Candidates draw large crowds, efforts to keep social distancing appear futile

Kim acknowledges exaggeration, as Yoon’s aides attempt to defend

Moon Jae-in met with Australia's opposition leader on Tuesday and asked for his support for the Korean community in the country. Moon and Anthony Albanese of the Australian Labor Party met in Sydney during the president's ongoing four-day state visit to the country. Moon noted that he and Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison agreed the previous day to elevate the bilateral relationship to a comprehensive strategic partnership and expressed hope for strengthened cooperation in future high-t

Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum apologized Tuesday for inconveniences caused by an outage of the government's digital COVID-19 vaccine pass system after authorities began enforcing the system in restaurants and other multiuse facilities across the country. In a Cabinet meeting held at the government office complex in Seoul, Kim said he "sincerely apologized for causing inconvenience to the public" with the vaccine pass system outage on Monday. "Yesterday was the launch day in enforc

The ruling Democratic Party's presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung on Monday criticized Japan's excessive reactions to the South Korean police chief's recent trip to Dokdo for "meddling in another country's policy." The comment came during a telephone call with officers from Dokdo Security Police as part of his nationwide election campaign. Last month, National Police Agency Commissioner-General Kim Chang-yong visited Dokdo to encourage officials working on the country's easternmost

Democratic Party presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung on Monday was attacked with eggs by a protester opposing the US THAAD anti-missile system in the central county of Seongju while campaigning. The male protester threw two eggs at Lee from across a road while the candidate was heading toward a fruit farm in the county, 217 kilometers southeast of Seoul, as part of his campaign in the region. Lee was not hit, but a bodyguard and Rep. Han Jun-ho were hit by pieces of an egg. The incident cause

The so-called "Nth room prevention law" is facing growing criticism from the public, with critics accusing the measure of censorship and violation of free speech. A legislative revision to the Telecommunications Business Act went into effect Friday, requiring internet platforms with yearly sales of 1 billion won ($848,800) or those with more than 100,000 daily users to engage in removing illegal content from their servers. The revision was nicknamed the Nth room prevention law after

Labor board system bill heavily criticized while Lee Jae-myung calls for action

The main opposition People Power Party (PPP)'s presidential candidate, Yoon Suk-yeol, was leading his ruling Democratic Party (DP) rival Lee Jae-myung by a thin margin at 42 percent to 40.6 percent, a survey showed Monday. The 1.4 percentage point margin in the poll by the Korea Society Opinion Institute (KSOI) is smaller than the 3.3 percentage point gap in favor of Yoon last week, and within the range of the poll's margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points. The poll, commissione

Main opposition presidential candidate Yoon Suk-yeol said Sunday he will seek to revise a law designed to filter out illegally filmed content from major internet platforms amid criticism the measure amounts to censorship. A revision to the Telecommunications Business Act and a related law went into effect on Friday, requiring large internet platforms with annual sales of 1 billion won or the number of daily users 100,000 or more to remove illegal content from their servers. The revision was ma

‘Old’ image and lackluster pledges keep younger voters at bay

  President Moon Jae-in called Saturday for speeding up booster shots for the elderly as the country struggles to tackle the fast spread of coronavirus infections, including cases of the new omicron variant. The country added 6,977 new COVID-19 infections, raising the total caseload to 510,538, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA). Daily infections soared to a record high of 7,174 cases on Wednesday and remained above 7,000 for the following two days. Th

South Korean President Moon Jae-in on Friday lauded the efforts made by companies to cut carbon emissions, and reiterated that the goal to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050 is “must” for the country. In celebration of the first anniversary of the declaration of the country’s 2050 carbon neutral vision, Moon invited company leaders and economic organizations to check on the year’s progress and renew their determination, according to the presidential office. “Car

Lee Jae-myung, the presidential nominee of the ruling Democratic Party (DP), called on the main opposition People Power Party (PPP) on Friday to agree to immediately execute its own proposal to spend 100 trillion won ($85 billion) on compensating small businesses hit by the pandemic. Lee suggested the rival parties jointly pass a supplementary budget through a provisional session of the National Assembly this month to fund the payments. "When it comes to people's livelihoods, there is no

The head of a municipal development company, who was facing prosecutorial questioning for allegedly taking bribes in a massive land development corruption scandal, was found dead in an apparent suicide, police said on Friday. Police discovered the body of Yoo Han-gi, head of the Pocheon Urban Corp., who was reported missing by his family early Friday near his home in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province. Yoo reportedly left home after leaving behind a will. Earlier this week, prosecutors requested an ar