SEOUL, March 6 (Korea Bizwire) – Former President Lee Myung-bak has been asked to appear for questioning next week over a string of suspicions of bribery and other irregularities, officials said Tuesday. The Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office subpoenaed Lee to come to the office for questioning as a suspect at 9:30 a.m. on March 14, officials said. “It is essential to investigate Lee in order to uncover [...]
SEOUL, Mar. 6 (Korea Bizwire) — A provincial governor offered to resign early Tuesday amid allegations that he sexually abused a female secretary as the “Me Too” movement began to spread to political circles. An Hee-jung, a prominent liberal politician, apologized and offered to step down as governor of the central South Chungcheong Province, hours [...]
SEOUL, Feb. 28 (Korea Bizwire) — The National Assembly on Wednesday passed a bill aimed at establishing an independent panel for an objective probe into a bloody crackdown on a 1980 pro-democracy movement. The bill calls for verifying the truth behind the brutal use of force by the military-backed Chun Doo-hwan government during the uprising [...]
SEOUL, Feb. 28 (Korea Bizwire) – U.S. troops here conducted a helicopter landing exercise on the South Korean Navy’s Dokdo amphibious assault ship. The training was staged in the waters south of the peninsula on Tuesday, involving the 14,500-ton vessel and aviators from 2nd Combat Aviation Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division of the U.S.Forces Korea (USFK), according to the unit’s Facebook account. Several related photos [...]
SEOUL, Feb. 28 (Korea Bizwire) – The National Assembly on Wednesday passed a bill aimed at shortening working hours despite businesses’ concerns about increased labor costs. The revision to the Labor Standards Act calls for reducing the country’s maximum statutory working hours to 52 hours a week from the current 68 hours. The working hours under the revision comprise 40 hours a week and up to 12 hours for overtime work. Under the current rule, [...]
SEOUL, Feb. 27 (Korea Bizwire) — The South Korean government will have to make a tough decision on whether to inject fresh funding into General Motors to help continue its Korean operation amid heated debates over whether it would be a lifeline for a sustainable business or a painkiller for recurring headaches, officials and policymakers [...]
SEOUL, Feb. 23 (Korea Bizwire) – South Korea agreed Friday to strengthen military cooperation with Switzerland and Latvia as the countries’ defense chiefs met in Seoul. South Korean Defense Minister Song Yong-moo had separate talks with his counterparts, who are visiting to attend the closing ceremony of the PyeongChang Winter Olympics, according to his ministry. [...]
WASHINGTON, Feb. 21 (Korea Bizwire) — U.S. President Donald Trump’s daughter, Ivanka, will lead her country’s delegation to the closing ceremony of the PyeongChang Winter Olympics Sunday, U.S. officials said. Ivanka Trump, who serves as an adviser to the president, will depart Thursday and arrive the following day in South Korea, where she is scheduled [...]
SEOUL, Feb. 20 (Korea Bizwire) – South Korea’s defense ministry affirmed Tuesday that the country’s troops will conduct combined command-post drills with the United States this year despite Olympics-driven rapprochement with North Korea. The allies will hold the Key Resolve (KR) and the Ulchi Freedom Guardian (UFG) exercises in order to develop their so-called 4D Operational Concept to detect, disrupt, destroy and defend against North Korean missile threats, [...]
PYEONGCHANG, South Korea, Feb. 19 (Korea Bizwire) – The governor of Gangwon Province, where PyeongChang is located, said Saturday he is considering a bid to co-host the 2021 Asian Winter Games (AWG) with North Korea. “We will start the process (for a feasibility review) soon after the PyeongChang Winter Games,” Gov. Choi Moon-soon said at a press conference in Gangneung, a sub-host city of the PyeongChang Winter [...]