President Moon Jae-in warned Monday that South Korea may be drawn into an "explosive" wave of COVID-19 infections if it fails to contain the current phase of the pandemic. "It's a perilous situation that could lead to an explosive pandemic if we let our guard down," he stressed during an emergency interagency meeting on responding to the coronavirus. The Cheong Wa Dae session was attended by top government officials, including Health Minister Kwon Deok-cheol and Jung Eun-ky

South Korea’s tax revenue in proportion to its gross domestic product is still lower than average for members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, though it has gradually gone up. The country’s property tax revenue, however, accounted for 3.3 percent of its GDP, nearly 1.7 times the OECD average of 1.9 percent, a state-funded think tank said. Among the 37 OECD members, Korea’s taxes were relatively low overall in proportion to the size of its economy,

President Moon Jae-in, whose job approval ratings fell again to the lowest this week, is seeking to turn his political fortunes around with a sizeable change in his Cabinet makeup, according to Cheong Wa Dae sources on Monday. The pending reshuffle is expected to involve senior presidential secretary for civil affairs Choi Jae-sung, Prime Minister Chung Se-kyun and Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki. Choi had allegedly offered his resignation following the crushing election defeat of the ruling De

President Moon Jae-in said Monday it is fortunate and meaningful that two South Korean electric vehicle (EV) battery makers -- LG and SK -- have reached a deal on ending their legal dispute on electric vehicle batteries. He stressed the importance of the stability in global supply amid accelerating technological changes. "The agreement between the two companies is very meaningful in that it is in both the national interests and the long-term interests of individual companies for domestic

South Korea's presidential office on Sunday denied as "incorrect" a Japanese report that the United States asked Seoul to join the US-led Quad forum. The Yomiuri Shimbun, a major Japanese daily, reported earlier in the day that US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan had strongly requested Seoul join the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue group, also known as Quad, during a meeting with his South Korean counterpart Suh Hoon early this month. "(The newspaper's) citation is very i

South Korean Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun arrived in Iran on Sunday, a report said, as Seoul seeks to improve relations with Tehran amid lingering tension over Iranian funds frozen in Korea under US sanctions. Chung's three-day trip to Tehran came days after Tehran released a Korean oil tanker and its captain three months after its seizure over alleged oil pollution, paving the way for better bilateral relations. The Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) reported that Chung is slated to meet wi

President Moon Jae-in is to preside over a string of emergency meetings on pending quarantine and economic issues next week, officials said Saturday, in accordance with his earlier pledge to concentrate on improving people's livelihoods following the ruling party's crushing by-election defeat. Moon will attend a special meeting of COVID-19-related ministers and top officials at Cheong Wa Dae on Monday to inspect vaccine supply plans and government quarantine measures, according to presidential

President Moon Jae-in said Friday that South Korea is set to begin production of the country's next-generation indigenous fighter jet prototype with a goal of deploying up to 120 units for use in real combat by 2032. Moon announced the plan at an unveiling event of the KF-21 Boramae fighter prototype held at the Korea Aerospace Industries headquarters in the southern city of Sacheon, South Gyeongsang Province. South Korea began the 8.8 trillion-won ($7.9 billion) program to replace the Air For

The ruling Democratic Party (DP) on Friday pledged to carry out a set of thorough reform measures to win back voters, following its crushing by-election defeat earlier this week. "The DP will come out of the trap of 'naeronambul' as soon as possible," Rep. Do Jong-hwan, the head of the DP's emergency response committee, said during its first meeting held at the National Assembly. Naeronambul is a popular saying in South Korea, which criticizes hypocritical behaviors or having double

Five young lawmakers of the Democratic Party said Friday that their party's campaign for prosecution reform may have failed to win public consensus, possibly leading to its devastating defeats in this week's mayoral by-elections in Seoul and Busan. The five lawmakers -- Reps. Oh Yeong-hwan, Lee So-young, Jang Kyung-tae, Jang Chul-min and Jeon Yong-gi -- made the critical remarks on the party's yearlong drive to weaken the power of the prosecution while reflecting on the causes of its election d

The new mayor of Seoul ordered his administration on Friday to review the city's response to COVID-19 thus far, saying the current virus restrictions have failed to address the people's needs. Oh Se-hoon made the remark during a COVID-19 response meeting attended by senior city officials on his second day of work following his landslide win in Wednesday's mayoral by-election. "We've been dealing with COVID-19 for almost a year and four months, but to tell you the truth, I think it's time

Gyeonggi Province Gov. Lee Jae-myung was back at No. 1 in a poll of potential presidential candidates released Thursday, with the previous front runner having fallen far behind compared with a week ago. In the survey conducted jointly by four polling agencies on 1,004 people over the age of 18 from Monday to Wednesday, 24 percent picked Gov. Lee as their favored candidate in next year's presidential election, pushing him into the lead after finishing in second place last week. The poll was con

More than 80 percent of South Koreans share the view that the Moon Jae-in government needs to recalibrate the direction of its key state administration policies, a poll showed Thursday. According to the poll of 1,004 people earlier this week, 86 percent said the Moon government's policy direction should be partially or entirely changed after Wednesday's mayoral by-elections in Seoul and Busan. Fifty-one percent said the Moon government can maintain the basic direction of its major state polici

Kim Chong-in, the interim leader of the main opposition People Power Party (PPP), resigned Thursday after steering the biggest conservative party to a landslide victory in the latest by-elections. Kim took office as the caretaker leader of the biggest conservative party in June last year, following the party's crushing parliamentary election defeat in April. Under Kim's leadership, the party renamed itself from the United Future Party to the current moniker and took other face-lifting measures

New mayor stresses need to help struggling Seoulites during pandemic