Teenagers should be allowed to run for National Assembly seats, says lawmaker in her 20s

South Korea awarded a posthumous medal of honor Tuesday to Hong Beom-do, a historic independence fighter, whose remains returned from Kazakhstan two days earlier. President Moon Jae-in conferred the Order of Merit for National Foundation on Hong in a ceremony attended by Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev at Cheong Wa Dae. Hong, who served as commander of Korea's independence army, is revered for leading victories in the troops' battles against Japanese forces during the 1910-45 colonial r

President Moon Jae-in said it is very meaningful that the remains of Gen. Hong Beom-do, a legendary Korean independence fighter, have been repatriated to South Korea's soil, according to his office Monday. Moon conversed with the three members of his special delegation at Seoul Air Base in Seongnam, just south of Seoul, the previous day. They traveled to Kazakhstan to bring Hong's remains home, 78 years after his death in the Central Asian country. Moon observed the arrival of the remains at th

Public support for the main opposition People Power Party (PPP) has fallen after a two-week rise, a poll showed Monday amid a conflict between the party's two key figures -- Lee Jun-seok and Yoon Seok-youl. In the Realmeter survey on 2,512 people, aged 18 and older, nationwide from last Monday through Friday, the PPP's approval rating dipped 0.5 percentage point to 37.3 percent from a week earlier. The ruling Democratic Party's rating gained 1.4 percentage points to 33.5 percent. The PPP, in p

Ahn Cheol-soo, leader of the minor opposition People's Party, announced a no-deal end Monday to negotiations with the main opposition People Power Party (PPP) over a proposed merger. "I am very sorry to say that the efforts to unify the two parties have come to a halt here," he said during the press conference at the National Assembly. Ahn described the negotiation process as the "hardest time" for him since he became a politician a decade ago. He apologized to those who h

The US special representative for North Korea, Sung Kim, is expected to visit Seoul later this month for talks with his South Korean counterpart and a trilateral session involving the Russian nuclear envoy, a diplomatic source said Sunday. Kim is expected to arrive on Saturday for a four-day visit, the source said. It will mark his second trip to South Korea since taking office as Washington‘s chief nuclear envoy. He last visited Seoul in June. While Kim is in town, Russia’s nuclea

South Korea is closely monitoring the situation in Afghanistan, the foreign ministry said Sunday, as Taliban fighters advanced to Kabul demanding the surrender of the central government, prompting citizens and foreigners to flee the city. 　“We still have staff stationed at the embassy. We are closely monitoring the situation,” a ministry official said on Sunday afternoon. 　Another official said the situation in Afghanistan is “very tense,” adding that they are &ldquo

National Assembly Speaker Park Byeong-seug began his nine-day visit to Turkey and Azerbaijan on Friday, hoping to strengthen cooperation on the economy and defense, officials said Sunday. He will spend six days in Turkey and three days in Azerbaijan, according to the speaker’s office. During his visit to Turkey, South Korea’s strategic partner, Park will seek support for the participation of Korean businesses in large-scale infrastructure and defense projects in the nation. On

South Korea’s ruling Democratic Party is poised to push ahead with the revision of the Act on Press Arbitration, despite resistance from opposition parties and the media. The Act on Press Arbitration aims to mediate disputes over media reports that infringe on people’s rights, interests or reputations. The ruling party recently proposed a revised bill that would further toughen consequences for false reports, including the introduction of punitive damages. Under the revised law

President Moon Jae-in proposed Sunday that South and North Korea "institutionalize" peace on the peninsula and create a Germany-style trust-building system toward the longer-term goal of unification. "Firmly institutionalizing peace on the Korean Peninsula will definitely benefit both Koreas greatly," Moon said during his Liberation Day speech to commemorate the 76th anniversary of Korea's liberation from Japan's colonial rule.He described division as the biggest obstacle bl

 Former President Chun Doo-hwan has been hospitalized for medical treatment, informed officials said Saturday, days after he made a 660-kilometer round trip to the southwestern city Gwangju to attend an appellate court hearing on a defamation case. The 90-year-old Chun, who served as president from 1980-1988, was admitted to Severance Hospital in western Seoul on Friday to receive medical treatment and undergo a checkup, the officials told Yonhap News Agency. He is expected to be discharg

A group of conservative activists pushed ahead with its anti-government street rallies planned in downtown Seoul on Saturday, the eve of Liberation Day, but ran into a watertight blockade by riot police amid authorities' warning about the further spread of COVID-19. The conservatives, led by Jun Kwang-hoon, a politically controversial pastor, began a three-day street walking event at Seoul Station at 6 a.m. in defiance of warnings by the government and police, which have said the gatherings are

President Moon Jae-in vowed Saturday to strive to resolve the pending issue of wartime sexual slavery victims, saying that such efforts are the path to avoid "a repeat of the unfortunate past." Moon made the remarks in a video message, as the country marks the national memorial day for "comfort women," a euphemism referring to sexual slavery victims who were forced to work at Japanese brothels during World War II. "Resolving the comfort women issue is the way to not r

South Korea has asked US drugmaker Moderna Inc. to speed up its delivery of COVID-19 vaccines to Seoul in accordance with a prior contract, visiting government officials said Saturday. The request was made during a South Korean government delegation's visit to the headquarters of Moderna in the U.S. state of Massachusetts on Friday, they said. It came after Moderna notified Seoul that it plans to supply less than half of the 8.5 million doses of its COVID-19 vaccine planned for August. Vice Mi

Lee Jae-yong’s parole made in response to public expectations of him playing a role in semiconductor and vaccine areas, Cheong Wa Dae official says