President Yoon Suk Yeol on Thursday nominated Yoo Sang-im as the new science minister and North Korean defector-turned-lawmaker Tae Yong-ho as the secretary-general of the presidential Peaceful Unification Advisory Council's Secretariat, a vice-ministerial post. Presidential chief of staff Chung Jin-suk told reporters Thursday that Yoo, a materials science and engineering professor at Seoul National University, is the right fit for the position tasked with the conservative administration's scien

Politics July 18, 2024

A South Korean consortium led by the state-run Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power was selected as the preferred bidder for the construction of up to four nuclear power plant units in the Czech Republic, beating out a French team that competed for the central European country's largest investment project. The consortium, comprising six South Korean companies, including KHNP, Doosan Enerbility and Daewoo Engineering & Construction, as well as affiliates of the state-owned Korea Electric Powe

Politics July 17, 2024

Tae Yong-ho, a former high-ranking North Korean official who defected to South Korea and later became a lawmaker for the conservative ruling People Power Party, could potentially become the first North Korean diplomat-turned-defector to ascend to a vice-ministerial post in South Korea's history, according to a report in local daily Dong-a Ilbo. Tae, 62, is reportedly being considered as one of the candidates for the position of secretary-general of the presidential Peaceful Unification Advi

Politics July 17, 2024

President Yoon Suk Yeol will reportedly name a new chief for South Korea's National Police Agency as well as nominate new and replace some ministers later this week. According to news reports, Jo Ji-ho, the incumbent chief of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency, will likely be nominated as chief of the Korean National Police Agency. A KNPA chief nominee -- a vice-minister-level official in South Korea -- is required to go through a parliamentary hearing at the National Assembly. Yoon will

Politics July 16, 2024

President Yoon Suk Yeol on Tuesday hailed the signing of guidelines for extended deterrence cooperation by Seoul and Washington as enhancing the bilateral alliance to one that he said is "nuclear-based," meant to counter North Korea's nuclear missile threats. The "US-ROK Guidelines for Nuclear Deterrence and Nuclear Operations on the Korean Peninsula" document, signed between Yoon and his US counterpart Joe Biden on Thursday during Yoon's visit to Washington, "sets the s

Politics July 16, 2024

Kim Soo-kyung, spokesperson of President Yoon Suk Yeol's office was named as the new Vice Minister of Unification, according to Yoon's office Monday. Kim, 48, has served as Yoon's spokesperson since December. Before joining the presidential office, she was formerly a journalist at the Dong-A Ilbo newspaper, a researcher at the Korea Institute for National Unification, a social welfare professor at Hanshin University and a secretary for unification in the presidential office. Kim w

Politics July 15, 2024

South Korea's first lady Kim Keon Hee is likely to refuse to testify before the opposition-controlled Legislation and Judiciary Committee of the National Assembly as they plan to hold a parliamentary hearing to seek an impeachment motion against President Yoon Suk Yeol. This will be in line with the presidential office's move to decline to receive the committee's written request urging five presidential secretaries to attend the first round of hearings scheduled on Friday. A senio

Politics July 15, 2024

South Korea President Yoon Suk Yeol on Sunday expressed best wishes to former US President Donald Trump, denouncing the shooting attack during his presidential election campaign rally in Pennsylvania that left him wounded Saturday. "I am appalled by the hideous act of political violence," Yoon noted on his X account. "I wish former President Trump a speedy recovery. The people of Korea stand in solidarity with the people of America." Yoon's spokesperson Kim Soo-kyung sai

Politics July 14, 2024

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization's joint declaration issued Wednesday in Washington signaled a change from the Western military alliance's traditional focus on Russia with its rare open rebuke of China, calling it a "decisive enabler" of Russia's war in Ukraine. The rhetoric comes at a time when NATO declared its bid to bolster cooperation with its so-called "Indo-Pacific 4" partners -- namely South Korea, Japan, Australia and New Zealand -- in their late

Politics July 14, 2024

President Yoon Suk Yeol pledged Sunday to provide financial incentives to South Korean companies hiring North Korean defectors, as the conservative leader commemorated North Korean Defectors' Day designated for the first time. In its inaugural ceremony in Cheong Wa Dae in Seoul, formerly used as the presidential office, Yoon promised to tackle the problem of unemployment among North Korean defectors who often struggle to land a proper job here. Tax credits or government subsidies could be p

Politics July 14, 2024

Members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization on Wednesday expressed "great concern" about the deepening ties between North Korea and Russia, shown in the pact signed in June, and condemned North Korea's weapons exports to Russia, as President Yoon Suk Yeol, who traveled to the United States to attend the NATO summit, moves to bolster security cooperation with NATO member states and other allies. In a communique released Wednesday, the Washington Summit Declaration, the 32 NAT

Politics July 11, 2024

President Yoon Suk Yeol stressed the United States Indo-Pacific Command's role in taking the alliance between Seoul and Washington to a new level, amid growing geopolitical tensions beyond the Korean Peninsula. Yoon on Tuesday local time visited the headquarters of the Indo-Pacific Command at Camp H. M. Smith in Halawa, Hawaii, near Honolulu. The last time a South Korean head of state visited the base was then-President Kim Young-sam 29 years ago. "Among many other important missions,

Politics July 10, 2024

The Legislation and Judiciary Committee at the National Assembly approved a plan to hold two rounds of hearings later this month on the online petition on the parliament's website calling for the impeachment of President Yoon Suk Yeol. The committee, controlled by the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea, also decided to summon Yoon's wife, Kim Keon Hee, to testify before the National Assembly on July 26. This is the first time in modern Korean history that the parliament has summoned a fir

Politics July 9, 2024

President Yoon Suk Yeol on Tuesday again vetoed the Democratic Party of Korea-led bill to launch a special counsel to investigate allegations that the Yoon administration, including the president himself, exerted external pressure on an internal military probe into the death of young Marine Cpl. Chae Su-geun in July 2023. Yoon's veto is his 15th since his inauguration in May 2022, as he has exercised his constitutional power to block the passage of bills pushed by the opposition parties who

Politics July 9, 2024

President Yoon Suk Yeol is poised to address military cooperation between North Korea and Russia that the West believes is aggravating the war situation in Ukraine, as he departed for the United States to visit the US Indo-Pacific Command and attend the North Atlantic Treaty Organization Summit during his five-day trip. South Korea's approval of weapons for Ukraine will be determined at "the level and substance of military cooperation between Russia and North Korea," Yoon was quot

Politics July 8, 2024