First lady, a figure at the heart of power In presidential elections, the spouses of presidential candidates have always been the subject of interest for the public, as society holds high expectations for the person who will become the first lady. The interest was clearly shown in polls. According to a survey by Research & Research commissioned by Channel A and conducted from Nov. 27 to 29, 55 ...

Starting his fourth year in office, Hwaseong Mayor Seo Cheol-mo is far from complacent in his governing duties for a city rapidly growing across all sectors. While regional economies have been hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic and the social distancing measures that ensued, Seo believes the real “disease” local government should battle against is their “incompetency.” “New variants of the coron...

Potentially damaging phone call recordings of presidential candidates and their family members continue to plague the election campaigns across the aisle, with the latest revelation hitting Lee Jae-myung of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea. Lee responded quickly, apologizing for the contents of his phone calls with his late brother, which were filled with insults. The recording transcripts w...

A high school student’s sarcastic letter to a conscripted soldier sent as part of an encouragement campaign, has recently raised questions as to whether it is worth keeping the longstanding practice. The unfriendly letter written anonymously to a conscripted soldier was first posted at an online community site on Jan. 11, with the user complaining of the message deriding the receiver. “Is milit...

Presidential candidate Yoon Suk-yeol of the main opposition People Power Party apologized Monday for the remarks made by his wife Kim Kun-hee, after a portion of the recordings of her phone calls with a reporter was made public by a local broadcaster. A day before, MBC had broadcast parts of the 52 recorded phone calls made between Lee Myung-soo, a reporter for YouTube channel Voice of Seoul, an...

Presidential candidate Yoon Suk-yeol of the main opposition People Power Party announced on Sunday plans to “rebuild” Seoul, by reorganizing city spaces and relocating railroads and highways underground. At a press briefing, Yoon laid out four vision pillars with nine detailed pledges for Seoul, including plans to supply some 500,000 new homes and to foster the city as a global hub for finance a...

All members of the campaign team for presidential candidate Sim Sang-jung of the minor progressive Justice Party resigned Thursday, following Sim’s decision to suspend all campaign activities the day before. Sim, who has been struggling to raise her single-digit support rating, has put off all campaigning activities since late Wednesday saying she will take time for deliberation as the situation...

The idea of abolishing the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family has reemerged as a hot topic, after presidential candidate Yoon Suk-yeol of the main opposition People Power Party proposed it as an election pledge. When the conservative party candidate made the simple pledge in plain words, “Abolition of the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family,” via Facebook on Saturday without further elabo...

Presidential candidate Yoon Suk-yeol of the main opposition People Power Party pledged Tuesday to provide a monthly allowance to parents to encourage childbirth, and to come up with compensation measures for small business owners suffering financial losses due to the COVID-19 pandemic. As North Korea fired a projectile identified as a ballistic missile into the East Sea earlier in the day, the c...

Aside from the common social media post of an opinion piece, the main opposition candidate Yoon has also come up with a new way of grabbing attention, by just posting one sentence of his election pledge on his Facebook page. Against a color background, Yoon uploaded a series of Facebook posts that posts his pledges, such as “2 million won ($1,700) salary for enlisted soldiers,” and “Abolish Min...

After another dramatic reconciliation with People Power Party Chairman Lee Jun-seok, Yoon Suk-yeol, the presidential candidate of the main opposition party, took the subway to work Friday, and took another step to recovering ties with the party leader. The party chairman welcomed Yoon’s move, saying it signals “the start” for a big change. Lee had said he recommended a number of electioneering a...

Presidential candidate Ahn Cheol-soo of the minor opposition People’s Party said Thursday he “can meet” with Yoon Suk-yeol, the nominee from the main opposition if Yoon made the request, showing a slight change in stance on uniting candidacies to win at the March presidential polls. When asked if he would meet with Yoon of the People Power Party to talk about uniting forces in a televised interv...

The main opposition People Power Party’s internal conflict is intensifying, with some lawmakers demanding party leader Lee Jun-seok’s resignation despite presidential candidate Yoon Suk-yeol’s declaration of a “new start” for his campaign team. At the general meeting of lawmakers Thursday, Yoon and the members were discussing a resolution to recommend that party leader Lee Jun-seok resign. The r...

Kim, however, expressed discontent with Yoon’s announcement Wednesday, raising doubts about his recruitment of a new campaign team. Kim, who served as the top chief of the election committee, announced he had quit early Wednesday, before Yoon proposed the disbandment. “I was the first one to suggest that it is important to build an election committee that is compact and efficient. But he has cr...

On Monday night, Yoon, who has kept quiet except for a Facebook post, emerged to issue his latest apology. “It is solely my fault to have created worries during the election campaign. For that, I am deeply sorry. “I will carry out an overhaul and make changes to the campaign committee and turn over a new leaf to run in the presidential race.” Yoon also said he will come up with a reform plan a...