Presidential hopeful Yoon Seok-youl on Wednesday denied involvement in snowballing allegations that he had tried to meddle in politics. Speculation has swirled around him for a week after online news outlet Newsverse reported on Sept. 2 that Yoon ordered Rep. Kim Woong of the main opposition People Power Party to file a complaint with the prosecution against politicians and journalists linked to the ruling Democratic Party of Korea ahead of last year’s general elections. In a press bri

Former Finance Minister Kim Dong-yeon officially announced Wednesday he will run in the presidential election slated for March as an independent. "We can create a nation where opportunities flow like a river if we can collect our strength with the people," Kim said in a pre-recorded speech announcing his presidential candidacy uploaded on YouTube. Calling for a change of today's political and power establishments, the former career bureaucrat stressed the need to completely overhaul

Five-term lawmaker appeals to those in their 20s and 30s while support for Yoon erodes

President Moon Jae-in said Tuesday that South Korea will scale up its solar and wind energy production facilities by more than twofold within four years as part of the government's new carbon neutrality policy. "By 2025, we will expand the scale of solar and wind-related facilities by more than twofold compared to now," Moon said in a pre-recorded speech celebrating the second UN-designated International Day of Clean Air for blue skies. Cheong Wa Dae explained that Moon reiterated th

Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum on Tuesday asked subway unions of Seoul and four other major cities to refrain from staging a planned walkout next week, saying it will seriously disrupt the public transportation service. "The people will likely experience great inconvenience and disruption if subways' operation gets interrupted ahead of the fall harvest Chuseok holiday," Kim said during a Cabinet meeting held at the government office complex in Seoul. This year's Chuseok holiday is set f

How the conservative party’s young boss became a hero for internet misogynists

Being mayor of a city in Gyeonggi Province with a little over 110,000 residents means putting people first, says Yeoju Mayor Lee Hang-jin, and a universal basic income for farmers is one way to do that. Yeoju was the first city in the province to provide an annual allowance to farmers, who make up a third of the city’s population, beginning last year. This year, the city is partnering with the province to provide farmers with a universal basic income, and five other cities in the provinc

Rep. Hong Joon-pyo of the main opposition People Power Party (PPP) climbed to third place among contenders vying for next year's presidential election, a poll showed Monday. In the two-day poll on 1,003 voters nationwide conducted by the Korea Society Opinion Institute from Friday, Hong garnered approval of 13.6 percent, up 4.2 percentage points from a week ago. Hong, widely considered an underdog contender, managed to overtake Rep. Lee Nak-yon, the former head of the ruling Democratic Party (

Lee achieves key victory in swing vote provinces of presidential elections

President Moon Jae-in on Friday asked the parliament to support the bill to determine next year’s budget, during a meeting at Cheong Wa Dae with the National Assembly’s leaders and the chairs of its standing committees.  The meeting was arranged to congratulate the new deputy speaker and seven committee chairs, who are all from the main opposition People Power Party. “With it, the government is looking for a full recovery and a leap forward. I hope the National Assembly

Prosecutor General Kim Oh-soo on Thursday ordered an investigation into allegations that a prosecutor asked the main opposition People Power Party to file a complaint against three ruling bloc figures when Kim's predecessor Yoon Seok-youl, now a leading opposition presidential contender, was in office. In a text message to reporters, the Supreme Prosecutors Office said Kim instructed its inspection department to look into the allegations. Earlier Thursday, online news outlet Newsverse rep

The government plans to expand its regulatory sandbox program to include testing of innovations in the areas of mobility and biohealth, and present innovative deregulation road maps for the autonomous shipping and bio industries, officials said Thursday. The government announced the plan to newly add the two areas into the regulatory sandbox program in an inter-agency state affairs review and coordination meeting chaired by Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum. The regulatory sandbox program, first int

Rep. Lim Jong-seong of the ruling Democratic Party (DP) on Wednesday tested positive for COVID-19, becoming the fourth sitting legislator to be infected with the virus, parliamentary officials said.  "Following Lim's positive results, we're conducting measures to disinfect assembly facilities and contact tracing," one of the officials told Yonhap News Agency by phone. Officials did not completely rule out the possibility of further infection cases inside the assembly connected

The National Assembly is poised to open its 100-day regular session Wednesday, the last such gathering under President Moon Jae-in's five-year term. The regular session will start off with an opening ceremony scheduled for 2 p.m. to process the 2022 state budget bill of a record high 604.4 trillion won ($521.8 billion), as well as other controversial legislative bills down the road. The unicameral South Korean parliament opens its regular session on Sept. 1 every year for a 100-day run. Th

The National Assembly on Tuesday approved a contentious bill requiring surveillance cameras in hospital operating rooms in a bid to step up protection for patients against medical negligence or malpractice. The bill was passed about six years after related parliamentary discussions on its necessity first emerged, in the face of stiff objection from doctors' groups. The revision to the Medical Service Act mandates installing closed-circuit TV cameras in hospital operation rooms and recording