Choi’s announcement marks start of hot week of presidential election events

Two presidential candidates of the ruling Democratic Party (DP) said Monday they will merge their campaigns by next week in a bid to boost their party's chances of winning the 2022 presidential election. Chung Sye-kyun, former prime minister under the Moon Jae-in administration, and three-term lawmaker Lee Kwang-jae announced the decision to unify their presidential candidacies by next Monday, during their visits to the headquarters of the bourse operator in western Seoul. "With a visio

Choe Jae-hyeong, head of South Korea's state audit agency, offered to step down Monday in what is viewed as a prelude to joining the presidential election race. If President Moon Jae-in accepts his resignation, the chairman of the Board of Audit and Inspection (BAI) would quit the job half a year before his four-year term finishes. Choe told reporters that he had tendered his resignation earlier in the day. He added he had thought that it is "inappropriate" to carry on his duty amid

Gyeonggi Province Gov. Lee Jae-myung is expected to announce his presidential bid this week, joining the race to pick the ruling Democratic Party's standard-bearer for next year's election, a close aide said Sunday. Lee is to declare his bid for presidency on Thursday after completing the registration as a preliminary candidate with the DP, according to Rep. Park Hong-geun, one of his close aides. Lee, who is currently leading polls among potential candidates in the ruling bloc, will be the l

The presidential secretary for anti-corruption, Kim Gi-pyo, has offered to resign, the presidential office said Sunday, following allegations of real estate speculation involving multimillion dollar loans. President Moon Jae-in also immediately accepted his resignation, according to Park Soo-hyun, Cheong Wa Dae's senior secretary for public communication. "Presidential secretary Kim Gi-pyo has expressed his views that, although he did not acquire the real estate for purposes of speculatio

With South Korea's presidential election less than nine months away, the race promises to be a tight battle between the ruling and opposition blocs. The curtain is about to rise first on the primaries of the ruling Democratic Party. It is getting off to a rough start, as demonstrated by in-house disputes over when to choose its flag bearer. A boisterous attempt, albeit foiled at last, by dozens of lawmakers apparently against the front-runner Gyeonggi Gov. Lee Jae-myung to postpone the event

The ruling Democratic Party (DP) on Friday decided not to postpone its primary elections to pick the standard bearer for next year's presidential election in March. The DP's supreme council made the decision at a close-door meeting held earlier in the day, confirming the party's schedule to pick its sole presidential candidate by Sept. 10. "The supreme council decided, via a unanimous agreement, to elect the (final presidential) candidate in accordance with the current party constitution

South Korea marked the 71st anniversary of the outbreak of the 1950-53 Korean War with a ceremony held for the first time in the southern city of Busan that served as a temporary capital during the conflict. Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum, Defense Minister Suh Wook and around 240 people, including veterans and bereaved family members, attended the ceremony held at the Busan Cinema Center, which was the site of an airfield used by United Nations forces during the war. "The choice of the event

Choe Jae-hyeong, chairman of the Board of Audit and Inspection (BAI), plans to soon tender his resignation, a well-informed source said Friday, suggesting that the state audit agency chief has reached a decision to compete in next year's presidential race. The source close to the BAI head said that Choe will "arrange an occasion early next week to announce his decision," adding that the chairman will explain his future plans to his father over the weekend and reassure him amid concern

As the global business environment changes due to the 4th Industrial Revolution and COVID-19, the structures of industries and markets are rapidly changing. Thus, the role of small and medium-sized venture companies (SMEs), the backbone of the Korean economy, is becoming more important. The total exports of all Korean companies in 2020 amounted to $512.8 billion, down 5.4 percent from $542.2 billion last year due to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. On the other hand, the total exports of

Ex-Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl will declare his presidential bid next week, officially launching a political career three months after he stepped down from public office, according to his spokesperson Thursday.  Yoon will appear in front of the public in an event at 1 p.m. on Tuesday at the memorial hall for Yun Bong-gil, a national independence fighter, in southern Seoul, according to the spokesperson. He is set to announce his widely anticipated presidential bid there. "I wi

Cheong Wa Dae’s recent pick of a 24-year-old college student as a senior official handling youth policy is facing backlash both from opposition party members and young job seekers. On Wednesday, Park Seong-min, a former supreme council member of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea who studies Korean language and literature at Korea University in Seoul, started her work as a secretary for the presidential political affairs office. This is the first time that anyone in their 20s has ser

Gwanghwamun Square, a landmark of Seoul, will get new historical and cultural attractions by next April, the Seoul metropolitan government said Wednesday. Construction has been under way to expand the square and turn part of it into a park as part of a controversial project launched by the administration of former Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon. The announcement of the new attractions comes two months after new Mayor Oh Se-hoon said he would keep the project despite opposition from some citizens du

The mother-in-law of former Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl, one of the prospective presidential candidates for the conservative bloc, has been cleared of fraud charges, police said Wednesday. Yoon's mother-in-law, surnamed Choi, was accused of embezzling entrusted shares of a columbarium business and taking over the control of the entity from the rightful owner. The 75-year-old was also suspected of forging a balance sheet as if she had around 35 billion won ($31 million) deposited at a ban

President Moon Jae-in remains undecided on whether to attend the Tokyo Olympics next month amid a yearslong stalled diplomacy with Japan over wartime history and trade. “Nothing has been decided yet,” Moon’s chief of staff for policy Lee Ho-seung told a radio interview Tuesday when he was asked whether the president intended to attend the Summer Olympics that kicks off in the Japanese capital on July 23. As for the prolonged feud between the two countries, he said the Korea