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Seoul City removes far-right party's tents in Gwanghwamun Square

Officials from the Seoul Metropolitan Government and hired workers tear down tents illegally set up by the Our Republican Party at Gwanghwamun Square in central Seoul, Tuesday, clashing with party members and its supporters. / YonhapBy Kim Jae-heunThe Seoul Metropolitan Government removed tents, Tuesday, which had been put up illegally by a far-right minor opposition party in Gwanghwamun Square protesting the imprisonment of former President Park Geun-hye.However, the Our Republican Party, put up new tent on the same spot just five hours later, indicating a possible clash between it and the city government in the near future.According to the city government, 500 municipal officials and 400 hired workers raided the spot at 5:20 a.m. to remove two tents and a canopy installed by the party.The party, which changed its name the previous day from the Korean Patriots Party, set up the tents May 10 for sit-in protests calling for an investigation into the deaths of five pro-Park supporters who died during a 2017 rally against the impeachment of the former president. Seoul City has been send

Jun 25, 2019By Kim Jae-heun
Seoul City removes far-right party's tents in Gwanghwamun Square

NGO receives special consultative status from UN council

Global Peace Foundation (GPF) Chairman Moon Hyun-jinBy Park Ji-wonThe Global Peace Foundation (GPF), a nonprofit organization working for the unification of the two Koreas, has received a special consultative status from the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC).The organization said it was granted the special status on June 6 at the Coordination and Management Meeting under the U.N. council responsible for discussing global economic and social agendas, and coming up with policy recommendations for U.N. member states.According to the U.N. website, nonprofit organizations that have been granted general and special status can attend meetings of the council and issue statements enabling them to engage with the ECOSOC and its subsidiary bodies.The NGO led by Moon Hyun-jin has been actively engaging in peace-building activities to realize the vision of “One Family under God” since its foundation in 2009.The GPF has also been partnering with the U.N.'s Department of Public Information (DPI) since 2016, contributing to the development, implementation and monitoring

Jun 25, 2019By Park Ji-won
NGO receives special consultative status from UN council

South Korea plans to increase aid to North Korea

Unification Minister Kim Yeon-chul speaks during a briefing on current affairs to lawmakers of the Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee at the National Assembly, Tuesday. YonhapBy Park Ji-wonSouth Korea plans to increase food and medical aid to North Korea through international agencies to support the North Korean people who are facing severe food shortages, the unification ministry said Tuesday.In a hearing at the National Assembly, the ministry said it needed to consult with global agencies such as the U.N. Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the World Health Organization on giving aid to help the North Korean people. It cited a joint report by the U.N. World Food Program (WFP) and Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) that showed more than 10 million North Koreans were in urgent need of food. “The government plans to decide when and how much additional aid to provide to the North based on the outcome of sending an initial 50,000 tons of rice,” Unification Minister Kim Yeon-chul said during a meeting of the National Assembly Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee, Tu

Jun 25, 2019By Park Ji-won
South Korea plans to increase aid to North Korea

Far-right party's tents removed from Gwanghwamun Square

Seoul city government officials remove tents set up by a far-right minor party at Gwanghwamun Square in central Seoul, Tuesday. YonhapMembers of a far-right minor party try to stop Seoul city government officials' attempt to remove their illegal tents at Gwanghwamun Square in central Seoul, Tuesday. YonhapThe Seoul metropolitan government on Tuesday demolished tents set up by a far-right minor opposition party in the heart of Seoul in early May to call for the release of imprisoned former President Park Geun-hye.About 500 municipal officials, aided by 400 hired demolition workers, raided tents installed on Gwanghwamun Square by the Korean Patriots Party on May 10 in protest over the prolonged imprisonment of Park.The officials and workers tore down two tents and a shade canopy before dawn after clashing with about 400 party officials and supporters who put up a fierce resistance against the forced demolition.The demolition began at 5:16 a.m. after a city government official read a notice on the execution of an administrative order in front of the tent protesters, who then resisted by

Jun 25, 2019
Far-right party's tents removed from Gwanghwamun Square

LKP sticks to assembly boycott

Prime Minister Lee Nak-yon delivers a parliamentary speech on the government's additional budget urging the National Assembly to swiftly pass it Monday. The political parties failed to resume normal National Assembly activities after the main opposition Liberty Korea Party reversed its stance on resumingthe sessions. YonhapBy Park Ji-wonThe main opposition Liberty Korea Party (LKP) continued to boycott National Assembly activities ― including the passage of a supplementary budget bill ― Monday, despite its floor leader earlier having talks to normalize operations with other party floor leaders.The LKP decided to rejectits floor leader's conditional agreement made with her counterparts, which promiseda swift review and passage of the supplementary budget and other pending bills.“The initial agreement was subject to full party approval, but LKP lawmakers called for having a clearer, more detailed one,”Rep. Na Kyung-won, floor leader of the LKP told reporters after a general meeting with party members.Earlier, floor leaders, Reps. Lee In-young of the ruling Democratic Party

Jun 24, 2019By Park Ji-won
LKP sticks to assembly boycott

Trump considers visiting DMZ

In this June 12, 2019, photo, South Korean soldiers stand during a press tour at the border village of Panmunjom in the Demilitarized Zone, South Korea. Yonhap'Trump considers visiting DMZ,' government official says By Kim Yoo-chulPresident Moon Jae-in will hold a summit with U.S. President Donald Trump to discuss the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula at Cheong Wa Dae, June 30, presidential office officials said Monday.“U.S. President Donald Trump plans to make a state visit to South Korea for two days from Saturday. President Moon proposed Trump's visit during an April summit in Washington, D.C. The agenda will be about denuclearization, and bringing a lasting peace to the peninsula through collaborative efforts between the two countries,” Cheong Wa Dae spokeswoman Ko Min-jung said in a press briefing.The U.S. president will leave for Washington from Osan Air Base in Pyeongtaek, south of Seoul, Sunday evening, Ko told reporters. The upcoming Moon-Trump summit is the eighth since the two first met in June 2017.Details of Trump's schedule during his stay here w

Jun 24, 2019By Kim Yoo-chul
Trump considers visiting DMZ

Court finds Rep. Kweon not guilty in hiring irregularities scandal

Rep. Kweon Seong-dong of the main opposition Liberty Korea Party enters the Seoul Central District Court in Seocho, Seoul, Monday to stand trial over his alleged exercise of influence in a hiring irregularity scandal at a state-run casino operator. / YonhapBy Kim Jae-heunA local court has cleared Rep. Kweon Seong-dong of the main opposition Liberty Korea Party (LKP) of alleged power abuse and obstruction of business in a hiring irregularity scandal at a state-run casino operator.The Seoul Central District Court said Monday the prosecution cannot prove the charges against Kweon, who was indicted for exercising his influence in recruitment at Kangwon Land.The ruling contradicts an earlier verdict for former Kangwon Land CEO Choi Hung-jib, who was found guilty of illegally hiring people there at Kweon's request.Between December 2012 and April 2013, Kweon allegedly asked Choi to hire 11 of his acquaintances including interns who worked as secretaries at his office in Yeouido, Seoul.Upon Choi's order, officials at Kangwon Land's human resource team fabricated the results of the applicants

Jun 24, 2019By Kim Jae-heun
Court finds Rep. Kweon not guilty in hiring irregularities scandal

Moon meets Korean War veterans on eve of anniversary

President Moon Jae-in greets Korean War veterans at the start of a luncheon with them and their families at Cheong Wa Dae, Monday, on the eve of the 69th anniversary of the start of the 1950-53 Korean War. YonhapBy Kim Yoo-chulPresident Moon Jae-in vowed Monday to continue efforts to bring lasting peace on the Korean Peninsula, although there has not yet been an official end to the Korean War.“A declaration to end the Korean War has not yet been made. My mission is to make the peninsula war-free. This is the only way I can pay back your sacrifice and dedication to the country,” Moon said at the start of a luncheon with Korean War veterans and their families, according to Cheong Wa Dae press pool reports.Today marks the 69th anniversary of the start of the 1950-53 Korean War which ended without a peace treaty. Cheong Wa Dae said the invitation came as the President wanted to treat the war veterans with true honor and respect. Some 180 veterans, the defense and veterans affairs ministers as well as the commander of the U.S. Forces of Korea attended the luncheon, the reports

Jun 24, 2019By Kim Yoo-chul
Moon meets Korean War veterans on eve of anniversary

Navy rejects entry request from LKP lawmakers

Rep. Na Kyung-won, floor leader of the main opposition Liberty Korea Party (LKP), third from right, and several LKP lawmakers talks with a Navy official in front of the Navy's 1st Fleet near the port of Samcheok, Gangwon Province, Monday. The defense minister rejected the LKP members' request to enter the military base as their visit could have negatively influenced the military, the ministry said on Sunday. YonhapBy Park Ji-wonThe main opposition Liberty Korea Party (LKP) is protesting the military's decision to reject a request from a group of its lawmakers to enter the base of a Navy fleet, Monday.LKP floor leader Rep. Na Kyung-won and several other lawmakers sought to visit the Navy's 1st fleet in Samcheok, Gangwon Province, to protest the apparent mishandling of a North Korean boat that recently crossed into the South's territorial waters without being detected. But the defense ministry did not allow them to enter the compound.On Sunday, the ministry had already declined the LKP's request to approve the entry of its “fact-finding team” on the North Korean boat, accor

Jun 24, 2019By Park Ji-won
Navy rejects entry request from LKP lawmakers

Moon vows efforts to prevent another war in Korea

South Korean President Moon Jae-in, left, greets the Korean War veterans from South Korea, the U.S. and other countries during a luncheon prepared for them at Cheong Wa Dae, Monday. YonhapPresident Moon Jae-in pointed out Monday that the Korean War has not formally finished and emphasized the need for efforts to prevent another war on the peninsula.He was holding a luncheon meeting at Cheong Wa Dae with 182 South Korean, U.S. and other foreign veterans who took part in the 1950-53 conflict.It's the first time that a South Korean president has invited war veterans to the presidential compound for a group lunch, according to Cheong Wa Dae. It came on the eve of the June 25 anniversary of the outbreak of the war."The June 25 (incident) is a bitter history, but the Republic of Korea has kept its identity by overcoming North Korea's invasion," Moon said in a speech at the event, using the nation's official name.Although the war came to a halt with the July 27 Armistice Agreement in 1953, he added, there's no "complete end" to the war.Park Dong-ha, who had fought at Hwasalmeori Hill in Che

Jun 24, 2019
Moon vows efforts to prevent another war in Korea
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