President Lee Jae Myung on Friday called for closer economic cooperation between South Korea and Japan, stressing the need for the two countries to work together on supply chains for advanced industries. Lee made the remarks during a meeting with a Japanese business delegation led by Yoshinobu Tsutsui, chairman of the Japan Business Federation, at Cheong Wa Dae, according to presidential spokesperson Kim Sung-wan. "South Korea and Japan are important countries for which cooperation is essential

Left-leaning politicians on Friday vowed renewed efforts to overhaul the judicial branch following a high court's acquittal of Seoul mayor Oh Se-hoon of his charges of violating the Political Funds Act. "This ruling is difficult to accept, both from a legal perspective and from common sense," Rep. Kim Min-seok, chair of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea, told reporters. "I believe it has fueled significant public suspicion (toward the judicial branch). It is deeply concerning that this should

President Lee Jae Myung on Friday urged government agencies to confront serious crime with the resolve of “declaring war” and called for stronger measures to prevent random attacks and protect victims of intimate partner abuse. Lee convened a government-wide meeting at Cheong Wa Dae amid growing public fears over a series of attacks, including an Oct. 13 stabbing in Incheon that injured eight people and an arson attack on two office buildings in Seoul’s Gangnam-gu that injured 19. “Public anxiet

Finding the truth and justice for families of the 2022 Itaewon disaster victims remain a far off goal, Rep. Nam In-soon of the ruling Democratic Party said Friday, adding that those responsible still needed to be held accountable. "Although four years have passed, we are still in the process of revealing the truth behind the (Itaewon) disaster and hold people accountable for their wrongdoings," Nam said in a meeting she presided over as the chief of the ruling party's special committee investiga

President Lee Jae Myung on Friday called for proactive efforts to prevent violent crimes to ensure a "supersafe" society following a series of violent crimes targeting random victims or family members. The president made the remarks at a pan-government meeting aimed at building a supersafe country amid heightened public safety fears following a stabbing spree targeting random people at a building in Incheon, just west of Seoul, last week and a suspected arson earlier this week, in which a man se

President Lee Jae Myung's approval rating rose to 40 percent for the first time since early September, a poll showed Friday. The survey, conducted by Gallup Korea from Tuesday through Thursday on 1,001 people aged 18 and older, showed that positive assessments of Lee's performance increased 1 percentage point from the previous week. Those who disapproved of Lee's handling of state affairs fell by 2 percentage points on-week to 50 percent. Lee's approval rating last stood at 40 percent in the fir

President Lee Jae Myung was set to meet with the chairman of a major Japanese business association Friday and discuss ways to boost bilateral cooperation and exchanges between their countries. Lee's upcoming meeting with Yoshinobu Tsutsui, chairman of the Japan Business Federation, comes as the Japanese businessman is visiting Seoul for the 33rd meeting between the federation and its South Korean counterpart, the Federation of Korean Industries. During Friday's meeting, Lee plans to hear the out

An appeals court was set to rule Friday on Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon's trial in a high-stakes political funds case stemming from opinion polls he allegedly received ahead of the 2021 mayoral by-election. If the Seoul High Court upholds his conviction by a lower court and the ruling is finalized through appeal, Oh will lose his mayorship after being elected into office for a fifth term in June. Under the Political Funds Act, elected officials are stripped of their seats if they receive a finalized f

South Korea’s presidential National Security Office convened an emergency cybersecurity meeting on Thursday to coordinate a response to a critical vulnerability in PHP, a programming language widely used to power websites around the world. The meeting, chaired by Song Ki-ho, the third deputy director of the National Security Office, brought together senior officials from the Ministry of Science and ICT, the Ministry of National Defense and the National Intelligence Service, according to Cheong W

After a decade in limbo, South Korea's long-dormant presidential watchdog is poised for a revival under the Lee Jae Myung administration, bringing back a key check on presidential power. The independent inspector general is tasked with investigating suspected misconduct involving the president's spouse, relatives within the fourth degree of kinship and senior presidential aides. The revival of the post, vacant since September 2016, marks the restoration of an oversight mechanism designed to prev

The country's conservative main opposition party is raising the heat on the Lee Jae Myung administration’s security and diplomatic policies as inter-Korean tensions continue to escalate. “North Korea’s last line of defense is not land mines nor nuclear weapons. The weapon of last defense North Korea has hidden is President Lee,” People Power Party Chair Rep. Jang Dong-hyeok said Thursday, honing in on earlier remarks by President Lee Jae Myung’. During a meeting with the press earlier this week,

Veterans Minister Kwon Oh-eul will visit the graves of two former presidents, including controversial former dictator Park Chung-hee, the veterans ministry said Thursday, following through on his pledge to honor past leaders regardless of political differences. Kwon was set to attend a memorial ceremony later in the day marking the 20th anniversary of the death of Choi Kyu-hah, the 10th president, from December 1979 to August 1980, at the Daejeon National Cemetery and pay his respects, according

The Constitutional Court on Wednesday granted an injunction partially suspending a decision led by the ruling Democratic Party to exclude an opposition lawmaker from a parliamentary audit, allowing her to attend a session scheduled for later this week. However, the court barred Rep. Lee Jin-sook of the main opposition People Power Party from speaking on matters directly related to herself during the audit of the broadcasting and communications watchdog set for Thursday. The injunction came after

Moon Chung-in, a former special adviser to former President Moon Jae-in, said that maintaining the status quo in the decades-long alliance between Seoul and Washington could eventually put South Korea between a rock and a hard place. "Looking ahead 20 to 30 years, (the alliance) could prove to be a curse, not a blessing," Moon said during a panel discussion with foreign policy experts held at Seoul National University in Gwanak-gu on Wednesday. Moon's remarks stem from his view that the United S

Kim Yo-jong, the sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, said Wednesday that Pyongyang will resume loudspeaker broadcasts along the inter-Korean border this month. Kim's remarks were the latest from Pyongyang to up the pressure on Seoul, which has sought to make conciliatory gestures toward Pyongyang in an attempt to deescalate tensions. Kim, director of the General Affairs Department of the Workers' Party of Korea, said in a statement released Wednesday evening that propaganda loudspeakers d