Articles by Son Ji-hyoung
Son Ji-hyoung
consnow@heraldcorp.com-
Presidential office weighs erasing small business owners' late payment records
South Korea is considering removing late payments from the credit history of individuals or vendors who fell victim to the COVID-19 pandemic's economic fallout, possibly before the Lunar New Year's holiday in mid-February. President Yoon Suk Yeol's office "is in talks with the financial authorities to map out the timing of (the removal of delinquency on the credit reports) and the scope of its beneficiaries," said a source from the presidential office on Monday. In Korea, individuals f
Politics Jan. 8, 2024
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Presidential office mulls revival of first lady's office
President Yoon Suk Yeol's office on Friday hinted at establishing an office dedicated to first lady Kim Keon Hee, reneging on a campaign pledge not to operate such an office during his term. The president is "considering the option to set up the office in case it wins public consent over the matter," said a source from the presidential office who declined to be named. The source did not elaborate on how to gauge public approval of the establishment. Earlier Friday, Yoon vetoed a specia
Politics Jan. 5, 2024
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Yoon vetoes bill to investigate his wife
President Yoon Suk Yeol on Friday exercised his veto power to strike down a bill that would let the opposition-controlled National Assembly order a special investigation into first lady Kim Keon Hee's alleged involvement in stock manipulation. "(We) express a deep regret over the opposition bloc's unilateral move (to pass the bill to investigate the first lady) without bipartisan consent," presidential chief of staff Lee Kwan-sup told reporters. "Yoon has the obligation
Politics Jan. 5, 2024
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S. Korea plans W11tr inflation relief, picks immigration boost as key goal
President Yoon Suk Yeol on Thursday reiterated his pledge to support the livelihoods of South Korean citizens, including 11 trillion-won ($8.4 billion) in funding to curb consumer inflation. Yoon's office expressed its intention to slow inflation, as measured by the monthly consumer price index, to less than 3 percent by June. The consumer price index in December jumped to 3.6 percent in 2023, compared with 5.1 percent in 2022. "We anticipate the price stability with the consumer price inde
Politics Jan. 4, 2024
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Yoon to replace New Year briefings with debates
President Yoon Suk Yeol will hold a series of policy debates instead of receiving New Year briefings from each ministry, ditching formalities to lay out policy items aimed at improving people's livelihood, his office said Wednesday. The key agendas for Yoon's 2024 policy planning encompass housing, jobs, small- and medium-sized enterprises, public safety, caregiving, public transit, medical reform, media policy, low birth rate and energy. To touch upon these areas, at least 10 sessions
Politics Jan. 3, 2024
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Yoon proposes abandoning investor income tax plan
President Yoon Suk Yeol on Tuesday proposed to withdraw South Korea's plan to introduce a net investment income tax scheme beginning in 2025. This came about a year after plans to impose the "financial investment income tax" on investors had been deferred for two years, meaning the new tax rule would go into effect in January next year. The rule, under the revision of the Income Tax Act, was initially passed in 2020 with bipartisan agreement. "Our plan to introduce the financ
Politics Jan. 2, 2024
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Yoon reaffirms plan to upgrade extended deterrence in New Year
President Yoon Suk Yeol expressed confidence that a plan to bolster extended deterrence on the Korean Peninsula could materialize before the end of June in his New Year's speech to the nation Monday. "By the first half of this year, we will complete the enhanced (Republic of Korea)-US extended deterrence system to fundamentally deter any North Korean nuclear and missile threat," Yoon said in a televised speech from his office, referring to South Korea as the ROK. In April, Yoon an
Politics Jan. 1, 2024
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Yoon appoints 3 top-level presidential secretaries
President Yoon Suk Yeol on Thursday appointed all three top-level presidential secretaries, promoting his chief policy secretary, Lee Kwan-sup, to chief of staff, appointing an economic expert to succeed Lee and tapping First Vice Foreign Minister Chang Ho-jin as his national security adviser. All of the ministerial-level presidential secretaries, who report directly to Yoon, will start work on Monday, the first day of 2024. Appointees do not have to go through a confirmation hearing at the Na
Politics Dec. 28, 2023
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Seoul to defer workplace safety enforcement by 2 years
The conservative Yoon Suk Yeol administration and the ruling People Power Party on Wednesday agreed to defer by two years the enforcement of the controversial Serious Disasters Punishments Act, which can hold executives criminally liable for deadly workplace disasters. The announcement, made at a meeting with Labor Minister Lee Jung-sik and People Power Party lawmakers, is expected to extend the grace period of the rule to 2026 for small enterprises, as the law was initially poised to come into
Politics Dec. 27, 2023
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Eyeing economic security, Yoon names NIS, foreign minister picks
South Korea’s presidential office on Tuesday announced another batch in the ongoing Cabinet reshuffle, with President Yoon Suk Yeol nominating his national security adviser to be chief of the intelligence agency and a former top envoy to the United Nations as new foreign minister. A new bureau dedicated to economic security in the presidential National Security Office will also be created as part of the reshuffle, his office said. According to the office, Yoon named Director of the Nationa
Politics Dec. 19, 2023
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South Korea, Japan, US sharing North Korean missile data ‘24/7, all year round’
A trilateral scheme has kicked off for sharing data on North Korean missiles in real time among the defense chiefs of South Korea, Japan and the US. The Ministry of National Defense in Seoul said Tuesday its prelaunch inspections have found the missile data-sharing scheme to be “completely ready for operations” and currently “operating smoothly.” The Defense Ministry said the scheme would allow the three allies to detect North Korea’s missiles and share related info
Defense Dec. 19, 2023
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Yoon pledges to break up e-commerce market monopoly
President Yoon Suk Yeol on Tuesday pledged stricter corrective measures and law enforcement on e-commerce players to curtail their dominance in South Korea's online market, claiming these marketplace operators were bullying mom-and-pop vendors and undermining consumer choice. This will accompany the Yoon administration's proposal of a new law to restrict business activities of e-commerce companies designated as "dominant platform business entities," which was announced later in the day
Politics Dec. 19, 2023
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Seoul denies Netherlands summoned ambassador over Yoon's ASML visit
South Korea's Foreign Ministry denied a media report on Friday that the government of the Netherlands had summoned its ambassador to voice concerns about Seoul's demands regarding a presidential visit to the headquarters of the semiconductor printing machine supplier ASML. The Joongang Ilbo newspaper reported that the South Korean Ambassador to the Netherlands Choe Hyoung-chan had been summoned to hear concerns over Seoul's "various demands" related to President Yoon Suk Yeol's visit t
Foreign Affairs Dec. 15, 2023
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Yoon's national security aide warns of potential NK missile launch this month
The Presidential National Security Office's first deputy chief Kim Tae-hyo said Thursday North Korea might launch another intercontinental ballistic missile before the end of the year, as he arrived in Washington to attend a nuclear consultative group meeting Friday. "I think there is a possibility that North Korea would launch an ICBM in December," he told reporters at Dulles International Airport near Washington. "I can't tell you further about this," he added when asked wh
Politics Dec. 15, 2023
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Yoon vows backing for Korea's Dutch nuclear power plant bid
President Yoon Suk Yeol pledged his support for South Korea's bid to build two new nuclear power plants in the Netherlands, as he wrapped up his five-day state visit to the European country which faces energy transition pressure due to geopolitical uncertainties. "I will actively support South Korean companies, boasting world-class plant engineering capabilities, to participate in new projects to build nuclear power plants in the Netherlands, based on the agreements signed today," Yoon
Politics Dec. 14, 2023
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