Cho Kuk has been tapped as justice minister nominee two weeks after leaving his post as senior presidential secretary for civil affairs, garnering mixed reactions across the aisle Sunday.Cho, one of President Moon Jae-in’s most trusted aides, has been nominated justice minister in a Cabinet reshuffle announced last week, along with six other nominees to take key posts.Of the seven nominees expected to undergo parliamentary hearings at the end of this month, Cho’s hearing is shaping u

Kim Sang-jo, the president’s chief of staff for policy, said Tuesday the “possibility is very low” that Japan will target Korea’s financial market for economic retaliation amid thorny relations between the two countries after Japan toughened trade restrictions against Korea. Asked by Rep. You Sung-yop of the minor progressive Party for Democracy and Peace wither Japan would target the country’s financial market, Kim said, “Compared with the IMF (Asian) financi

Political parties continued their quarrel over the weekend as to whether it was appropriate for Lee Hae-chan, the chairman of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea, to visit a Japanese restaurant for lunch on Friday, the day Japan excluded South Korea from its whitelist of trusted trade partners.The main opposition Liberty Korea Party -- grappling to appease public backlash sparked by its lawmaker Rep. Kim Jae-won appearing at the National Assembly under the influence of alcohol last week -- houn

South Korea’s hourly minimum wage for next year has been confirmed at 8,590 won ($7.10) after a monthslong debate, the government said Monday.The Ministry of Employment and Labor legally set the figure as the minimum wage for 2020, sticking with the recommendation of the Minimum Wage Commission last week.It added that when factoring in the minimum wage to the 209 working hours every month, the monthly salary would come to 1.7 million won.  The 2.9 percent raise from this year’s

Amid mass protests in Hong Kong objecting to a controversial extradition law, a South Korean man in his 20s was arrested for allegedly participating in an illegal protest, South Korean authorities said Sunday.This is the first time a South Korean national has been arrested since pro-democracy demonstrations began in the semiautonomous region in June.According to South Korea’s Consulate General in Hong Kong, Hong Kong police are interrogating the man, who was arrested at around 2 a.m. Sunda

Main opposition Liberty Korea Party Chairman Hwang Kyo-ahn has issued a warning to Rep. Kim Jae-won, who stirred up controversy after answering questions on the extra budget under the influence of alcohol, the party said Sunday.Kim, chairman of the parliamentary special committee on budget and accounts, showed up drunk at the National Assembly near midnight on Aug. 1 and answered reporters’ questions about the supplementary budget. “It has been confirmed that Rep. Kim Jae-won drank o

Some 680 civic groups held a candlelight vigil over the weekend in protest of the Japanese government’s decision to take South Korea off a list of preferred trading partners and to call on Tokyo to apologize for war crimes it committed in World War II.According to organizers, a Japanese civic group also sent its support, backing the protest against the Abe government’s escalation of conflict with Korea. Some 15,000 people took to the streets to join the candlelight vigil in swelterin

Five South Korean political parties agreed to launch a consultative body on Japan’s export regulations this week, made up of officials from the government, private and public sectors, officials said Monday.The launch of the group comes as the National Assembly remains plagued by differences over the terms of an extraordinary parliamentary meeting.The development is part of a consensus reached during party leaders’ recent meeting with President Moon Jae-in at Cheong Wa Dae on a commit

Korean fans disappointed and angered by soccer superstar Cristiano Ronaldo’s solely bench-warming presence at a friendly match between Juventus FC from Turin, Italy and a team of K League players last week are pursuing a class-action suit against the organizer for failing to meet legal obligations.The 34-year-old star athlete -- whose first visit in 12 years was highly anticipated among fans here-- was benched in the exhibition match last Friday at the World Cup Stadium in western Seo

The National Pension Service invested some 5.6 trillion won ($4.73 billion) between 2014 and 2018 in Japanese companies linked to Japan’s forced wartime labor, raising questions about the service’s investment decisions. The figures were released by Rep. Kim Kwang-soo of the minor opposition Party for Democracy and Peace, who is a member of the National Assembly’s Health and Welfare Committee.The figures show that a total 87.5 billion won had been invested in Japan’s Mitsu

The season’s first heavy rain warning was issued in Seoul on Friday morning, with nationwide downpours in store over the weekend. The Korea Meteorological Administration adjusted a heavy rain watch to heavy rain warnings across Seoul, Incheon and parts of Gyeonggi Province that saw heavy rains Friday morning, while heavy rain alerts remained in effect in parts of the central region.Heavy rain warnings are issued when more than 90 millimeters of rain in three hours or over 180 millimeters o

A suspected North Korean spy, who was sent to the South and allegedly lived here as a Buddhist monk since last year, has been arrested, marking the first such case in nine years, authorities said Thursday.The National Intelligence Service reported details of the suspected North Korean spy to representative members of the National Assembly’s Intelligence Committee led by Rep. Lee Hye-hoon of the Bareunmirae Party on Thursday morning.“We are not in a situation to brief information on t

With South Koreans increasingly taking part in a boycott of Japanese goods, the Parcel Delivery Workers’ Solidarity Union on Wednesday refused to handle Uniqlo products.“Parcel Delivery workers will participate in the boycott by refusing to deliver Uniqlo (products). We object to the Abe administration’s economic retaliation,” members of the union said in a press conference in front of the former Japanese Embassy building in central Seoul.“Uniqlo (dismissed) the boy

A bipartisan delegation representing South Korea’s National Assembly left for Washington on Wednesday morning to meet with US and Japanese counterparts in hopes of finding a breakthrough in Japan’s latest trade restrictions. Following the five-day visit to Washington, a separate delegation is to visit Tokyo next week.“Japan argues that South Korea has violated international law, but does not provide details. I plan to address that during the Korea-US-Japan Trilateral Legislativ

The ongoing dispute between the ruling Democratic Party of Korea and the main opposition Liberty Korea Party on Tuesday spilled over to the government’s diplomatic approach in handling trade restrictions by Japan.The fresh round of tit-for-tat came a day after the National Assembly’s Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee passed a resolution pressing Tokyo to retract trade measures imposed on three key tech materials vital for Korean tech businesses.Stepping up criticism against t

The campaign to boycott Japanese products and services here is gaining steam as bilateral relations continue to be tense following Japan’s export curbs on key hi-tech materials crucial for South Korean tech firms.Japanese condiments and beer brands have been removed from store shelves, even as a substantial number of travel reservations to Japan are being canceled and inquiries for Japanese passenger vehicles have halved.As more Koreans quietly join the boycott, a website called NoNo Japan

SEJONG -- Extended work hours will be approved for businesses that need hi-tech materials to replace those regulated by Tokyo, as part of efforts to cope with Japan’s stricter trade export control, the government said Monday.The Ministry of Employment and Labor mapped out a plan to allow work hours longer than the 52 hours a week stipulated by the law to facilitate the process of import substitution of three materials -- fluorinated polyimide, resist and etching gas -- imported from Japan.

Days after the June extraordinary parliamentary session ended without addressing key bills, all eyes are on whether a July plenary session will be convened, amid a widening rift between the ruling and main opposition parties.The ruling Democratic Party of Korea on Sunday continued to call for the unconditional ratification of the extra budget bill submitted in April, butting heads with the main opposition Liberty Korea Party that insists on a parliamentary vote on a motion to call for the dismis

The Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, one of the country’s two biggest umbrella unions, staged multiple strikes across the country Thursday in protest against key labor policies of the Moon Jae-in administration.Among the slew of policies labor groups have condemned, next year’s minimum hourly wage that will fall short of reaching 10,000 won ($8.50) is at the center of amplifying discontent.Some 50,000 members of the KCTU joined demonstrations held nationwide, of which about 5,00

President Moon Jae-in and chairpersons of five political parties will gather for a meeting at Cheong Wa Dae on Thursday afternoon to discuss ways to navigate Japan’s trade regulations.The chairpersons are Lee Hae-chan of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea, Hwang Kyo-ahn of the main opposition Liberty Korea Party, Sohn Hak-kyu of the minor conservative Bareunmirae Party, Chung Dong-young of the minor opposition Party for Democracy and Peace, Sim Sang-jeung of the progressive Justice Party