Witnessing members of the ruling People Power Party rejoicing on June 1 after their crushing victory in the local elections, it seemed the party was set for smooth sailing, at least until the end of this year. But the party already appears to be breaking up into factions, and the ongoing power struggle between close aides of President Yoon Suk-yeol and others including People Power Party Chairman Lee Jun-seok shows the conservative bloc could be headed for another dark age. Rep. Chang Je-won,

South Korea’s main opposition Democratic Party of Korea’s internal feud is intensifying as members clash over the rules to elect a new chair at the party’s upcoming national convention in August. Ahn Gyu-baek, head of national convention preparations committee with the Democratic Party, announced his intent to resign from the committee Tuesday to express discontent with the party leadership’s decision to overturn his committee’s suggestion on setting rules for the

South Korea’s legislative branch elected Rep. Kim Jin-pyo as the new National Assembly speaker Monday after parties dramatically reached a last-minute compromise on forming new leadership in the legislature. At a plenary session of this month’s provisional assembly held at 2 p.m. Monday, 255 out of 275 legislators present voted to elect Kim as the head of the legislative branch for the latter half of the 21st National Assembly. The main opposition party controls 170 out of 300 legi

South Korea’s rival parties failed to strike a deal in their last-minute negotiations for forming the next leadership of the legislative branch before the start of this month’s provisional assembly. As the closed-door meeting held Sunday afternoon between floor leaders of the ruling and main opposition parties ended without an agreement, the National Assembly is to remain stalled, further delaying confirmation hearings for President Yoon Suk-yeol’s Cabinet picks and more than

South Korea’s Ministry of Health and Welfare is starting a pilot run of sickness benefit program Monday as the country mulls making the welfare scheme a nationwide policy. The ministry announced Sunday that six regions had been selected to act as test beds for the initiative until July 4, 2023. The areas are Seoul’s Jongno-gu; Bucheon, Gyeonggi Province; Cheonan, South Chungcheong Province; Pohang, North Gyeongsang Province; Changwon, South Gyeongsang Province, and Suncheon, South

The race for the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea’s leadership is heating up, with many rising stars bidding to lead the party to a new phase of politics and help overcome an ongoing series of election defeats. Under the lead of an emergency steering committee, the Democratic Party is preparing for a national convention in August where it will elect the new chair. The chairman seat has been left vacant since former Rep. Song Young-gil resigned in March. The party has seen member

South Korea’s ruling and opposition parties are engaging in last-minute negotiations on forming the next leadership of its legislative branch before the start of this month’s provisional assembly. Eyes are centered whether a deal could be reached at the 11th hour to stop the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea from unilaterally electing the next National Assembly speaker. The legislative branch has been off work for more than a month, as negotiations have stalled without much

A 17-year-old high school student referred to her first-ever attempt at sexual intercourse last year as “disastrous,” as she and her then-boyfriend had no idea what to do other than to take off their clothes. After searching the internet, the two found a way to give it a go. However, in an interview with The Korea Herald, she said that she still isn’t sure if she did everything right, as nobody has ever told her what a typical sexual relationship entails. “I think my bo

The chief of staff for People Power Party Chairman Lee Jun-seok resigned Thursday, as the party’s internal feud escalates over its leadership and future direction. Rep. Park Seong-min sent a text message to reporters Thursday morning saying he will no longer serve as Lee’s chief of staff for personal reasons. Park did not specify the impetus of the resignation. The legislator has served as a bridge between Lee and President Yoon Suk-yeol since being appointed to the chief of staff

Tension is mounting over the fate of People Power Party Chairman Lee Jun-seok as a police investigation proceeds ahead of a critical moment for the ruling bloc and its leadership next week. The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency said Tuesday it is planning to summon Kim Sung-jin, CEO of tech company I-kaist, for questioning this Thursday as a part of its ongoing investigation on Lee charged with sexual bribery allegations. The police investigation on Lee started after an unidentified informant

South Korea’s legislative branch could be on course to return to work soon, as the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea is mulling unilaterally electing a new National Assembly speaker with negotiations between the rival parties stalling without much progress. Reps. Jeon Yong-gi and Oh Yeong-hwan of the Democratic Party submitted a request to the National Assembly on Tuesday afternoon to open a provisional assembly in July following the party’s announcement earlier that it woul

A large-scale police search is underway for a family of three that went mysteriously missing on a remote island last month. Ten-year-old Cho Yu-na and her parents in their 30s went missing in Wando, South Jeolla Province, from May 31 after they entered the island in a silver-colored Audi sedan two days earlier. The family stayed at a guesthouse near a beach on the island after arriving, but cell phone signals of Cho and her mother were last found at a location near the guesthouse at around 1 a

South Korea could observe the first Constitution Day next month without a National Assembly speaker in 24 years, as the legislative branch remains stalled from rival parties failing to reach agreement on who should take key legislative posts. The main opposition Democratic Party of Korea on Sunday criticized the ruling People Power Party for rejecting its offer to let the People Power Party take the chair seat of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee instead of having the ruling party partici

People Power Party Chairman Lee Jun-seok is at risk of penalty from an ethics panel next month in connection to sexual bribery allegations, after the committee ruled that it would punish his close aide for attempting to silence Lee’s accuser in exchange for an investment. The party’s internal ethics panel on Wednesday deferred until July 7 a decision whether to penalize Lee for “failing to maintain dignity” and “coercing to destroy evidence” in relation to a

South Korea’s Ministry of National Defense flip-flopped on its announcement in regards to the case of a South Korean man killed by North Korean troops in 2020, in response to orders from a top official from the National Security Council, a lawmaker claimed Thursday. Rep. Ha Tae-keung of the People Power Party told reporters Thursday that Suh Choo-suk, former first deputy director of the NSC under the Moon Jae-in administration, had an official document sent to the Defense Ministry with in

Former Deputy Prime Minister Cho Soon, a renowned economics expert who served as the first publicly elected mayor of Seoul, died of natural causes on Thursday at the age of 94. Cho died at around 3:38 a.m. Thursday while under treatment at the Asan Medical Center in Songpa-gu, southern Seoul. His funeral will be held at the medical center, and he will be buried in his hometown of Gangneung, Gangwon Province. Born in February 1928, Cho graduated from Seoul National University in 1949 to later

South Korea’s main opposition Democratic Party’s internal strife continues, with members polarized on the internal ethics panel’s proposal to suspend Rep. Choe Kang-wook’s party membership over sexual misconduct allegation. The ethics panel ruled Monday to suspend Choe’s party membership for six months after he allegedly made questionable comments in an online meeting of party officials held in April. He reportedly used a slur that could be used to refer to masturb

The ruling People Power Party could see a possible shift in power dynamics Wednesday as Chairman Lee Jun-seok could be penalized by the internal ethics panel over sexual bribery allegations. The ethics panel is scheduled to convene at 7 p.m. Wednesday to continue discussions on whether to penalize Lee for “failing to maintain dignity” and “coercing to destroy evidence” in relation to a sexual bribery case that is also under police investigation. The panel may reach a de

South Korea’s legislative branch has been stalled for weeks as the ruling and main opposition parties have failed to come to a compromise on which party should take over key legislative posts. With the key posts remaining empty for 23 days, the legislative branch has failed to vet bills and party negotiations have not made much progress, primarily on which party would take certain chair posts for the latter half of the 21st National Assembly. The ruling People Power Party has asked for t

Internal strife is continuing within South Korea’s ruling and main opposition parties as factions jockey for power. The main opposition Democratic Party of Korea is set to elect its new chairperson at the national convention scheduled in August and finally conclude the battle between supporters of Rep. Lee Jae-myung and those with close ties to former President Moon Jae-in. From the pro-Moon circle, Rep. Sul Hoon expressed his intent to run for the chair, and Rep. Hong Young-pyo is also