The Korea Times

Opposition party courting Jeolla residents

Kim Chong-in, head of the emergency committee of the main opposition United Future Party, kneels and bows his head during a visit to the May 18th National Cemetery for people who were killed by the Korean military during the 1980 pro-democracy movement in Gwangju, Wednesday. YonhapBy Do Je-hae The main opposition United Future Party (UFP) is drawing attention for attempting to embrace the Jeolla region, the traditional stronghold of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK).Kim Chong-in, the chairman of the UFP's emergency committee, visited, Wednesday, a memorial cemetery for the fallen members of the May 18 Gwangju pro-democracy movement.It is the first time for Kim, who has been leading the conservative opposition party since June following the party's defeat in the April general election, to visit Gwangju, the home of Korea's liberal politics.The UFP has been not welcomed there as some of its former and incumbent far-right members made remarks distorting and disparaging the history of the city where hundreds of citizens were killed during the military suppression orchestrated by

Aug 19, 2020By Do Je-hae

Opposition party courting Jeolla residents

Politics

Moon's new political aide starts off on the wrong foot

Choi Jae-sung, senior presidential secretary for political affairs, arrives for a briefing at Cheong Wa Dae's press center, Monday. YonhapBy Do Je-hae Choi Jae-sung, President Moon Jae-in's new senior secretary for political affairs, is already stirring concerns over Cheong Wa Dae's sincerity toward cooperative politics. Charged with a timely mission to improve relations with the National Assembly, Choi was took his current post during a recent reshuffle of the presidential office due to his strong ties with the President. But his first briefing at Cheong Wa Dae Monday has caused a rift with the main opposition United Future Party (UFP).The former four-term lawmaker of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) made remarks that were seen as blaming the UFP for the failure to arrange a meeting among the President and leaders of the ruling and opposition parties on Aug. 21 as suggested by Cheong Wa Dae. “On Aug. 13, as the new senior secretary for political affairs, I delivered the President's intention to invite the party leaders during a courtesy call to Kim Chong-in, chairman

Aug 18, 2020By Do Je-hae

Moon's new political aide starts off on the wrong foot

Politics

Moon's offer for talks with Japan raises doubts

President Moon Jae-in speaks in a ceremony, Aug. 15, to mark the 75th Liberation Day at the DDP in Seoul. YonhapBy Do Je-haePresident Moon Jae-in underlined Saturday during a speech to mark Liberation Day that Korea is open for talks with Japan to sort out pending bilateral issues.But skepticism is rising that the offer for talks will not have much impact on improving the strained bilateral ties, given the negative reactions to Moon's speech.During the speech to mark the 75th anniversary of Korea's liberation from Japan's 1910-45 occupation, Moon underlined the need for diplomacy, while repeating Seoul's resolute stance that it cannot intervene in a judiciary decision regarding the two countries' shared past. “In 2005, four victims of forced labor filed a damage suit against Japanese companies that mobilized Korean workers in the colonial period. In 2018, the Supreme Court of Korea ruled in their favor,” Moon said. “A Supreme Court ruling has the highest legal authority and executory power within the Republic of Korea. My administration respects the judiciary's deci

Aug 16, 2020By Do Je-hae

Moon's offer for talks with Japan raises doubts

Japan's PM Abe to avoid visit to war-linked shrine on 75th war anniversary

Politics

Opposition overtakes governing party. What is to blame for reversal?

Rep. Kim Tae-nyeon, second from left, floor leader of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK), participates in a party meeting, Thursday. YonhapBy Do Je-hae The main opposition conservative United Future Party (UFP), formerly the Saenuri Party, is ahead of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) in public approval ratings for the first time since the end of October 2016, according to a poll released Thursday.A Realmeter survey showed the approval rating for the DPK stood at 33.4 percent, 1.7 percentage points down from the previous week, while the UFP's approval rating had risen 1.9 percentage points to 36.5 percent. The results are drawing keen attention as it is the first time the support rate for the conservative bloc has overtaken that of the liberals since a corruption scandal led to the ousting of former President Park Geun-hye. Park's Saenuri Party was slightly ahead of the DPK in the third week of October that year, but in the fourth week, the liberal party started to overtake it, according to data from Realmeter. Until now, the liberal party had retained the lead in it

Aug 13, 2020By Do Je-hae

Opposition overtakes governing party. What is to blame for reversal?

Politics

Who will be Moon's new chief of staff?

President Moon Jae-in, right, speaks during a meeting with senior aides at Cheong Wa Dae, Aug. 10, alongside his chief of staff Noh Young-min. YonhapBy Do Je-hae Cheong Wa Dae named two new senior presidential secretaries, Wednesday, to replace two of the six senior aides who offered their collective resignation last week.President Moon Jae-in appointed Chung Man-ho, former vice governor for Gangwon Province, as senior secretary for public communication; and Yoon Chang-yul, an official from the prime minister's office, as senior secretary for social policy, according to presidential spokesman Kang Min-seok. But there was no mention of presidential chief of staff Noh Young-min, who initiated the offer of resignations on Aug. 7 to take responsibility for the recent situation. Earlier this week, Cheong Wa Dae announced replacements for three other aides. As a result, only the chief of staff and senior secretary for personnel affairs Kim Oe-sook remain among the six aides who offered to resign ― Yoon replaces Kim Yeon-myeong who was not among the six.The presidential office has yet to cl

Aug 12, 2020By Do Je-hae

Politics

Senior presidential aides offer to resign

Presidential chief of staff Noh Young-min, right, President Moon Jae-in, and Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun arrive at a Cabinet meeting, July 21. YonhapCollective departure criticized as move to keep houses over jobsBy Do Je-haePresidential chief of staff Noh Young-min and five other senior presidential aides have offered to resign, Cheong Wa Dae said Friday.The surprise announcement follows negative public sentiment toward the Moon Jae-in administration over mismanagement of a range of primary policies affecting people's livelihoods. In particular, more people are abandoning their support for the Moon administration due to its failure to contain soaring housing prices in Seoul and nearby areas.“The chief of staff and five senior secretaries expressed their intention to resign to the President this morning,” presidential spokesman Kang Min-seok said in a briefing.Those offering their resignations are Kang Gi-jung, senior secretary for political affairs; Kim Jo-won, senior secretary for civil affairs; Yoon Do-han, senior secretary for public communication; Kim Oe-sook, seni

Aug 7, 2020By Do Je-hae

Senior presidential aides offer to resign

Politics

Controversy rising over real estate bills

Protesters shout slogans against a revision to real estate-related bills during a rally, Aug. 1, near the National Assembly in Seoul. YonhapBy Do Je-haeRival parties continued to clash over revisions to the Housing Lease Protection Act, which would be aimed at raising taxes on owners of multiple homes and containing property market speculation.The ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK), which controls 176 seats out of the 300-member Assembly, is determined to pass the bills at a plenary session today, the last day of the July extraordinary assembly. But the main opposition United Future Party (UFP) is refusing to cooperate.The Legislation and Judiciary Committee, where 11 out of 18 seats are held by the ruling party, passed the revision bills on Monday night to enable them to be put to a vote in the plenary session. The UFP did not participate in the committee vote. The DPK has claimed it is necessary to swiftly pass the bills in order to improve the people's livelihoods and support the Moon Jae-in administration's policy priority to cool down the housing market, particularly relatin

Aug 3, 2020By Do Je-hae

Controversy rising over real estate bills

Politics

What's next for Kim Hyun-chong?

Kim Hyun-chong, the second deputy director of the National Security Office (NSO), speaks during a briefing on the Revised Missile Guidelines negotiations with Washington at Cheong Wa Dae's press center, July 28. YonhapBy Do Je-hae Aside from President Moon Jae-in, one of the biggest newsmakers at Cheong Wa Dae is Kim Hyun-chong, the second deputy director of the National Security Office (NSO).Because of the secretive nature of his work, he rarely appears in Cheong Wa Dae's press center. So whenever he shows up at a briefing, reporters who cover presidential politics know instinctively that something serious is about to happen. The presidential office announced that Kim would be giving a briefing only 17 minutes before it took place at 2 p.m., July 28, without disclosing the topic in advance. Lately the briefing center has been quite sparse compared to a year ago, before the COVID-19 pandemic. But when the briefing notice was made, the center filled up once again. There had been some rumors that Kim would be making a big announcement this month and his latest briefing contained some e

Jul 31, 2020By Do Je-hae

Politics

Star lawmaker's special lecture plan draws controversy

Rep. Ko Min-jung of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea attends a meeting of the Trade, Industry, Energy, SMEs and Startups Committee at the National Assembly, Tuesday. Captured from Ko Min-jung's FacebookBy Do Je-hae Rep. Ko Min-jung of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) has come under fire for a series of special lectures being organized by her office, as she plans to include her husband as one of the lecturers.During a recent Facebook post, the first-term lawmaker announced that her office would hold a 10-part lecture series with speakers from various fields, with Ko planning to give a speech on Aug. 5 on the subject of “participatory politics.”The lecture series will take place at her office in Gwangjin-gu, the Seoul district she represents. The office is charging 200,000 won for the entire 10-part series. It is not unusual for lawmakers to organize such events, but controversy emerged because of her choice to include her husband Cho Ki-young as one of the speakers. He is a poet and a homemaker.Ko considered excluding her husband from the lectures after the n

Jul 29, 2020By Do Je-hae

Star lawmaker's special lecture plan draws controversy

Politics

Korea to seek G7 expansion

Kim Hyun-chong, deputy chief of the presidential National Security Office, arrives for a briefing at the Cheong Wa Dae media center, Tuesday. YonhapBy Do Je-haeKorea will seek to realize an expansion of the G7 framework of the world's most advanced economies, an initiative proposed by U.S. President Donald Trump, according to a Cheong Wa Dae official.The remark follows opposition from some of the existing G7 members.Kim Hyun-chong, second deputy chief of the presidential National Security Office (NSO), reaffirmed Seoul's position to actively respond to the proposal from Trump for a G11 or G12. “The G7 summit is likely to take place on Aug. 31 or Sept. 1 in Washington. If we participate, we need to make relevant negotiations in order for Korea to take part in it every year,” Kim said during a KBS interview, Tuesday. “We also need to discuss in what capacity we will be taking part.”Kim referred to Trump's remarks during a phone call with President Moon Jae-in in June when the U.S. leader called the G7 system “obsolete.”“We need to establish the

Jul 29, 2020By Do Je-hae

Do Je-hae

Read more

Opposition party courting Jeolla residents

Moon's new political aide starts off on the wrong foot

Moon's offer for talks with Japan raises doubts

Opposition overtakes governing party. What is to blame for reversal?

Who will be Moon's new chief of staff?

Senior presidential aides offer to resign

Controversy rising over real estate bills

What's next for Kim Hyun-chong?

Star lawmaker's special lecture plan draws controversy

Korea to seek G7 expansion

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