South Korea - The Korea Times

Declining approval rating feared to dampen Yoon's political drive

President Yoon Suk-yeol reviews documents as he prepares to attend the 2022 North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Summit at a hotel in Madrid, Spain, Thursday, in this photo released, Sunday. Courtesy of the presidential officeRuling party's internal rift, slowing economy sap support for presidentBy Nam Hyun-wooPresident Yoon Suk-yeol's approval rating is mired in a downward spiral less than two months after he took office, May 10, setting new record lows for three consecutive weeks. Yoon, who just returned from his first overseas trip to the 2022 North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Summit in Spain, seeks to take advantage of the outcomes of his meetings there to recover from the declining support, as his predecessors did following overseas trips. But political watchers remain skeptical of Yoon's ability to do so, as domestic issues dragging down his approval rating have no clear answers.According to a Gallup Korea weekly poll that surveyed 1,000 adults from June 28 to 30, Yoon's job approval rating stood at 43 percent, down 4 percentage points from a week earlier. The numb

Jul 3, 2022By Nam Hyun-woo

Declining approval rating feared to dampen Yoon's political drive

Umbrella union stages massive rallies in Seoul amid scorching heat

Members of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, a major umbrella labor group, stages a rally in Seoul on Saturday. YonhapThe Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU), a major umbrella labor group, on Saturday staged large-scale rallies of nearly 50,000 members in the country's capital despite scorching heat.Various labor unions under the KCTU, including those representing construction and service business workers, started occupying the streets in central Seoul around noon and gathered for the KTCU's main rally around 3:25 p.m., demanding the new government of President Yoon Suk-yeol to improve workers' rights and ensure better working conditions.They were the first large-scale rallies staged by the KCTU since the Yoon government was launched in May.Although the apparent temperature reached as high as 33.5 C around 3 p.m. in Seoul, the protestors, wearing wide-brimmed hats while placing wet towels around their neck, held placards and chanted slogans, like "workers are dying."From downtown Seoul, the unionized workers started marching toward Samgakji Station near the presidenti

Jul 3, 2022

Umbrella union stages massive rallies in Seoul amid scorching heat

'97 group' lawmakers throw hats into DPK leadership race

Rep. Lee Jae-myung of the Democratic Party of Korea (DPK), left, speaks with Rep. Park Yong-jin, right, who declared his candidacy for the party's leadership, during a general meeting at the National Assembly, Thursday. Park is one of the “97 group” of lawmakers, which refers to the generation of politicians who were born in the 1970s and attended university in the '90s, who are challenging Lee's bid to be party chairman at the DPK convention in August. Joint Press CorpsBy Kwon Mee-yooA group of younger lawmakers in the main opposition party announced their bids for the party's leadership position, calling for a generational shift inside the Democratic Party of Korea (DPK).The ruling party plans to hold a national convention on Aug. 28 to elect a new leader after its humiliating defeats in the presidential and local elections. And lawmakers in their early 50s are throwing their hats into the ring, challenging frontrunner Lee Jae-myung, who was the DPK's presidential contender for the March 10 presidential election.The so-called "97 group," which refers to the generation o

Jul 2, 2022By Kwon Mee-yoo

'97 group' lawmakers throw hats into DPK leadership race

Ruling party's odd man out

Lee Jun-seok, in the background, second from right, chairman of the ruling People Power Party, is seen behind President Yoon Suk-yeol at Seoul Airport, Seongnam City, Gyeonggi Province on Friday. Yonhap Once seen as poster boy for new PPP, Lee Jun-seok now faces critical juncture in political career amid sex scandalBy Kang Hyun-kyungAround this time last year, Lee Jun-seok, who was then the newly elected leader of the People Power Party (PPP), had been at the peak of his career since he had entered politics in 2011. What he did and said made the nation's news headlines. The media frenzy about him is owed partly to the unprecedented record he set in Korean politics: Lee, who was then 36, is the first Korean politician who became a leader of a major party in his thirties. He took the PPP's leadership competition by storm, defeating several veteran politicians, such as Na Kyung-won and Joo Ho-young, with a comfortable margin. At the time, he was lauded as an icon of a

Jul 1, 2022By Kang Hyun-kyung

Embattled PPP chief greets Yoon ahead of ethics committee meeting

President Yoon Suk-yeol, right, speaks with ruling People Power Party Chairman Lee Jun-seok at Seoul Air Base in Seongnam, just south of Seoul, after he returned home from the NATO summit in Spain, July 1. YonhapRuling People Power Party (PPP) Chairman Lee Jun-seok appeared at an airport to greet President Yoon Suk-yeol returning from a trip to Spain, spurring speculation he may try to seek help from the president in connection with sexual bribery allegations against him.Lee's visit to Seoul Air Base in Seongnam, just south of Seoul, to welcome Yoon came about a week before the PPP's ethics committee meets to determine whether and how to discipline Lee over allegations that he received sexual services as a bribe about 10 years ago and attempted to cover it up. Any punishment stronger than a warning could imperil Lee's political career a year after he took over the chairmanship and would push the PPP to elect a new leader.Lee has claimed his innocence.Earlier this week, Lee did not join other PPP leaders in sending Yoon off to Madrid for a summit of the North Atlantic Treaty Organizat

Jul 1, 2022

Embattled PPP chief greets Yoon ahead of ethics committee meeting

Yoon dines with Korean residents of Spain, praises their 'spirit of challenge'

President Yoon Suk-yeol shakes hands with participants at his meeting with Korean residents in Spain at the Mandarin Oriental Ritz in Madrid, Wednesday, local time. YonhapBy Lee Hae-rinPresident Yoon Suk-yeol said he would not spare policy support for Korean nationals living overseas to help them and their children grow up proud of their ethnic identity as Koreans.During a dinner on Wednesday (local time) with 100 Koreans from different fields living in Spain, he also promised to provide digital administrative services for overseas Koreans, saying, “I want to realize a new Korea with you.” Yoon and first lady Kim Keon-hee met the Korean nationals from all across Spain who gathered at Mandarin Oriental Ritz in Madrid on the sidelines of his official trip to the 2022 North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Summit. In his opening speech, Yoon said he will revise laws and policies to take good care of the difficulties faced by Korean residents overseas.Yoon said the Korean community in Spain started with people's “spirit of challenge.”They went to Spain first as

Jun 30, 2022By Lee Hae-rin

Yoon dines with Korean residents of Spain, praises their 'spirit of challenge'

Police quiz businessman over sexual bribery allegations involving PPP chief

People Power Party (PPP) Chairman Lee Jun-seok / YonhapPolice questioned a businessman Thursday in connection with allegations that he paid for sexual services as a bribe to now-ruling People Power Party (PPP) Chairman Lee Jun-seok about 10 years ago.The National Police Agency said a team of investigators questioned Kim Sung-jin, CEO of the tech company I-kaist, who is currently detained at the Seoul Detention Center over a separate case.Lee is accused of receiving sexual services paid for by Kim in 2013. At the time, Lee was considered close to then-President Park Geun-hye because Park had handpicked him for a seat on the party's collective leadership two years earlier. The scandal is considered the biggest crisis yet for Lee, who won the PPP chairmanship last year as the first person in his 30s to take the helm of a major political party in Korea.Lee has claimed he is innocent.The PPP's ethics committee plans to hold a meeting on Lee's case next week. The types of disciplinary action the committee can take range from a warning to expulsion from the party. (Yonhap)

Jun 30, 2022

Police quiz businessman over sexual bribery allegations involving PPP chief

First lady embarks on public diplomacy in Madrid

First lady Kim Keon-hee, second from left, attends an exhibition of Korean fashion at the Korean Cultural Center in Madrid, Tuesday. YonhapBy Lee Hae-rinFirst lady Kim Keon-hee, who accompanied President Yoon Suk-yeol on his official trip to the 2022 North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Summit in Madrid, has taken part in some diplomatic activities.Kim visited the Korean Cultural Center in Madrid, Tuesday, praising the center's staff for their dedication in promoting Korean culture. Kim is the first presidential spouse to visit the center since its opening in 2011. Korean Cultural Centers are located in major cities across the globe and hold exhibitions, film screenings, language classes and experience programs to promote Korean culture.She attended the fashion exhibition, “Lo Viejo Viste Lo Nuevo” (The Old Wears the New),” by Korean designer Kim A-young which was showcased on the first floor of the center. The center's director Oh Ji-hoon explained that it is the center's first fashion exhibition and that they selected hanbok-styled costumes to promote Korean

Jun 29, 2022By Lee Hae-rin

First lady embarks on public diplomacy in Madrid

Jill Biden advises first lady Kim: "Just be yourself"

Late official's brother claims DPK offered compensation for acknowledging brother's defection attempt

Lee Rae-jin, left, the elder brother of Lee Dae-joon, a fisheries ministry official shot to death by North Korean soldiers while drifting in waters in the West Sea in September 2020, speaks during a meeting arranged by the ruling People Power Party at the National Assembly in Seoul, June 24. YonhapThe brother of a fisheries official killed by North Korea in 2020 claimed Wednesday the then ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) offered to give the family financial compensation if they acknowledged his brother attempted to defect to the North.After President Yoo Suk-yeol took office last month, the Coast Guard and the defense ministry revisited the case and overturned their previous conclusion on the alleged defection attempt of the late fisheries official Lee Dae-jin. He was shot and killed by North Korea's military near the western sea border, Sept. 22, 2020. "The DPK had told me they would give us compensation if we acknowledged the defection," Lee Rae-jin said on Facebook. "But I rejected it flatly and told them my brother did not (try to) defect. I do not need that money, and I wi

Jun 29, 2022

Late official's brother claims DPK offered compensation for acknowledging brother's defection attempt

First lady Kim visits Korean cultural center in Madrid

First lady Kim Keon-hee visits the Korean Cultural Center and tours a Korean fashion exhibition in Madrid, June 28. YonhapFirst lady Kim Keon-hee visited the Korean Cultural Center in Madrid, Tuesday, and praised its staff for helping promote Korean culture.The Korean Cultural Center opened in the Spanish capital in 2011.Around 60 cultural programs are held at the center each year, including exhibitions, concerts, classes and film screenings.Currently, the center is hosting a Korean fashion exhibition, including clothes by designer Kim A-young, which the first lady toured."I thank you for your hard work in promoting Korean culture in Spain," she said to the center's staff, asking that they continue to work to increase the popularity of Korean pop, fashion, beauty products and food in Spain.The first lady also listened to their needs and discussed ways to support the center.Kim is accompanying President Yoon Suk-yeol on his visit to Spain to attend a North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) summit. (Yonhap)