An official from the Ministry of Justice said Tuesday that it would be “difficult” to temporarily waive travelers from Thailand from the requirement to obtain travel authorizations before entering the country. The official’s remarks follow the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism’s request to the Justice Ministry to temporarily exempt Thailand from the country’s electronic travel authorization system K-ETA, at least until the end of this year, as the number of Th

Social Affairs June 25, 2024

Democratic Party of Korea Rep. Lee Jae-myung on Monday stepped down from his position as the party’s chair, a move that is viewed as a step towards running for a second term as the main opposition party's leader at the upcoming party convention. "I have resigned from my position as the chair of the Democratic Party with the wrap-up of today’s party supreme council meeting," Lee told reporters at the National Assembly in Yeouido, western Seoul. Lee expressed his concern

Politics June 24, 2024

The race to become the leader of the nation’s conservative ruling party kicked off Sunday, with three star politicians declaring their candidacies throughout the day. The announcements by former Justice Minister and onetime ruling party leader Han Dong-hoon, judge-turned-five-term lawmaker Rep. Na Kyung-won and former Land Minister Won Hee-ryong follow Rep. Yoon Sang-hyun’s declaration of candidacy on Friday. The race is expected to be a monthlong four-candidate battle with crossfire

Politics June 23, 2024

South Korea seeks to adopt plans that will make it easier for its some 163,000 international students to live and work here, including expanding the visa types and job options offered to them, officials said Thursday. In a bid to plug job vacancies across key industries here, the government plans to allow foreign students who graduate in Korea to apply for E-9 nonprofessional employment visas, according to the Office for Government Policy Coordination and Prime Minister’s Secretariat. The

Social Affairs June 20, 2024

South Korea’s political sphere on Wednesday was divided over Russian President Vladimir Putin's first visit to Pyongyang in 24 years, and with it the growing concerns of strengthened military cooperation between Russia and North Korea. The main opposition party leader and ex-unification ministers under previous liberal administrations called for a revival of the inter-Korean dialogue channel to safeguard peace and security on the Korean Peninsula. On the other hand, the ruling party s

Politics June 19, 2024

Russian President Vladimir Putin is expected to visit a monument honoring the former Soviet war dead, attend a concert and have tea with his North Korean counterpart during his first visit to Pyongyang in 24 years, reports said Tuesday. As Putin is scheduled to arrive in the capital on Tuesday evening, most of the main events, including meetings with Kim, are to be held Wednesday, Russia's state-run news agency Tass said, citing Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov. The Russian leader is set to visit

Foreign Affairs June 18, 2024

The main opposition Democratic Party of Korea on Monday amended the party charter to allow its leadership to choose the term of its chair and supreme council members. The party’s decision will allow current Democratic Party of Korea Chair Rep. Lee Jae-myung to run for the 2027 presidential election, if he wishes, even if he is reelected as the party chair at the upcoming convention scheduled for Aug. 18. While the charter states that a party chair or a supreme council member must resign fr

Politics June 17, 2024

Rival political parties on Monday extended their standoff over picking the chairs of key standing committees of the National Assembly, leading to surging tension in the political sphere. Tensions stemmed from the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea’s unilateral decision last week to snatch 11 of the 18 standing committee chair positions for the first two years of the 22nd National Assembly, which began its four-year term on May 30. The opposition-led Assembly has so far elected mai

Politics June 17, 2024

Main opposition leader Lee Jae-myung is facing another legal dispute now, on top of the three ongoing court battles in which he is currently embroiled, creating more hurdles for his possible reelection victory at the upcoming party convention. On Wednesday, the Suwon District Prosecutor's Office indicted Lee on charges of asking local underwear maker Ssangbangwool Group to illegally transfer $8 million to North Korea between 2019 and 2020, when he was governor of Gyeonggi Province. The then

Politics June 14, 2024

South Korea’s southern island of Jeju is far more than just a scenic vacation destination. It is becoming a test bed for future industries including aerospace and hydrogen vehicles, according to its governor. “You may not have known this, but Jeju is the closest South Korean territory to the equator,” said Oh Young-hoon, governor of Jeju Special Self-governing Province, told The Korea Herald in an interview in Seoul on Tuesday. “This means that it is the perfect spot to l

Politics June 13, 2024

The ruling People Power Party on Tuesday protested the Democratic Party of Korea unilaterally picking the chairs of key standing committees of the National Assembly late Monday. The Democratic Party once again used its majority in the Assembly to convene a plenary session and appoint the chairs of 11 out of the 18 committees without involving the ruling party. Last week, the Democratic Party left out the ruling party in electing the Assembly speaker, marking the first such instance in the histor

Politics June 11, 2024

The main opposition Democratic Party of Korea on Monday took 11 of the total 18 standing committee chair positions for the first two years of the 22nd National Assembly, which began its four-year term on May 30, in voting boycotted by the ruling People Power Party. The opposition-led Assembly elected representatives from the main opposition to chair 11 standing committees, including the Legislation and Judiciary Committee and the House Steering Committee, in a plenary session held in the evening

Politics June 10, 2024

The two largest parties here have locked horns over selecting the heads of the standing committee chiefs for the first two years of the 22nd National Assembly, which began its four-year term on May 30. On Friday, the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea, which accounts for the majority of the single-chamber, 300-member parliament with 175 seats, submitted a list of its nominees for the heads and members of the 18 standing committees to the Assembly’s proceeding division. The list draw

Politics June 9, 2024

A controversy surrounding accusations that former first lady Kim Jung-sook spent an “excessive” amount of taxpayers’ money to fund her 2018 trip to India has resurfaced in recent days, with the ruling party proposing a special counsel investigation. Ruling People Power Party Rep. Yoon Sang-hyun on Monday floated a bill that mandates a special counsel investigation into allegations that the former first lady wrongfully used her position and public funds to take a personal trip t

Politics June 5, 2024

South Korean first lady Kim Keon Hee hosted a luncheon for a group of first ladies from 16 African nations visiting to participate in the first-ever Korea-Africa Summit on Tuesday, marking a full return to public engagement after nearly six months of her absence from the public eye. The luncheon was held at Sangchunjae, a traditional Korean-style house located within the perimeters of the former presidential residence of Cheong Wa Dae in central Seoul. Kim, who was in charge of hosting the lunch

Politics June 4, 2024