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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.

Ex-aide to former DPK leader Song arrested in cash-for-vote scandal

Park Yong-soo, left, a former aide to former Democratic Party of Korea leader Song Young-gil, attends a hearing at the Seoul Central District Office, July 3. YonhapA former aide to Song Young-gil, a previous leader of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK), was arrested Monday in connection with a cash-for-vote scandal involving the party's 2021 leadership election.The Seoul Central District Court issued an arrest warrant for Park Yong-soo, a former aide in charge of fund management for Song's campaign at the time of the election, citing concerns he could destroy evidence.The scandal centers on allegations that Song's campaign distributed cash envelopes totaling 94 million won ($71,597) to as many as 20 DPK lawmakers and other party members in the runup to the party's leadership election in May 2021, which he ultimately won.Park is accused of involvement in the distribution of 67.5 million won of the total in collusion with other campaign officials to help get Song elected.He allegedly received 50 million won from a businessman in April 2021 and delivered 60 million won

Jul 4, 2023
Ex-aide to former DPK leader Song arrested in cash-for-vote scandal

Fukushima seafood imports will be banned until people are no longer concerned about it, PPP says

Members of the ruling People Power Party and government officials attend a meeting to discuss follow-up measures after the International Atomic Energy Agency's report on the plan to release waste waters from the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant at the National Assembly in Seoul on July 3. YonhapSeafood imports from Japan's Fukushima will be indefinitely banned until people are no longer concerned about it, the floor leader of the ruling People Power Party said Monday, as Japan prepares to release contaminated water from its crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant.Rep. Yun Jae-ok made the remark to reporters after a meeting with senior government officials, as the International Atomic Energy Agency is expected to unveil a final report soon on the safety of the planned water discharge."From the standpoint of the party, I can say it is all right to believe that seafood imports from Fukushima will be indefinitely banned until people's concerns are laid to rest," Yun told reporters after the meeting."No matter whether it takes 10, 20, 30, 50 or even 100 years, the duration is not important

Jul 3, 2023
Fukushima seafood imports will be banned until people are no longer concerned about it, PPP says

Assembly deputy speaker apologizes over private text messages during session

Rep. Kim Young-joo, deputy speaker of the National Assembly, speaks during the Whole House Committee meeting at the National Assembly in Seoul, March 30. Korea Times fileRep. Kim Young-joo, a deputy speaker of the National Assembly, offered an apology on Monday for exchanging text messages with an acquaintance about travel to Japan during a recent plenary session.Kim, a four-term lawmaker from the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK), was caught on camera discussing a trip to Japan's Hokkaido in her text messages on June 30, when her party railroaded a strongly contested parliamentary resolution urging the government to file a complaint over Japan's plan to release contaminated water from its crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant."I apologize to the nation and party members for causing a controversy due to my personal text messages during the (parliamentary) adoption of a resolution against the Fukushima contaminated water," Kim said in a Facebook post."Exchanging private text messages during a plenary session is clearly wrong. As a public figure, I'll be more careful in

Jul 3, 2023
Assembly deputy speaker apologizes over private text messages during session

Yoon strengthens grip on gov't through reshuffle

President Yoon Suk Yeol poses with new vice-minister level government officials during an appointment ceremony at the presidential office in Yongsan District, Seoul, Monday. Joint Press CorpsBy Nam Hyun-wooPresident Yoon Suk Yeol held a ceremony, Monday, to grant appointment certificates to a number of minister- and vice minister-level government officials he named last week, demonstrating his trust in them and aiming to strengthen his grip on the administration.Those who were officially appointed include five former presidential secretaries who served under Yoon until last week and have been tasked with realizing the administration's goals in the second year of the president's single, five-year term.Yoon held the appointment ceremonies for new Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission (ACRC) Chairperson Kim Hong-il and 13 vice ministers and vice-minister level government officials at the presidential office. The ACRC chairperson is a former prosecutor who was in charge of a botched investigation into a corruption case involving Busan Mutual Savings Bank along with Yoon, who was a

Jul 3, 2023By Nam Hyun-woo
Yoon strengthens grip on gov't through reshuffle

Yoon presents new anti-corruption agency chief with letter of appointment

President Yoon Suk Yeol, left, poses with Kim Hong-il, new chief of the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission, at the presidential office in Seoul, Monday. YonhapPresident Yoon Suk Yeol presented Kim Hong-il with a letter of appointment as the new chief of the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission on Monday.In addition, Yoon also awarded certificates of appointment to 13 other vice minister-level officials.President Yoon Suk Yeol, left, presents a certificate of appointment to Second Vice Culture Minister Jang Mi-ran, the 2008 Olympic gold winner in the women's over 75-kilogram category at the presidential office in Seoul, Monday. YonhapAmong them was Jang Mi-ran, the 2008 Olympic gold winner in the women's over 75-kilogram category, who was appointed second vice minister of the Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism. Furthermore, Ambassador to Vietnam Oh Young-ju was designated as the second vice foreign minister, and Ambassador to Thailand Moon Seoung-hyun as the vice unification minister. (Yonhap)

Jul 3, 2023
Yoon presents new anti-corruption agency chief with letter of appointment

Moon apparently refutes Yoon's use of expression 'anti-state forces'

Former President Moon Jae-in / YonhapFormer President Moon Jae-in said Monday there are still many people who have not escaped from the Cold War mentality, in an apparent rebuttal against President Yoon Suk Yeol's recent denunciation of "anti-state forces" during the previous government.Moon made the remarks in a Facebook post, saying, "I think about how different the inter-Korean relations, security situation and even the economy would have been if successive governments had been consistent in their policies for peace."The post is seen as indirect criticism of Yoon's apparent reference to the preceding administration and its North Korea policy as anti-state forces.Yoon said in a public address last Wednesday that anti-state forces with a distorted view of history had significantly undermined South Korea's security by begging for the lifting of U.N. sanctions on North Korea and pushing for an end-of-war declaration with Pyongyang.Moon went on to say that previous governments that established diplomatic ties with communist countries and signed agreements with Pyongyang made progress i

Jul 3, 2023
Moon apparently refutes Yoon's use of expression 'anti-state forces'

Yoon's approval rating up for 3 straight weeks to 42 percent

President Yoon Suk Yeol speaks during a Cabinet meeting at the presidential office in Seoul, June 27. YonhapThe approval rating of President Yoon Suk Yeol rose for three consecutive weeks to 42 percent, a poll showed Monday. In the poll of 2,505 eligible voters conducted by Realmeter from Monday to Friday last week, positive assessment of Yoon's performance rose 3 percentage points from the previous week and surpassed 40 percent for the first time since the fourth week of May.Disapproval of Yoon's performance fell 2.4 percentage points to a three-week low of 55.1 percent. The pollster did not give a reason for the rise, but said major issues during the survey period include Japan's decision to include Korea back on its "white list" of trusted trading partners and the nomination of a conservative scholar as unification minister. By age group, positive assessment rose by the largest margin among respondents in their 60s with 10.7 percentage points, followed by those in their 20s with 5.2 percentage points and 30s with 4.8 percentage points. Positive assessment also grew the largest amo

Jul 3, 2023
Yoon's approval rating up for 3 straight weeks to 42 percent

Hyundai Group chief withdraws application to visit Mt. Kumgang after N. Korea's refusal

Koo Byoung-sam, spokesperson for the unification ministry, speaks during a regular press briefing at the government complex in Seoul, July 3. YonhapThe chief of South Korea's Hyundai Group has withdrawn an application to visit North Korea's Mount Kumgang, after the North said it has "no intention to examine" the application, an official at Seoul's unification ministry said Monday. Hyun Jeong-eun, chairwoman of Hyundai Group, which had run sightseeing programs at the North Korean mountain, had been seeking to visit the North in August to mark the 20th anniversary of the death of her husband and former chairman of the group, Chung Mong-hun. Last Saturday, North Korea rejected Hyun's bid to visit Mount Kumgang, saying that Pyongyang has the policy of not permitting the entry of South Korean nationals into its territory. "We make it clear that we have neither been informed about any South Korean personage's willingness for visit nor known about it and that we have no intention to examine it," Kim Song-il, a director general of the North's foreign ministry, was quoted as saying by state m

Jul 3, 2023
Hyundai Group chief withdraws application to visit Mt. Kumgang after N. Korea's refusal
  • Is North Korea moving to reclassify South as foreign nation?

Biggest umbrella labor group goes on 2-week general strike

Members of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions declare the start of a two-week general strike in a press conference in Seoul, Monday. Yonhap The Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU), Korea's largest umbrella labor group, launched a two-week general strike Monday to protest the Yoon Suk Yeol government's labor policies.Yang Kyung-soo, the chairman of the KCTU, declared the start of the walkout under the slogan, "Down with the Yoon Suk Yeol government," in a press conference in front of the presidential office.The strike, which will run through July 15, is aimed at rallying public support for its call for the ouster of the Yoon government, demanding a hike in the minimum wage and stopping what it calls the government's "pro-chaebol and anti-labor" policies, KCTU officials said. Chaebol are family-run conglomerates.Also on the agenda are stopping Japan's plan to release contaminated water from its crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant and guaranteeing the

Jul 3, 2023
Biggest umbrella labor group goes on 2-week general strike

Supporting North Korea is not Unification Ministry's job, says Yoon

Kim Yung-ho, nominee for next unification minister, speaks to reporters in front of the Office of the Inter-Korean Dialogue in Seoul, Friday. Korea Times photo by Choi Joo-yeonBy Nam Hyun-wooPresident Yoon Suk Yeol said Sunday that the Ministry of Unification should not act like a ministry that supports North Korea and called for an overhaul of the government agency, just days after the opposition party criticized the recent nomination of a new unification minister.“So far, the unification ministry has acted like a pro-North Korea support ministry, but that should be stopped,” Yoon was quoted as saying by senior presidential secretary for public relations Kim Eun-hye. “Now is the time for the unification ministry to change.”The senior secretary said Yoon was referring to last week's nomination of Kim Yung-ho, a professor of political diplomacy at Sungshin Women's University and a former human rights ambassador, as the new unification minister. Kim has been calling for stronger pressure on North Korea by taking issue with its dismal human rights track record.Th

Jul 2, 2023By Nam Hyun-woo
Supporting North Korea is not Unification Ministry's job, says Yoon
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