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

‘Korea should move towards a soft power with peace, creativity and inclusiveness’

South Korea's culture minister said sports should be separated from politics regarding calls for a boycott of the Tokyo Olympics amid a renewed territorial spat over the East Sea islets of Dokdo between the two countries. Culture, Sports and Tourism Minister Hwang Hee made the remark during a parliamentary committee's general meeting held Monday evening, implying that the ministry is not considering boycotting the upcoming Olympics, only a month away. Calls for such a measure emerged among th

President Moon Jae-in said Tuesday his government will continue efforts to broaden South Korea's role and responsibility regarding major pending international issues. He was talking about the results of his participation in a Group of Seven (G-7) summit in Britain and ensuing state visits to Austria and Spain earlier this month. Moon said he was able to "again confirm the changed national status" of South Korea through the weeklong trip. "The Republic of Korea will play a key r

As former Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl, a leading presidential hopeful for the opposition bloc, faces challenges even before he declares his bid, new hopefuls are emerging as possible conservative runners with about eight months left before the election. Having led a majority of public opinion polls for presidential hopefuls since late last year, Yoon saw a major setback in his yet-to-be-declared presidential bid this week from the sudden resignation of his chief spokesman and a dossier al

Park says South Korea’s lawmakers willing to ratify inter-Korean summit agreement

President Moon Jae-in nominated Kim Han-kyu, a lawyer and rookie politician, as his new secretary for political affairs Monday. Having worked as a legal counsel for the ruling Democratic Party (DP), he is a lawyer at the Seoul-based law firm Kim & Chang and also a standing member of the National Unification Advisory Council. He graduated from Harvard Law School after studying law at Seoul National University. Park Seong-min, another DP official who is 25 years old, was tapped as secretary

BUSAN, -- Prosecutors asked a judge to sentence former Busan Mayor Oh Keo-don to seven years in prison for sexual assault in the workplace. Oh is accused of sexually assaulting two female employees and injuring one of them while in office. He is also charged with filing a false complaint against YouTube channel operators who reported the accusations against him. "Given the similarity of his crimes against the two victims, this is a workplace sex crime using his power," prosecutors sa

The approval rating of the main opposition People Power Party (PPP) has reached its highest point since a far-reaching corruption scandal surrounding former conservative President Park Geun-hye in 2016 dealt a crushing blow to the party, the latest opinion poll showed Monday. In the Realmeter survey of 2,514 voters nationwide conducted from Monday to Friday last week, the PPP garnered 39.7 percent of support, up 0.6 percentage point from the previous week. It marks the third week in a row that

Lawmakers and presidential hopefuls from ruling bloc voice support for the law

President Moon Jae-in congratulated UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on his reelection in a tweet Sunday, vowing to work with him to foster lasting peace on the Korean Peninsula and tackle global challenges. Guterres' reelection for a second five-year term was confirmed late last week, as the United Nations seeks to strengthen international cooperation in addressing a slew of challenges, including climate change and the COVID-19 pandemic. "My heartfelt congratulations on your reelect

Former Justice Minister Choo Mi-ae on Sunday announced a plan to declare her presidential bid this week, entering an increasingly crowded field of the race to become the ruling Democratic Party's standard-bearer for next year's election. Choo said that she plans to announce her intention to run for president through her social media channel at 2 p.m. on Wednesday. Choo put forward her vision of a "Country that Elevates People." "There is nothing above people. People stand highe

BORYEONG, South Korea -- This year's Boryeong Mud Festival, one of South Korea's most celebrated summer events, will be held online and offline next month in consideration of COVID-19, local officials said Sunday. The municipality of Boryeong, a South Chungcheong Province city 190 kilometers south of Seoul, said the 24th version of its annual mud festival will mix online and offline events on Daecheon Beach during its 10-day run that begins on July 23. It also disclosed a total of 18 programs

The spokesperson of Yoon Seok-youl, a former prosecutor general and leading presidential hopeful, resigned for "personal reasons" Sunday, just 10 days after his appointment. The resignation of Lee Dong-hoon, a former journalist, came after Yoon and Lee issued conflicting messages over the issue of whether the former top prosecutor would join the main opposition People Power Party (PPP) as an official member. "Of course, I made the decision after talks with Yoon," Lee told Y

The approval rating of the main opposition People Power Party (PPP) reached a fresh high since the 2016 corruption scandal of former conservative President Park Geun-hye, a new poll showed Friday. According to the Gallup Korea poll that surveyed 1,001 people aged over 18 from Tuesday to Wednesday, public approval for the ruling Democratic Party was recorded at 31 percent, unchanged from a week ago, while that of the PPP climbed 3 percentage points to 30 percent. The latest poll number comes as