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South Korea to reopen embassy in Kyiv

Ministry of Foreign Affairs building in Seoul / Korea Times fileSouth Korea will reopen its embassy in Kyiv shortly amid stabilizing conditions in the Ukrainian capital, the foreign ministry said Friday.South Korean embassy officials were evacuated from Kyiv in mid-February and operated temporary offices in the Ukrainian cities of Lviv and Chernivtsi as well as Romania. The Lviv mission was closed on March 18.The ministry said embassy officials will return to Kyiv for smoother cooperation with the Ukrainian government and the protection of South Korean nationals, as security conditions are stabilizing.The chief of the mission will determine the timing of the return while giving top priority to staff safety, it added. Seoul, meanwhile, plans to donate an additional $50 million to the war-ravaged country through a trust fund of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and is currently making related consultations, it added. The fund will be used to provide non-lethal military supplies, including fuel, medical goods and protective gear.It will help raise South Korea's total support since

Apr 29, 2022
South Korea to reopen embassy in Kyiv

Military to lift virus curbs on service members' leave

South Korean soldiers walk out of Seoul Station on May 10, 2021. YonhapSouth Korea's military plans to scrap pandemic-driven curbs on troops' leave, starting this weekend in line with the country's move to lift most COVID-19 restrictions earlier this month, sources said Friday.Starting Saturday, it will allow service members to make overnight and weekend off-base trips, according to the sources.Although curbs on service members' leave and weekday off-base travel had previously been eased, the military has effectively banned other off-base movements since early 2020 as part of anti-virus measures.South Korea last week scrapped most of its COVID-19 social distancing restrictions, including gathering limits and business hour curfews, as part of efforts to return to pre-pandemic normalcy. The military also plans to introduce a two-step social distancing system starting next month to gradually ease other virus restrictions.It could implement the first step as early as next Monday, which would pave the way for families to attend enlistment ceremonies for fresh recruits at military bases.Un

Apr 29, 2022
Military to lift virus curbs on service members' leave

Calls grow for anti-discrimination law

Park Ji-hyun, left, the co-chairperson of the current ruling liberal Democratic Party of Korea (DPK), speaks during an emergency committee meeting of the party at the National Assembly on Seoul's Yeouido, Friday. Rep. Yun Ho-jung, the co-chairperson of the party, is on the right. Joint Press Corps By Jung Da-min Activists and politicians from the liberal and progressive blocs are calling for the passage of an anti-discrimination law, saying it should happen before the Yoon Suk-yeol administration takes office on May 10. Those calling for the establishment of an anti-discrimination law are desperately trying to make their voices heard by holding press conferences in front of the National Assembly and even participating in a hunger strike. They have said that it will likely be even more difficult to establish the law once the next administration, which represents the country's conservative bloc, is inaugurated.Park Ji-hyun, the co-chairperson of the ruling liberal Dem

Apr 29, 2022
Calls grow for anti-discrimination law

37% say Han unfit to be PM: poll

Prime minister nominee Han Duck-soo speaks to a reporter at his office in Seoul, April 28. Yonhap Thirty-seven percent of Koreans believe prime minister nominee Han Duck-soo is not fit for the country's No. 2 job, according to a poll released Friday. The Gallup Korea survey of 1,003 adults, conducted from Tuesday to Thursday, also showed 30 percent saying Han was a good choice for prime minister in the incoming government. Thirty-three percent of respondents declined to answer. Compared with survey results from three weeks ago, the negative responses to Han increased 15 percentage points, while positive responses decreased eight percentage points. Han, 72, was picked by President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol as the first prime minister of the incoming government, but he has come under fire for allegations of conflicts of interest related to his home in the early 1990s and his stint with the law firm Kim Chang. His confirmation hearings, Monday and Tuesday, ground to a halt a

Apr 29, 2022
37% say Han unfit to be PM: poll

Moon calls for watertight defense posture over N. Korea's weapons testing

Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Won In-choul speaks at a luncheon meeting of the country's military leaders hosted by President Moon Jae-in at Cheong Wa Dae, April 29. Yonhap Outgoing President Moon Jae-in called for the military to maintain a watertight defense posture Friday, expressing concerns that North Korea's continued testing of weapons may put the Korean Peninsula back into a crisis as incoming President Yoon Suk-yeol takes office.Moon, who is set to leave office May 9, made the remarks at a luncheon meeting with high-ranking military officials, Cheong Wa Dae said in a statement. "Given various signs shown by North Korea, including the recent launch of an ICBM, the crisis on the Korean Peninsula could become severe again," Moon told the military officials. Moon said North Korea may revive its old pattern of brinkmanship, as shown in 2017 when it launched ICBMs and conducted a nuclear weapons test, at a time of power transition in South Korea. "I hope ou

Apr 29, 2022
Moon calls for watertight defense posture over N. Korea's weapons testing

Moon says there are not only cons but also pros to pardoning ex-President Lee

President Moon Jae-in / Yonhap Outgoing President Moon Jae-in said Friday he will determine whether to pardon former President Lee Myung-bak after taking judicial and public consensus into consideration, noting there were not only cons but also pros to the proposed pardon.The remark, made in response to online petitions opposing Lee's pardon, could suggest a higher likelihood of a pardon because Moon talked about those in favor of it, though presidential aides said the remark was no more than an expression of principle. Speculation has grown recently that Moon may grant a pardon to Lee on the occasion of Buddha's Birthday, May 8, a day before his five-year term ends. Lee is serving a 17-year prison term for embezzlement and bribery."There are many people who have the same opinion as the petitioners. On the other hand, there are many opinions in favor of amnesty for national harmony and integration," Moon said of petitions opposing a pardon. "I will make a judgment b

Apr 29, 2022
Moon says there are not only cons but also pros to pardoning ex-President Lee

Yoon to attend World Economic Forum's annual meeting next year: spokesperson

President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol speaks to citizens in Daejeon during his visit to the city, Thursday. YonhapPresident-elect Yoon Suk-yeol plans to attend the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, in January next year, his spokesperson said Thursday.Yoon expressed his intention to attend the forum in Davos after receiving an invitation from World Economic Forum Chairman Klaus Schwab during their meeting Wednesday, according to Yoon's spokesperson Bae Hyun-jin. The WEF organizes an annual forum in Davos where the world's political and economic leaders gather to discuss various global agenda. The forum has been usually held in the beginning of the year, but due to the omicron wave, this year's edition has been pushed back to May 22-26.In a meeting Thursday with Ahn Cheol-soo, the chief of Yoon's transition team, Schwab said Yoon told him he will review an option of sending a special envoy to the next month's forum.Ahn and Schwab also discussed the global supply chain in their meeting, according to the transition team.On Wednesday, Yoon and Schwab exchange

Apr 28, 2022
Yoon to attend World Economic Forum's annual meeting next year: spokesperson

Debate heats up over holding referendum on prosecution reform bill

National Election Commission headquarters in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi Province / NewsisBy Ko Dong-hwanWhile lawmakers at the National Assembly are split over the passage of two prosecution reform bills that will overhaul the investigative powers of prosecutors, the repercussions of the clash are spreading beyond the National Assembly. At the crux of an intensifying debate on the issue is whether or not it is legitimate to hold a referendum to let the public decide whether the bills should be legislated or not. Holding a referendum was suggested by Rep. Chang Je-won, the chief of staff for President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol. Chang proposed the bills to be put to a referendum on June 1, when the local elections are held, on the premise of saving both money to prepare for another election and time for people to go to the polling stations.The ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) and the main opposition People Power Party (PPP) have been locking horns for weeks over the prosecutorial reform. The DPK has decided it would work to pass the bills at the National Assembly in order to reduce what it arg

Apr 28, 2022By Ko Dong-hwan
Debate heats up over holding referendum on prosecution reform bill

Concerns growing over Cabinet vacuum

Members of a special committee for the hearing of Prime Minister nominee Han Duck-soo hold a meeting at the National Assembly on Seoul's Yeouido, Wednesday. The hearings for Han have been rescheduled to May 2 and 3, after earlier hearings on Monday and Tuesday broke down due to a boycott by the Democratic Party of Korea and the Justice Party. Joint Press CorpsBy Jung Da-min There are growing concerns that the Yoon Suk-yeol administration may start with several Cabinet positions unfilled, as several currently sitting ministers have offered to resign at the end of Moon Jae-in's term, accompanied by the uncertain future of Yoon's nominees, some of whom are not likely to pass the National Assembly confirmation hearings. In addition, the delayed hearings for Prime Minister nominee Han Duck-soo are making the situation worse, given that the prime minister has the right to recommend Cabinet appointees to the president. A total of seven ministers of the Moon administration who are also members of the liberal ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) are set to resign from their ministerial post

Apr 28, 2022
Concerns growing over Cabinet vacuum

Ruling party to thwart PPP's filibuster with salami tactics

Rep. Kweon Seong-dong, floor leader of the main opposition People Power Party (PPP), speaks at the National Assembly main hall, Wednesday. He took the floor to initiate a filibuster to prevent the ruling Democratic Party of Korea's push to vote on the prosecutorial reform bill. Joint Press CorpsDPK pushes to pass prosecutorial reform bill by May 3 By Kang Hyun-kyung Rep. Kweon Seong-dong, floor leader of the main opposition People Power Party (PPP), took the floor at the National Assembly, Wednesday, as the first PPP lawmaker to initiate a filibuster to prevent the passage of the Prosecutors' Office Bill, one of two bills designed to scrap the prosecution's power to investigate criminal cases. Calling the prosecutorial reform the product of fraudulent political maneuvering by the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK), Kweon blasted the ruling party for attempting to pass the controversial legislation.“I wonder why the ruling party members have wasted time for the past five years when President Moon Jae-in has been in power and why they have to push it through, just like they a

Apr 27, 2022By Kang Hyun-kyung
Ruling party to thwart PPP's filibuster with salami tactics
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