A former head of the state audit agency joined the main opposition People Power Party (PPP) on Thursday in a move widely seen as a step toward running for the presidency. Choe Jae-hyeong, the former chairman of the Board of Audit and Inspection (BAI), expressed his intention to join the biggest conservative party during his meeting with party Chairman Lee Jun-seok earlier in the day and officially became a member in a following ceremony. The move came less than one month after Choe stepped dow

A weekly presidential preference poll that showed higher support ratings for former Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl compared with other surveys was stopped this week, prompting Yoon to blame political pressure from other candidates and their supporters. PNR Research, the pollster that had conducted the survey every week since April, said its clients told it last week that they would no longer commission it for the poll. Yoon said in a statement on Tuesday that the PNR poll was stopped becaus

The fate of the extra state budget currently under review at the National Assembly is growing more and more uncertain amid a widening political rift among rival parties and the government over the direction and scope of COVID-19 relief handouts. In late June, the government proposed an extra budget of 33 trillion won ($28.9 billion) in an agreement with the ruling Democratic Party (DP) to finance the fifth round of COVID-19 aid packages. The handouts were set to be given to people in the bottom

Cheong Wa Dae said Wednesday that one of its officials has been diagnosed with COVID-19. The official tested positive for the virus earlier in the day while working from home due to their spouse's fever symptom, according to Cheong Wa Dae spokesperson Park Kyung-mee. It is the first known coronavirus infection directly linked with the office of President Moon Jae-in. Park said the official holds the rank of assistant secretary to the president but stopped short of revealing personal informati

South Korea will increase its investment in the Korean-version New Deal project to 220 trillion won ($191 billion) by 2025, President Moon Jae-in said Wednesday. He announced the scheme to expand the scale of government-private investment from the originally planned 160 trillion won, marking the first anniversary of the launch of the campaign. It is aimed at creating a massive amount of jobs and spurring mid-to long-term economic growth with a focus on promoting the digital infrastructure and

Former Prime Minister Lee Nak-yon, who was a distant third in recent polls on presidential hopefuls, surprisingly topped conservative front-runner Yoon Seok-youl in a hypothetical two-way matchup, a survey showed Tuesday. Lee, who also served as the chief of the ruling Democratic Party (DP), scored 43.7 percent compared to former Prosecutor General Yoon's 41.2 percent in the poll conducted by WinGKorea Consulting. The result came as Yoon, a leading conservative candidate, is facing growing att

The leadership of the country's youngest-ever main opposition chief is being brought into question over a string of controversial political steps, one month after he rose to the party's top seat with a big media splash. Lee Jun-seok, chairman of the People Power Party (PPP), drew a major backlash not only from the ruling bloc but also inside his own party over a misguided agreement with his ruling party counterpart a day earlier to provide COVID-19 relief funds to all citizens. Lee and Rep. So

Ex-chief prosecutor and presidential contender Yoon Seok-youl appears more focused on bringing together centrists than joining the main opposition People Power Party, while former chief state auditor Choe Jae-hyeong is likely to join the party as another presidential hopeful, according to figures in close contact with the two men. Political critic Chin Jung-kwon said he met with Yoon last week and it seemed like the former prosecutor general “intends to stay outside the PPP for a while.&r

With the race for the presidential election kicking into gear, a string of senior lawmakers from the main opposition People Power Party are announcing their candidacies one after another. Four-term lawmaker Park Jin on Tuesday declared his bid, becoming the third current lawmaker from the People Power Party to enter the fray, following Ha Tae-keung and Yun Hee-suk. Considered a diplomacy expert in the National Assembly, Park is known to be close to US President Joe Biden. He visited the US

A sitting lawmaker affiliated with the main opposition People Power Party (PPP) tested positive for COVID-19 on Tuesday, party officials said. Rep. Jeong Jeom-sig based in the southern coastal city of Tongyeong was confirmed to have contracted the new coronavirus after attending a meeting last week with a journalist who tested positive for the virus, PPP floor leader Rep. Kim Gi-hyeon said. "Jeong attended a meeting of (PPP) lawmakers representing South Gyeongsang Province last Thursday,

President Moon Jae-in on Tuesday nominated Kang Sung-kook, a former judge currently serving as a senior justice ministry official, as his new vice justice minister, Cheong Wa Dae said. Kang, head of the ministry's legal affairs bureau, will fill the vacancy left when former Vice Justice Minister Lee Yong-gu resigned in early June after he was embroiled in a controversy over his unpunished assault of a taxi driver last year, according to presidential spokesperson Park Kyung-mee. Kang's term will

President Moon Jae-in on Monday met with archbishop Lazzaro You Heung-sik, the first South Korean appointed to a secretary position at the Vatican, Cheong Wa Dae said.    You is set to leave for the Vatican later this month to serve as the new prefect of the Congregation for the Clergy, the Vatican arm overseeing matters regarding priests and deacons as well as seminaries.    Pope Francis appointed You to the position last month.    "I wish for Pope Franci

Former Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl, now a presidential contender, said his heart aches when he thinks about ex-Presidents Park Geun-hye and Lee Myung-bak, who were jailed for corruption as a result of investigations that he led. “No matter the reasons, (I) offer consolation and express regrets to all who have gone through pain because of me,” Yoon said in an interview with the Dong-A Ilbo published Monday, about the political corruption probes that he led as chief of the Seoul

President Moon Jae-in apologized publicly Monday for requesting the public put up with the strictest level of social distancing restrictions. He pledged to mobilize every possible resource to bring the fourth wave of the COVID-19 pandemic here under control as early as possible. He was speaking at the outset of an emergency interagency meeting on the rapid spread of the coronavirus, especially the delta variant, in Seoul and nearby areas. "I am very sorry to ask the people once again to

The head of the main opposition People Power Party on Monday reiterated his call for the abolishment of the gender equality and unification ministries, claiming they have outlived their lifespans as special missions ministries or had no roles from the outset. "The Ministry of Gender Equality and Family and the Ministry of Unification are given special missions, and it is time to evaluate the missions as more than 20 years have passed since their establishments," Lee Jun-seok, chairman