South Korea - The Korea Times

Speaker shocked by #metoo allegation, needs surgery

Lawmakers of the conservative opposition Liberty Korea Party demand National Assembly Speaker Moon Hee-sang step down for allegedly sexually harassing female lawmaker. Korea Times photo by Bae Woo-hanBy Oh Young-jin National Assembly Speaker Moon Hee-sang was transferred to Seoul National Hospital and was to undergo surgery, his office said Friday. Moon checked into the Catholic University of Korea Yeouido St. Mary's Hospital Wednesday suffering from high blood pressure and a rapid heartbeat. The politician, 74, found himself in the middle of a partisan fight over a fast-tracked bill on establishing an agency responsible for investigating corruption by those in high office. Moon touched a female lawmaker on her cheeks when she blocked him in a melee at his office, triggering cries of sexual harassment from women lawmakers. Moon's office said he showed symptoms of being in shock from a low blood sugar level and was told by the medical staff to go to hospital. His spokesmen declined to reveal his conditions, citing confidentiality about the health of heads of the three branches of gove

Apr 26, 2019By Oh Young-jin

Speaker shocked by #metoo allegation, needs surgery

Constitutional Court swings left

President Moon Jae-in, third from right, greets justices Lee Mi-sun, left, and Moon Hyung-bae, right, before awarding appointment certificate as the Constitutional Court justices at Cheong Wa Dae in Seoul, Friday. / Korea Times photo by Ryu Hyo-jinBy Kim Jae-heunDespite strong protests from conservatives, President Moon Jae-in moved ahead with the appointments of two new constitutional justices to make the top court more liberal.In addition, the decision is raising speculation that the top court's future rulings on hot-button issues such as abolishing the death penalty and protecting homosexual military conscripts from persecution may tilt to progressive stances. During his visit to Central Asia last Friday, Moon appointed Lee Mi-sun and Moon Hyung-bae to the nine-member bench of the Constitutional Court, increasing the number of its non-conservative justices to six, the number needed to achieve a two-thirds majority. “President Moon did not want to leave justice seats at the Constitutional Court empty, not even for a day, and he approved the designation of two justices online,

Apr 26, 2019By Kim Jae-heun

Flower show kicks off

Visitors take pictures in front of a gigantic statue covered with flowers at the 2019 International Horticulture Goyang Korea at Ilsan Lake Park, Friday. The annual flower show is scheduled to run through May 12 in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province. / Yonhap

Apr 26, 2019By Kim Hyun-bin

National Assembly set to put reform bills on fast track despite protest

Lawmakers of the main opposition Liberty Korea Party hold a sit-in protest to block a meeting of the special committee on judiciary reform aimed to approve reform bills to be fast-tracked at the National Assembly, Thursday. / YonhapLKP members hold BMP lawmaker for hoursBy Park Ji-wonThe National Assembly is set to fast-track controversial reform bills to secure an early vote on them despite fierce opposition from the Liberty Korea Party (LKP) and several members of the minor Bareunmirae Party (BMP).Two special Assembly committees on judiciary and political reform, both headed by liberals, plan to hold meetings soon to forward the bills to a vote. The bills, respectively, increase the number of proportional representation seats in the Assembly, establish a special investigative unit to look into alleged corruption by high-ranking government officials, and expand the police's independent investigative authority.If they are approved by the special committees, they will be put to a vote in the National Assembly within 330 days irrespective of any bipartisan agreement. If the bills take

Apr 25, 2019By Park Ji-won

National Assembly set to put reform bills on fast track despite protest

Former anchorwoman named presidential spokesperson

Ko Min-jung, who has been appointed as the spokesperson to the President, speaks during a press briefing at Cheong Wa Dae on Wednesday. Korea Times photo by Ryu Hyo-jinBy Jung Da-minPresident Moon Jae-in has appointed Ko Min-jung, who had served as deputy presidential spokesperson, as the chief spokesperson.Ko will succeed Kim Eui-kyeom, a former journalist who resigned from the post a month ago amid allegations of property speculation, said Yoon Do-han, senior presidential secretary for public relations, Thursday.Ko, 39, was a well-known TV anchorwoman for public broadcaster KBS before joining the election campaign team for then-candidate President Moon Jae-in in 2017. Ko has been working at the public relations team at Cheong Wa Dae since Moon took office.She became the third spokesperson to Moon, following Park Soo-hyun, a former lawmaker, and Kim.“We expect Ko, the youngest female secretary in the office of the President, to communicate well with different generations as well as with various groups,” said Yoon.

Apr 25, 2019

Former anchorwoman named presidential spokesperson

Moon may push for summit with Putin

Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un walk together during their meeting in Vladivostok, Russia, April 25. AP-YonhapBy Kim Yoo-chulSouth Korea and Russia may push for a summit between President Moon Jae-in and Russian President Vladimir Putin for discussions on the North Korea nuclear issue, a presidential aide said, Thursday.Moon met with Russian security chief Nikolai Patrushev at Cheong Wa Dae, a few hours after Putin had a summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in Vladivostok. The presidential aide said Moon and Patrushev “held wide and in-depth discussions and exchanged opinions on issues concerning the Korean Peninsula.”Patrushev, secretary of the Security Council of the Russian Federation, is also viewed as one of the Russian leaders' top confidants, said Cheong Wa Dae officials. The Moon-Patrushev meeting is the first of such since September 2017, when they met to finalize the key agenda ahead of Moon's summit with Putin in Vladivostok. Cheong Wa Dae didn't provide more details about Patrushev's visit to the presidential office.

Apr 25, 2019By Kim Yoo-chul

Kim Jong-un, Putin discuss how to handle US

Ko Min-jung named new presidential spokesperson

New presidential spokesperson Ko Min-jung / YonhapThe presidential office said Thursday it has appointed its deputy spokesperson, Ko Min-jung, as its new spokesperson to fill a post that had been vacant for a month.Ko was a well-known TV anchor before joining the campaign team of President Moon Jae-in. Since Moon's inauguration on May 10, 2017, she had worked as his deputy spokesperson."(She is) one of the presidential staff who understands the philosophy of the Moon Jae-in government in handling state affairs best," Yoon Do-han, senior presidential secretary for public relations, said in a statement.Ko is assessed to have done her job "excellently and faithfully," as deputy spokesperson, Yoon added.She was promoted to the grade of presidential secretary in January. She has become the third Cheong Wa Dae spokesperson in the Moon Jae-in administration. She's Moon's first female spokesperson.Born in 1979, Ko majored in Chinese language and literature at Kyung Hee University in Seoul and joined KBS, a Seoul-based public broadcaster, in 2004She succeeds Kim Eui-kyeom, who quit abrup

Apr 25, 2019

Ko Min-jung named new presidential spokesperson

Facebook anticipates an FTC privacy fine of up to $5 billion

This file illustration picture taken on April 26, 2018, in Paris shows the logo of social network Facebook displayed on a screen and reflected on a tablet. On April 24, Facebook reported quarterly profit sank 51 percent from a year earlier due to setting aside $3 billion for an anticipated fine from US regulators. AFPFacebook said it expects a fine of up to $5 billion from the Federal Trade Commission, which is investigating whether the social network violated its users' privacy. The company set aside $3 billion in its quarterly earnings report Wednesday as a contingency against the possible penalty but noted that the ``matter remains unresolved.'' The one-time charge slashed Facebook's first-quarter net income considerably, although revenue grew by 25% in the period. The FTC has been looking into whether Facebook broke its own 2011 agreement promising to protect user privacy. Investors shrugged off the charge and sent the company's stock up more than 9% to almost $200 in after-hours trading. EMarketer analyst Debra Aho Williamson, however, called it a ``significant development'' and

Apr 25, 2019

Facebook anticipates an FTC privacy fine of up to $5 billion

Ambassador's artist wife paints Filipinas in Korea

From left, Raul S. Hernandez, Philippine Ambassador to Korea, his wife Ana Algabre Hernandez and Lee Byeong-eon, President of The Korea Times, pose after Ana Algabre Hernandez donates her painting “The Color of Joy” to The Korea Times. Korea Times photo tBy Lee Han-naPhilippine Ambassador to Korea Raul S. Hernandez and his wife Ana Algabre Hernandez visited The Korea Times, last Tuesday, as the couple who have served Filipinos since 2014 will end their term in the country and leave for Turkey on May 3.During their visit, Ana, who is an artist, donated a painting from her KOREANA series, “The Color of Joy.” The painting shows a woman in traditional Korean dress in vibrant pink and purple. The artist feels that the colors remind her of Korea. She is inspired by migrant women, especially Filipinas married to Koreans, embracing the differences in love.Ana explained, “Hanbok is symbolic of the fact that they [the migrant women] have embraced the Korean tradition and culture. And the setting is in vibrant colors. I wanted to show the subject, not in a physical

Apr 24, 2019

Ambassador's artist wife paints Filipinas in Korea

Majority of Koreans back reform bills: poll

National Assembly Speaker Moon Hee-sang, center, exchanges barbs with members of the main opposition Liberty Korea Party (LKP) who occupied his office to protest the other parties' attempt to fast-track reform bills at the National Assembly, Wednesday. The ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) and three opposition parties agreed Tuesday to fast-track bills on electoral reform and the establishment of a new investigative unit handling cases related to ranking government officials and the President's relatives. They excluded the LKP. / Yonhap By Park Ji-wonAccording to a poll released Wednesday, more than half of South Koreans surveyed back the four parties' agreement to fast-track reform bills despite fierce objection by the main opposition Liberty Korea Party (LKP).The survey by Realmeter showed 50.9 percent of the 504 respondents favor the Assembly's attempt to bring bills on electoral reform, the establishment of a unit to investigate corruption allegations conne

Apr 24, 2019By Park Ji-won

Politics

Politics

Speaker shocked by #metoo allegation, needs surgery

Constitutional Court swings left

Flower show kicks off

National Assembly set to put reform bills on fast track despite protest

Former anchorwoman named presidential spokesperson

Moon may push for summit with Putin

Ko Min-jung named new presidential spokesperson

Facebook anticipates an FTC privacy fine of up to $5 billion

Ambassador's artist wife paints Filipinas in Korea

Majority of Koreans back reform bills: poll

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