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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.

Moon names new top financial regulator, trade minister

Newly nominated and appointed high-level government officials. Clockwise from top left are Song Doo-hwan, nominee for the head of the National Human Rights Commission of Korea; Koh Seung-beom, nominee for the head of the Financial Services Commission; Ko Kyu-chang, the new vice minister for interior and safety; Lee Seung-woo, the new vice minister for disaster and safety management; Hong Hyun-ik, the new head of the Korea National Diplomatic Academy; Park Moo-ik, the new head of the National Agency for Administrative City Construction; Yeo Han-koo, the new trade minister; and Park Ki-young, the new vice minister for trade, industry and energy. Courtesy of Cheong Wa DaeHeads of economy-related organizations replacedBy Kim RahnPresident Moon Jae-in nominated or appointed a number of high-level officials mostly in economy-related government organizations on Thursday, showing his commitment to reviving the pandemic-hit economy in the last stage of his term. Koh Seung-beom, a member of the Bank of Korea's (BOK) rate-setting monetary policy board, has been nominated to lead the Financial S

Aug 5, 2021By Kim Rahn
Moon names new top financial regulator, trade minister
  • New finance regulators tasked with improving coordination

Ex-audit agency chief declares bid to run for president

Choe Jae-hyeong, the former chairman of the Board of Audit and Inspection, announces his bid to run in the presidential election at a studio in Paju City, Gyeonggi Province, Aug. 4 YonhapChoe Jae-hyeong, former chief of the national audit agency, formally declared his presidential bid Wednesday, vowing to restore the principles of a free market economy and ensure fair job opportunities for young people."As one of South Korea's citizens, I decided I can't just sit and watch the country crumble," Choe, the former chairman of the Board of Audit and Inspection (BAI), said, announcing his bid to run in the March 9 presidential election.The official presidential bid was announced via an online event only about one month following his resignation as the head of the national audit agency amid a feud with the Moon Jae-in administration. The BAI, under the leadership of Choe, had been at odds with Cheong Wa Dae since its controversial audit last year of the Moon administration's decision to close the Wolsong-1 reactor at an early date as part of the government's broader campaign to phase out t

Aug 4, 2021
Ex-audit agency chief declares bid to run for president

Ruling party chief says reopening Kaesong complex will help build trust among 2 Koreas, US

Ruling Democratic Party of Korea Chairman Rep. Song Young-gil / YonhapSouth Korea's ruling party chairman suggested Wednesday reopening the long-shuttered inter-Korean industrial complex in North Korea's border town of Kaesong will help build trust among the two Koreas and the United States, and ease tension on the Korean Peninsula."Reopening the Kaesong Industrial Complex is very critical to building trust between the U.S., South Korea and North Korea," Rep. Song Young-gil, head of the ruling Democratic Party (DP), said during a session of the Aspen Security Forum, being held online by the U.S.-based Aspen Institute. "The Kaesong Industrial Complex has a very essential role in easing tensions between the two Koreas and is a very efficient way to change North Korea," Song said.His call for the resumption of the Kaesong complex comes amid growing hope for improved inter-Korean ties following the reopening of liaison communication hotlines between the countries last week. The joint factory, a major symbol of inter-Korean economic cooperation, was closed in February 2016 in the wake of

Aug 4, 2021
Ruling party chief says reopening Kaesong complex will help build trust among 2 Koreas, US

Announcing housing policy

Gyeonggi Province Governor Lee Jae-myung, a presidential contender of the liberal ruling Democratic Party of Korea, announces his housing policy at the National Assembly, Tuesday, vowing, if elected, to offer more than 2.5 million homes, including 1 million homes built and leased by the state, in a bid to help people become homeowners more easily. Yonhap

Aug 4, 2021
Announcing housing policy

Kim Yo-jong causes internal conflicts in South over joint military drill with US

Ruling Democratic Party of Korea Chairman Rep. Song Young-gil, center, speaks during a meeting of the party's Supreme Council at the National Assembly in Seoul. YonhapPoliticians, government bodies express different stances over joint exercisesBy Jung Da-minThe government is experiencing an internal divide over the joint summertime military exercises between Seoul and Washington, following a warning from North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's powerful sister that they would damage inter-Korean relations. Opinions are divided even within the ruling party and different government departments, over whether to delay, cancel or scale down the regular exercises or to go ahead with them as originally planned from the middle of the month.Kim Yo-jong, the sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un / YonhapThe controversy emerged after Kim's sister, Kim Yo-jong, issued a statement, Sunday, saying the drills would be “an undesirable prelude” undermining peace efforts by North Korean leader Kim and South Korean President Moon Jae-in.Her warning came only five days after the two Koreas rest

Aug 3, 2021
Kim Yo-jong causes internal conflicts in South over joint military drill with US

Over 1,000 labor, activist groups issue statement opposing parole of jailed Samsung heir

An activist stages a one-man protest against the parole of Lee Jae-yong, the Samsung Group heir currently in prison, at Gwanghwamun in downtown Seoul, Aug. 3. YonhapOver 1,000 labor and activist groups issued a joint statement Tuesday opposing the parole of Lee Jae-yong, the Samsung Group heir currently in prison, amid speculations that he may receive some type of special amnesty this month.Lee was sentenced to five years in prison in August 2017 for bribing former President Park Geun-hye and her longtime friend to win government support for a smooth father-to-son transfer of managerial power at Samsung. He was freed in 2018 after a high court reduced the sentence to 2 1/2 years, suspended for four years. Lee, however, was sent back to jail again in January after being sentenced to 2 1/2 years in prison by the same court in a retrial.Recently, speculations have swirled that Lee may be granted some type of amnesty, possibly in the form of parole or a presidential pardon, on the occasion of the Aug. 15 Liberation Day holiday, considering the administration's priority of pushing for pri

Aug 3, 2021
Over 1,000 labor, activist groups issue statement opposing parole of jailed Samsung heir

August comes as tough month for Moon's presidency

President Moon Jae-in speaks during a meeting with his secretaries at Cheong Wa Dae, Monday. Courtesy of Cheong Wa DaeBy Nam Hyun-wooPresident Moon Jae-in is set to take on daunting tasks this month with his term heading to the final stage, as the continued surge in the country's Delta variant cases hurt his approval rating while his efforts to improve inter-Korean relations are hitting a snag. According to Cheong Wa Dae, Moon was supposed to take a summer vacation this week but “postponed” the plan to hold meetings with his aides. Though the presidential office said the vacation was postponed, chances are high that Moon will not take it at all so as to address pending state affairs.If Moon does not take the leave, it will be the third consecutive year that he has canceled his summer vacation. In 2020, he called off his leave due to heavy rainfall that wreaked havoc on the southwestern region of the country, and he scrapped his 2019 vacation plans due to the rising tensions with Japan after Tokyo imposed export restrictions on key industrial materials to Seoul. Korea's Pr

Aug 2, 2021By Nam Hyun-woo
August comes as tough month for Moon's presidency

Meeting with social workers

Chung Sye-kyun, center, former prime minister and presidential contender of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea, delivers a speech during a conversation event with a civic organization representing 15 social welfare-related organizations, including the Korea Association of Social Workers and Korea Association of Social Welfare Centers, on Yeouido in Seoul, Monday. Yonhap

Aug 2, 2021By Kwon Mee-yoo
Meeting with social workers

Rival parties on collision course over a DP-led media reform bill

Rep. Kim Gi-Hyeon, floor leader of the main opposition People Power Party, talks with the labor union representatives of KBS who are staging a protest against the media reform bill at the National Assembly in Seoul, Aug. 2. YonhapA controversial media reform bill being pushed by the ruling Democratic Party (DP) is running into fierce resistance from the opposition bloc, putting the rival parties on a possible collision course at the National Assembly. Having unilaterally passed the bill through a subcommittee of the parliamentary Culture, Sports and Tourism Committee last week, the DP aims to advance it through the National Assembly in the upcoming provisional parliamentary session later this month.The bill aims to revise the Act on Press Arbitration and Remedies, Etc. for Damage Caused by Press Reports in a way that sharply increases the media's burden of responsibility for false or fake news. The revision proposal primarily aims to multiply the level of punitive compensation for damage from the release of "deliberate" or "grossly negligent" false news reports by up to five-fold in

Aug 2, 2021
Rival parties on collision course over a DP-led media reform bill

Will Ahn Cheol-soo join conservative main opposition party?

Leader of the People's Party, Ahn Cheol-soo, speaks during a policy conference co-organized by the party and the Korea Medical Association, held at the KMA headquarters in Seoul's Yongsan District, July 26. Joint Press CorpsBy Jung Da-minThe race for the next presidential election is heating up, after former prosecutor general Yoon Seok-youl, a leading presidential hopeful, joined the conservative main opposition People Power Party (PPP), Friday. Eyes are now on whether the leader of the conservative minor opposition People's Party, Ahn Cheol-soo, also a potential presidential contender from the conservative bloc, will join the PPP.Ahn, who ran in the 2017 election, has yet to announce his presidential bid, but is widely expected to join the race soon, either as a candidate of his own party, or a with the conservative main opposition party, if the PPP and the People's Party successfully conclude negotiations to merge.Talks between them were boosted after the PPP's landslide victory in the April by-elections for mayors of the country's two main cities, Seoul and Busan, with the two ag

Aug 2, 2021
Will Ahn Cheol-soo join conservative main opposition party?
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