million won has been set aside for security-related funds for the March presidential election, including those for candidates' close-up security, equipment and transportation support. The budget marks an increase from 728 million won in the previous presidential election. Candidates of the ruling and main opposition parties, Lee Jae-m

President Moon Jae-in will receive the government's annual policy briefings for the final time this week, Cheong Wa Dae said Sunday. The 2022 briefings will begin Monday under the slogan, "Changes made with the people, a government fulfilling its responsibilities until the end," the presidential office said in a press release. "Through the policy briefings, we plan to go through the achievements made during the five years of the Moon Jae-in administration and check the governmen

The ruling Democratic Party (DP) on Sunday accused the wife of main opposition presidential candidate Yoon Suk-yeol of falsifying her attendance at New York University in 2006. Kim Keon-hee, the wife of the People Power Party (PPP) candidate, has been hit with a series of allegations that she falsified her credentials when applying for teaching jobs at two local universities in 2007 and 2013. According to a task force under the DP presidential campaign committee, Kim wrote on her 2013 resume f

Yoon Suk-yeol, the presidential candidate for the main opposition People Power Party, bowed his head and apologized Friday for the controversy over allegations his spouse Kim Keon-hee had made false claims about her career history. "I am sorry for causing concern to the public over the controversy related to my wife," Yoon told reporters. "Regardless of the reason, I make it clear that the fact that (she) caused controversy without accurately writing down her career does not fi

Ruling Democratic Party (DP) presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung said Friday his elder son has denied allegations he visited a massage parlor for sex. The allegations were raised against Lee's 29-year-old son after he was found to have left a comment on an online poker forum that advised people against visiting a spa in Seongnam, south of Seoul, because it did not keep its massaging hours. "I also checked, but he says there was no sex trafficking," Lee told reporters after a party m

South Korea will inject 4.3 trillion won ($3.6 billion) in subsidies to support owners of small businesses and self-employed people struggling from social distancing rules necessitated by the pandemic, top officials said Friday. The support measures come a day after the government decided to reimpose restrictions due to a surge in infections. Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki said at a joint government briefing on the day, “If a sales decline is confirmed, the government will pay 1 million

The main opposition People Power Party's presidential candidate, Yoon Suk-yeol, saw his lead over ruling Democratic Party rival, Lee Jae-myung, narrowed to a margin of 3.9 percentage points, an opinion poll showed Thursday. Yoon was leading Lee 42.3 percent to 38.4 percent in the survey by RnSearch, commissioned by Maeil Business Newspaper and its affiliated broadcaster MBN. The 3.9 percentage point gap is smaller than a 5.4 percentage point margin in favor of Yoon seen in the previous survey

The world's largest and most influential professional association for police leaders opened its Asia-Pacific office in South Korea on Thursday, the National Police Agency (NPA) said. The Asia-Pacific World Regional Office of the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) began its operations at the NPA in central Seoul, the agency said. The United States-headquartered IACP is the world's largest nonprofit organization of police commanders and currently has about 31,500 members in 168

President Moon Jae-in apologized to the nation Thursday for restoring tough social distancing measures following a spike in coronavirus cases and deaths. Moon issued the apology shortly after the government announced new measures to reduce the maximum private gathering size to four people and restore a 9 p.m. curfew on restaurant and cafe business hours. "I am sorry that we have had to once again strengthen antivirus measures," Moon was quoted as saying by his spokesperson Park Kyung