Rep. Lee Jae-myung, chairperson of the Democratic Party of Korea, tested positive for COVID-19 and went into self-isolation Wednesday, the same day he was due to meet with former President Moon Jae-in. The Democratic Party said in an announcement to reporters that Lee had tested positive for COVID-19 and canceled his public itinerary to keep in line with government guidelines that recommend at-home isolation until a day after symptoms go away. His COVID-19 diagnosis delayed highly anticipated me

Politics Aug. 22, 2024

TAIPEI, Taiwan -- When British traveler Zoe Stephens, 30, decided to tour North Korea for the first time in 2017, she didn’t think she would be doing it for a living. “I went to North Korea as a tourist first, pretty much the same way as everyone else. I realized it’s nothing like what the media says,” she told The Korea Herald. She said “the real North Korea” took her by surprise and charmed her. “So I decided that I wanted to start doing tours to show

North Korea Aug. 20, 2024

South Korean Minister of Unification Kim Yung-ho on Friday said he believes North Korea will be responsive to the doctrine on the Korean Peninsula unification announced by President Yoon Suk Yeol the day before. “I believe that North Korea will carefully consider our proposal,” the minister told a news briefing held at the Government Complex in Seoul. The “Aug. 15 Unification Doctrine,” unveiled by the president during his Liberation Day remarks, entails reunifying Korea

Politics Aug. 16, 2024

President Yoon Suk Yeol’s defense minister nominee Kim Yong-hyun on Friday said “all options are open” on the possibility of arming South Korea with its own nuclear weapons to keep North Korea in check. He was responding to a press question asking his personal views on South Korea acquiring nuclear weapons on the first day of his work at the Army Club in Seoul’s central Yongsan as nominee. “Under the Yoon administration, our alliance with the US has been elevated to

Defense Aug. 16, 2024

North Korean defector Ji Seong-ho, who completed his term as a lawmaker with the ruling People Power Party in May, took office as the governor of his hometown North Hamgyong Province on Wednesday. South Korea appoints heads of offices to govern areas north of the inter-Korean border. Their affairs are overseen by the Ministry of Interior and Safety’s Committee for the Five Northern Korean Provinces. These largely symbolic roles are intended to keep in line with Article 3 of the Constitutio

Politics Aug. 14, 2024

South Korea’s first military reconnaissance satellite has been declared fit for combat and is to be tasked with full-scale missions within this month, according to the country’s arms procurement agency on Wednesday. The Defense Acquisition Program Administration said on the same day the spy satellite -- a key surveillance and reconnaissance asset of the country’s “kill chain” -- was deemed to be suitable for combat by the Ministry of National Defense. The ministry c

Defense Aug. 14, 2024

Opposition lawmakers on Tuesday called on President Yoon Suk Yeol to retract his nominations for national security advisor and the defense minister announced the day prior. The lawmakers of the main and minor opposition parties on the National Assembly defense committee held a joint press conference Tuesday, slamming the president as “damaging national interest at the key diplomatic moment” with his picks. In a surprise shake-up, Yoon on Monday tapped Shin Won-sik, who is serving as

Politics Aug. 13, 2024

The Cabinet on Tuesday voted to ask President Yoon Suk Yeol to veto the Democratic Party of Korea bill for handing out 250,000 to 350,000 won ($182 to $255) to every South Korean as economic relief. Earlier this month, the bill was passed in the Assembly by the majority-holding Democratic Party despite the ruling People Power Party pushback. Speaking at Tuesday’s meeting, Prime Minister Han Duck-soo said the Cabinet was “once again forced to consider bills that passed the Assembly i

Politics Aug. 13, 2024

South Korea will stage the first government-wide drill against North Korean nuclear attack scenarios as part of Ulchi Freedom Shield, an annual joint and combined exercise with the United States. The UFS this year is set to take place from Aug. 19 to 29, according to South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff and the South Korea-US Combined Forces Command on Monday. The South Korean JCS said alongside the military exercises, the government will hold a first-ever drill training officials and staff

Defense Aug. 12, 2024

Conservatives are divided over reports President Yoon Suk Yeol may fully restore the political rights of once-prominent liberal politician Kim Kyung-soo, allowing him to run for public office. Kim, a key ally of former Democratic Party of Korea President Moon Jae-in, was already pardoned last December from serving the remaining five months of his two-year jail term. In 2021, he was sentenced to two years in jail in the Supreme Court for trying to sway voters online by manipulating comments on ne

Politics Aug. 11, 2024

Minister of National Defense Shin Won-sik apologized Thursday over high-profile allegations that a Defense Intelligence Command official leaked agents’ identities to Chinese hackers earlier this year. “I would like to apologize to the South Korean people for the public display of the (alleged) leak of military secrets and the bickering that ensued among senior intelligence officials,” Shin said at a National Assembly national defense committee meeting. At Thursday’s defen

Politics Aug. 8, 2024

South Korean military officers have voiced caution over permitting new conscripts cellphones over security concerns, according to the Ministry of National Defense on Wednesday. The ministry surveyed officers as a new policy taking effect in September is set to allow soldiers’ use of cellphones more widely. In the survey released by the Defense Ministry, one officer said letting soldiers use cellphones has led to “disruptions in training while violations continue to occur.” &ldq

Defense Aug. 7, 2024

A series of bills targeting foreign espionage were floated in a rare show of bipartisan lawmaking in the National Assembly in the past week, following recent allegations of identity leaks of covert military agents. The bills seeking to expand the scope of punishable foreign espionage here have been proposed by lawmakers from both ruling and main opposition parties, according to the Assembly website on Tuesday. Under the existing laws, foreign espionage is restricted to that perpetrated by an &ld

Politics Aug. 6, 2024

South Korean commandos who died as they escaped from Silmido -- an uninhabited island where they were being trained to kill then-North Korean leader Kim Il-sung -- are due to receive an apology from the country’s defense chief for the first time in 53 years. In August 1971, the 24 commandos of South Korea’s secret killer squad fled the island in protest of poor treatment, after over three years of training to infiltrate North Korea and capture its leader. On their way out of Silmido,

Defense Aug. 5, 2024

The National Assembly on Friday voted to pass the impeachment bill against Lee Jin-sook, the contested chair of South Korea’s top broadcasting regulator, the Korea Communications Commission. The bill passed just two days after President Yoon Suk Yeol confirmed her nomination. The lawmakers of the ruling People Power Party walked out of the session to boycott the bill led by the Democratic Party of Korea and minor opposition parties, whose seats take up a majority in the Assembly. The bill&

Politics Aug. 2, 2024