Proposed Bill: Partial Amendment to the Banking Act Proposed by Rep. Park Hong-bae (Democratic Party of Korea) ● As financial services move to online platforms, many banks have been closing their offline branches. This bill aims to prevent user inconvenience of digitally vulnerable people by mandating prior notice of bank branch closures. Proposed Bill: Partial Amendment to the Minimum Wage Act Proposed by Rep. Song Eon-seog (People Power Party) ● The inflexible application of the minimum wage

Moon Jae-in ally, convicted for swaying voters online, poised to return to politics

The main opposition Democratic Party vowed Friday to reveal the truth behind the recent death of a senior official of the state anti-corruption agency, saying government pressure led to his death. Until recently, the official of the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission had served as acting chief of the agency's anti-corruption bureau and oversaw inquiries into politically sensitive cases, including first lady Kim Keon Hee's acceptance of a luxury handbag and opposition leader Le

President Yoon Suk Yeol visited the headquarters of the armed forces in the central city of Gyeryong on Friday to inspect security posture and examine preparations for upcoming joint military drills between South Korea and the United States, his office said. Yoon's visit to the Gyeryongdae military headquarters, about 160 kilometers south of Seoul, came on the last day of his five-day summer vacation. During the visit, Yoon met with the top commanders of the Army, Air Force and Navy at a wa

  The Ministry of Justice on Thursday reportedly prepared a list of high-profile politicians convicted of crimes who would be eligible to be granted either special amnesty or rehabilitation by President Yoon Suk Yeol next week. Among them on the list is liberal bigwig Kim Kyoung-soo, formerly a lawmaker and South Gyeongsang Province governor. The 56-year-old Kim, convicted for his involvement in the high-profile "Druking" opinion-rigging scandal in July 2021, is likely to be rehab

Minister of National Defense Shin Won-sik apologized Thursday over high-profile allegations that a Defense Intelligence Command official leaked agents’ identities to Chinese hackers earlier this year. “I would like to apologize to the South Korean people for the public display of the (alleged) leak of military secrets and the bickering that ensued among senior intelligence officials,” Shin said at a National Assembly national defense committee meeting. At Thursday’s defen

The leader of the ruling People Power Party announced plans Thursday to provide an additional 15,000 won ($11) in electricity support to 1.3 million vulnerable households to help them better cope with the hot weather. Han Dong-hoon made the announcement during a meeting of the PPP supreme council, pointing out that many families are suffering from the record-breaking heat wave this summer. He explained his support scheme will essentially cover the entire electricity bill for the vulnerable house

Yonsei University has revoked the master's degree of a minor party leader's son following a court ruling related to the case, informed school officials said Thursday. The university recently decided to cancel the admission of Cho Won, the son of Cho Kuk, the chief of the Rebuilding Korea Party, into its graduate school of political science and diplomacy in 2018 and his master's degree earned from the same school in 2021, they said. The decision came after the Supreme Court confirm

The justice ministry on Thursday was scheduled to review beneficiaries of special presidential pardons to be granted on the occasion of Liberation Day next week, including a former South Gyeongsang governor and a former presidential secretary. President Yoon Suk Yeol will grant special pardons mostly to those convicted of livelihood-related crimes and others in commemoration of the Aug. 15 national holiday, the fifth round of such special pardons since his inauguration in 2022. The justice minis

President Yoon Suk Yeol visited a major naval base in the southern part of the country this week as part of his summer vacation, his office said Wednesday. During the two-day visit to the naval base in Changwon, some 310 kilometers southeast of Seoul, Yoon spent time with service members, playing basketball with a group of Navy personnel and Marines on Wednesday, it said. On Tuesday night, Yoon had dinner with various service members at the base, including those who served during the sinking of

A recent move by one of former President Kim Dae-jung’s sons to sell his father’s residence in a bid to avoid a “hefty inheritance tax,” has sparked a conflict among the liberal bloc here in recent days, with some calling for the main opposition or the government to repurchase the property for its historic value. On Wednesday, several lawmakers of the main opposition liberal Democratic Party of Korea, which has repeatedly mentioned Kim’s “spirit of Democracy&r

President Yoon Suk Yeol's office on Wednesday called on the National Assembly to abandon a plan to implement the "financial investment income tax" scheme that is to come into effect in January 2025 in the face of the heightened domestic capital market volatility in recent days. The political standoff is expected to linger, as the liberal main opposition Democratic Party of Korea has insisted that the plan for taxation on investors' sales proceeds must proceed as planned. Desc

Prime Minister Han Duck-soo said Wednesday the government will allow hospitals to extend the application period for trainee doctor programs this week to help them recruit more junior doctors. Han made the remark after only 104 candidates, or 1.4 percent of trainee doctor positions available at 126 hospitals, had applied for the training programs that begin next month amid a prolonged standoff between the government and the medical community. "Within this week, the government will extend the

President Yoon Suk Yeol on Tuesday instructed the government to take swift and preemptive responses to heightened volatility in the financial market, his office said, refuting opposition criticisms over his vacationing despite a recent market rout. South Korean stocks suffered the worst sell-off since late 2008 on Monday, along with its global peers, on growing fears over an economic recession in the United States, before rising more than 3 percent Tuesday. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Pr

“South Korean version of US FARA law” draws bipartisan support