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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.

Early voting begins ahead of April 7 Seoul, Busan mayoral by-elections

A voter casts a ballot at a polling station in Seoul, Friday. Voters in Seoul and Busan headed to polling stations as a two-day early voting period began, ahead of the April 7 by-elections for mayors of the two cities. YonhapVoters in Seoul and Busan headed to polling stations early Friday as a two-day early voting period kicked off ahead of next week's by-elections for mayors of the country's two biggest cities.Early voting began at 6 a.m. in the morning and will last till Saturday evening at 722 polling stations in Seoul, Busan and other regions ahead of the election day on Wednesday. Besides the two mayoral seats, two regional administrative posts and 17 seats on regional legislative councils are also up for grabs.In the first hour of early voting, 36,949 of the total 12.16 million eligible voters cast ballots, accounting for a turnout rate of 0.3 percent as of 7 a.m., according to the National Election Commission.In Seoul with some 8.4 million eligible voters, the turnout rate for the mayoral poll came to 0.33 percent, whereas the corresponding rate reached 0.27 percent for the B

Apr 2, 2021
Early voting begins ahead of April 7 Seoul, Busan mayoral by-elections
  • Park pledges to adopt digital currency, Oh seeks to create 'regulation-free zone'

Early voting preparation

Polling booths are being installed at Seoul Station, Thursday, a day ahead of early voting for the Seoul and Busan mayoral by-elections, which will run through Saturday, before the April 7 election day. About 8.4 million eligible voters in Seoul will elect a new mayor, while 2.9 million will cast ballots in the southern port city of Busan. Yonhap

Apr 1, 2021
Early voting preparation

Park pledges to adopt digital currency, Oh seeks to create 'regulation-free zone'

In the left photo, Park Young-sun, ruling Democratic Party of Korea's candidate for Seoul mayoral by-election, listens to citizens during a campaign near Wangsimni Station, Seoul, Tuesday, while in the right photo, Oh Se-hoon, the candidate from the main opposition People Power Party, speaks in a plaza near Yeongdeungpo Station, Tuesday. Joint Press CorpsRival candidates in mayoral by-election promise to make Seoul global city By Jung Da-minWith just a few days left before the April 7 by-elections, the competition among the candidates representing different parties is heating up. Attention is especially focused on the fight between the rival candidates of the ruling and main opposition parties for the Seoul mayoral by-election, which is considered a barometer of public opinion for the March 2022 presidential election. Park Young-sun of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) and Oh Se-hoon of the main opposition People Power Party (PPP) have engaged in fierce campaigning, which has often involved mudslinging. However, this has led to a lack of promotion of their policy promises.Th

Apr 1, 2021
Park pledges to adopt digital currency, Oh seeks to create 'regulation-free zone'
  • Early voting begins ahead of April 7 Seoul, Busan mayoral by-elections

Ruling party distancing itself from President Moon

By Kang Seung-wooAmid declining approval ratings for President Moon Jae-in especially following public anger over property speculation scandals involving public officials, the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) and its candidates running in next week's Seoul and Busan mayoral by-elections are keeping the Moon administration at arm's length, with some even criticizing its policy failures including its real estate drive.Park Young-sun, right, the ruling Democratic Party of Korea's candidate for Seoul's mayoral by-election, poses for a selfie with a voter while campaigning at Hapjeong Station on Seoul Metro lines 2 and 6, Thursday. YonhapThis trend of erasing any vestiges of an unpopular state leader among the ruling side is raising speculation that they would accelerate Moon's descent into a “lame-duck” presidency after the April 7 by-elections. Moon's term is scheduled to end in May 2022. According to a Gallup Korea survey last week, Moon's approval rating dropped to its lowest point at 34 percent, along with the highest disapproval rating at 59 percent, due mainly to

Apr 1, 2021By Kang Seung-woo
Ruling party distancing itself from President Moon

Foreign residents left on sidelines in mayoral by-elections

Foreign residents participate in a mock poll at Seoul Station organized by an election office in Seoul in this May 31, 2018 photo, ahead of the nationwide local elections which were held three days later. Korea Times fileBy Lee Hyo-jin Eligible immigrant voters in the upcoming Seoul and Busan mayoral by-elections who are not fluent in Korean are being sidelined due to the absence of translated information on the candidates and voting procedures. Following the revision to the Public Official Election Act in August 2005, foreign nationals who had stayed in the country for over three years after obtaining permanent residency were given the right to vote in local elections. The upcoming Seoul and Busan mayoral by-elections set for April 7 will be the fifth time they will be able to exercise their voting rights.However, the National Election Commission (NEC) and the local governments in Seoul and Busan are not providing information on the candidates and their pledges as well as voting procedures in multiple languages, although they have done so in past local elections. Their main excuse i

Apr 1, 2021By Lee Hyo-jin
Foreign residents left on sidelines in mayoral by-elections

Former ruling party chief apologizes for housing policy failure

Rep. Lee Nak-yon, the former ruling Democratic Party of Korea chief, drops his head during a press conference at the National Assembly in Seoul, Wednesday, ahead of the April 7 by-elections. YonhapThe former head of the ruling Democratic Party (DP) on Wednesday made a public apology in admission of the overall failure in the party's housing policy and a recent bombshell land speculation scandal involving public servants.The so-called LH scandal was triggered earlier this month when two civic groups alleged that employees at the Korea Land and Housing Corp. (LH) bought plots of land in two cities ― Gwangmyeong and Siheung in Gyeonggi Province ― before the government announced a massive development plan there possibly based on insider knowledge.The scandal has dealt political blows to both President Moon Jae-in and the DP amid the yearslong futile policy attempts by the DP and the government to curb skyrocketing housing prices, especially ahead of crucial mayoral by-elections in Seoul and Busan in April. Rep. Lee Nak-yon, the former DP chief who is currently co-chairing the party's ele

Mar 31, 2021
Former ruling party chief apologizes for housing policy failure

Poll shows opposition Seoul mayoral candidate has commanding lead

The main opposition People Power Party's Seoul mayoral candidate Oh Se-hoon speaks during his campaign near Yeongdeungpo Station in Seoul, Tuesday, ahead of the April 7 by-elections. Joint Press CorpsThe conservative main opposition People Power Party's Seoul mayoral candidate Oh Se-hoon is leading his rival from the ruling Democratic Party Park Young-sun by an overwhelming margin of nearly 30 percentage points, an opinion poll showed Wednesday, a week ahead of the election day.According to the survey conducted on 842 voters in Seoul from Sunday-Monday by Hangil Research, 60.1 percent of the respondents said they will vote for Oh in the April 7 Seoul mayoral by-election. Only 32.5 percent said they will opt for Park. Oh's lead over Park was most salient in voters in their 60s and over, with 74.8 percent of the poll's respondents in the age bracket choosing the conservative opposition candidate. Park only got 19.9 percent of the support. The poll also showed Oh enjoying a solid lead over Park even among voters in their 40s, an age group seen to be more favorable toward the liberal rul

Mar 31, 2021
Poll shows opposition Seoul mayoral candidate has commanding lead

Korean trade minister holds virtual meeting with new WTO chief

Trade Minister Yoo Myung-hee, left, holds a virtual meeting with Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, the new head of the World Trade Organization, at the Government Complex in Sejong, Tuesday. YonhapSouth Korean Trade Minister Yoo Myung-hee on Tuesday held a virtual meeting with Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, the new head of the World Trade Organization (WTO), and voiced joint support for free trade amid the new coronavirus pandemic.During the meeting, Yoo and Okonjo-Iweala vowed to make progress in normalizing the role of the WTO before the upcoming 12th ministerial conference of the WTO, which is slated for November this year, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.The two especially shared opinions to make joint efforts to come up with a blueprint to revamp the WTO's role in mediating trade disputes. The dispute-settlement body of the WTO has been suspended since December 2019 as the Donald Trump administration declined to name new members of the appellate body.South Korea and the WTO agreed to find ways to expand cooperation to cope with the COVID-19 pandemic as well.Yoo said the WTO mad

Mar 30, 2021
Korean trade minister holds virtual meeting with new WTO chief

Korea 'strongly condemns' Japan's approval of school texts laying claim to Dokdo

Hirohisa Soma, deputy head of mission at the Japanese Embassy to South Korea, enters the Ministry of Foreign Affairs building in Seoul, Tuesday, as the ministry summoned him to lodge a protest against Japan's approval of school textbooks renewing its territorial claims to Korea's easternmost islets of Dokdo. YonhapSouth Korea on Tuesday slammed Japan for approving school textbooks renewing territorial claims to the country's easternmost islets of Dokdo, as tensions flared anew in relations between the two countries already frayed badly over history and territorial rows. A textbook screening committee under Japan's education ministry approved 296 textbooks for first-year high school students, including 30 kinds for social studies subjects, such as history and geography. The books will be used from next year. All of the 30 textbooks contain details about the rocky outcroppings, a contrast to the previous state review five years ago when some of the approved social studies texts did not carry the claims. "We strongly protest that the Japanese government passed the screening of textbooks

Mar 30, 2021
Korea 'strongly condemns' Japan's approval of school texts laying claim to Dokdo

Vice finance minister named as senior presidential secretary for economic affairs

President Moon Jae-in tapped Vice Finance Minister An Il-whan as his new senior secretary for economic affairs, Cheong Wa Dae announced Tuesday.An Il-whan, President Moon Jae-in's new senior secretary for economic affairs / Courtesy of Cheong Wa DaeAn is succeeding Lee Ho-seung, who was promoted to the post of presidential chief of staff for policy the previous day.Moon also picked two new vice finance ministers, Lee Eog-weon and Ahn Do-geol, both of whom are career officials at the ministry as well. The Ministry of Economy and Finance has two vice ministers. An has been serving as second vice minister, a position to be assumed by Ahn. Lee is taking up the post of first vice minister.The appointments are meant to "push smoothly for pending policy issues in the second half of the (Moon) administration and inject new vigor for resurgence in the midst of the grave economic situations at home and abroad," Cheong Wa Dae spokesman Kang Min-seok said in a statement. Moon, meanwhile, appointed Kim In-geol, an honorary professor of history at Seoul National University, as head of the National

Mar 30, 2021
Vice finance minister named as senior presidential secretary for economic affairs
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