Articles by Jo He-rim
Jo He-rim
herim@heraldcorp.com-
PM calls for vigilance to counter potential NK attacks after impeachment
Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn on Saturday instructed the military to step up vigilance against threats or any attempt to instigate national division from North Korea, his office said.The direction comes a day after the parliament impeached President Park Geun-hye for her alleged involvement in a high-profile corruption scandal.Hwang took over as acting president while the Constitutional Court has 180 days to determine whether to endorse the impeachment or not. Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn speaks
Politics Dec. 10, 2016
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Russia interfered in US election to help Trump win: report
WASHINGTON (AFP) -- A secret CIA assessment has found that Russia sought to tip last month's US presidential election in Donald Trump's favor, The Washington Post reported Friday, a conclusion that drew an extraordinary rebuke from the president-elect's camp."These are the same people that said Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction," Trump's transition team said, launching a broadside against the spy agency."The election ended a long time ago in one of the biggest Electoral College vict
World News Dec. 10, 2016
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Pentagon expects 'policy consistency' in S. Korea after presidential impeachment
WASHINGTON (Yonhap) -- The US Defense Department said Friday that it expects "policy consistency and continuity" on various issues with South Korea in the wake of the impeachment of President Park Geun-hye.Pentagon spokesman Commander Gary Ross gave the comment in response to a question from Yonhap News Agency whether the impeachment could have any impact on the planned deployment of the THAAD missile defense system to the South."We look forward to working with Prime Minister Hwang in his new ca
Diplomatic Circuit Dec. 10, 2016
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Impeachment vote as it happened
To impeach the embattled head of state, at least 200 lawmakers from the 300-member National Assembly need to support the motion. Currently, opposition parties, which led the impeachment drive, together have 172 seats including those of like-minded independent members. To get Assembly approval, the impeachment bill is required to attract at least 28 lawmakers from Park’s ruling Saenuri Party. The ruling party, the largest political bloc in the Assembly with 129 seats, has been divided on whether
Politics Dec. 9, 2016
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Opposition threatens to quit if vote fails
South Korea’s parliament will decide Friday whether to impeach President Park Geun-hye, with opposition lawmakers threatening to quit en masse if the vote fails. In their full-fledged efforts to push to remove Park from office, the three main opposition parties -- the Democratic Party of Korea, People’s Party and Justice Party -- pledged to resign from the National Assembly if the motion is rejected. “We are determined to pass the motion to take Park down from office, and tendered our resignatio
Politics Dec. 8, 2016
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Niece of Choi Soon-sil turns up in parliamentary hearing
Jang Si-ho, the niece of President Park Geun-hye’s confidante Choi Soon-sil, appeared at parliamentary hearing Wednesday about 3:30 p.m. after previously refusing to attend, citing poor health.The National Assembly summoned 27 witnesses with 14 of them, including the key figure Choi, refusing to attend prior to the hearing.Jang was the only one among the absentees to respond to the parliament‘s order which was issued earlier in the morning. Jang Si-ho, the niece of Choi Soon-sil (Yonhap)Currentl
Politics Dec. 7, 2016
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Park aides face parliamentary hearing on influence-peddling scandal
The second day of the parliamentary inquiry into President Park Geun-hye’s scandal on Wednesday produced little new information about Park and her longtime friend Choi Soon-sil who is accused of meddling in state affairs. Almost half of key witnesses were absent at the hearing, including Choi. Those who were in attendance spent most of their time denying allegations or claiming no knowledge or memory. Former chief presidential secreatry Kim Ki-choon testifies at a parliamentary hearing on Wednes
Politics Dec. 7, 2016
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Park’s former chief of staff denies all
Former Presidential Chief of Staff Kim Ki-choon on Wednesday claimed no knowledge of any irregularities in the country’s highest office during a parliamentary hearing on a sweeping scandal that threatens to end Park Geun-hye’s presidency. Kim, who was the conservative president’s right-hand man for 16 months until February 2015, said he had never met Choi Soon-sil, the now-infamous friend of Park accused of manipulating power from behind the scenes. Former chief presidential secreatry Kim Ki-cho
Politics Dec. 7, 2016
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CJ Group admits to being pressured to remove Vice Chairwoman
CJ Group Co-chairman Sohn Kyoung-shik said Tuesday that Cheong Wa Dae had pressured its Vice Chairman Lee Mie-kyung to quit. Testifying before a bipartisan panel of lawmakers in a hearing at the National Assembly on Tuesday, Sohn admitted to having received the message purportedly from President Park Geun-hye via Senior Presidential Secretary for Economic Affairs Cho Won-dong. “Cho asked to meet (me), and said ‘Vice Chairwoman Lee Mie-kyung should step down from office. This is a word from the p
Politics Dec. 6, 2016
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What if impeachment fails?
Tension is mounting in South Korea’s political arena, with the crucial vote on President Park Geun-hye’s impeachment scheduled for Friday. The opposition coalition is vowing to spare nothing to ensure the impeachment bill’s safe passage, but what if it fails? Words from opposition politicians offer few concrete details as to an alternative plan, except that an outpouring of public anger seems highly likely. (Yonhap)“We have crossed the Rubicon,” Rep. Park Jie-won, the floor leader of the Peo
Politics Dec. 5, 2016
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Urban newlyweds less likely to have children than in rural couples
Newly married couples in rural areas are more likely to have children than those in cities, a study showed Sunday. According to an award-winning paper released by Jeon Sae-ran and Lee Myeong-hoon of Korea University, those in rural areas were 1.37 times more likely to have plans for children than those living in cities, when comparing on equal income conditions.The paper studied 2,207 couples who registered for marriage from 2010 to 2014 with their annual average income standing at 48 million wo
Social Affairs Dec. 4, 2016
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Public anger directed at politicians failing to remove Park
Politicians on both sides of the aisle have become the target of public anger for their collective failure to cope with a scandal engulfing President Park Geun-hye. Above all, lawmakers of the ruling Saenuri Party are being scrutinized for not heeding the public’s demand to impeach the scandal-ridden president. They complain of receiving hundreds of phone calls and text messages from angry voters. The Saenuri Party on Friday filed a legal complaint against a lawmaker from the main opposition, R
Politics Dec. 4, 2016
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UN chief unlikely to join ruling Saenuri Party
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is unlikely to join the ruling Saenuri Party after he returns to South Korea in mid-January, local media reported Thursday based on a purported dialogue between Ban’s affiliate and an opposition politician. “I heard (from a person close to Ban) that even if Ban runs in the next presidential election, he will not work with pro-Park lawmakers or join the Saenuri Party,” former Rep. Jeong Dae-chul of the People’s Party was quoted as saying. The 71-year-old veteran d
Politics Dec. 1, 2016
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Fire guts Daegu market, no casualties reported
A fire broke out in the southern city of Daegu early Wednesday, gutting over 800 stores in the city’s biggest street market. No casualties were reported. According to local authorities, the blaze started at around 2 a.m. in a section of Seomun Market where 839 stores -- mostly selling clothes -- are located. The stores suffered severe damage, but the estimated financial damage is not yet known. Two firefighters were injured and two people were rescued from the blaze. No major injuries were repor
Social Affairs Nov. 30, 2016
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Park‘s history textbook plan faces uncertainty
Opposition parties on Tuesday said that the Education Ministry should be abolished if it pushes ahead with the planned introduction of the controversial state-authored history textbook. Calling it the “Park Geun-hye textbook” after the incumbent president who initiated the drive to mandate state-authored history textbooks, they called for a complete abolishment of the plan. “The textbooks are not just partly wrong, but need to be retracted as a whole,” said Rep. Yoo Sung-yeob of the People’s Par
Social Affairs Nov. 29, 2016
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