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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.

Confirmation hearing for PM nominee

Kim Boo-kyum, President Moon Jae-in's nominee for prime minister, takes an oath at the start of his confirmation hearing at the National Assembly in Seoul, Thursday. Kim, a former four-term lawmaker, expressed regret over allegations that vehicles belonging to him and his wife have been towed more than 30 times since 1996 due to unpaid fines, and his confession in a book published in 2015 that he bullied other children during his schooldays. Yonhap

May 6, 2021By Bahk Eun-ji
Confirmation hearing for PM nominee

Ruling party lawmaker calls for release of Samsung vice chairman

By Jung Da-minRep. Lee Won-wook of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK), a close aide to former Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun, has called for a presidential pardon for Lee Jae-yong, vice chairman of Samsung Electronics and de facto head of Samsung Group.Rep. Lee Won-wook of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea / Korea Times fileRep. Lee's claim is causing a stir as Cheong Wa Dae has reiterated that it is not considering a pardon for the Samsung heir, who is imprisoned for bribery. A senior presidential office official said Tuesday that Cheong Wa Dae has “the same answer as before at this point” on the issue.“The economy is very unstable due to the COVID-19 situation and people are also demanding that Samsung Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong needs to be pardoned to overcome the country's semiconductor crisis,” the three-term lawmaker said during a radio interview with local broadcaster BBS, Tuesday.After Lee was sentenced to two and a half years in prison by the Seoul High Court on Jan. 18 in a retrial of a bribery case involving former President Park Geun-hye,

May 5, 2021
Ruling party lawmaker calls for release of Samsung vice chairman

Petition calls for stripping foreign residents of voting rights

Foreign residents participate in mock early voting at Seoul Station, in this file photo taken on May 31, 2018, ahead of the June 13 local elections in that year. Korea Times photo by Shin Sang-soonBy Jun Ji-hyeGrowing anti-China sentiment is leading some to call for taking away the right of foreign permanent residents to vote here. The move is intended to target Chinese residents, as they make up the majority of eligible immigrant voters in Korea. Recent disputes have pitted the people of the two countries against each other over various cultural issues, including recent claims coming from China that some elements of Korean culture, including kimchi, hanbok and samgyetang, originated there.A Korean citizen, who identified himself as a former professor at Korea National University of Welfare, posted a petition on the Cheong Wa Dae website, saying that giving non-Korean permanent residents the right to vote was “a violation of the Constitution, and thus should be rescinded.”“The Constitution stipulates that sovereign power resides with the people, not with local resid

May 5, 2021By Jun Ji-hye
Petition calls for stripping foreign residents of voting rights

Moon holds online meeting with kids for Children's Day

President Moon Jae-in and his wife Kim Jung-sook smile during an online meeting with a group of elementary school students, at Cheong Wa Dae, May 5 (Children's Day). YonhapPresident Moon Jae-in held an online meeting with a group of elementary school students on the occasion of Children's Day.He joined the event from his Cheong Wa Dae office on Tuesday, together with first lady Kim Jung-sook, and a related video clip was released Wednesday, which marks the 99th Children's Day in South Korea.Invited to the meeting were all 38 students at Doseong Elementary School in Pyeongchang, Gangwon Province. Located in the county, 180 kilometers east of Seoul, the tiny school is known for its play-at-school program."Children's Day is a day when children are the protagonist of the world," Moon told the kids. He expressed regret that he was meeting them via video links due to COVID-19."It is my biggest wish to enable you to play with friends, with masks off, as early as possible," he added. "Let's make efforts together, while abiding by virus control and prevention rules, so that such a day can com

May 5, 2021
Moon holds online meeting with kids for Children's Day
  • Joseon Images Children of early modern Korea

Moon drops legal step against his critic after filing official complaint for slander in 2019

President Moon Jae-in / YonhapPresident Moon Jae-in has reversed a decision to seek legal punishment for a South Korean man over the alleged criminal offense of slander, Cheong Wa Dae said Tuesday.The man in his 30s is accused of distributing leaflets with an expression insulting the president near the National Assembly in western Seoul in July 2019. Reportedly included in those leaflets was a copy of a Japanese magazine page reading, "The red identity of South Korean President Moon Jae-in, a dog of North Korea."Moon decided to "withdraw" the legal measure against him, according to presidential spokesperson Park Kyung-mee.Moon made the call in the belief that it is necessary to put up with "insulting expressions" as a president entrusted with power by the people who are the "sovereign" of the nation, Park added.Last week, police said they had referred the case to the state prosecution service with an opinion that he should be indicted on insult charges.Some conservative newspapers and even civic groups here argued that Moon's move to punish the man, whose name has been withheld, unde

May 4, 2021
Moon drops legal step against his critic after filing official complaint for slander in 2019

Controversy emerges over top prosecutor nominee

Kim Oh-soo, nominee for the prosecutor general post, answers reporters' questions at Seoul High Prosecutors' Office in southern Seoul, Tuesday. YonhapBy Jung Da-minA controversy is emerging over President Moon Jae-in's pick for the nation's top prosecutor position, former Vice Justice Minister Kim Oh-soo. The ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) welcomed the nomination, saying that Kim is the right person to complete the Moon government's prosecutorial reform and lead the organization stably. But the conservative main opposition People Power Party (PPP) said the presidential office must withdraw the nomination, calling the “pro-ruling bloc figure” unqualified to maintain the political neutrality required of a prosecutor general.Moon nominated Kim for the position Monday, two months after former Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl resigned in early March. Kim must undergo a confirmation hearing at the National Assembly to be appointed.Former Prosecutor General Yoon had been at odds with the Moon administration, especially with its former justice ministers, Cho Kuk and Choo

May 4, 2021
Controversy emerges over top prosecutor nominee

Chung, Blinken agree on close cooperation for peninsula denuclearization, peace

United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken, first left, wearing a face mask, speaks to South Korea's Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong, first right, during bilateral talks on the sidelines of a G7 foreign ministers meeting, at the Grosvenor House Hotel, London, Monday. YonhapForeign Minister Chung Eui-yong and his U.S. counterpart, Antony Blinken, agreed Monday to continue close cooperation for complete denuclearization and lasting peace on the Korean Peninsula, the foreign ministry said.The agreement came as they met bilaterally on the margins of a gathering of G7 foreign and development ministers in London, after the Joe Biden administration completed its review of policy toward Pyongyang."Secretary Blinken shared the results of the U.S.' review of policy on the North, and Minister Chung welcomed the fact that the result of the review was decided in a realistic, practical direction," the ministry said in a press release."The minister and secretary agreed to continue close cooperation for the complete denuclearization and the establishment of lasting peace on the Korean Peninsula

May 3, 2021
Chung, Blinken agree on close cooperation for peninsula denuclearization, peace

Former Vice Justice Minister Kim Oh-soo named as new prosecutor general

Kim Oh-soo / YonhapPresident Moon Jae-in named former Vice Justice Minister Kim Oh-soo as the new chief of South Korea's prosecution service, Cheong Wa Dae said.Justice Minister Park Beom-kye recommended Kim, who was a veteran prosecutor, for the position that has been vacant for two months since Yoon Seok-youl stepped down. The president accepted the recommendation, according to Cheong Wa Dae spokesperson Park Kyung-mee.Kim is required to go through the National Assembly's confirmation hearing, for which a date has yet to be set.He served as vice justice minister from 2018-2020 under the Moon administration.The nominee is expected to fulfill his duty so that the prosecution can be reborn as an organization desired by the people, on top of the work to stabilize it, Park said in a press briefing.In his own statement, Kim said he feels a "sense of heavy responsibility" as he is being nominated to the post at a "hard and difficult time."The prosecution service has suffered a tumultuous period since the launch of the liberal Moon administration, which has pushed for its reform amid a wid

May 3, 2021
Former Vice Justice Minister Kim Oh-soo named as new prosecutor general

New ruling party head faces bumpy roads for overhaul

Rep. Song Young-gil, second from left, the new chairman of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea, presides over the party's Supreme Council meeting at the National Assembly, Monday. YonhapBy Jung Da-min With about 10 months left before the next presidential election slated for March 2022, Rep. Song Young-gil, the new chairman of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK), is tasked with instituting reforms so that the party will not see a repeat of the crushing defeat in the April 7 mayoral by-elections for Seoul and Busan. Although he pledged full-fledged changes, it is yet to be seen whether this will be possible as most other members in the party leadership are close to President Moon Jae-in and want to stick with the current policies of the administration.Song, a five-term lawmaker and head of the National Assembly Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee, was elected as the new chairman at a DPK convention Sunday.The selection of new leadership came after the party's hammering by the main opposition People Power Party (PPP) in the by-elections, which were widely seen as a barome

May 3, 2021
New ruling party head faces bumpy roads for overhaul

Minister nominees embroiled in ethical lapses

From left are Prime Minister nominee Kim Boo-kyum, Land Minister nominee Noh Hyeong-ouk, Industry Minister nominee Moon Sung-wook, Science Minister nominee Lim Hye-sook, Labor Minister nominee An Kyung-duk and Oceans Minister nominee Park Jun-young. Courtesy of Cheong Wa DaeBy Nam Hyun-wooAllegations of ethical lapses have emerged for almost all the candidates nominated for ministerial positions by President Moon Jae-in during his Cabinet reshuffle last month. With their confirmation hearings scheduled for today at the National Assembly, the main opposition People Power Party (PPP) is demanding they turn down the nominations, arguing they are “unqualified” for high-ranking government posts.“The upcoming hearings for the five minister nominees will apparently to be an exhibition of naeronambul, and the candidates are mostly unqualified to receive approval from the opposition,” PPP spokesman Rep. Bae June-young said Monday. “Naeronambul” refers to a popular saying on hypocrisy in Korean which roughly translates to “If I do it, it is romance, an

May 3, 2021By Nam Hyun-woo
Minister nominees embroiled in ethical lapses
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