Main opposition party leader Rep. Moon Jae-in Tuesday rejected demands by dissenting party members that he step down, in an escalating power game between the current leadership and the sidelined faction ahead of next year’s parliamentary race.　The chairman of the New Politics Alliance for Democracy refused to accept a proposal from former cochairman Rep. Ahn Cheol-soo and other nonmainstream lawmakers to hold a national caucus early next year and elect a new leadership before the 2016 general el

With South Korean youths struggling to get jobs amid the worsening employment rate, the nation’s higher education trend has been shifting toward practical courses like finance and engineering and away from liberal arts, which many job seekers have dismissed as irrelevant to their future careers. But Smith College president Kathleen McCartney believes otherwise. The head the leading liberal arts college in the U.S. stressed that what students learn through flexible curriculum provided by the libe

President Park Geun-hye on Monday called in the ruling Saenuri Party leadership to Cheong Wa Dae and urged them to speed up the legislation of pending bills on economy, labor reform and counterterrorism, calling them crucial to revitalizing the economy and protecting the people.“How will (you) face the people if you fail (to pass the pending bills) when you head into the general elections next year?” Park told Saenuri chairman Rep. Kim Moo-sung and floor leader Rep. Won Yoo-cheol.“It is a make-o

Factional infighting at the main opposition party showed no signs of abating as the party’s former cochairman Rep. Ahn Cheol-soo on Sunday reiterated his call for an early convention to replace current chairman Rep. Moon Jae-in.　Ahn of the New Politics Alliance for Democracy demanded last week that a party caucus be held by January to select a new leadership before the April 13 general election. Moon rejected the idea Thursday but instead accepted a set of reform measures suggested by Ahn three

The National Assembly late Wednesday passed legislation that authorizes the government to impose taxes on religious leaders who have been exempt from taxation since the establishment of the South Korean government in 1948. Nearly 50 years after repeated and failed attempts to revise the law, lawmakers managed to add religious workers to the taxable list despite vehement opposition from South Korea’s big churches, one of the most influential voting groups in Korea’s conservative bloc. Korea is th

  Nearing his first big league deal with the Minnesota Twins, South Korean slugger Park Byung-ho departed for the United States on Sunday, saying he's hoping for "a positive result."  Park told reporters assembled at Incheon International Airport that he will look to wrap up contract talks and is scheduled to undergo a physical with the Twins, who won the posting bid on Nov.9 with a bid of US$12.85 million.   The Twins were awarded a 30-day negotiating window with Park, and the deadline falls at

  South Korea's major labour group vowed Sunday to hold a massive anti-government protest this week, a day after authorities banned the rally over concerns it could turn violent.    The planned demonstration on Saturday follows a major protest earlier this month -- the largest in more than seven years -- that saw police clash with demonstrators.    Critics say the conservative government of President Park Geun-Hye, daughter of the late heavy-handed ruler Park Chung-Hee, is slipping back into pas

South Korea gave preliminary approval for two groups -- one from the new economy and another from the old, and both with Chinese partners -- to set up the nation’s first Internet-only banks as the government seeks to reinvigorate a sector suffering from slow growth and slim margins.Kakao Corp., operator of Korea’s leading messaging app KakaoTalk, and KT Corp., the former government phone monopoly, were chosen from a field of three applications. A group headed by online retail operator Interpark

The South Korean government’s move to publish state-authored textbooks mimics tactics used by countries that attempt to control public memory of the past following their transition from dictatorships to democracies, a leading political theorist said.　John Keane, political science professor at the University of Sydney who authored “The Life and Death of Democracy,” stressed that democratic societies must allow people with different viewpoints to debate over different interpretations of history. 　

　Kim Hyun-chul, the second son of the late President Kim Young-sam, had a powerful nickname when his father was in office -- “little president.” 　The junior Kim was said to have been one of the late president’s aides who stood beside him during his years of democratic struggle. After Kim Young-sam entered Cheong Wa Dae, however, Kim Hyun-chul started to peddle influence in various state affairs involving major conglomerates who wanted to reach out to the president. In 1997, as his father’s presi

The main opposition party’s former leader Rep. Ahn Cheol-soo Sunday rejected the incumbent chairman Moon Jae-in’s request to build a coalition leadership, dealing a blow to Moon’s attempt to unite the embattled party ahead of next year’s general election. 　Instead, the entrepreneur-turned-politician proposed a plan to select new leadership by holding a party caucus next January and merge with the People’s Reform Party, a newly created opposition party founded by Rep. Chun Jung-bae who defected f

Rival parties Thursday clashed over the delayed ratification of a free trade agreement signed between South Korea and China in June, casting a shadow over the government’s push to see the pact in effect by the end of this year. While the ruling Saenuri Party urged the main opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy to agree on holding a plenary session this Friday to ratify the FTA, the NPAD rejected the call unless the government implements measures to compensate those it said would suffer

President Park Geun-hye on Tuesday urged the swift passage of pending counterterrorism bills, highlighting South Korea is not safe from heightened terrorism risks worldwide.　　“Compared to other countries that implemented measures to prevent terror attacks, South Korea has delayed the enactment of antiterrorism bills for 14 years,” Park said while presiding over a Cabinet meeting. “(But) when an incident occurs, the lawmakers are quick to criticize the government while it is they who have been si

Late President Kim Young-sam’s death by illness drew public attention on Monday to the health conditions of South Korea’s three living former presidents -- Chun Doo-hwan, Roh Tae-woo and Lee Myung-bak. 　While the oldest, Chun, 84, and the youngest, Lee, 74, are active enough to attend public events and write their memoirs, 83-year-old Roh’s condition has deteriorated. Roh has not been seen in public for about 10 years. The photos of South Korea`s living former presidents.　Chun, who rose to the p

Former President Kim Young-sam’s death on Sunday prompted heavyweights across the political spectrum to highlight in unison the significance of South Korea’s transition from dictatorship to democracy.　From conservatives to liberals and bigwigs to rookies, politicians echoed that Kim had left an indelible mark on the nation’s democratic development. Some from the opposition party underscored Kim’s legacy during the Korea’s democratization and urged the Park Geun-hye administration to uphold his v

Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon’s plan to provide cash benefits to unemployed young people has prompted political debate as the government slammed it as an unrealistic attempt to seek political gains. 　　While Finance Minister Choi Kyung-hwan on Thursday rebuked the move as “welfare populism” and pledged to block the policy, Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon vowed to push ahead with the scheme under the support of main opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy leader Rep. Moon Jae-in.　“Some local governme

The South Korean government Wednesday said it would tighten regulations on its nationals’ visits to countries banned for travel due to safety concerns.　The Foreign Ministry said it would revise the passport law to impose stricter exceptions for South Koreans traveling to or staying in countries listed as dangerous to visit following the deadly terror attack in Paris last week. As of Nov. 18, Syria, Iraq, Somalia, Afghanistan, Yemen and Libya were designated as travel-restricted nations. 　Under t

Yoon Jeong-sik, a 30-year-old who has studied in the U.S. for half of his life, has struggled to find a job in Korea. Having graduated with a bachelor’s degree in political philosophy from a state university in California, Yoon has remained unemployed for almost two years since finishing his mandatory military service.　“I thought the applicant like me who speaks fluent English and has work experience would have little trouble getting a job in Korea,” said Yoon. 　He applied to more than 30 compan

 South Korea’s delayed counterterrorism legislation was put back on the spotlight Monday as parties clashed over how to reinforce the nation’s intelligence agency’s ability to address rising domestic security concerns after the deadly terrorist attacks in Paris last Friday.　While the ruling Saenuri Party demanded the National Assembly enact the two-year-old antiterrorism bills to grant more authority to the National Intelligence Service, the main opposition party claimed the legislation would gi

The South Korean government vowed tough measures against any unlawful activity during the scheduled mass rally against labor and education measures on Saturday that is anticipated to gather some 100,000 protesters, the most since the anti-U.S. beef protests in 2008, according to police.　The Cabinet members issued a joint statement in a press conference that the government would hold accountable those responsible for violating laws and inciting violence during the protest set to take place around