Rival parties remained deadlocked over the approval of Prime Minister nominee Hwang Kyo-ahn Thursday, casting a cloud over his prospects of taking over the post that has been vacant for more than a month. The governing Saenuri Party and the main opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy failed to agree on a parliamentary procedure to confirm the nominee. The Saenuri Party urged for Hwang’s confirmation at the plenary session on Friday, while NPAD opposed it. “Both parties couldn’t reach an

Seoul City Mayor Park Won-soon’s latest response to Middle East respiratory syndrome appears to have given him an opportunity to demonstrate his capacity as a competent administrator and a potential alternative to the incumbent presidency that has struggled to control public fears over the MERS outbreak. Park on Tuesday met Rep. Moon Jae-in, the leader of main opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy, and vowed to consolidate efforts to address the outbreak that left seven people dead, clo

Health and Welfare Minister Moon Hyung-pyo on Monday anticipated the Middle East respiratory syndrome would begin to abate in two days, hoping to bring the nation back on track following the outbreak that has left six people killed and 87 under quarantine so far. “I hope we will see (MERS) start to abate starting Wednesday,” said Moon. “If I may offer cautious predictions, (MERS) hit its peak today. We will do our utmost to reassure the public and prevent the disease from further spreading” said

South Korea’s main parties agreed Sunday to make bipartisan efforts to contain the Middle East respiratory syndrome and assuage mounting public fear.The governing Saenuri Party and the main opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy agreed to create a special parliamentary committee to slow the MERS crisis and prevent potential outbreaks of other infectious diseases. They also decided to pass relevant laws in an upcoming parliamentary session while urging the government to consider raising t

Korea’s main political parties demanded Thursday the government step up efforts to cope with the spreading Middle East respiratory syndrome amid growing public fears over the virus.The governing Saenuri Party and the main opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy urged Cheong Wa Dae to take the initiative and consolidate administrative efforts to prevent MERS and contain public fears. The disease has left two confirmed deaths and 1,364 people have been quarantined since the first case was c

Internal feud escalated at the ruling Saenuri Party over the recent passage of a bill enabling legislators to demand amendments to government decrees.Members loyal to President Park Geun-hye raised their calls for the floor leader to resign from the post for the controversial passage, while the non-mainstreamers criticized Cheong Wa Dae for crossing the line and stoking internal conflict.Rep. Lee Jang-woo on Wednesday urged the party’s floor leader Rep. Yoo Seung-min, to step down from his seat

The main opposition party vowed Tuesday to push through the revised parliamentary rule empowering lawmakers to demand amendments to government ordinances. It also released a list of 14 government decrees that it claimed were inconsistent with upper laws, pledging to take issue with them in a blunt rebuttal against President Park Geun-hye’s threat to veto the new parliamentary powers the day before.The New Politics Alliance for Democracy asserted that the legislature has the “legitimate” authorit

International companies will gather in Seoul on Tuesday to attend an environment exhibition to showcase their green technology and eco-friendly products, boosting hopes to expand the markets and improve the green industry.The Ministry of Environment and Korea Environmental Preservation Association will hold the 37th International Exhibition on Environmental Technology and Green Energy at COEX, an exhibition center in Samseong-dong, Seoul. The event will take place from Tuesday until Friday.The e

Rival parties are expected to continue their partisan fights in the June extraordinary session over President Park Geun-hye’s choice of new prime minister amid pending reform bills posing a challenge to the upcoming session. The National Assembly is to start a 30-day extraordinary session on Thursday, which would include a confirmation hearing on Prime Minister nominee Hwang Kyo-ahn to test whether he is qualified for the nation’s No. 2 post. Lawmakers are also expected to lock horns over Park’s

Cheong Wa Dae on Friday strongly protested the National Assembly’s passage of a bill giving lawmakers the right to demand an amendment to a government decree, saying that it may violate the Constitution.According to the revised bill, lawmakers are authorized to “demand” changes to a decree issued by the executive branch. The bill was endorsed early Friday in line with an ongoing debate over the government enforcement decree of the special Sewol bill that dictates the government’s investigation i

The ruling Saenuri Party urged on Thursday a revision to the bill that was aimed at reforming the legislation process, blaming the rules for creating legislative gridlock. Senior members of the Saenuri Party criticized the so-called “National Assembly Advancement Act” for blocking the passage of key draft bills such as a national pension reform bill. The law requires the approval of more than three-fifths of lawmakers to put contentious draft bills to a final vote on the floor. “The National Adv

The new chairman of the main opposition party’s reform panel vowed on Wednesday to overhaul the beleaguered party, urging its members to abandon their factional interest and rebuild the party for the next general election.Kim Sang-kon, the former chief of Gyeonggi Provincial Education Office, pledged “zero-tolerance” against any attempts to build factions within the New Politics Alliance for Democracy. The party has been beset by factional feuds since its crushing defeats in the April by-electio

Reservist Lee Soo-yul, 28, was subject to reserve forces training on May 18, five days after the deadly shooting that killed three reservists.“I was nervous,” said Lee. “But I was able to get through the fear thanks to the assistant officers. They gave me one-on-one guidance throughout the training. They brought me a bulletproof jacket and fixed the safety hook. I felt really relieved,” said Lee.Still, the one-on-one assistance was only implemented by the Defense Ministry after a 23-year-old res

The main opposition party decided on Tuesday to discipline an outspoken lawmaker for making incendiary remarks that triggered fractional feuds and leadership dysfunction, putting an end to weeks-long debates over the lawmaker’s vulgar comments. The New Politics Alliance for Democracy’s ethics committee said it would suspend Rep. Jung Chung-rae from his post in the party for a year. Jung’s remark, criticizing a fellow party member, was brought to the committee after NPAD members filed a protest a

The main opposition party on Sunday named the chair of a committee that will drive reforms to end factional feuds and rebuild the party ahead of next year’s general election. The New Politics Alliance for Democracy said Sunday that Kim Sang-kon, the former chief of Gyeonggi Provincial Education Office, would chair the “innovation committee,” a reform body to overhaul the party, which has been beset by factional confrontations since its defeat in the April by-elections.Kim, 63, will exercise full

The main opposition party on Friday officially proposed a former top Gyeonggi Province educator to head the new panel tasked to end factional feuds within the party, after failed attempts to initiate the party reform.Kim Sang-kon, former chief of Gyeonggi Provincial Education Office, said he would consider the offer, and make a decision by Sunday, according to a party official. Calls have been mounting for the New Politics Alliance for Democracy to undertake party reforms ahead of the general el

Youths from Korea, Japan and China will gather in downtown Seoul on Saturday to participate in a music festival and ceremonial events to counter widespread cyberbullying and hateful Internet comments.Sunfull Movement, launched in 2007, said Thursday that it would hold a concert and ceremonies to showcase their campaign for benign Internet comments. The event will take place at 1:30 p.m. at Gwanghwamun Square in downtown Seoul. The festival will be attended by 3,000 youths from Korea, Japan and C

With the post of South Korea’s prime minister lying vacant for about a month calls are mounting for a new premier to be chosen to end the hiatus in governance as key policies remain deadlocked.President Park Geun-hye is likely to make her nomination within this week, news reports said, after failing to replace former Prime Minister Lee Wan-koo who resigned last month due to the allegation that he received money from late businessman Sung Woan-jong. It was reported that the president has been str

Patients suffering from more than three symptoms of metabolic syndrome surged by 16.5 percent between 2010 and 2014 in South Korea, data showed.Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service said that a total of 9,911,000 patients received treatment for metabolic syndrome last year compared to 8,505,000 in 2010. They include those who suffered from at least three of the five major symptoms ― abdominal obesity, hyper-blood pressure, blood sugar disorders, triglyceride and low HDL cholesterol. The

The negotiation on the civil service pension bill remained deadlocked on Monday as the Saenuri Party refused to budge while the main opposition faced internal disagreements over a compromise suggested by its newly-elected floor leader.Rep. Lee Jong-kul, the floor leader of the New Politics Alliance for Democracy, offered a compromise on Sunday to rephrase the controversial “50 percent income replacement rate,” the number his party had insisted on putting in the bill.Instead, the agreement would