Former Prime Minister Lee Nak-yeon returned to the Democratic Party on Wednesday, amid expectations that he will be a key candidate for the ruling camp in the general elections in April.Korea’s longest-serving prime minister wrapped up his term of two years and eight months on Tuesday, kicking off the day by attending the ruling party’s Supreme Council meeting.  Democratic Party Chairman Lee Hae-chan said he expects Lee Nak-yeon to play a core role when the party launches its in

A day after suffering two painful setbacks, the main opposition Liberty Korea Party ratcheted up its rhetoric toward the liberal ruling camp, condemning almost every bit of President Moon Jae-in’s New Year’s press conference. Calling the Moon administration “a tyranny,” the party’s spokesperson Jun Hee-kyung said, “How dare the government praise itself when it entered the path of judicial control, public welfare debacle and security breakdown?” The heigh

Reforming the “almighty prosecution” was one of President Moon Jae-in’s top priorities, one he was painfully aware could threaten his political fortunes but saw as too important to fail.  　His campaign so far to overhaul the powerful law enforcement agency has proved as difficult as he must have anticipated. Two justice ministers have been appointed for the task. One bowed out after two weeks on the job and the other, the incumbent, faces an opposition-led parliamentary im

Rival parties clashed over the new justice minister’s decision to replace senior prosecutors who have played leading roles in investigations targeting Cheong Wa Dae officials. On Wednesday, Justice Minister Choo Mi-ae announced a personnel reshuffle affecting 32 senior posts at the prosecution, mainly targeting those who have focused on scandals involving former Justice Minister Cho Kuk and presidential aides. Choo took office last week pledging to carry out President Moon Jae-in’s p

Prosecutors have asked an appeal court to increase the jail term for former President Lee Myung-bak to 23 years on charges of bribery and embezzlement, and sought a fine of 32 billion won ($27.3 million). The Seoul High Court heard appeals from the disgraced president and prosecutors over a lower court’s October 2018 ruling that sentenced Lee to 15 years in prison on convictions of bribery, embezzlement and abuse of power, and ordered him to pay a fine of 13 billion won. Charges against Le

Prosecutors on Tuesday summoned a former CEO of Samsung C&T, as part of its ongoing investigation into the firm’s alleged accounting fraud during its 2015 merger with its sister company Cheil Industries.The Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office initially planned to question Kim Shin, who headed Samsung C&T from 2010 and 2018, on details of the controversial merger but sent him back due to an attorney issue. The prosecution suspects that Samsung C&T deliberately

A confirmation hearing for Prime Minister nominee Chung Sye-kyun will begin Tuesday as the main opposition party questions the appropriateness of a parliamentary speaker taking the top government post. The six-term ruling party lawmaker and former National Assembly speaker will face two days of questioning to determine whether he is to replace Lee Nak-yon, who will return to the ruling Democratic Party to lead its April parliamentary election campaign. The main opposition Liberty Korea Part

A partisan battle looms over the National Assembly this week on how to reshape investigative powers of the nation’s two law enforcement agencies. The ruling Democratic Party plans to introduce a bill on the revision of the Criminal Procedure Code to curb the power of prosecutors, the last piece in President Moon Jae-in’s judicial reform initiatives. The revision is designed to expand the authority of police in criminal investigations and scrap the prosecution’s power to command

President Moon Jae-in’s drive for prosecution reform is expected to gain traction with his appointment of the new justice minister and the passage of a bill designed to ease power concentrated in the state prosecution. Buoyed by these major steps that will help his key election pledge for reformation to materialize, Moon vowed to make “clear change” this year, saying revamping powerful institutions and pursuing a fair society are the beginning of the process.“No powerful

Rival political parties on Wednesday ushered in 2020 with renewed commitment to win over voters in the general elections this year. During events celebrating the new year, the leaders of the ruling Democratic Party and main opposition Liberty Korea Party shared their visions and plans for the April 15 general elections, which will take place under the newly revised electoral law. Democratic Party chief Lee Hae-chan underscored that the results of the elections will be a turning point. &ldqu

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un presided over a meeting of the top military decision-making body to accelerate the development of self-defense capabilities ahead of key events that will decide its national strategy, its state media reported Sunday. Discussions on ways to bolster its military capabilities through organizational restructuring and personnel reshuffle were highlighted during the third expanded meeting of the seventh central military commission of the ruling Workers’ Party. Det

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has been calling on the US to suspend its joint military exercises with South Korea so that it can direct resources into the regime’s economic development, a former unification minister suggested. If South Korea and the US revive their biggest annual spring drills, Foal Eagle and Key Resolve next year, he says, North Korea will have to divert a larger number of armed forces back to the military grounds for training from construction sites where they were com

South Korea and the US failed to conclude their talks on determining how much Seoul will pay for the upkeep of the 28,500 US Forces Korea next year during their meetings in Seoul. “The two sides are expanding their mutual understanding through discussions despite the differences in their positions on various issues, and decided to continue close consultations to draw up a mutually acceptable agreement,” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a press release. The ministry did no

North Korea is unlikely to launch intercontinental ballistic missiles at least until the end of the year in order not to embarrass China, experts said Wednesday, amid concerns the regime could express frustration at the stalled denuclearization talks with the US through a major military provocation. “Chances are high that North Korea won’t test-fire missiles before and after a China-Japan-South Korea trilateral summit or even until the year-end, taking into account Beijing’s po

Prospects are dim for denuclearization talks between the US and North Korea next year, with the possibility of the communist regime escalating military tension, the South Korean government said Tuesday. “If there is no progress in North Korea-US negotiations by the year-end deadline, the possibility of North Korea’s leader declaring the suspension of the talks in his New Year’s address cannot be ruled out,” the Unification Ministry said in a press release on its evaluatio

US Special Representative for North Korea Stephen Biegun on Monday proposed a meeting with North Korean officials during his visit to Seoul, saying Washington is willing to discuss all issues of interest to Pyongyang if they resume denuclearization talks. He said it was “not too late” for North Korea to choose a “better way,” following the regime’s second “crucial” test at its long-range rocket launch site Friday. The test may have been an attempt to adv

Some 23,000 North Korea workers abroad have been repatriated in the last two years under a UN sanctions resolution adopted in 2017, according to data from a UN panel monitoring sanctions implementation that was released Thursday.The resolution adopted by the UN Security Council in December 2017 calls for the repatriation of all North Korean workers by the end of this year to stop them from earning foreign currency that could be funneled into the regime’s missile and nuclear programs. Based

The US top negotiator on North Korea, Stephen Biegun, is expected to visit South Korea next week amid heightened tensions on the peninsula after North Korea conducted a rocket engine test. Biegun’s visit is likely to begin Sunday, and he hopes to meet North Korean officials at the inter-Korean truce village of Panmunjom, according to Japan’s Kyodo news agency and local media. The Foreign Ministry was not able to confirm Biegun’s plans to meet with North Korean officials. The US

North Korea is expected to declare a suspension of its nuclear talks with the US as the regime has already decided to beef up its military capability and accelerate self-development of the economy next year, experts said on Tuesday.During a press conference hosted by Institute for Far Eastern Studies, experts offered a pessimistic outlook on North Korea’s relations with the US and South Korea due to the packed domestic politics in 2020 in each country, such as the presidential election in

The South Korean government is closely watching activities at major North Korean sites after the regime announced that it carried out a “very important” test at its Sohae satellite launch site. Experts believe it is likely that the test was for a new solid fuel engine for an intercontinental ballistic missile capable of striking the continental US. Pyongyang has refrained from conducting ICBM tests for the past 18 months.As of Monday, the defense and unification ministries could not