President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol’s close aide Kim Eun-hye announced her bid for Gyeonggi Province governor, heating up the race for what is considered the biggest prize of the June 1 location elections. The journalist-turned-politician who was Yoon’s spokesperson held a press conference Wednesday, saying, “I, Kim Eun-hye, as a Korean citizen and Gyeonggi Province resident, declare my candidacy for the governor of Gyeonggi Province.” The first-term lawmaker vowed to make

Politics April 6, 2022

President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol is unlikely to begin his term in the new presidential office as the time frame is too short to relocate in, Yoon’s office conceded Wednesday. “Once the reserve funds for the relocation are approved (at the Cabinet meeting on Wednesday), working-level discussions will begin in earnest,” said Yoon’s spokesperson Bae Hyun-jin at a morning briefing. “It is impossible to relocate the office on May 10 due to the time spent (for the previo

Politics April 6, 2022

Cheong Wa Dae will hold an extraordinary Cabinet meeting on Wednesday to decide on the funds for the relocation of the presidential office, a top official said Tuesday. The move would tap into the reserve budget, which is earmarked for unpredicted expenditures, and cost around 36 billion won ($29.7 million). It excludes the funding needed for relocating the Joint Chiefs of Staff offices. “President Moon Jae-in received a report on the government’s review of the reserve fund for

Politics April 5, 2022

President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol’s pledge to restore relations with Tokyo appears likely to experience difficulties, with the issue of distorting history in Japanese textbooks reemerging. Yoon stressed Seoul-Tokyo relations as a priority during his campaign, and expectations have risen since his election win. Yoon is reportedly considering sending a delegation to Japan for policy coordination and to meet with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida around May. Before Yoon could put his word

Foreign Affairs April 4, 2022

President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol on Tuesday evening spoke on the phone with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy amid escalating tensions between Ukraine and Russia. “President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol held a phone call with Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at 5 p.m. on Tuesday,” Yoon’s spokesperson said in a written statement. “As Ukraine is currently in a war situation, please understand that it is difficult to disclose the details of the call,” the s

Politics March 29, 2022

An advocacy group for the disabled said Tuesday it would halt its protests in the subway in response to a request by the presidential transition committee, which vowed to “make efforts” to meet their demands. The presidential transition committee met with the protest organizer, the Solidarity Against Disability Discrimination, in the morning, listening to their concerns and asking them to halt the subway protests, which disrupted morning commutes and other travel. Hours after the m

Politics March 29, 2022

President Moon Jae-in on Monday said he will cooperate with the relocation of the presidential office after closely reviewing the budget during the dinner meeting with President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol, according to Yoon’s top official. The dinner meeting began at 6 p.m. and lasted about two and a half hours, attended by Moon’s Chief of Staff Yoo Young-min and Yoon’s Chief of Staff Jang Je-won. After the meeting ended, Jang held a press briefing at 9:30 p.m. and said the two ta

Politics March 28, 2022

President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol’s approval ratings have continued to fall since the election, with the figure hitting the lowest for president-elects in recent history. Yoon’s push for relocation of the presidential office and repeated conflicts with the Moon Jae-in administration seem to have negatively affected public opinion. The poll results on Monday showed that the negative outlook for Yoon’s government performance outpaced the positive outlook in a week. The same surve

Politics March 28, 2022

President Moon Jae-in and President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol are to hold their first meeting on Monday evening, 19 days after the presidential election, the two sides confirmed Sunday. Monday’s meeting will be their first in 21 months since Yoon visited Cheong Wa Dae to attend the Anti-Corruption Policy Council in 2020, when he was prosecutor general. They were supposed to meet on March 16, but the meeting was postponed, saying more working-level consultations were needed. This is the longes

Politics March 27, 2022

  Experts have discussed the current status and direction of the platform economy as part of policy seminar series of “The Digital Age, the Road to the Cooperative Economy of Korea” organized by the UN-Habitat Korean National Committee on Wednesday.  In this seminar, experts from each field participated in resolving the monopoly on platform profits and legislating. They discussed regulations on “dinosaur” platforms for two hours and policy recommendations for p

Social Affairs March 24, 2022

Friction between President Moon Jae-in and President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol appears to be intensifying, with the two sides openly criticizing one another.  Since the presidential election earlier this month, Moon and Yoon have been at odds over multiple issues, such as the relocation of the presidential office and appointment of high-ranking officials, including the governor of the Bank of Korea. A meeting between Moon and Yoon has still not taken place, marking the most prolonged delay bet

Politics March 24, 2022

Registered as Cultural Heritage No. 428, the former Yongsan Railway Hospital has been reborn as a local history museum, representative of Yongsan’s historicity and identity. The 2,775-square-meter museum is comprised of two stories above the ground, with a viewing capacity of 100 people. The space is divided into exhibition, education, administration, preservation, landscaping and public use. The Yongsan History Museum’s building in itself is a cultural heritage. The building, buil

Social Affairs March 23, 2022

Speculations are rising that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Unification could see major changes under the Yoon Suk-yeol administration. The Foreign Ministry may regain trade functions from the Industry Ministry with growing importance on economic security. The Unification Ministry, meanwhile, appears likely to see its role reduced amid increasing tensions with the North. Talk of the transfer of trade affairs dates back to the promises made by Ahn Cheol-soo, chairman of

Politics March 23, 2022

The plan to move the presidential office is bringing the incumbent and incoming administrations to a loggerhead, with each side raising concerns and complaints. President Moon Jae-in on Tuesday stressed the need to maintain readiness, in an apparent reference to President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol’s plans to relocate the offices of the president, Ministry of National Defense and Joint Chiefs of Staff. Saying that the country currently faces a dire situation “inside and outside,” M

Politics March 22, 2022

North Korea on Sunday fired four suspected shots from multiple rocket launchers into the Yellow Sea, South Korean military officials said, the latest in a series of provocations that could heighten tensions on the Korean Peninsula. “There were shots believed to be that of North Korea’s multiple rocket launchers this morning,” an official of the South Korean military said. “We are maintaining our defense readiness posture while closely following related developments,&rdq

North Korea March 20, 2022