The Korea Herald

Bae Hyun-jung

안녕하세요 Bae Hyun-jung 기자입니다.

Articles by Bae Hyun-jung

Savings bank lobbyist to weigh on elections

PoliticsAug 30, 2011

Parties stirred uneasily as the prosecution continued its interrogation of Park Tae-gyu, the key lobbyist involved in the Busan Savings Bank.Park’s case, together with that of Seoul Educational Superintendent Kwak No-hyun’s bribery allegations, is shaking up the political landscape ahead of the upco
Kwak’s case keeps parties on edge

PoliticsAug 29, 2011

DP Joins call for resignation; Oct. 26 by-elections may include education chief The opposition camp faced an unexpected obstacle in gearing up for elections including for Seoul mayor, as calls for the city’s liberal education chief to resign over bribery allegations indicated his position may also b
Parties to clash over U.S. FTA ratification

PoliticsAug 28, 2011

Rival political parties are expected to clash once again over the long-disputed Korea-U.S Free Trade Agreement ratification during the parliament’s regular session, starting this week. The ruling Grand National Party aims at having the pact ratified within October, in step with the U.S. Congress, wh
Race heating up for Seoul mayoral post

PoliticsAug 28, 2011

Rep. Chun of DP abandons parliamentary seat to run in Oct. 26 by-electionParties rushed to establish strategies for the Seoul mayor selection in the Oct. 26 by-elections, after Oh Se-hoon’s resignation on Friday.The ruling Grand National Party strove to defend its control of the Korean capital and t
DP boycotts FTA hearing as GNP plans passage

PoliticsAug 24, 2011

By Bae Hyun-jungParties are again at odds over the ratification of the Korea-U.S. free trade bill, despite their hard-reached agreement last week to hold a public hearing on the issue.The parliamentary foreign affairs committee held a public hearing on Wednesday on measures to prevent harm to the lo
Kim, Medvedev to meet Wednesday: source

North KoreaAug 22, 2011

MOSCOW (AFP) -- The summit between North Korea's Kim Jong-Il and President Dmitry Medvedev is set to take place on Wednesday in the eastern Siberian city of Ulan-Ude, a person familiar with the plan told AFP."The guest is arriving tomorrow," the person, who refused to go on the record because o
Park Geun-hye hints at warmer ties with N.K.

PoliticsAug 22, 2011

Korea should seek to rebuild trust with North Korea, while maintaining an unyielding stance on national security, said Rep. Park Geun-hye the highest-polled presidential hopeful, in a contribution to a journal.Park contributed a 2,500-word paper titled “The New Korea: Building trust between Seoul an
Committee backpedals on savings banks compensation

PoliticsAug 11, 2011

While seeking a tie-up regarding the state investigation on the collapse of savings banks, rival parties disputed the range of the compensation for victims.It was reported Tuesday that the parliamentary committee on the savings banks decided to fully compensate all losses within the maximum range of
Hacking sparks debate over online real-name system

PoliticsAug 11, 2011

In the wake of the recent massive leaks of personal information from major portals, attention has been focused on whether or not to abolish the real-name system on the Internet.In a government-ruling party meeting held on Thursday at the National Assembly, the Ministry of Public Administration and S
Opposition camp rejects nominees Kwon and Han

PoliticsAug 9, 2011

The parliamentary judicial committee refused to endorse the justice minister and prosecutor-general nominees on Tuesday after opposition parties boycotted the hearings.“The hearings on the two nominees are not yet over,” said Rep. Park Young-sun of the main opposition Democratic Party.“We shall not
Justice minister-nominee pledges neutrality

PoliticsAug 8, 2011

Justice-minister nominee Kwon Jae-jin faced a parliamentary grilling, particularly over whether he would maintain political neutrality in next year’s elections despite his close ties to the president.“I will by all means defend the prosecution’s political neutrality and independence,” Kwon said at t
Parties fix session, without FTA bill plan

PoliticsAug 5, 2011

Rival political parties reached an agreement Friday on the schedule of the parliament’s disputed August provisional session, but the Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement bill will not be included in the agenda, party officials said.Reps. Hwang Woo-yea and Kim Jin-pyo, respectively floor leaders of the ru
GNP pushes for means-tested tuition fee cuts

PoliticsAug 4, 2011

Plans up to 21% cut for those outside the top 30% of earnersThe government and the ruling party have set out a plan to drastically slash fees for most of the country’s university students.“The government has come up with a plan to cut tuition fees by up to 21 percent for those outside the top 30 per
Chief prosecutor nominee denies evading tax, military duty

PoliticsAug 4, 2011

Chief prosecutor nominee Han Sang-dae was grilled by lawmakers on Thursday concerning allegations that he evaded military service, dodged taxes through a false contract and registered a false address, most of which he denied.Han was judged fit to join the army in 1980 during his junior year in unive
Parliamentary Dokdo panel vows to counter Japan’s provocations

PoliticsAug 3, 2011

Amid the escalating tension between Korea and Japan over Dokdo, the parliamentary Dokdo committee pledged to stand against Japan’s provocative claims over the islets by holding a meeting there next Friday, as originally planned.“The decision (to hold a committee meeting on Dokdo) was confirmed back