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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.

Yoon picks ex-Vice FM Kim Sung-han for national security adviser

Former vice foreign minister Kim Sung-han, left, former presidential secretary on national security strategy Kim Tae-hyo, center, and former presidential crisis management officer Shin In-ho / YonhapPresident-elect Yoon Suk-yeol picked Kim Sung-han, a former vice foreign minister and his longtime foreign policy mentor, as his national security adviser Sunday, while also naming all five senior presidential secretaries and other members of the presidential office."Nominee Kim Sung-han is equipped with not only the theory but the capability to draw up and execute policy," Chang Je-won, Yoon's chief of staff during the transition period, said during a press briefing. "He is the right person to serve as the control tower that will defend the security of the nation and the people by proactively responding to the security environment at home and abroad."Kim currently heads the foreign affairs and security subcommittee of the transition team and is also a childhood friend of the president-elect. He has advocated a foreign policy centered on a robust Korea-U.S. alliance.On Sunday, he vowed to

May 1, 2022
Yoon picks ex-Vice FM Kim Sung-han for national security adviser

Parties clash over establishment of Korean version of FBI

Lawmakers pass a revision to the Prosecutors' Office Act during a plenary session of the National Assembly on Yeouido, Seoul, Saturday. YonhapBy Nam Hyun-wooThe ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) has unilaterally pushed for the first phase of its proposed prosecutorial reform, and it is flexing its muscles to complete the process of limiting prosecutors' investigative powers before President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol takes office on May 10. According to officials, Sunday, the National Assembly will hold a plenary session on Tuesday during which the DPK plans to pass a revision bill of the Criminal Procedure Act.Since the DPK holds a majority in the Assembly, it can pass the revision without support from the other parties.On Saturday, the DPK embarked on the initiative to establish a Korean version of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) which will take over some of investigative rights from the prosecution. The ruling party passed a measure to form a special judiciary committee to prepare legal procedures for the new agency over the next six months. The new agency will assume the

May 1, 2022By Nam Hyun-woo
Parties clash over establishment of Korean version of FBI

Ruling party passes bill to deprive the prosecution of all investigative powers

Lawmakers attend a plenary session of the National Assembly in Seoul, April 30. The ruling Democratic Party of Korea passed a controversial “reform” bill Saturday to deprive prosecutors of all investigative powers, less than two weeks before incoming President Yoon Suk-yeol takes office. Yonhap The ruling party-dominated National Assembly passed one of two controversial bills on prosecution reform Saturday amid strong protests from the main opposition party, heralding a bipartisan standoff down the road. The revision of the Prosecutors' Office Act was passed in a 172-3 vote, with two abstentions, during a parliamentary plenary session. Although members of the main opposition People Power Party (PPP) attended the session, they boycotted the voting to protest the passage of the bill.The revision limits the prosecution's investigative powers to only two types of crime ― corruption and economic ― from the current six, before removing them completely.In recent weeks, the

Apr 30, 2022
Ruling party passes bill to deprive the prosecution of all investigative powers

Nearly 1 million people apply for Cheong Wa Dae tour

A poster for Cheong Wa Dae tours hangs on a street in Myeong-dong, downtown Seoul, Tuesday. The poster reads in Korean, “On May 10, Cheong Wa Dae is given back to the people. We start by keeping our promise.” Newsis By Lee Hae-rinNearly 1 million people have applied for a public tour of Cheong Wa Dae, only two days since it started to receive applications on Wednesday. According to President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol's transition committee, 970,044 people via online platforms Naver, Kakao Talk, and Toss applied for the tour program as of Thursday, 4 p.m. The taskforce said 72,524 applied to visit the compound on May 10, the day of Yoon's inauguration and the public opening of the presidential office. There are three types of applications available on the website ― an individual tour with up to four people, a group tour comprised of 30 to 50 people, and one for senior citizens aged over 65 and people with disabilities in a format of a group tour up to four people.On May

Apr 30, 2022By Lee Hae-rin
Nearly 1 million people apply for Cheong Wa Dae tour

Ukraine slams Kyiv attack amid new Mariupol rescue effort

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy speaks during a joint press conference in Kyiv, April 28, with Bulgaria's Prime Minister Kiril Petkov, as Russia's attack on Ukraine continues. REUTERS-YonhapUkraine's leader accused Russia of trying to humiliate the United Nations by raining missiles on Kyiv during a visit by Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, an attack that shattered the capital's tentative return to normality as the focus of the war moved east.President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Ukraine's forces were holding off Russia's attempted advance in the south and east, as efforts continued to secure safe passage for residents trapped in Mariupol, which has been largely reduced to rubble in a two-month-long siege. An official in the president's office did not rule out an evacuation as soon as Friday.Russia pounded targets all over Ukraine on Thursday, including the attack on Kyiv that struck a residential high-rise and another building. U.S.-funded broadcaster Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty said its journalist Vira Hyrych, who lives in one of the buildings hit, died. Her body was fo

Apr 29, 2022
Ukraine slams Kyiv attack amid new Mariupol rescue effort

Transition team chief discusses supply chain cooperation with British envoy

Transition team Chairman Ahn Cheol-soo met with British Ambassador to South Korea Colin Crooks at the team's office in Seoul, April 29. YonhapTransition team Chairman Ahn Cheol-soo met with the British ambassador to South Korea on Friday and discussed bilateral cooperation on supply chain issues and the war in Ukraine.Ambassador Colin Crooks paid a visit to Ahn at his office, saying he is pleased South Korea was the first Asian country to sign a free trade agreement with Britain following its exit from the European Union.Ahn said he is interested in both the FTA and developing a bilateral framework proposed by British Prime Minister Boris Johnson."I'm sure there are many areas where we can cooperate, such as supply chains and the pandemic," he said. "On Ukraine, we're participating in sanctions (against Russia) and providing humanitarian support."Crooks noted that freedom-loving countries, such as the United States, Britain and South Korea, will be able to cooperate on Ukraine because they take the crisis seriously and condemn Russia's invasion.Ahn also referred to Britain's particip

Apr 29, 2022
Transition team chief discusses supply chain cooperation with British envoy

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
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