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CEO & Publisher: Oh Young-jinDigital News Email: webmaster@koreatimes.co.krTel: 02-724-2114Online newspaper registration No: 서울,아52844Date of registration: 2020.02.05Masthead: The Korea TimesCopyright © koreatimes.co.kr. All rights reserved.

President rushes to review policies amid growing backlash from young Koreans

President Lee Jae Myung is pushing to revise policies that are criticized for going against the interests of young Koreans, as his approval rating among this demographic remains the lowest of any age group. The disputed measures span multiple sectors, including a tax overhaul plan concerning individual savings accounts (ISAs), which angered people in their 20s and 30s by stripping away existing benefits. The measures also include 22 marriage-related policies, which have been nicknamed the "marriage penalty" for disadvantaging newlyweds and new parents. The president referred to those in their 20s and 30s as “a vulnerable group” during a meeting with senior presidential secretaries, Thursday, asking them to reorganize relevant policies by considering young people's conditions, including education, employment, income, asset building, housing and marital status. The announcement came amid polls showing that Lee's disapproval rating among those in their 20s and 30s is higher compared to other age groups. A Media Tomato survey, commissioned by News Tomato and conducted from Aug. 3 to 4, sh

Aug 9, 2026By Yi Whan-woo
President rushes to review policies amid growing backlash from young Koreans

Ex-PM wins Jeju, Incheon party-member primaries in leadership race

Former Prime Minister Kim Min-seok won party-member primaries in Incheon and Jeju Island on Saturday, a week after losing to rival Jung Chung-rae, the former ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) leader, as the party's leadership race enters its middle stage. Kim beat Jung 47.75 percent to 42.08 percent in votes cast by dues-paying party members in Incheon, just west of Seoul, and the southern resort island, according to party officials. Their rival, third candidate Song Young-gil, garnered 10.17 percent. With Saturday's win, Kim bounced back from his defeat to Jung in Busan, Ulsan and South Gyeongsang Province on Aug. 2, when Jung edged out Kim 46.65 percent to 43.85 percent. In the first primary, held in the central Chungcheong region on Aug. 1, Kim edged out Jung 45.05 percent to 44.61 percent. Across the three primaries held so far, Kim is slightly ahead of Jung, with 45.42 percent and 44.56 percent of the votes, respectively. The DPK's leadership race has primarily been a contest between Jung, who has long aligned himself with the party's hard-line wing rather than fully backing Pres

Aug 9, 2026By Yonhap
Ex-PM wins Jeju, Incheon party-member primaries in leadership race

Lee names Ajou University professor to head state diplomatic academy

President Lee Jae Myung has appointed an Ajou University professor as the new head of the National Diplomatic Academy, a presidential spokesperson said Friday. Kim Heung-kyu, a professor of politics and diplomacy at Ajou University, was named to head the academy, with expertise in East Asian diplomacy and security issues, presidential spokesperson Kang Yu-jung said. The president also named Kim Tai-yoo, an engineering professor at Seoul National University, as vice chair of the presidential committee on rationalizing regulations, Kang said.

Aug 7, 2026By Yonhap
Lee names Ajou University professor to head state diplomatic academy

Lee calls on generals to help restore public trust in military after martial law imposition

President Lee Jae Myung on Friday called on military generals to help restore public trust in the military, referring to its involvement in the 2024 imposition of martial law by former President Yoon Suk Yeol. Lee made the call during a ceremony to present ceremonial flags to promoted military generals, presidential spokesperson Kang Yu-jung said. Lee said a long period of time was required to restore public trust in the military following the actions by past military regimes. The president, in particular, said, "The task of restoring public trust was created again due to insurrection," calling on the generals to "make efforts although the process of restoring trust wouldn't be easy," according to Kang. Referring to the military's involvement in the martial law declaration by ousted former President Yoon, Lee said a few people had tarnished the honor of the entire military. Still, restoring public trust is what the military must do, he also noted. During Friday's ceremony, four military generals were presented with the ceremonial flags, including Gen. Lee Sang-ryeol, chief of the Army Gro

Aug 7, 2026By Yonhap
Lee calls on generals to help restore public trust in military after martial law imposition

State audit agency apologizes for sitting commissioner's indictment

The Board of Audit and Inspection (BAI) apologized Friday after one of its commissioners was indicted on charges connected to the 2022 project to move the presidential office to Seoul's Yongsan district when ousted President Yoon Seok Yeol was in office. Ryou Byeong-ho, one of the audit agency's seven commissioners, was indicted while under arrest earlier in the day on charges that he unfairly interfered with an audit into the relocation project in an attempt to cover up results when he was serving as the agency's secretary general. Noting that Ryou is the BAI's first sitting commissioner ever to be indicted, the agency said in a statement that it "feels a grave responsibility, beyond a mere apology, for causing concern to the people about the BAI's independence and the fairness, objectivity and neutrality of audits." The agency said it will use the incident as a turning point to deeply reflect on itself and "make every effort to be reborn as an organization that unwaveringly carries out duties given under the Constitution and the law. Following Yoon's removal from office over his failed

Aug 7, 2026By Yonhap
State audit agency apologizes for sitting commissioner's indictment

Lee pledges to remedy damage caused by state violence

President Lee Jae Myung vowed Friday to redress damage caused by state violence, ranging from government crackdowns on democratization activists to forced adoptions to overseas. The president made the pledge during his lunch meeting with about 70 victims of unresolved state violence, held on the occasion of the launch of the third Truth and Reconciliation Commission, a state body tasked with investigating human rights abuses or systemic injustices inflicted by the state. The president cited the tragic deaths of many civilians during the 1950-53 Korean War and government crackdowns on citizens and students calling for democracy under previous authoritarian regimes as examples of state violence, calling them a dark chapter in Korea's breakneck growth and development. "The old homework of redressing past (wrongdoings) cannot be passed on to future generations. The state will take responsibility and heal (the past)," Lee said during the meeting. The president said the government will add an additional division to the commission to get to the bottom of cases involving former state orphanages

Aug 7, 2026By Yonhap
Lee pledges to remedy damage caused by state violence

PPP lawmakers submit resolution calling for halt to military academy integration

Lawmakers of the main opposition People Power Party (PPP) on Friday submitted a resolution urging the Lee Jae Myung administration to drop its push to integrate the nation's military academies into a single institution. The resolution, signed by 32 PPP lawmakers and two other lawmakers, called on Lee to retract his remarks suggesting that graduates of the Korea Military Academy had been behind all of the country's past military coups. It also urged the government to halt its drive to establish an integrated military academy by combining academies of the Army, the Navy and the Air Force, calling the move "politically motivated." The resolution was backed by independent lawmaker Han Dong-hoon, a former PPP leader, and Rep. Chun Ha-ram, floor leader of the minor opposition Reform Party. During a policy briefing by the defense ministry on Wednesday, Lee warned about the risk of another coup by Army elites as he called for the swift integration of military academies.

Aug 7, 2026By Yonhap
PPP lawmakers submit resolution calling for halt to military academy integration

Lee set to hold closed-door meeting on housing supply plans

President Lee Jae Myung was set to hold a meeting Friday to discuss housing supply plans as the government seeks to cool down heated real estate prices. At the closed-door meeting set for 2 p.m., government ministries are expected to present housing supply proposals following Lee's instruction to officials earlier this week to secure a speedy housing supply. Housing prices in Seoul and adjacent areas remain prohibitively high, making it a major policy task for the Lee administration to rein in the overheated real estate market. On Monday, the government unveiled a new set of tax revisions aimed at increasing the tax burden on owners of high-value homes. The government is also expected to announce major housing supply plans in the near future. During a relevant meeting on Monday, Lee instructed officials to "secure as much (housing) supply as possible ... and come up with plans for the prompt implementation of supply measures, including available administrative measures, financing and regulatory easing."

Aug 7, 2026By Yonhap
Lee set to hold closed-door meeting on housing supply plans

Why young women, once Lee's strongest base, are turning away

Lee, a 32-year-old office worker in Seoul, spent years working and saving toward a single goal: buying her own apartment with a mortgage. She had just reached that point when the government cut the loan cap in half, from 600 million to 300 million won. "I've been working hard and saving up money and now that I was finally about to buy my own home with a mortgage, getting the loan cap cut in half is a huge blow to me," she said. She had voted for President Lee Jae Myung, drawn by his hands-on administrative background as mayor of Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province and later Gyeonggi Governor. "I had high hopes for President Lee Jae Myung because he became president with hands-on administrative experience, unlike past leaders with a judiciary or legislative background," she said. "Watching the news about how he sold his own apartment in Seongnam makes it feel like double standards." She no longer supports him. Her story is not an outlier. Many young women in their 20s and 30s — a demographic that played a pivotal role in electing Lee — are withdrawing their support for him and the ruling Demo

Aug 7, 2026By Park Ji-won
Why young women, once Lee's strongest base, are turning away

PM calls for drone, AI, cyber attacks in Ulchi exercise scenarios

This year's Ulchi civil defense exercise should reflect scenarios for drone and cyber attacks and other new types of threats as well as compound disasters amid a rapidly changing security environment, Prime Minister Han Seong-sook said Thursday. The annual nationwide exercise will kick off on Aug. 18 for a four-day run, involving some 580,000 officials from about 4,000 central and local government agencies and public institutions, to check and enhance readiness for war and other contingencies. A nationwide air raid evacuation drill is set for Aug. 20. "Recently, the security environment has been changing rapidly," Han said during a meeting convened to check preparations for the upcoming exercise. "The war Russia-Ukraine war and armed conflicts in the Middle East show that modern warfare goes beyond military conflicts and can directly threaten the people's daily lives." "New types of threats, such as artificial intelligence, drones and cyber attacks, are also becoming a reality," she said. Participating agencies should actively reflect AI, drone and cyber attacks, and compound threats in e

Aug 6, 2026By Yonhap
PM calls for drone, AI, cyber attacks in Ulchi exercise scenarios
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