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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.

Top prosecutor's resignation rattles opposition bloc

Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl bids farewell to his staff after announcing his resignation at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office in southern Seoul, Thursday. Yonhap By Yi Whan-wooThe resignation of Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl, Thursday, has rattled the opposition bloc by raising the possibility of him turning to politics and a possible run in the 2022 presidential election. Yoon has yet to make any comment about a bid for the presidency, but has emerged as a clear frontrunner for the opposition in presidential election surveys after confronting President Moon Jae-in over his prosecutorial reform efforts.The opposition parties are letting Yoon know that he is welcome to join them, implicitly expressing the hope that his political debut could trigger an overhaul of the power structure in their favor. Yoon and ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) Chairman Lee Nak-yon are neck-and-neck fo

Mar 5, 2021By Yi Whan-woo
Top prosecutor's resignation rattles opposition bloc

PM urges swift passage of $13.2 billion extra budget plan

Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun bows after speaking to lawmakers at the National Assembly in Seoul's Yeouido, Mar. 5, pleading to pass a latest extra budget proposal worth $13.2 billion to finance the fourth round of COVID-19 relief for small businesses and vulnerable groups. YonhapPrime Minister Chung Sye-kyun urged the National Assembly on Friday to swiftly pass the latest extra budget proposal, calling it "medicine" and a "vaccine" amid the coronavirus pandemic. The government has submitted a 15 trillion won (US$13.2 billion) supplementary budget plan to finance the fourth round of COVID-19 relief for small businesses and vulnerable groups.The new package is worth 19.5 trillion won, including 4.5 trillion won from this year's budget."This supplementary budget proposal is public welfare medicine aimed at easing the pain of desperate victim groups and a public welfare vaccine aimed at preventing further polarization," Chung said in a speech before the Assembly."It is time to build a model for K-recovery, in addition to K-antivirus measures," he said, referring to a government catchphr

Mar 5, 2021
PM urges swift passage of $13.2 billion extra budget plan

Main opposition fails to capitalize on by-election advantage

Oh Se-hoon, second from right, is congratulated by main opposition People Power Party (PPP) interim head Kim Chong-in, right, at the PPP's headquarters on Yeouido, Seoul, Thursday, after winning a party primary to choose the candidate for the April 7 Seoul mayoral by-election. Yonhap By Yi Whan-wooThe main opposition People Power Party (PPP) is failing to capitalize on its advantage over the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) in the Seoul and Busan mayoral by-elections taking place on April 7.The by-elections in the nation's two largest cities are being held to choose the successors of two former disgraced mayors ― Park Won-soon of Seoul and Oh Keo-don of Busan ― who both belonged to the DPK.Oh stepped down over sexual harassment allegations in April 2020, and Park committed suicide after learning that sexual harassment allegations were about to be raised against him in July of the same year.The DPK drew criticism months later as it decided to revise its interna

Mar 5, 2021By Yi Whan-woo
Main opposition fails to capitalize on by-election advantage
  • Ex-Seoul mayoral candidates return for another bid

'Spirit of the Constitution and the system of rule of law are falling apart'

Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl arrives at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office in southern Seoul, Thursday. YonhapTop prosecutor resigns after clash with ruling blocBy Do Je-hae Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl's offer to resign, following his continuing conflict with the ruling bloc over the latter's efforts for prosecutorial reform, was accepted by President Moon Jae-in only an hour after it was offered Thursday, according to Cheong Wa Dae. Yoon has claimed that the moves by the government and ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) were undemocratic and aimed at reducing the power of the prosecution.“I am offering to resign today,” Yoon earlier told reporters after arriving at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office in southern Seoul. “The spirit of the Constitution and the system of rule of law are falling apart before our eyes. And it is solely the people that will have to endure the consequences. I can no longer stand by and watch the collapse of common sense and justice that our society has fought so hard to achieve.” The resignation offer came a year and eight m

Mar 4, 2021By Do Je-hae
'Spirit of the Constitution and the system of rule of law are falling apart'

Ex-Seoul mayoral candidates return for another bid

Former Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon, second from right, shakes hands with the main opposition People Power Party's emergency committee chief Kim Chong-in after winning the party's primary to be the main opposition candidate to run in the April 7 Seoul mayoral by-election, at the party's headquarters on Yeouido, Seoul, Thursday. YonhapBy Jung Da-minPolitical heavyweights of the liberal and opposition blocs are set to compete for the April 7 Seoul mayoral by-election, with parties announcing their final candidates who won their party's tickets through primaries. The candidates of the major parties are not new faces but those who have run for the post in previous elections. In the case of the main opposition People Power Party's final candidate Oh Se-hoon, he already served as mayor from 2006 to 2011.The PPP announced Thursday that Oh won its ticket for by-election by beating former four-term lawmaker Na Kyung-won and former two-term lawmaker Oh Shin-hwan in the party's primary.For the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) is former SMEs and Startups Minister Park Young-sun, who beat four-te

Mar 4, 2021
Ex-Seoul mayoral candidates return for another bid
  • Main opposition fails to capitalize on by-election advantage

Public fury rising over LH workers' speculation

People are seen at the entrance of the headquarters of the Korea Land and Housing Corp. in Jinju, South Gyeongsang Province, Wednesday. YonhapBy Kang Seung-wooPublic anger is mounting over allegations that employees at the state-run Korea Land and Housing Corp. (LH) housing cooperation used inside information on a residential area development project for land speculation.The public is also skeptical of the government's planned investigation on the deals made by the officials, given that the property purchases were made while the current land minister was at the helm of the housing corporation. The Prime Minister's Office and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport will jointly lead the interagency probe. The People's Solidarity for Participatory Democracy and Lawyers for a Democratic Society, an association of progressive lawyers, accused 14 former and incumbent employees at LH of speculative land buying in Gwangmyeong and Shiheung, which had been designated as sites for the country's third new town development plan to increase the supply of new homes in satellite cities.

Mar 4, 2021By Kang Seung-woo
Public fury rising over LH workers' speculation

Top prosecutor steps down

Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl speaks to reporters in front of the Supreme Prosecutors' Office in southern Seoul, Thursday. YonhapProsecutor General Yoon Seok-youl offered to resign Thursday, after strongly objecting to the ruling party's push to create a new state agency to fully take over investigative powers from the prosecution service."I am offering to resign as of today," Yoon said at a brief press conference held in front of the Supreme Prosecutors Office in Seoul."The spirits of the Constitution and the system of rule of law are crumbling. And it will cause damage to people. It is hard to watch common sense and justice collapsing," he said, adding that he has done everything he could do in his capacity as prosecutor general.His abrupt announcement came two days after he told a local newspaper that he would "stake my position for the 100th time if I could stop it."In recent days, he vehemently protested against the move by the ruling Democratic Party (DP) to set up a new agency under the Ministry of Justice to take away the prosecution's investigative authority over six ser

Mar 4, 2021
Top prosecutor steps down

Investigation into LH workers' speculative land buying to intensify

Land Minister Byeon Chang-heum takes part in a meeting of economy-related ministries at the Government Complex Seoul, Wednesday. YonhapBy Do Je-hae President Moon Jae-in has ordered a thorough investigation into allegations of speculative illegal land purchases by employees of the state agency dealing with housing affairs, Cheong Wa Dae said Wednesday. Moon's instruction came a day after allegations emerged that 14 former and incumbent employees at the Korea Land & Housing Corp. (LH) and their family members purchased land in Siheung and Gwangmyeong, two cities in Gyeonggi Province designated by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport as new sites for a housing development project, based on inside government information prior to the project being announced last month.“President Moon ordered a thorough investigation into all land transactions of employees ― and their families ― at the land ministry and other related agencies involved in the third round of new housing projects in Siheung, Gwangmyeong and other areas,” presidential spokesman Kang Min-seok said

Mar 3, 2021By Do Je-hae
Investigation into LH workers' speculative land buying to intensify

Taking investigative power from prosecutors inconsistent with Constitution: top prosecutor

Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol / Korea Times fileProsecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol strongly criticized a recent move by the ruling party to create another state investigative agency to limit the power of the prosecution service."Taking investigative power away from the prosecution amounts to regression of democracy and destruction of the spirits of the Constitution," the top prosecutor said in an interview with Kookmin Daily published Tuesday."I am willing to stake my position for the 100th time if I could stop it," he said.The ruling Democratic Party (DP) is seeking to establish yet another agency tasked with investigating six types of serious crimes, including abuse of power and corruption, under the Ministry of Justice, which will strip the prosecution service of investigative power into those crimes and leave it only with the power to prosecute.The move comes on the heels of the establishment earlier this year of the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO) with a focus on uprooting corruption among high-ranking officials.The DP's new initiative is in l

Mar 2, 2021
Taking investigative power from prosecutors inconsistent with Constitution: top prosecutor

Long way to go before opposition's fielding of single candidate

People's Party Chairman Ahn Cheol-soo, a candidate for the Seoul mayoral by-election, visits the European Chamber of Commerce in Korea (ECCK) in Seoul, Monday. YonhapBy Do Je-haeAfter minor opposition People's Party Chairman Ahn Cheol-soo was confirmed Monday as the winner of a third-party primary for the April 7 Seoul mayoral by-election, all eyes are now on whether it will be possible for Ahn and the main opposition People Power Party (PPP) to field a single candidate as he has been suggesting. But it is widely predicted the discussion to field a single candidate to represent the opposition bloc will not be easy, as the People's Party and the PPP differ on how to select one, with each preferring a method that favors their own candidateAhn, who beat former ruling party lawmaker Keum Tae-sup in a public poll, said he will meet with the winner of the PPP's primary as soon as possible to enter into negotiations for a “unified candidate.” “The process for selecting the final candidate should be carried out quickly,” Ahn said on Facebook. “I will meet with t

Mar 2, 2021By Do Je-hae
Long way to go before opposition's fielding of single candidate
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