진행자: 임정요, Paul Kerry

1. 박 대통령, 비공식 기자회견 통해 입장 변경

기사요약: 박근혜 대통령은 1일 비공식 기자 회견을 열어 그간 제기된 의혹을 부인하며 이전 공식 석상에서 건넨 대국민 사과를 철회하는 내용을 발언 했다.

Park flip-flops on apology

[1] President Park Geun-hye on Sunday asserted the innocence of not only herself but her aides, who she said were “suffering hardships” for their hard work, going back on her previous apology for the scandal that led to her impeachment.

* aide: 측근
* hardship: 역경
* go back on: 번복하다

[2] At a New Year’s meeting with reporters -- her first public appearance since the National Assembly passed an impeachment motion on Dec. 9 -- Park blamed the media and the special investigation team for “inflating distortions and lies that got out of control.”

* motion: 안건
* blame: 탓하다 (blame game, put the blame on)
* inflate distortion: 왜곡을 과장시키다
* get out of control: 통제 불능이 되다

[3] She said many of her aides were facing difficulty due to the ongoing probe. This contrasted with her news conference on Nov. 4 in which she apologized for having failed to keep “some individuals” from “interest-seeking and various unlawful activities” in the scandal surrounding her friend Choi Soon-sil.

* face difficulty: 어려움을 직면하다
* contrast: 대조되다
* unlawful: 위법의 (irregular)

기사전문: http://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20170101000239

2. 선거연령 18세 하향 추진

기사요약: 투표 참여 연령을 18세로 낮추려는 움직임이 계속 되고 있다. 3일 더민주당은 다가오는 대통령 선거에서부터 연령을 하향 조정하겠다고 선언했다.

Opposition party pushes to lower voting age to 18

[1] The main opposition Democratic Party of Korea on Tuesday declared a legislative push to lower the minimum voting age to 18, effective from this year’s presidential election.

*legislative: 법적인
*minimum voting age: 투표 가능 최저 연령
*effective: 효력이 있는

[2] “We shall lower the voting age to 18 before the next presidential election. Among OECD member states, Korea is the only nation stipulating voting rights at 19,” floor leader Rep. Woo Sang-ho said in a party meeting.

*stipulate: 명기하다

[3] The liberal party, the largest in South Korea’s unicameral parliament controlling 128 of the 300 seats, will push to revise the election law to lower the age limit and grant voting rights to compatriots living overseas, he said.

*unicameral: 단원제의
*grant: 허용하다

기사전문: http://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20170103000621