Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum said Thursday that the government would cut tariffs on urea and directly manage domestic supply and demand to ease the ongoing supply crunch. Urea solution is used in diesel vehicles and for industrial facilities to reduce emissions. South Korea relies on China for 97 percent of its urea. But China’s recent clampdown on exports due to a lack of coal -- the raw material in urea production -- and consequent power shortages have sent jitters across Korea. &

Social Affairs Nov. 11, 2021

As key presidential candidates competitively promise pandemic relief funds to win over voters, the government is saying the pledges are unfeasible. Other candidates accuse them of populism and of trying to buy support. The ruling Democratic Party presidential candidate, Lee Jae-myung, is seeking to provide additional national disaster support funds to overcome the difficulties caused by the pandemic. His contender Yoon Seok-youl of the main opposition People Power Party has a plan to invest

Politics Nov. 10, 2021

People Power Party presidential candidate Yoon Seok-youl appears to be speeding past his contender, Lee Jae-myung, with various polls placing him more than 10 percentage points ahead. A Realmeter poll carried out between Sunday and Monday showed that Yoon recorded 46.2 percent in approval ratings, up 11.8 percentage points from the previous week. The ruling Democratic Party candidate Lee Jae-myung fell 0.4 percentage points from the last survey to 34.2 percent. The People’s Party lea

Politics Nov. 9, 2021

Political conflict in South Korea reaches sharp and sometimes violent extremes, with politicians on either side of the aisle accusing each other of “ruining” the country and bringing unrecoverable disaster. The left-right clash often reaches down to the individual level, with families and friends divided, and branding each other naive. Korea’s short history of democracy and how it has shaped personal experiences are a source of tension between generations. But some experts

Politics Nov. 8, 2021

The four-month presidential campaign has fully begun in earnest, but both the ruling and main opposition candidates face a series of hurdles ranging from a lack of appeal outside party supporters to allegations that could potentially bring them under the scrutiny of law enforcement. For both the ruling Democratic Party of Korea’s Lee Jae-myung and main opposition People Power Party’s Yoon Seok-youl, winning over younger generations and female voters are critical tasks, amid unprece

Politics Nov. 7, 2021

The number of new COVID-19 patients continues to top 2,000 daily, with more than half being teenagers and senior citizens, casting a pall over the nation’s plans for a step-by-step transition to normalcy. At Wednesday midnight, the number of new daily cases that day marked 2,482, with 2,457 of them locally transmitted. Among them, 29.5 percent were aged 60 or older and 22.4 percent were teenagers or younger. Over the past week, the daily average of confirmed patients under the age of 1

Social Affairs Nov. 4, 2021

Public prosecutor Son Jun-sung was summoned for questioning Tuesday in the probe into alleged political meddling involving presidential hopeful Yoon Seok-youl, two months into the investigation. Son, the former chief of investigative information policy at the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office, is accused of ordering subordinate prosecutors and Rep. Kim Woong of the main opposition People Power Party to write complaints and collect evidence against ruling party figures and some journalists ahea

Politics Nov. 2, 2021

Ahn Cheol-soo, head of the minor opposition People’s Party, officially declared his third bid for presidency on Monday, vowing to transform South Korea into a science and technology-oriented state. Whether Ahn will unify with the main opposition People Power Party candidate will be a major variable in the upcoming election. Announcing his candidacy at the National Assembly in Seoul, Ahn said, “I will become a president who pursues national growth engines with the power of advance

Politics Nov. 1, 2021

Jaraseom is a well-known place for music lovers, drawing more than 100,000 visitors every October for its annual Jazz Festival.  But Jaraseom, which consists of four islands, has recently become a beautiful park for visitors to enjoy various flowers from spring to autumn.  Since 2019, Gapyeong County has transformed Jaraseom into a “flower island” by establishing flower fields, landscape lighting installations and tourist facilities on 100,000 square meters of the souther

Social Affairs Oct. 30, 2021

South Korean schools will implement measures to live with the pandemic late next month, schools beginning a full transition to in-person classes from Nov. 22. The Ministry of Education announced Friday that for kindergartens, elementary, middle and high schools, a return to regular classes will be implemented step by step from Nov. 22 after a three-week preparation period. Social distancing rules will be lifted from the day, and full school attendance will be allowed in all regions. For ki

Social Affairs Oct. 29, 2021

Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum said Friday that up to 10 people in the wider Seoul area and 12 people in the non-metropolitan area are free to meet regardless of vaccination as part of daily recovery to be carried out step by step in three stages. The first step will be implemented for four weeks and the quarantine situation will be comprehensively evaluated to decide whether to switch to the next step. “It is urgent to recover small business owners and self-employed people who have endure

Social Affairs Oct. 29, 2021

Leading legislative experts from the Asian region gathered Wednesday to discuss the present and future of legislative administration at a symposium held in Seoul. The 9th Asian Legislative Experts Symposium, organized by the Ministry of Government Legislation and Korea Legislation Research Institute, was held under the theme of “Legislative Administration of Each Asian Country and Cooperation Measures,” in a hybrid in-person and online conference. The event comprised two main ses

Social Affairs Oct. 27, 2021

Former President Roh Tae-woo will be given a state funeral, the prime minister said Wednesday, citing his achievements as president. Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum said at a Cabinet meeting Wednesday, “While serving as the 13th president, the deceased made many achievements in the country’s development. The government will honor his achievements with the people through a state funeral.” Kim told the Ministry of Public Administration and Security and related ministries to thorou

Politics Oct. 27, 2021

Former President Roh Tae-woo, who served as the 13th president of South Korea, died at the age of 88 on Tuesday. Roh, who had been ailing for a long time with chronic conditions, had recently been hospitalized at Seoul National University Hospital due to worsening health and was in an intensive care unit. Leaving a mixed legacy, he was the first president to be elected after the June 1987 democratization movement and was also a leading force behind the military coup in 1979 along with his

Politics Oct. 26, 2021

GYEONGJU, North Gyeongsang Province -- Until a few weeks ago, they were eating food waste in small, dirty cages, helplessly watching their friends die. The 65 Jindo dogs were destined to die as Boknal approached. Those are the three hottest days of summer, during which South Koreans typically eat ginseng chicken soup or dog soup, although the latter is becoming rarer. But the dogs survived because nearby residents of Jindo County, South Jeolla Province, reported the situation to the authoritie

Social Affairs Oct. 26, 2021