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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.

Leading presidential contender joins conservative main opposition party

Former prosecutor general Yoon Seok-youl, left, poses with Rep. Kwon Young-se, external affairs committee head of the conservative main opposition People Power Party, after submitting his entry to the party at its headquarters on Yeouido, Seoul, Friday. YonhapPeople Power Party primary to hit stride upon Yoon's entryBy Nam Hyun-wooFormer prosecutor general Yoon Seok-youl, a leading opposition presidential hopeful, joined the conservative main opposition People Power Party (PPP), Friday, intensifying the heated competition between him and the existing PPP contenders. Yoon submitted his official application to the party during a meeting with Rep. Kwon Young-se, head of the conservative party's external affairs committee, at its headquarters in Yeouido, Seoul. He joined the party around four months after quitting the top prosecutor position after butting heads repeatedly with the Moon Jae-in administration.“I have been thinking about this for a long time,” Yoon told reporters. “To change the country's leadership, I believe it is necessary to join the conservative main

Jul 30, 2021By Nam Hyun-woo
Leading presidential contender joins conservative main opposition party
  • Criticism arises over mural disgracing wife of opposition presidential contender

Ruling party primary mired in mudslinging

Gyeonggi Province Governor Lee Jae-myung, left, and former Prime Minister Lee Nak-yon pose before appearing a TV debate hosted by broadcaster MBN in central Seoul, Wednesday. YonhapBy Nam Hyun-wooThe ruling Democratic Party of Korea's (DPK) primary to pick its presidential candidate is being tainted with excessive criticism and mudslinging between the leading contenders, despite the party leadership's efforts to pursue unity. Political watchers warn that the escalating mudslinging could lead centrist voters to turn their back on the ruling party.Gyeonggi Province Governor Lee Jae-myung, who is leading the pack among the DPK contenders, wrote on Facebook, Friday, that former Prime Minister Lee Nak-yon, the No. 2 among the ruling party hopefuls, “shouldn't be lying” about how many campaign pledges he had kept while serving as South Jeolla Province governor from 2014 to 2017.“Lee said he kept 20 out of 21 campaign pledges he made to become South Jeolla Province governor during yesterday's TV debate, but there were no grounds for this claim,” the governor wrote. &

Jul 30, 2021By Nam Hyun-woo
Ruling party primary mired in mudslinging

Criticism arises over mural disgracing wife of opposition presidential contender

A man removes a phrase on a wall painting outside of a bookstore in Jongno, central Seoul, Friday, after controversy erupted over images and defamatory phrases depicting rumors surrounding the wife of opposition presidential contender Yoon Seok-youl. YonhapBy Kim RahnCriticism has mounted from both the liberal ruling and conservative opposition blocs over a mural defaming the wife of opposition presidential contender Yoon Seok-youl. Politicians from all sides unanimously called for a halt to the spreading of groundless rumors and the ridiculing of presidential hopefuls and their family members.The controversy arose from a wall painting on a secondhand bookstore in Jongno, central Seoul, which depicted rumors surrounding Yoon's wife, Kim Keon-hee, that she had been a bar hostess using the nickname “Julie,” and had lived with several high-profile men before marrying Yoon in 2012.The painting showed the face of a woman with a phrase reading, “Julie's dream! The dream of becoming the first lady!” as well as a list of seven people under the title, “Julie's me

Jul 30, 2021By Kim Rahn
Criticism arises over mural disgracing wife of opposition presidential contender
  • Leading presidential contender joins conservative main opposition party

Ex-Prosecutor General Yoon joins main opposition party for presidential bid

Ex-Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl / YonhapEx-Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl, a leading conservative presidential hopeful, joined the main opposition party Friday to increase his chance of winning the race. Yoon submitted an application to join the People Power Party (PPP) during his meeting with Rep. Kwon Young-se, the chief of the party's external relations committee, at the party's headquarters in Seoul. The move, coming about a month after Yoon's official declaration to run in the March 9 presidential election, will subject him to the party's in-house primary election to pick its single presidential candidate."It will be a due obligation (for me) to join the main opposition party and follow through with its primary from the first stage openly and squarely to achieve a change of government," Yoon said during the meeting. "I think, by doing so, I would be able to win higher and more universal support from the public," he noted. (Yonhap)

Jul 30, 2021
Ex-Prosecutor General Yoon joins main opposition party for presidential bid

Moon picks new secretaries for civil affairs, fight against corruption

Lee Ki-heon, left, and Lee Won-koo / YonhapPresident Moon Jae-in has nominated new Cheong Wa Dae secretaries for civil affairs and anti-corruption, his office announced Friday.Lee Ki-heon, secretary to Moon for civil participation, was tapped as secretary for civil affairs and justice, to replace Lee Gwang-cheol, according to Cheong Wa Dae spokesperson Park Kyung-mee.Lee offered to resign early this month after being indicted on suspicions that he was behind an allegedly illegal travel ban on a former vice justice minister involved in a bribery scandal.The president promoted Lee Won-koo, deputy Cheong Wa Dae secretary, for anti-corruption, to serve as secretary for the matter. Lee is succeeding Kim Gi-pyo who tendered his resignation amid allegations of real estate speculation. (Yonhap)

Jul 30, 2021
Moon picks new secretaries for civil affairs, fight against corruption

Presidential hopeful Yoon says he will enter main opposition party

Former Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl, left, meets Lee Jun-seok, leader of the main opposition People Power Party, at a restaurant in Seoul, July 25. YonhapFormer Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl said Thursday he will join the main opposition People Power Party (PPP) to run in next year's presidential election.The leading conservative presidential hopeful confirmed his intention to join the party for the first time during an interview with Yonhap News TV."If I enter the PPP, it would be for a change of government," Yoon told the network. "I should run in the election joining hands with the PPP, having entered the PPP, shouldn't I?"He declined to comment on the timing of his entry, neither confirming nor denying a report that he will join the PPP as early as next week. He also confirmed that he briefly met former PPP interim leader Kim Chong-in twice. (Yonhap)

Jul 29, 2021
Presidential hopeful Yoon says he will enter main opposition party

Seoul to push for video-linked family reunion as priority project with North: Cheong Wa Dae

North Korean people bid farewell to their long-lost kin from South Korea in a bus after the 21st inter-Korean family reunion event in this August 2018 file photo. Korea Times fileThe government will push for a video-linked reunion of divided families with North Korea as the most urgent inter-Korean project, Cheong Wa Dae said Thursday.A presidential official made the remark when asked to comment on speculation that the government is seeking a video-linked reunion event with the North, following Tuesday's restoration of communication lines between the two Koreas."It is an issue agreed upon by the leaders of South and North Korea, and (video reunions are) the most effective way to immediately move forward in the face of the coronavirus situation," the official said.President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un agreed in April 2018 to "swiftly resolve the humanitarian issues that resulted from the division of the nation" including the reunion of families separated by the 1950-53 Korean War.The two Koreas held their last face-to-face reunion of separated families in August 20

Jul 29, 2021
Seoul to push for video-linked family reunion as priority project with North: Cheong Wa Dae

Protest against Moon over opinion-rigging scandal

Yoon Seok-youl, second from right, former prosecutor general and a presidential contender from the opposition bloc, encourages Rep. Chung Jin-suk of the main opposition People Power Party (PPP) as Chung stages a one-man protest near Cheong Wa Dae in central Seoul, Thursday, calling for President Moon Jae-in to apologize for an online opinion-rigging scandal. The top court recently ruled South Gyeongsang Province Governor Kim Kyoung-soo, a close aide to President Moon, was involved in manipulating online public opinions ahead of the 2017 presidential election in favor of then presidential candidate Moon. Yonhap

Jul 29, 2021By Kwon Mee-yoo
Protest against Moon over opinion-rigging scandal

Indonesia's Sinabung volcano erupts

Mount Sinabung releases volcanic materials during an eruption as seen from a school yard in Karo, North Sumatra, Indonesia, Wednesday. The rumbling volcano on Indonesia's Sumatra island on Wednesday shot billowing columns of ash and hot clouds down its slopes. AP-YonhapIndonesia's Mount Sinabung erupted on Wednesday, spewing a massive column of smoke and ash into the sky.The eruption of the volcano in North Sumatra province lasted about 12 minutes, a local geological agency said.“The volcanic material reached 4,500 metres into the air,” the head of the agency's Sinabung monitoring post, Armen Putra, told AFP.An image shared by the agency showed a column of thick, dark smoke coming from the crater.Clouds of smoke and ash travelled 1,000 meters away from the peak, the agency added.No evacuation orders were issued because the debris did not reach the nearest villages and there was no reported disruption to flights in the area. (AFP)

Jul 28, 2021
Indonesia's Sinabung volcano erupts

Ruling party's push for laws to make 'fake news' publishers pay draws concerns

Members of a subcommittee of the National Assembly Culture, Sports and Tourism Committee hold a meeting at the Assembly in Seoul, Tuesday. Liberal ruling Democratic Party of Korea members of the committee passed a revision bill aimed at prosecuting media outlets or reporters for fake news, despite opposition lawmakers' strong protest. Korea Times photo by Oh Dae-geun Opposition party, press groups concerns of undermining freedom of expression By Jung Da-minThe liberal ruling Democratic Party of Korea's (DPK) push to revise a law to enable the prosecution of media outlets or reporters for producing “fake news” is drawing concern that it could violate press freedom. At a subcommittee meeting of the National Assembly Culture, Sports and Tourism Committee, Tuesday, DPK members and a liberal minor opposition party member passed a revision bill to the Act on Press Arbitration, while members of the conservative main opposition People Power Party (PPP) did not take part in

Jul 28, 2021
Ruling party's push for laws to make 'fake news' publishers pay draws concerns
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