The Democratic Party of Korea has launched a task force to brace for the US presidential election that takes place in six weeks to “prepare for potential challenges after the next administration takes office,” lawmakers told The Korea Herald on Tuesday. The Democratic Party think tank, the Institute for Democracy, gathered a team of experts and lawmakers on the National Assembly’s relevant committees to kick-start discussions on the party’s approach to the US presidential

The Democratic Party of Korea has launched a task force to brace for the US presidential election that takes place in six weeks to “prepare for potential challenges after the next administration takes office,” lawmakers told The Korea Herald on Tuesday. The Democratic Party think tank, the Institute for Democracy, gathered a team of experts and lawmakers on the National Assembly’s relevant committees to kick-start discussions on the party’s approach to the US presidential

Ji Seong-ho, the governor of North Hamgyong Province, is on a trip to Washington to discuss President Yoon Suk Yeol’s “doctrine” on Korean reunification with US government officials, senators and think tanks. The North Korean defector and former lawmaker of the ruling People Power Party told The Korea Herald on Monday that over his trip he is scheduled to meet with Republican Sen. Bill Hagerty; Amb. Julie Turner, special envoy on North Korean human rights; and shadow Sen. Paul

Im Jong-seok, who was chief of staff for former President Moon Jae-in, sparked criticism across partisan lines after he argued South Korea should no longer pursue reunification with the North as a policy goal, and instead accept the status quo of two Koreas. Tae Yong-ho, on the presidential advisory council of Korean reunification, told The Korea Herald on Monday that Im was “empowering Kim Jong-un and his two-state policy” with his suggestion. “Arguing we should no longer stri

The leaders of the US, Japan, Australia and India on Saturday condemned North Korea’s ballistic missile launches and nuclear pursuits, while reaffirming their commitment to the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. “We condemn North Korea’s destabilizing ballistic missile launches and its continued pursuit of nuclear weapons in violation of multiple UN Security Council resolutions,” the leaders said in a statement issued at the end of the summit. “We reaffirm ou

A lawmaker with the ruling People Power Party came under fire Thursday for suspicions he solicited favors from a hospital amid disruptions in health care services nationwide. At the plenary meeting of the National Assembly, Rep. Yohan Ihn was photographed by a press camera texting “thanks” on his cellphone to an unidentified recipient who appeared to be telling him about a patient that he knows. In the messages, as captured in the photograph, the person on the other side of the conve

The two main parties of South Korea are looking to enact tougher requirements for foreign permanent residents to vote in local elections, following a meeting of their two leaders on Sunday. At the weekend meeting, People Power Party’s Han Dong-hoon and Democratic Party of Korea’s Rep. Lee Jae-myung discussed raising the bar for permitting noncitizens with F5 or permanent residency visa status to cast ballots for public offices, sources told The Korea Herald. Following the meeting, th

The Democratic Party of Korea continues to fuel unsupported claims that President Yoon Suk Yeol is trying to declare martial law nationwide with his recent shake-up of the defense leadership. Democratic Party lawmakers, including the party’s chair Rep. Lee Jae-myung, have repeatedly raised suspicions that Yoon is preparing to establish martial law in South Korea, claiming to have “sources.” The main opposition party claims that Yoon nominated his close ally Kim Yong-hyun -- ret

North Korean submarines have been removed from the public list of the International Maritime Organization only a day after they were listed, with South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff looking into circumstances surrounding the curious move. The South’s JCS said Friday that the previously listed North Korean submarines could no longer be found on the IMO’s Global Integrated Shipping Information System. “North Korea has withdrawn its registration (of the submarines), and the

INCHEON -- Leaders of the ruling and opposition parties will hold their first meeting on Sunday to discuss the doctors’ protest of the government’s reform initiatives and its toll on the country’s health care systems, both parties said Friday. The two main parties failed to reach an agreement over a bill to appoint a special counsel to investigate the on-duty death of a Marine in July last year, and another opposition-led bill for handing out cash to South Koreans to boost cons

A South Korean military intelligence agent is accused of turning over secrets to Chinese agents for about seven years in exchange for money, according to South Korea’s military prosecution service Wednesday. The military prosecutors said the agent with the Korea Defense Intelligence Command had been indicted Tuesday for leaking secrets to Chinese intelligence agents that he had first come into contact with in 2017. For over seven years, he appears to have received over 10 million won ($7,4

Ri Il-kyu, the highest-ranking North Korean diplomat to defect to South Korea since 2016, says he “felt humiliated” every time he had to reveal which Korea he was from when he was serving overseas missions. Speaking at a National Assembly event hosted by ruling People Power Party lawmakers on Monday, he said North Korean diplomats “absolutely hate being asked which country they are from.” Ri served as a counselor for political affairs at the North Korean embassy based in

South Korea’s spy service believes North Korea’s new tactical ballistic missile launchers unveiled earlier this month may be capable of reaching as far as central South Korea, in the North and South Chungcheong provinces. Cho Tae-yong, the director of the National Intelligence Service, briefed lawmakers on Monday that some 110 kilometers south of the inter-Korean border would be within reach of possible attacks by the North Korean missile launchers. The two vice chairs of the Nationa

Tae Yong-ho, who was Pyongyang’s envoy to the UK before seeking asylum in South Korea in 2016, said North Korean leader Kim Jong-un would want US presidential nominee Donald Trump to win in November. “What Kim Jong-un wants more than anything at this moment is for Trump to win the US presidential election and for the trilateral security cooperation of South Korea, Japan and the US -- a Biden era legacy -- to become obsolete,” Tae told The Korea Herald on Sunday. Trump, speaking

As the US election race enters its final two months, South Korean lawmakers are bracing for the impact of a Harris or Trump administration as the two presidential candidates offer opposing approaches to North Korea and its leader Kim Jong-un. Ruling People Power Party lawmakers gushed over US Vice President and Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris putting down the North Korean leader in her nomination acceptance speech in Chicago on Thursday, in a sharp contrast with her Republican riva

Rep. Lee Jae-myung, chairperson of the Democratic Party of Korea, tested positive for COVID-19 and went into self-isolation Wednesday, the same day he was due to meet with former President Moon Jae-in. The Democratic Party said in an announcement to reporters that Lee had tested positive for COVID-19 and canceled his public itinerary to keep in line with government guidelines that recommend at-home isolation until a day after symptoms go away. His COVID-19 diagnosis delayed highly anticipated me

TAIPEI, Taiwan -- When British traveler Zoe Stephens, 30, decided to tour North Korea for the first time in 2017, she didn’t think she would be doing it for a living. “I went to North Korea as a tourist first, pretty much the same way as everyone else. I realized it’s nothing like what the media says,” she told The Korea Herald. She said “the real North Korea” took her by surprise and charmed her. “So I decided that I wanted to start doing tours to show

South Korean Minister of Unification Kim Yung-ho on Friday said he believes North Korea will be responsive to the doctrine on the Korean Peninsula unification announced by President Yoon Suk Yeol the day before. “I believe that North Korea will carefully consider our proposal,” the minister told a news briefing held at the Government Complex in Seoul. The “Aug. 15 Unification Doctrine,” unveiled by the president during his Liberation Day remarks, entails reunifying Korea

President Yoon Suk Yeol’s defense minister nominee Kim Yong-hyun on Friday said “all options are open” on the possibility of arming South Korea with its own nuclear weapons to keep North Korea in check. He was responding to a press question asking his personal views on South Korea acquiring nuclear weapons on the first day of his work at the Army Club in Seoul’s central Yongsan as nominee. “Under the Yoon administration, our alliance with the US has been elevated to

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