The parliamentary confirmation hearing of Justice Minister nominee Cho Kuk Friday focused on the number of times he communicated with the president of Dongyang University.There are speculations that his wife surnamed Chung falsified the President’s Award her daughter received from the university in 2012 without the approval of President Choi Seong-hae, which is based in North Gyeongsang Province. Main opposition Liberty Korea Party lawmakers on the Legislation and Judiciary Committee

As new allegations were raised against Justice Minister nominee Cho Kuk’s family, public opposition to the embattled nominee rose to 56.2 percent, a survey by a local pollster showed. The gap between those who oppose Cho and those who support him is now at its widest. The percentage of people against Cho’s nomination increased 4.7 percentage points from the previous poll to 56.2 percent. His supporters made up 40.1 percent of the total, down 6 percentage points, the survey by Real Me

Liberty Korea Party Floor Leader Na Kyung-won’s compromise with the ruling Democratic Party on a parliamentary confirmation hearing for Justice Minister nominee Cho Kuk has stoked discontent among some party members, raising questions about Na’s leadership.Members of the main opposition party who opposed the move said Friday’s hearing would legitimize Cho’s nomination at a time when President Moon Jae-in is already widely expected to appoint Cho as Justice Minister with o

After weeks of wrangling, the ruling and main opposition parties agreed to hold a parliamentary confirmation hearing of Justice Minister nominee Cho Kuk on Friday.The dramatic agreement came after the rival parties sparred on Wednesday over the date of a parliamentary confirmation hearing for the nominee is facing a flurry of allegations involving his daughter and wife.All the parties have agreed not to summon Cho’s family members to the hearing.“We had many differences, but based on

South Korean President Moon Jae-in has asked the National Assembly to resend its hearing report for embattled Justice Minister nominee Cho Kuk by the end of this week, a top presidential aide said Tuesday.The request comes in the face of the opposition bloc’s vehement objection to Cho, which has only deepened since his unprecedented press conference Monday.“President Moon Jae-in has requested the National Assembly to resend the confirmation hearing reports on six nominees including J

Justice Minister nominee Cho Kuk apologized for failing to properly oversee his daughter’s college applications and family’s investments.“I apologize to the public. I have disappointed you despite the expectations placed on me, which were more than I deserved.” Cho said in a press conference Monday at the National Assembly. “I am a wreck, but I will continue as long as I can. … I believe I have to complete what I have worked for my entire life. If I had thoug

South Korean President Moon Jae-in has called for a review of the country’s college entrance system amid controversy over alleged admission irregularities involving Justice Minister nominee Cho Kuk’s daughter, the presidential office said Sunday.“(President Moon) asked for a reexamination of the overall college admissions system, beyond controversy surrounding nominee Cho and his family,” said Yoon Do-han, senior Cheong Wa Dae secretary for public communication.The presid

Ruling Democratic Party Floor Leader Lee In-young said Sunday that the party would “wait until the last moment” for the main opposition party to agree to Justice Minister nominee Cho Kuk’s confirmation hearing, initially scheduled for Sept. 2-3.“If the National Assembly’s Legislation and Judiciary Committee approves the hearing tomorrow (Monday) morning, a confirmation hearing can be held right away starting tomorrow (as scheduled),” Lee said during a press co

The main opposition Liberty Korea Party held a mass protest for the second consecutive weekend in Seoul, condemning the Moon government and calling on Justice Minister nominee Cho Kuk to resign.A day after holding a rally in the southern port city Busan, Cho’s hometown, the conservative party staged a protest Saturday afternoon near Gwanghwamun Square, central Seoul, amid scuffles between the main opposition and the ruling Democratic Party of Korea over a parliamentary confirmation hearing

KAZAN, Russia -- South Korea came in at third place at the biennial 45th WorldSkills Competition with 264 points, dropping a notch from the previous competition, event organizers said Tuesday.In the six-day competition held in Kazan, Russia, South Korea clinched seven gold, six silver and two bronze medals, as well as 26 medallions of excellence, to land in third place, trailing only China and Russia.Indicative of the paradigm shift of Team Korea from strictly results-centered to a greater empha

KAZAN, Russia -- Lyon, France, has been selected to host the 47th WorldSkills Competition in 2023, beating Japan’s Aichi with more than double the support from member countries, organizers said Friday.In a vote held during the 2019 General Assembly in Kazan, Russia on Wednesday, Lyon gained 44 votes and Aichi, a village in Japan’s Nagano prefecture, 20 votes.  Lyon, the third-largest city in France, hosted the 33rd WorldSkills Competition in 1996.“Thank you for trusting us

With less than a year to go until the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics, concerns are growing over the safety of the baseball and softball venues in disaster-hit Fukushima.Seeking to break away from Japan’s association with high levels of radioactivity, the Abe government has branded the 2020 Olympics the “Recovery Games.”But health and environmental risks from high levels of radiation persist in parts of Fukushima after the 2011 nuclear meltdown.According to Shaun Burnie, a senior nu

Liberty Korea Party Chairman Hwang Kyo-ahn on Monday reaffirmed his plans to “stand against the left-leaning tyranny” of the Moon Jae-min government by staging a nationwide rally this weekend, widely seen as a move to shore up the main opposition party’s dwindling approval ratings. “In launching an all-out protest we will stand against the left-leaning tyranny of the Moon administration,” he said at a top-level party meeting.“Starting with the rally on the Aug

Justice Minister nominee Cho Kuk, ex-senior presidential secretary on civil affairs, faced new controversy on Friday over a 2017 investment agreement signed by his family that exceeds their total wealth. Cho’s wife and his two children had agreed to invest a total of 7.4 billion won ($6.1 million) won in a private equity fund in 2017, two months after Cho was named presidential secretary on civil affairs.The figure exceeds Cho’s family wealth, reported to amount to 5.6 billion won, r

Cho Kuk, former senior presidential secretary for civil affairs, sought to fend off criticism over his involvement in the South Korean Socialist Workers’ Alliance in 1991, saying it had been a way to “stand against a dictatorial government and pursue economic democracy.”“Cho Kuk in his 20-somethings was inexperienced and fell short, but sought to walk along with public agony with a passionate heart,” Cho said Wednesday morning at a temporary office in Jongno, centra

An elevator carrying three workers crashed from a height equivalent to a 15-story building, killing all three.Two foreign laborers on the ground level, who were injured when a hoist crashed at the construction site in Sokcho, Gangwon Province, were transferred to a hospital, but they soon disappeared, police said Wednesday. Police suspect the two foreign nationals in their 40s were in Korea illegally and left the hospital out of concern their undocumented status would be revealed. “We are

The somber atmosphere is palpable in Korea around this time of the year, when South Korea commemorates its independence from Japan.This year marks the 74th year of Korea’s independence from the brutal 1910-1945 Japanese colonial rule.South Korea has achieved notable growth since independence. It stands as Asia’s fourth-largest economy, home to leading tech giants including the likes of Samsung Electronics and the birth place of global K-pop sensation BTS. All the while, however, a re

The Seoul Central District Court on Wednesday sentenced Kim Ki-chun, former President Park Geun-hye’s chief of staff, to a year in prison suspended for two years for falsifying records on reports received by President Park on the day of the Sewol ferry disaster. The court also acquitted former National Security Office chiefs Kim Jang-soo and Kim Kwan-jin. Kim Ki-chun and Kim Jang-soo allegedly manipulated records submitted to the National Assembly about the time that former President Park

Donggubat CEO Noh Soon-ho, is a millennial business leader who is confident and ambitious about his aspirations to kill two birds with one stone: raise profits and employ people with disabilities to bring about a social change.His social enterprise, founded in 2014, manufactures and sells premium soaps.“I wanted to be referred to as a change-maker before graduating. I thought it was important for me to experience giving my all to a social issue as an undergrad in order for me to not have a

Ten lawmakers announced Monday their departure from the minor opposition Party of Democracy and Peace to form a new party of “change and hope” after failing to reach a consensus with the party’s leadership. The move could jeopardize the existence of the 1 1/2-year-old progressive party. Calling on Chairman Chung Dong-young and the party’s leadership to resign for success in next year’s general election, the lawmakers who left had demanded the party be led by an emer