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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.

Climate change expert tapped as environment minister

Environment Minister nominee Han Wha-jin / Yonhap Environment Minister nominee Han Wha-jin, an honorary researcher of the Korea Environment Institute, is a former scientist with career experience in the field of air pollution and climate change.Born in 1959, Han finished her undergraduate and master's studies in chemistry at Korea University and later earned her doctorate degree at the University of California, Los Angeles, through researching ozone generation.Han was a founding member of the Korea Environment Institute and worked there as a researcher for 23 years. She also served as presidential secretary for environment at Cheong Wa Dae from 2009 and 2010 during the Lee Myung-bak administration.Later, Han served as a member of the Nuclear Safety and Security Commission and the Green Growth Committee under the Prime Minister's Office. She also served as the head of the Korea Foundation for Women in Science Engineering and Technology from 2016 to 2019. (Yonhap)

Apr 13, 2022
Climate change expert tapped as environment minister
  • Yoon nominates four-term lawmaker Park Jin as new foreign minister

Ruling party to select Seoul mayor nominee without primary

Rep. Yun Ho-jung, chairman of the party's emergency committee / Yonhap The Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) decided to nominate a candidate for Seoul mayor without a primary, the party's chief said Wednesday, raising the possibility the party will look for a new person rather than selecting from existing contenders, including former party Chairman Song Young-gil.Rep. Yun Ho-jung, chairman of the party's emergency committee, said that the decision to make a "strategic nomination" for Seoul mayor was made as part of efforts to ensure a "surefire victory" in June's local elections.The DPK "will field a candidate who will live up to people's expectations based on competitiveness and the possibility of victory," Yun said.Song, the former DPK chairman, declared his bid for Seoul mayor, but some party lawmakers criticized him for avoiding his responsibility for defeat in the March presidential election.The mayoral election will be one of the biggest races, along with the gu

Apr 13, 2022
Ruling party to select Seoul mayor nominee without primary

Yoon nominates four-term lawmaker Park Jin as new foreign minister

Rep. Park Jin has been nominated as Korea's new foreign minister. YonhapPresident-elect Yoon Suk-yeol nominated Rep. Park Jin as foreign minister and Rep. Kwon Young-se as unification minister Wednesday, while tapping Han Dong-hoon, a senior prosecutor and key confidant, to be justice minister.Yoon announced the nominations at a press conference where he also named six other Cabinet members and his first chief of staff.Park is a four-term lawmaker of Yoon's People Power Party (PPP) who worked briefly for the foreign ministry after passing the foreign service exam in the 1970s, and is considered an expert on relations with the U.S.Kwon is also a four-term PPP lawmaker who served as ambassador to China during the Park Geun-hye administration and is known as one of Yoon's closest associates.Kim In-chul, former president of Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, was named education minister and deputy prime minister for social affairs, while Han, widely known as one of Yoon's closest confidants, was tapped for justice minister.Meanwhile, Lee Sang-min, former vice chief of the Anti-Corrupt

Apr 13, 2022
Yoon nominates four-term lawmaker Park Jin as new foreign minister
  • Climate change expert tapped as environment minister
  • Veteran bureaucrat with maritime expertise tapped as oceans minister
  • Ex-judge named interior minister nominee

Prosecutor general denounces prosecution 'reform' bill as 'violation of Constitution'

Prosecutor General Kim Oh-soo speaks to reporters as he enters his office in southern Seoul, April 13. Yonhap Prosecutor General Kim Oh-soo pledged Wednesday to do everything he could to derail the ruling Democratic Party of Korea's push for a bill depriving the prosecution of its investigative power, denouncing the move as a "direct violation of the Constitution" that would be welcomed only by criminals.The DPK has been pushing for what it calls a "complete deprivation of the prosecutorial investigative right" as part of efforts to reform the powerful law enforcement agency long accused of abusing its power for political and other purposes.The party, which controls a majority in the 300-member National Assembly, decided in a general meeting of lawmakers Tuesday to pass the reform bill through the Assembly later this month before the May 10 inauguration of President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol.The prosecutor general has strongly protested the proposed bill, saying he would

Apr 13, 2022
Prosecutor general denounces prosecution 'reform' bill as 'violation of Constitution'

Yoon to announce additional Cabinet nominations

President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol speaks after announcing eight Cabinet nominees at the presidential transition committee's office in Seoul, April 10. Yoon will announce a second round of Cabinet nominations Wednesday. Yonhap President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol will announce a second round of Cabinet nominations Wednesday, his spokesperson said, a list that is expected to include at least seven minister nominees and his chief of staff.The nominations will be for the remaining 10 positions ― ministers of education, foreign affairs, unification, justice, interior and safety, labor, small and medium-sized enterprises, maritime affairs, agriculture and the environment.Yoon will announce the nominees at a press conference at 2 p.m., his spokesperson Bae Hyun-jin told reporters."All 10 could be announced, but two or three of them are still under final review," an official close to the president-elect told Yonhap News Agency. Yoon is also expected to name his first chief of staff am

Apr 13, 2022
Yoon to announce additional Cabinet nominations

Ruling party to push for prosecutorial reform bill passage

Park Ji-hyun, the co-chairwoman of the Democratic Party of Korea's emergency committee, speaks during a general meeting of the party's lawmakers at the National Assembly on Seoul's Yeouido, Tuesday. Joint Press CorpsSome DPK members call for slowdown in prosecutorial reformBy Jung Da-minHardliners have gained the upper hand within the ruling liberal Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) in a drive to reform the prosecution to separate its investigative and prosecution powers in response to its overreaching role in alleged past corruption cases. But a few DPK members expressed concerns about the manner in which the reform is being pursued ahead of the local elections on June 1. Park Ji-hyun, an interim leader of the ruling party, is one of such skeptic. “I hope that we can have a reasonable debate today. It seems that there are two roads ahead of us. One is where we give up the prosecutorial reform and then focus our time and energy on improving the livelihoods of the public; the other is one where we go ahead with the reform,” she said during a party's meeting with its members.

Apr 12, 2022
Ruling party to push for prosecutorial reform bill passage

Conservatives eye impact of Yoon-Park meeting on Daegu mayoral race

President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol, left, shakes hands with Yoo Young-ha, a lawyer and close aide of former President Park Geun-hye, during the former's visit to Park's residence in Dalseong County, Daegu, Tuesday. Joint Press Corps Rep. Hong Joon-pyo wary of rise of Yoo Young-ha, who is backed by ex-President Park Geun-hye By Nam Hyun-wooWith 50 days to go until the June 1 local elections, the race to select the main opposition People Power Party (PPP) candidate to run in the Daegu mayoral election has been heating up, following President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol's visit to the city to meet ex-President Park Geun-hye, who has found a new home in the conservative stronghold. Currently, a two-way race is underway between senior lawmaker Hong Joon-pyo and Yoo Young-ha, Park's lawyer and aide, whom the latter has endorsed. It remains to be seen whether Yoon's visit with Park will affect public opinion ahead of the mayoral election. Hong, who ran unsuccessfully in the 2017 pres

Apr 12, 2022By Nam Hyun-woo
Conservatives eye impact of Yoon-Park meeting on Daegu mayoral race
  • Yoon invites former President Park to inauguration ceremony

Yoon invites former President Park to inauguration ceremony

President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol shakes hands with former President Park Geun-hye during their meeting in Daegu, Tuesday. Yonhap By Kang Seung-wooPresident-elect Yoon Suk-yeol invited former President Park Geun-hye to his inauguration ceremony, May 10, as the incoming president tries to rebuild relations with his predecessor.Park said she will attend the inauguration if conditions permit. Yoon's much-heralded meeting with Park took place for 50 minutes, Tuesday, while he was on a national tour, which started, Monday. “The president-elect said he was sorry for his bad relationship with Park, which started when Yoon was a member of the special prosecution team investigating Park's corruption scandal,” Rep. Kwon Young-se, the vice chairman of Yoon's transition committee who accompanied the president-elect, said following the meeting between Yoon and Park in Daegu. Yoon has repeatedly stated his wish to visit Park, saying he feels "great sorrow" for the investigation on a political and emotional level, although he was doing his job.“The two talked about their links to ele

Apr 12, 2022By Kang Seung-woo
Yoon invites former President Park to inauguration ceremony
  • Conservatives eye impact of Yoon-Park meeting on Daegu mayoral race

Seoul mayor vows to lift regulation on building heights as part of reelecion campaign

Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon speaks during a press conference at City Hall, April 12, commemorating the one-year anniversary of his latest term as mayor. YonhapOh Se-hoon unveils vision for green, attractive urban spaces as he seeks reelectionBy Ko Dong-hwanSeoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon unveiled his visions for city forestation, K-beauty brands and making city facilities friendlier to residents as he seeks reelection in the upcoming mayoral election on June 1.Oh revealed his plans during a press conference at City Hall on April 12 to commemorate the one-year anniversary of his latest term as mayor.Oh said that the city government has already begun sprucing up downtown streets by planting more vegetation under the city's urban development plan, with plans to continue upgrading streets in Yongsan District by the end of this year. His plan hit a note with President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol's currently ongoing bid to relocate the presidential office to the defense ministry's headquarters in Yongsan District. “Imagine looking at Seoul from one kilometer above and the view is filled with green,”

Apr 12, 2022By Ko Dong-hwan
Seoul mayor vows to lift regulation on building heights as part of reelecion campaign

Yoon spends 40.8 billion won, Lee 43.8 billion won on presidential campaign

President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol, left, and Lee Jae-myung of the liberal Democratic Party of the Korea (DPK) / YonhapPresident-elect Yoon Suk-yeol spent 40.8 billion won ($33.3 million) on his official presidential election campaign, while his main rival Lee Jae-myung spent 43.8 billion won, the National Election Commission said Tuesday.Yoon of the conservative People Power Party (PPP) won the nation's closest presidential election on March 9, beating Lee of the liberal Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) by 0.73 percentage point. By law, the election watchdog is required to fully reimburse the expenses if the candidate wins more than 15 percent of all eligible votes cast. Candidates with less than 15 percent but more than 10 percent of all votes will be reimbursed 50 percent of their costs, while those with less than 10 percent will get nothing.As Yoon had 48.56 percent of the vote against Lee's 47.83 percent, both the PPP and the DPK can fully receive their campaign spending.Compared with campaign costs for the 2017 presidential election, the PPP's spending for the March election rose by

Apr 12, 2022
Yoon spends 40.8 billion won, Lee 43.8 billion won on presidential campaign
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