Gyeonggi Province Gov. Lee Jae-myung on Friday announced his decision to provide universal COVID-19 relief funds to all provincial residents, contrary to the central government's policy of selective relief payments. Lee, the front-running presidential contender for the ruling Democratic Party, vowed to ensure that all 14 million residents in the province, which surrounds Seoul, will benefit from the government's upcoming emergency disaster relief handouts. In late July, the National Assembly p

Main opposition party leader Lee Jun-seok continued to bicker with his own party members supporting former prosecutor general and presidential hopeful Yoon Seok-youl despite concerns that internal fighting will not help the party win next year’s election. The People Power Party plans to hold a debate between the party’s preliminary presidential candidates on Aug. 18, which members of Yoon’s camp have expressed discontent with, saying everyone will attack Yoon, the leading can

Ex-Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl, the leading opposition presidential contender, widened his lead over his rival from the ruling bloc, Gyeonggi Province Gov. Lee Jae-myung, in a hypothetical two-way presidential race, the latest poll showed Thursday. According to the poll conducted by Realmeter on 2,031 voters nationwide from Sunday-Monday, 42.1 percent of the respondents said they will vote for Yoon of the main opposition People Power Party (PPP) in a hypothetical two-horse race against Gy

The main opposition party has set its primary schedule, but is hit by an internal feud, as some presidential contenders expressed discontent over how it’s going to be done. Former prosecutor general and currently the People Power Party’s strongest presidential hopeful Yoon Seok-youl is unwilling to take part in the first debate among preliminary candidates on Aug. 18. Yoon, who has not yet registered as a preliminary presidential candidate in the party, did not attend events organi

An appellate court on Wednesday upheld a four-year prison sentence for the wife of former Justice Minister Cho Kuk over academic fraud. The Seoul High Court found Chung Kyung-sim, a professor of Dongyang University, guilty of all charges related to the unfair college admission of her daughter and upheld the lower court's sentence of four years. The appellate court, however, lowered her fine from 500 million won ($433,000) to 50 million won and her forfeiture from 140 million won to 10 million

President Moon Jae-in stressed the urgency Wednesday of curbing the spread of COVID-19 as South Korea's daily count of additional cases has exceeded 2,000 for the first time. It is "of great concern" that the number has surpassed 2,000 despite health authorities' efforts and the people's cooperation in social distancing, he said during a meeting with his Cheong Wa Dae aides. Earlier in the day, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) announced that 2,223 new cases had

The last two members of the virus-hit Cheonghae unit were to be released from a hospital Tuesday, marking the full recovery of all infected service members who had to cut short their anti-piracy missions in waters off Africa and return home following an unprecedented mass infection. All members of the 301-strong Cheonghae unit were airlifted home in July after 247 troops tested positive for COVID-19. Subsequent tests found 25 more cases, raising the total caseload to 272, or 90 percent of the t

South Korea's consul general in Seattle has been under a probe by the foreign ministry for making "inappropriate" remarks to at least one staffer at the diplomatic mission, sources said Tuesday. Kwon Won-jik, who took the post in December last year, has been working from home since June as part of the ministry's measure to separate him from the victim while the investigation is under way, according to the sources familiar with the matter. It was not immediately clear what those "

Rep. Park Jin, a four-term lawmaker vying to become the People Power Party’s presidential candidate, has urged the government to protest what he called China’s interference in South Korea’s security sovereignty. At a videoconference at the ASEAN Regional Forum, held Friday, China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi expressed opposition to the Korea-US joint exercises and called for the easing of sanctions against North Korea. On Sunday Park wrote in his blog, “Wang Yi&rs

Ex-Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl, the front-running opposition presidential contender, saw his approval rating lose ground to become on par with that of Gyeonggi Province Gov. Lee Jae-myung, a poll on prospective presidential hopefuls showed Monday. According to the survey conducted on 1,004 voters nationwide by the Korea Society Opinion Institute on Friday and Saturday, Yoon from the main opposition People Power Party (PPP) garnered 28.3 percent of support, down 4 percentage points from a

Former President Chun Doo-hwan left for the southwestern city of Gwangju on Monday to attend an appellate court hearing on a defamation case after having failed to show up twice. The 90-year-old Chun, who served as president from 1980 to 1988, departed from his home in western Seoul at 8:25 a.m. to attend his hearing at the Gwangju District Court's appellate division in Gwangju, about 330 kilometers to the south, in the afternoon. He came out of his house in a gray suit, accompanied by his wif

Gyeonggi Province Gov. Lee Jae-myung outstripped ex-Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl to seize the lead among presidential hopefuls, an opinion poll showed Friday. Lee garnered 25 percent of support in the survey conducted on 1,001 voters across the nation from Tuesday-Thursday by Gallup Korea for the most favored next leader of the country. The governor was ahead of Yoon, who had 19 percent, by a margin of six percentage points, which is within the poll's margin of error of plus or minus 3.1

Four South Korean activists have been charged with espionage for allegedly taking orders from Pyongyang and staging a series of protests opposing Seoul's plan to procure US-built stealth fighter jets, sources said Friday. According to the sources, the National Intelligence Service (NIS) and the National Police Agency (NPA) recently requested a local court to issue warrants to arrest the activists who allegedly violated multiple articles of the National Security Act, including the so-called espi

The Korean government on Thursday pledged to inject 2.2 trillion won ($1.92 billion) over the next five years into development and production of COVID-19 vaccines, designating vaccines one of the nation’s three key strategic technology areas along with semiconductors and batteries. The planned investment will be launched later this year with aims to debut the nation’s first locally developed COVID-19 vaccine by the first half of 2022 and to make the country one of the world’s

President Moon Jae-in on Thursday nominated Song Doo-hwan, a former Constitutional Court justice, as the new chief of the National Human Rights Commission of Korea, Cheong Wa Dae said. Song, 70, a senior attorney at law firm Hankyul, has devoted himself to human rights issues throughout his career. He served in leadership positions at the Korea Bar Association and Minbyun, an association of lawyers fighting for democracy movements and human rights. Back in 2003, he also led a special counsel