South Korea - The Korea Times

DPK slams Yoon's absence during record rainfall

Rep. Park Hong-keun, floor leader of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea, speaks at a party meeting at the National Assembly, Wednesday. YonhapThe main opposition Democratic Party of Korea rapped President Yoon Suk-yeol on Wednesday for remaining at home when massive rainfall caused serious flooding in Seoul and elsewhere earlier this week, moking him as an invisible "stealth" jet.Presidential aides have said that Yoon oversaw anti-disaster efforts from home via telephone when record downpours, believed to be the heaviest in 115 years, triggered widespread flooding in southern Seoul on Monday night.But critics, including the DPK, have stressed that Yoon should have shown up at the disaster control center, instead of staying at home, to better direct efforts to bring the situation under control in the downpours that left 16 people dead or missing."The president was nowhere to be seen in the pandemonium," DPK floor leader Park Hong-keun told a party meeting. "This means that while the people were exposed to danger all night long, the country's crisis management control tower

Aug 10, 2022

DPK slams Yoon's absence during record rainfall

Yoon apologizes to nation for inconvenience caused by heavy rains

Yoon details whereabouts during record downpour to curb conspiracy theory

President Yoon Suk-yeol, front, walks down a poor housing area of Silimdong, Seoul, Tuesday, a day after a family of three who lived in a semi-basement home in the neighborhood were found dead after heavy downpour. One of the dead was a 40-something woman with a developmental disability. Yonhap By Kang Hyun-kyungPresident Yoon Suk-yeol directed the Ministry of the Interior and Safety and other related ministries on Tuesday to keenly watch the developments of torrential downpours and to draw up measures to protect people's lives and their property while preparing to deal with the aftermath of the record rainfall in the central part of the country.“As we've learned, the rainfall per hour broke the record and the downpour is said to be the consequence of climate change,” he said while presiding over a meeting with the heads of related ministries at the Government Complex Building in Seoul on Tuesday. “The Cabinet ministries must conduct a zero-based review of the curre

Aug 9, 2022By Kang Hyun-kyung

Yoon details whereabouts during record downpour to curb conspiracy theory

Ruling party pushes to dismiss Lee by launching emergency committee

People Power Party's National Committee Chairman Suh Byung-soo, left, bangs the gavel to approve revisions to the party's charter allowing acting chairman Kweon Seong-dong, right, to name an interim chief, during a national committee meeting at the National Assembly on Yeouido, Seoul, Tuesday. Joint Press CorpsYoung leader set to file injunctionBy Nam Hyun-wooRep. Joo Ho-young / Korea Times fileThe People Power Party (PPP) launched an emergency committee on Tuesday that will serve as its interim leadership, just three months after the ruling camp won the presidential election. With the launch of the interim committee, the party's Chairman Lee Jun-seok, who has been butting heads with lawmakers close to President Yoon Suk-yeol after being suspended for six months from party affairs, will be unable to return to the chairmanship. As Lee is poised to file for a court injunction calling for the suspension of the party's transition to the interim leadership, more political upheavals are anticipated in the ruling party's ongoing power struggle.The PPP's national committee held an online mee

Aug 9, 2022By Nam Hyun-woo

Ruling party pushes to dismiss Lee by launching emergency committee

Ex-President Lee Myung-bak unlikely to be released

By Kang Seung-wooFormer President Lee Myung-bak and former South Gyeongsang Province Governor Kim Kyoung-soo are not likely to make the list of people that President Yoon Suk-yeol will grant special amnesty to due to concerns that such pardons might negatively affect his declining approval ratings.However, Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong and other business leaders may be among those pardoned as part of the government's aim to overcome economic challenges.Former President Lee Myung-bak / Korea Times file According to ruling party officials, President Yoon received various opinions, Tuesday, on the eve of the pardon committee meeting, and he has made a decision to minimize the number of politicians to be pardoned on the occasion of National Liberation Day, which falls on Monday, Aug. 15.The final amnesty list will be announced on Friday.Each administration has used national holidays to grant paroles or presidential pardons under the pretext of national unity. Yoon's decision is a shift from his previous indication that the jailed former president could be freed.In June,

Aug 9, 2022By Kang Seung-woo

Ex-President Lee Myung-bak unlikely to be released

Bill Gates to speak at National Assembly next week

Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates attends a forum of the first China International Import Expo (CIIE) in Shanghai in this Nov. 5, 2018, file photo. Reuters-YonhapMicrosoft co-founder Bill Gates will deliver an address at the National Assembly next week about international cooperation on COVID-19, officials said Tuesday.Gates will visit parliament Tuesday morning to meet with Speaker Kim Jin-pyo and address the parliamentary budget committee about global health cooperation in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to Kim's office.Gates, who co-chairs the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, is expected to touch on the importance of international cooperation and how South Korea can play a role in this process.Gates last visited the National Assembly nine years ago when he gave a speech on his foundation to some 40 lawmakers at the invitation of then lawmaker Chung Mong-joon.In June, Gates and President Yoon Suk-yeol spoke on the phone to discuss efforts to overcome the pandemic and South Korea's contribution to global health cooperation. (Yonhap)

Aug 9, 2022

Bill Gates to speak at National Assembly next week

Education minister resigns after just over a month in office

Education Minister Park Soon-ae reads a prepared statement announcing her resignation at the Korea Institute of Educational Facility Safety in Yeouido, Seoul, Monday. Park decided to step down from her ministerial post amid mounting criticism against the ministry's agenda and her drunk-driving record. YonhapDeparture stirs deep doubts over Yoon's personnel selectionBy Ko Dong-hwanEducation Minister Park Soon-ae, whose appointment by President Yoon Suk-yeol last July had provoked fierce criticism from all sides for her lack of experience and history of unethical behavior, stepped down Monday. Her resignation came 34 days after she took the helm of the ministry.During a press conference held in Seoul, Park took the blame for the latest controversies surrounding her.“My latest policies were all for the benefit of our country's citizens,” said Park at the lobby of the Korea Institute of Educational Facility Safety building in Yeouido, Seoul. “But clearly I fell short of expectations.”Park wrapped up the press conference after the announcement, putting an end to he

Aug 8, 2022By Ko Dong-hwan

Education minister resigns after just over a month in office

Vice education minister hints at scrapping proposal to lower school entry age

Yoon vows to go back to basics amid low approval ratings

President Yoon Suk-yeol answers reporters' questions as he arrives at the presidential office in Yongsan District, Seoul, Monday. It was Yoon's first Q&A session with reporters in 13 days. Yonhap By Nam Hyun-wooPresident Yoon Suk-yeol said he would go back to basics when he returned to work on Monday after a week-long vacation, in an apparent effort to regain public trust in his administration. “As I looked back at what happened in the past, I came to be grateful to the people who have helped me come this far, with both harsh criticism and heartfelt encouragement,” Yoon said while answering reporters' questions upon his arrival at the presidential office.“During my vacation, I reached the conclusion that as president, I need to be humble, and try to figure out what the public wants and listen carefully to what they say,” he said. Yoon took reporters' questions after a two-week hiatus. After slamming police officers' protests against the government's plan to set up a

Aug 8, 2022By Nam Hyun-woo

Yoon vows to go back to basics amid low approval ratings

Foreign ministers of South Korea and China to meet to address thorny issues

Foreign Minister Park Jin, left, shakes hands with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi during the ASEAN Plus Three Foreign Ministers' Meeting in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Thursday. Yonhap THAAD expected to be most explosive issue: expertsBy Kang Seung-wooThe foreign ministers of South Korea and China sit down for talks Tuesday to address a heap of thorny issues amid Beijing's growing displeasure with Seoul over its policies involving the United States, a staunch ally of the South.The meeting in Qingdao, China is the second of its kind between Foreign Minister Park Jin and his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi since Park's inauguration in May and comes as the Chinese government has warned against South Korea's possible participation in the U.S.-proposed anti-China chip alliance, believed to be a platform aimed at countering Beijing's rising influence in global supply chains.In addition, China has urged the Yoon Suk-yeol administration to uphold the previous government's so-called “Three Nos” policy, which refers to no additional deployments of U.S. Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (

Aug 8, 2022By Kang Seung-woo

Foreign ministers of South Korea and China to meet to address thorny issues

Taiwan begins live-fire artillery drill simulating defence against China attack

Education minister expected to resign amid criticism of proposal to lower school entry age

Education Minister Park Soon-ae / YonhapEducation Minister Park Soon-ae is expected to tender her resignation Monday, a ruling party official said, amid criticism she mishandled key policy proposals, such as lowering the elementary school starting age.Park has come under pressure to quit after many teachers and parents protested strongly against lowering the school entry age by one year to 5. She has been criticized for announcing the proposal without sufficient preparations, such as collecting public opinion.Her ministry had also unveiled a plan to abolish foreign language high schools, only to retract it just days later."I understand that Deputy Prime Minister Park will express her intent to resign sometime today," the official told Yonhap News Agency.Park doubles as the deputy prime minister for social affairs.Her resignation would effectively amount to her dismissal as President Yoon Suk-yeol reportedly made up his mind to fire her during his vacation last week. (Yonhap)

Aug 8, 2022

Education minister expected to resign amid criticism of proposal to lower school entry age

Yoon's disapproval rating hits new high at 70%

President Yoon Suk-yeol / Korea Times file President Yoon Suk-yeol's disapproval rating has reached a record high of 70 percent, a poll showed Monday, as strong backlash against a proposed education policy added on to persistent concerns over high inflation and turmoil in the ruling party.In a poll of 1,002 people conducted by Korea Society Opinion Institute (KSOI) on Friday and Saturday, 70.1 percent gave negative assessments of Yoon's performance, up 1.6 percentage points from the previous week.Yoon's approval rating continued to hover below 30 percent, coming in at 27.5 percent, down 1.4 percentage points from a week earlier.In a separate poll of 2,528 people conducted by pollster Realmeter from Monday to Friday, 29.3 percent responded that Yoon was doing well on state affairs, down 3.8 percentage points from the previous week.Those who gave a negative assessment rose 3.3 percentage points in the same period to 64.5 percent, more than twofold of those who gave po