As suspenseful music plays in the background, two politicians appear closely facing each other. One politician asks, “Did you know that the Moon Jae-in administration is raising the cost of electricity for charging electric vehicles?” The other answers, “Who will ride EVs then? What about the environment?” To this, his counterpart says, “We will freeze the electricity prices for the next five years!” This is the conversation between the main opposition Peopl

After another dramatic reconciliation with People Power Party Chairman Lee Jun-seok, Yoon Suk-yeol, the presidential candidate of the main opposition party, took the subway to work Friday, and took another step to recovering ties with the party leader. The party chairman welcomed Yoon’s move, saying it signals “the start” for a big change. Lee had said he recommended a number of electioneering activities that would soften the image of Yoon, who was formerly prosecutor general.

Presidential candidate Ahn Cheol-soo of the minor opposition People’s Party said Thursday he “can meet” with Yoon Suk-yeol, the nominee from the main opposition if Yoon made the request, showing a slight change in stance on uniting candidacies to win at the March presidential polls. When asked if he would meet with Yoon of the People Power Party to talk about uniting forces in a televised interview, Ahn said, “when politicians say we need to meet, we can. But whether we

The main opposition People Power Party’s internal conflict is intensifying, with some lawmakers demanding party leader Lee Jun-seok’s resignation despite presidential candidate Yoon Suk-yeol’s declaration of a “new start” for his campaign team. At the general meeting of lawmakers Thursday, Yoon and the members were discussing a resolution to recommend that party leader Lee Jun-seok resign. The results had not been released as of Thursday evening. Lee has come u

Yoon Suk-yeol, the presidential candidate of the main opposition party, on Wednesday disbanded his election campaign committee, following weeks of internal dispute. In a press conference, the nominee from the People Power Party said he is launching a new campaign team that is more compact for efficiency, and apologized again for conflicts and scandals raised in the party and surrounding his family. “The election committee is disbanded from today. Instead of giving posts to lawmakers, I

The main opposition People Power Party appears to be swamped with a power struggle, as the discord between the presidential candidate and his election campaign chief on running the campaign has come to the fore. As the election committee’s top chief, Kim Chong-in revealed to have excluded the party’s presidential candidate Yoon Suk-yeol in announcing the surprise renewal of the election committee, and reversing his on what he had agreed with Yoon, the presidential candid

Leaving just 66 days before the presidential election, the entire leadership of the main opposition People Power Party’s campaign committee resigned Monday, amid unending internal strife, constant gaffes and falling support. After the campaign chief Kim Chong-in announced earlier in the day that he would carry out a complete reform of the election committee, the party said all politicians holding a leader position at the election camp would resign from their posts, including all of the

Lee Jae-myung, the presidential candidate of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea, will accept cryptocurrency for campaign donations, his party said on Sunday, amid growing interest in virtual assets among young voters. According to Lee’s election committee, it will issue nonfungible tokens as receipts to those who donate virtual currencies to support the presidential nominee, starting from mid-January. Bitcoin, Ethereum and up to three other cryptocurrencies are under review. The committ

The main opposition People Power Party’s presidential candidate Yoon Suk-yeol on Sunday pledged to establish a digital system to integrate all government portals into one platform, and to provide “personalized” services to the people. “I want to transform the government into a digital platform government, which provides services to the people based on digital technology and big data,” Yoon said. Yoon said that the envisioned digital platform would “accurate

Yoon Suk-yeol, the presidential candidate of the main opposition party, on Thursday denounced the anti-corruption agency for checking phone logs of his family and dozens of lawmakers from his party. The day before, the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials came under fire over revelations that it had checked phone logs of hundreds of people, including the People Power Party’s presidential candidate and some 80 lawmakers from the conservative opposition party. &ldqu

Left-leaning figures have come under fire for making comments about Kim Keon-hee’s appearance, with some calling the remarks “misogynous.” The latest comments on Kim, the wife of People Power Party presidential candidate Yoon Suk-yeol, came after she publicly apologized for embellishing her career history. On Wednesday, former lawmaker Sohn Hye-won once again took to social media to comment on Kim’s makeup and facial expressions when she delivered the apology. Sohn

Lee Jae-myung, the presidential candidate from the ruling Democratic Party of Korea, appears to be taking a head-on tactic to tackle controversies. In a radio interview Wednesday, Lee admitted to academic plagiarism and reiterated that Gachon University should revoke his master’s degree. “I did not provide citations in my thesis, and it is plagiarism. I gave up on my degree,” Lee said in the interview. “The school should cancel it, but it has not. They gave me a doc

People Power Party election committee chief Kim Chong-in stepped in Tuesday to calm the conflict between the party’s presidential candidate and its chairman. Discord in the conservative main opposition party has continued since it chose Yoon Suk-yeol, a former prosecutor general, as its flagbearer in November. Acknowledging internal disputes made public by remarks of the party members, Kim said in an interview with the JoongAng Ilbo newspaper that he will step up to “control the

With just 75 days before the presidential election, the government’s decision to grant special pardon to former President Park Geun-hye on Friday has risen as a factor that may sway the results of the election. While the main opposition People Power Party welcomed the pardon of their former leader, key party members criticized President Moon Jae-in for making a “political move” to create a divide in the conservative bloc, ahead of the presidential election slated for March.

Former President Park Geun-hye is to be pardoned in the special New Year presidential pardon granted to 3,094 individuals. Former President Lee Myung-bak was not included in the list. 　 Park, 69, has been serving a combined 22-year term since March 2017 for charges including abuse of power and bribery, after she was impeached in the year before. Her immediate predecessor Lee, who is currently serving a 17-year prison sentence for bribery and embezzlement, has not been given the special pardo

The race to decide the country’s next president is becoming a contest of scandals and accusations surrounding the candidates. The political tit-for-tat following controversies have drowned out discussions on policy and state affairs, and voters are having second thoughts on who they should choose in the presidential election, slated for March. “Since the presidential candidates from the major parties have been decided, fresh allegations of past wrongdoings of the candidates and

A second key figure in the Daejang-dong land development scandal has been found dead, 11 days after another key figure also died. The deceased, Seongnam Development Corp.’s development chief Kim Moon-ki, was among those prosecutors were questioning as part of their investigation into the development project, which took place while now-presidential candidate Lee Jae-myeong was mayor of the city. 　 On Tuesday, police said they discovered Kim’s body in an office of the company in Seon

The government on Sunday released the personal details of two non-custodial parents who have failed to pay child support for the first time since a related law revision came into effect in July. The Ministry of Gender Equality and Family said it has disclosed the personal information of two separate obligors of child support who failed to provide the expenses ordered by the court, on its website. According to the ministry, one obligor did not provide 65.2 million won ($55,543) of accumulated

The election campaigns of presidential candidates are raising concerns for further fanning the pandemic, as large crowds flock to candidates’ public appearances. On Wednesday, the ruling Democratic Party of Korea’s presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung tested negative for COVID-19, after having come into contact with an infected person over the weekend. Lee had called off scheduled activities on the previous day. He visited Boramae Medical Center, where COVID-19 patients are treate

They come from very different upbringings and career backgrounds, but Korea’s two main presidential candidates are united in one area: They are both failing to appeal to young voters. Democratic Party of Korea nominee Lee Jae-myung and Yoon Suk-yeol from the People Power Party have both struggled to shed the kind of “kkondae” image that the under-40s find repellent, and their election pledges have failed to inspire them. Kkondae is an expression describing a condescending per