President Moon Jae-in's approval rating has fallen to its lowest point of 34.1 percent since he took office in 2017, Realmeter said Monday, citing the negative impact from a massive real estate speculation scandal involving public officials. In its five-day survey through last Friday on 2,510 adults nationwide, support for the president dropped 3.6 percentage points week-on-week. The previous low of 35.5 percent was recorded in the first week of January. The proportion of those who disapprove

Two leading opposition candidates for next month's Seoul mayoral by-election are double digits ahead of their ruling party rival should their unify candidacy and run in  two-way race, a survey showed Sunday. Conducted by three pollsters, Ipsos, Korea Research and Hankook Research, the survey found that Oh Se-hoon of the main opposition people Power Party garnered 47 percent with Park Young-sun of the ruling Democratic Party winning 30.4 percent in a hypothetical two-way race. Ahn Cheol-so

Two leading opposition candidates for Seoul mayor will conduct a public opinion poll early this week to determine who should run as the single unified candidate in next month's by-election, their campaigns said Sunday. The campaigns for Oh Se-hoon of the main opposition People Power Party and Ahn Cheol-soo of the minor opposition People's Party said they agreed during working-level talks to hold the survey from Monday to Tuesday and announce the winner as soon as the results of the survey are o

The two leading opposition candidates for Seoul mayor agreed Saturday on the terms of a public opinion survey that will determine which of them runs as the single unified candidate in next month's by-election. Oh Se-hoon of the main opposition People Power Party and Ahn Cheol-soo of the minor conservative People's Party reached the deal after closed-door working-level talks between the two campaigns, both sides said. The public opinion survey will be conducted on mobile phone users only, not l

President Joe Biden strongly denounced violence against Asian Americans on Friday, saying too many of them have been forced to worry about their very safety amid a rise in hate crimes targeting Asian American communities in the US. He and Vice President Kamala Harris blamed the former administration for scapegoating Asian Americans for the COVID-19 pandemic. "They've been attacked, blamed, scapegoated and harassed. They've been verbally assaulted, physically assaulted, killed. Documented

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will visit Seoul next week for talks with South Korean Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong on bilateral ties, Korean Peninsula issues and other matters, the foreign ministry said Thursday.  Lavrov will arrive here on Tuesday for a three-day visit. His talks with Chung are set to take place on Thursday after the ministers attend a ceremony on Wednesday to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the establishment of relations between the two countries. 

National Assembly Speaker Park Byeong-seug held a videoconference with US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Friday to discuss pending issues such as the South Korea-US alliance and North Korea’s nuclear weapons. During the meeting Park said that “the Korea-US alliance is a starting point and a crucial point of reference for Korea’s diplomacy and security and, as the US’ most successful alliance, serves as a bedrock for peace and stability in the region.” He went on t

Ahn Cheol-soo, the Seoul mayoral candidate of the minor conservative People's Party (PP), said Friday he will accept the terms proposed by the main opposition People Power Party (PPP) in conducting public opinion surveys to determine a unified single opposition candidate in the April by-election. "I am accepting the (candidacy) unification methods demanded by interim PPP chairman Kim Chong-in and candidate Oh Se-hoon," Ahn said in a press conference held at the National Assembly. Ahn

Senior prosecutors met Friday to reexamine allegations of false testimony in a bribery case involving former Prime Minister Han Myeong-sook. Han, who served as prime minister from 2006-2007, was imprisoned from 2015-2017 after being convicted of accepting about 900 million won ($795,000) in illegal political funds from a late businessman while in office. As South Korea's first female prime minister, she is a representative figure of the country's contemporary liberal bloc. Supporters of the ru

The ruling Democratic Party (DP) and the government agreed Friday to push for expanding the asset declaration system of civil servants in a bid to stave off their unfair and illicit real estate transactions. The two sides announced the move at the start of a high-level meeting also involving Cheong Wa Dae on measures to prevent the recurrence of an incident like the snowballing scandal centered around the Korea Land and Housing Corp. (LH), the state housing supply arm. The session was held at t

The ruling Democratic Party (DP) on Thursday once again apologized to the victim of alleged sexual harassment by late former Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon, pledging its full support to help her return to normal life. "On behalf of the DP, I once again give my sincere apology to the victim," floor leader Rep. Kim Tae-nyeon, who is acting as the party chairman, said during a party meeting. "(The DP) will take full responsibility in helping the victim return normally to her everyday

Justice Minister Park Beom-kye on Wednesday exercised his investigation command authority over a case involving Han Myeong-sook, a former prime minister convicted of taking bribes. The move came as the statute of limitations is set to expire on Monday in an alleged perjury case, in which prosecutors are suspected of forcing inmates who spent time in prison together with the man who bribed Han to make false testimonies against her in 2011. Earlier this month, the Supreme Prosecutors Office (SPO

The main opposition People Power Party (PPP) on Wednesday submitted a proposal to the National Assembly to launch a parliamentary inquiry into a snowballing land speculation scandal involving employees of a state housing developer. Twenty employees at the Korea Land and Housing Corp. (LH) are currently under investigation on suspicion of using insider information to purchase farmland mainly in the cities of Siheung and Gwangmyeong, both south of Seoul, before the central government designated t

The victim of alleged sexual harassment by late Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon on Wednesday called for terminating all "consuming" debate on her case. The victim, a former secretary of Park, made the plea during a news conference arranged by her supporters in Seoul ahead of the April 7 by-election to elect his successor. It is the first time since the case erupted last July that the victim has stood in front of the media. On July 8 last year, the victim filed a complaint with the police,

National Assembly Speaker Park Byeong-seug asked Costa Rican Foreign Minister Rodolfo Solano Quiros to pay special attention to South Korean companies’ participation in the nation’s electric train project and in electronic-government projects, in a meeting held Tuesday. “I learned that Costa Rica is pushing for electric trains in the metropolitan area and e-government projects, Park said during a talk with Solano. I think there are many areas where we can work together as