North Korean defector Ji Seong-ho, who completed his term as a lawmaker with the ruling People Power Party in May, took office as the governor of his hometown North Hamgyong Province on Wednesday. South Korea appoints heads of offices to govern areas north of the inter-Korean border. Their affairs are overseen by the Ministry of Interior and Safety’s Committee for the Five Northern Korean Provinces. These largely symbolic roles are intended to keep in line with Article 3 of the Constitutio

South Korea’s first military reconnaissance satellite has been declared fit for combat and is to be tasked with full-scale missions within this month, according to the country’s arms procurement agency on Wednesday. The Defense Acquisition Program Administration said on the same day the spy satellite -- a key surveillance and reconnaissance asset of the country’s “kill chain” -- was deemed to be suitable for combat by the Ministry of National Defense. The ministry c

Opposition lawmakers on Tuesday called on President Yoon Suk Yeol to retract his nominations for national security advisor and the defense minister announced the day prior. The lawmakers of the main and minor opposition parties on the National Assembly defense committee held a joint press conference Tuesday, slamming the president as “damaging national interest at the key diplomatic moment” with his picks. In a surprise shake-up, Yoon on Monday tapped Shin Won-sik, who is serving as

The Cabinet on Tuesday voted to ask President Yoon Suk Yeol to veto the Democratic Party of Korea bill for handing out 250,000 to 350,000 won ($182 to $255) to every South Korean as economic relief. Earlier this month, the bill was passed in the Assembly by the majority-holding Democratic Party despite the ruling People Power Party pushback. Speaking at Tuesday’s meeting, Prime Minister Han Duck-soo said the Cabinet was “once again forced to consider bills that passed the Assembly i

South Korea will stage the first government-wide drill against North Korean nuclear attack scenarios as part of Ulchi Freedom Shield, an annual joint and combined exercise with the United States. The UFS this year is set to take place from Aug. 19 to 29, according to South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff and the South Korea-US Combined Forces Command on Monday. The South Korean JCS said alongside the military exercises, the government will hold a first-ever drill training officials and staff

Conservatives are divided over reports President Yoon Suk Yeol may fully restore the political rights of once-prominent liberal politician Kim Kyung-soo, allowing him to run for public office. Kim, a key ally of former Democratic Party of Korea President Moon Jae-in, was already pardoned last December from serving the remaining five months of his two-year jail term. In 2021, he was sentenced to two years in jail in the Supreme Court for trying to sway voters online by manipulating comments on ne

Minister of National Defense Shin Won-sik apologized Thursday over high-profile allegations that a Defense Intelligence Command official leaked agents’ identities to Chinese hackers earlier this year. “I would like to apologize to the South Korean people for the public display of the (alleged) leak of military secrets and the bickering that ensued among senior intelligence officials,” Shin said at a National Assembly national defense committee meeting. At Thursday’s defen

South Korean military officers have voiced caution over permitting new conscripts cellphones over security concerns, according to the Ministry of National Defense on Wednesday. The ministry surveyed officers as a new policy taking effect in September is set to allow soldiers’ use of cellphones more widely. In the survey released by the Defense Ministry, one officer said letting soldiers use cellphones has led to “disruptions in training while violations continue to occur.” &ldq

A series of bills targeting foreign espionage were floated in a rare show of bipartisan lawmaking in the National Assembly in the past week, following recent allegations of identity leaks of covert military agents. The bills seeking to expand the scope of punishable foreign espionage here have been proposed by lawmakers from both ruling and main opposition parties, according to the Assembly website on Tuesday. Under the existing laws, foreign espionage is restricted to that perpetrated by an &ld

South Korean commandos who died as they escaped from Silmido -- an uninhabited island where they were being trained to kill then-North Korean leader Kim Il-sung -- are due to receive an apology from the country’s defense chief for the first time in 53 years. In August 1971, the 24 commandos of South Korea’s secret killer squad fled the island in protest of poor treatment, after over three years of training to infiltrate North Korea and capture its leader. On their way out of Silmido,

The National Assembly on Friday voted to pass the impeachment bill against Lee Jin-sook, the contested chair of South Korea’s top broadcasting regulator, the Korea Communications Commission. The bill passed just two days after President Yoon Suk Yeol confirmed her nomination. The lawmakers of the ruling People Power Party walked out of the session to boycott the bill led by the Democratic Party of Korea and minor opposition parties, whose seats take up a majority in the Assembly. The bill&

TAIPEI, Taiwan -- Foreign lawmakers from 24 countries gathered in Taipei, Taiwan to discuss China’s growing belligerence in the region at an annual meeting Tuesday. There was no South Korean representation at the meeting. South Korea currently has no member lawmakers on the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China, a group bringing together lawmakers from dozens of countries concerned about how democracies deal with Beijing. Both of the South Korean inaugural co-chairs -- former lawmakers Ji

The latest batch of trash-carrying balloons sent by North Korea made their way to South Korea more successfully this time, reportedly causing a fire and falling around the country’s most significant political buildings like the presidential office and the National Assembly. The count of North Korean balloons launched Wednesday stood at around 500 as of Thursday morning, according to South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff, with about 480 of them falling within South Korea. No balloons we

At least one North Korean balloon carrying trash landed on the grounds shared by the South Korean presidential office and the National Defense Ministry in Yongsan, central Seoul, on Wednesday morning. South Korea’s Presidential Security Service said that some trash dropped by the North Korean balloon was identified on the grounds of the Yongsan presidential office and the adjacent defense ministry. The balloon contained mostly scraps of paper and plastic, according to the South Korean mili

The ruling People Power Party wrapped up its 2024 national convention on Tuesday with Han Dong-hoon back at its helm. At the finale of the convention in Ilsan, Gyeonggi Province, Han emerged victorious in the contentious four-way race to be the party’s chair. He won more than 62 percent of the ballots from the 408,272 registered voters who participated, according to the party’s final count. In his victory speech, the former justice minister said he wanted to transform his party into

As South Korea’s ruling People Power Party counts down to the national convention set for Tuesday, Han Dong-hoon -- the leading candidate for the party’s top post -- was seen promoting his views on former US President Donald Trump in a last-minute move to set himself apart from his main challengers. Han on Sunday posted to Facebook saying, “The South Korea-US alliance is at the core of our country’s progress in diplomacy, defense, economy and science, as well as peace in

The National Assembly forum for potentially arming South Korea with nuclear weapons, the Mugunghwa Forum, kicked off Tuesday. The ruling People Power Party Rep. Yu Yong-weon, the Mugunghwa Forum’s founding president, said in remarks delivered at the inaugural ceremony that the forum will discuss policies and strategies for cultivating what he has termed the country’s “nuclear potential.” “I am pleased that the forum is taking off on this day at the National Assembly

Rep. Kim Gunn of the ruling People Power Party on Tuesday introduced a bill that would require the government to take steps to implement United Nations Security Council resolutions. The bill establishes a legal framework for ensuring that the UN Security Council resolutions can take effect here, so that South Korea can fulfill its obligations as a member, the first-time lawmaker said. Explaining the rationale behind the bill, he pointed to the Supreme Court ruling from two years ago which said t

A loud, booming voice bellowed throughout the room in the National Assembly members’ office building in western Seoul. As he spoke with The Korea Herald, switching between fluent English and Korean, Rep. Ihn Yohan of the ruling People Power Party pointed to a Hanja idiom framed and hung on the wall of his office that translates as: “There is no place where more milk and honey flows than Suncheon.” The city of Suncheon, the largest in South Jeolla Province, holds a special place

[코리아헤럴드=김아린 기자] ‘친(親) 트럼프’ 진영에서 도널드 트럼프 전 미국 대통령이 11월 미국 대통령 선거에서 당선되면, 주한미군의 전면 철수는 어려우나 감축할 가능성은 열려있는 것으로 전망한 것으로 알려졌다. 위성락 더불어민주당 의원은 4일 코리아헤럴드에 최근 방미 중 “트럼프 진영 쪽 사람들을 만났고 뉴트 깅그리치 전 하원의장과도 면담했는데, (주한미군 병력을) 감축할 수 있겠으나 철수는 아닐 거란 전망을 하더라”고 전했다. 위 의원은 민주당 방미외교단의 일원으로 지난 달 23일부터 29일까지 미국을 방문해 트럼프 대선 캠프 인사들을 비롯, 미국 의회 내 초당적 지한파 모임인 ‘코리아 코커스 (Korea Caucus)’ 소속 의원들 등과 만났다. 위 의원에 따르면, 깅그리치 전 의장은 트럼프 당선 시 주한미군 숫자에 “일부 감축이 있을지 모르나, 철수는 아직 아닐 것”이라고 봤다. 위 의