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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.

Seoul to ban rallies during Liberation Day holiday next month amid flare-up in COVID-19 cases

Members of group Solidarity Against Disability Discrimination and their family members hold a rally at Gwanghwamun Square in Seoul, Monday, marking Korea's 40th national Day of People with Disabilities. They demanded the government abolish the current disability rating system and improve rights for the disabled. Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chulThe Seoul city government has decided to ban all rallies planned to take place around the upcoming Aug. 15 Liberation Day due to concerns over the rapid spread of the coronavirus, sources said Monday.According to the sources, the city government recently notified civic organizations that they are not allowed to hold rallies from Aug. 14-16. Some groups have already reported to police that they will hold such events during the period. The notice has been sent to liberal groups, such as the South Korean Committee for Implementation of the June 15 Joint Declaration, as well as conservative groups like the Freedom Union."Many organizations are simultaneously planning to hold rallies across Seoul during the Liberation Day holiday, raising concern

Jul 19, 2021
Seoul to ban rallies during Liberation Day holiday next month amid flare-up in COVID-19 cases

Some presidential candidates want compulsory military service for women

Rep. Park Yong-jin of the liberal ruling Democratic Party of Korea announces his plan to make military service mandatory for both men and women during a press briefing at the National Assembly in Seoul, July 16. Yonhap By Yoon Ja-youngSome presidential candidates, from both the liberal ruling and conservative opposition parties, are saying that they will introduce mandatory military service for women. Rep. Park Yong-jin, one of the presidential hopefuls of the liberal ruling Democratic Party of Korea, announced July 16, that he will make both men and women perform up to 100 days of compulsory basic military training if he is elected president. After the training period, they will undergo exercises as armed reserves for a certain period of time. He said that he will establish a committee in the first year of his presidential term to introduce this compulsory military service. In this way, “the compulsory military service, which is causing social conflict, will be con

Jul 19, 2021By Yoon Ja-young
Some presidential candidates want compulsory military service for women
  • Ex-finance minister to be 3rd Moon appointee to join opposition in presidential poll

Ex-finance minister to be 3rd Moon appointee to join opposition in presidential poll

Former Finance Minister Kim Dong-yeon answers reporters' questions before entering Myeongdong Catholic Cathedral in central Seoul to volunteer in offering free meals to the homeless, June 20. Yonhap By Jun Ji-hyeFormer Finance Minister Kim Dong-yeon has indicated his intention to run in the presidential election scheduled for next March.He has yet to clarify which political camp he will join, but is most likely to run as an opposition candidate, considering that he met recently with a former leader of the conservative main opposition People Power Party (PPP), and published a book criticizing the Moon Jae-in government's economic policies.This would make Kim the third person who served in a high-ranking position in the Moon administration to run as an opposition candidate. Former Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl and former Board of Audit and Inspection Chairman Choe Jae-hyeong have already declared their presidential bids ― Choe has joined the PPP, while Yoon, who i

Jul 19, 2021By Jun Ji-hye
Ex-finance minister to be 3rd Moon appointee to join opposition in presidential poll
  • Some presidential candidates want compulsory military service for women

Ruling party, gov't agree to hike up relief funds to small merchants hit by COVID-19

People queue in line to wait for the coronavirus testing at a makeshift testing site at the National Assembly in Seoul, July 15. AP-YonhapThe ruling Democratic Party (DP) and the government on Monday agreed to sharply expand the scale of relief funds for struggling small business owners in the wake of the recent upsurge in COVID-19 infections. The consensus was reached during a high-level consultative meeting between the two sides earlier in the morning, Rep. Koh Yong-jin, a DP spokesman, said in a briefing. "(The two sides) agreed to provide ample support to small merchants by increasing the size of assistance to the maximum level ever for disaster situations and expanding the scope of its beneficiaries," the spokesman said. During the meeting, the DP and the government also agreed to start distributing the assistance on Aug. 17. Under the timetable adopted by the two sides, about 80 percent of the 1.13 million small merchants eligible for the relief assistance will be entitled to benefit from the program in the first round of the assistance distribution. According to Koh, relevant

Jul 19, 2021
Ruling party, gov't agree to hike up relief funds to small merchants hit by COVID-19

Approval ratings of Moon, ruling party climb for 2nd consecutive week: poll

President Moon Jae-in / YonhapPresident Moon Jae-in and the ruling Democratic Party (DP) both saw their approval ratings climb for the second straight week, according to a new poll released Monday.In the survey conducted by Realmeter on 2,519 people over the age of 18 from July 12-16, Moon's job approval rating was recorded at 45.5 percent, up 4.4 percentage points from the previous week.The result marked Moon's highest performance in public polls since the 45.6 percent figure in the third week of October last year, according to Realmeter.Moon saw his approval rise especially among voters in the region encompassing Daejeon, Sejong and the Chungcheong provinces, up 6.3 percentage points, and in Daegu and North Gyeongsang Province, up 5.8 percentage points.Realmeter cited Cheong Wa Dae's conspicuous distancing from politics while focusing on economic and virus-related issues as key factors in the rise of Moon's job approval.The DP's rating also rose 3.8 percentage points to 36.7 percent, setting a new high since the first week of September 2020. The main opposition People Power Party f

Jul 19, 2021
Approval ratings of Moon, ruling party climb for 2nd consecutive week: poll

Should 'underperforming' ministries be abolished?

Main opposition People Power Party Chairman Lee Jun-seok speaks during a party meeting preparing for the next presidential election, held at the National Assembly in Seoul, July 9. Lee has recently stirred controversy by claiming that the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family and the Ministry of Unification need to be abolished in a move to establish a small but efficient government. YonhapControversy rises over main opposition leader's call to abolish unification, gender equality ministriesBy Jung Da-min Calls have arisen among some politicians for the abolishment of certain ministries, which they claim to have not achieved any notable results in recent years, after some potential candidates for the next presidential, slated for March, raised this issue. Lee Jun-seok, chairman of the main opposition People Power Party (PPP), stirred the controversy by stating that the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family and the Ministry of Unification need to be abolished as part of a move to establish a small but efficient government. He said the ministries have not recorded any achievements an

Jul 17, 2021
Should 'underperforming' ministries be abolished?

S. Korean, Israeli leaders agree on closer ties in response to COVID-19

President Moon Jae-in and Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett agreed during phone talks Friday to strengthen cooperation in efforts to overcome the COVID-19 crisis YonhapThe leaders of South Korea and Israel agreed during phone talks Friday to strengthen cooperation in efforts to overcome the COVID-19 crisis.The pandemic was a main topic in discussions between President Moon Jae-in and Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, according to Cheong Wa Dae. It marked their first phone call since Bennett's inauguration last month.Moon talked about the 700,000 doses of the Pfizer vaccine that were shipped here from Israel under a bilateral vaccine swap accord. Earlier this week, local health authorities began giving South Koreans the vaccine shots."The exchange of vaccines will be a catalyst for the further deepening of friendship and trust between the two countries," Moon said.Their vaccine swap will also become an exemplary case of international cooperation, he added.The prime minister noted that South Korea has been effective in handling the coronavirus crisis from the initial stage a

Jul 16, 2021
S. Korean, Israeli leaders agree on closer ties in response to COVID-19

Presidential race takes new twist

Former prosecutor general and presidential contender Yoon Seok-youl gets into a vehicle after visiting former U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in Jongno District, Seoul, Thursday. YonhapRunner-up contenders in ruling, opposition blocs emergingBy Nam Hyun-wooMoves by less favored candidates from both the ruling liberal and opposition conservative blocs to gain support in their bids to run in the presidential election is heating up the race among those seeking a party ticket for next year's poll.According to a Realmeter poll on support for the potential candidates, conducted on 2,036 adults last week, former Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl was leading the pack with 27.8 percent, followed by Gyeonggi Province Governor Lee Jae-myung with 26.4 percent and former Prime Minister Lee Nak-yon with 15.6 percent. The two Lees are from the liberal ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK), while Yoon is anticipated to run in the election as an opposition conservative candidate. Compared to a similar survey conducted during the last week of June, Yoon's support has declined by 4.5 percentage poi

Jul 16, 2021By Nam Hyun-woo
Presidential race takes new twist

Netflix to appeal ruling over network usage fee

Netflix logo / Courtesy of NetflixGlobal streaming giant Netflix said Thursday it will appeal a recent Seoul court decision that sided with local internet service provider SK Broadband in a dispute over network usage fees.Last month, the Seoul Central District Court dismissed a request from Netflix that the video streaming service operator is not liable to pay network usage fees to SK Broadband. The court also rejected Netflix's request to confirm that it has no obligation to negotiate with the Korean company.“There has never been a case globally where a court or a government forced content providers to pay for network fees,” the video streaming company said in a statement. “The decision may topple the global internet ecosystem developed by content providers and internet service providers.” (Yonhap)

Jul 15, 2021
Netflix to appeal ruling over network usage fee

Moon and Vietnam's top leader hold phone talks, agree on closer cooperation

President Moon Jae-in, left, and Vietnam leader Nguyen Phu Trong / Korea Times filePresident Moon Jae-in had phone talks Thursday with Vietnam's top leader, Nguyen Phu Trong, on ways to strengthen bilateral ties and cooperation on major regional and global issues, Cheong Wa Dae said.It marked the first summit-level consultations between the two countries since the election of Vietnam's new communist party leadership in January.Moon and Trong, general secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) Central Committee, agreed to proactively cooperate for the development of the "strategic cooperative partnership" between the two sides, according to Cheong Wa Dae. In 2022, they will commemorate the 30th anniversary of forging bilateral diplomatic ties.Despite the COVID-19 crisis, Moon noted, South Korea and Vietnam maintained the pre-coronavirus level of two-way trade volume last year. He expressed hope for close cooperation to achieve the goal of increasing it to at least $100 billion by 2023. The Vietnamese leader also proposed joint efforts to expand investment and partnership in the

Jul 15, 2021
Moon and Vietnam's top leader hold phone talks, agree on closer cooperation
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