logo
Special counsel probes of Yoon couple 'people's demand': presidential office

Special counsel probes of Yoon couple 'people's demand': presidential office

Korea Herald12-06-2025
The presidential office said Thursday that the special counsel investigations into former President Yoon Suk Yeol and his wife Kim Keon Hee were launched in response to the people's demand.
Kang Yu-jung, Lee's spokesperson, told a press briefing that "getting to the bottom of insurrection is the demand of the people, as the results of the presidential election show."
The opposition People Power Party said that the special counsel investigations were of an "unprecedented size costing billions of won," with a total of 577 prosecutors and investigators.
"The sheer size of the investigations is tantamount to a single district attorney's office," the People Power Party said in a statement Wednesday, saying the Democratic Party of Korea has "created its own district attorney's office."
Tuesday's Cabinet meeting approved the ruling Democratic Party-led bills for opening special counsel investigations into the former first couple, with National Assembly Speaker Woo Won-shik asking President Lee Jae-myung to appoint special counsels to lead the investigations.
The special counsels would look into allegations that Yoon committed either insurrection or treason by trying to impose martial law on Dec. 3.
They would also scrutinize allegations that Yoon's wife Kim, meddled in the People Power Party's nomination process for a National Assembly seat in the 2022 by-election.
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Lee Jae Myung finalizes Cabinet lineup with 2 minister picks
Lee Jae Myung finalizes Cabinet lineup with 2 minister picks

Korea Herald

timea day ago

  • Korea Herald

Lee Jae Myung finalizes Cabinet lineup with 2 minister picks

President Lee Jae Myung has named two ministers to complete his administration's Cabinet nominations, about a month after his inauguration. Chae Hwi-young, CEO of South Korea's online travel booking platform operator Nol Universe, was selected as the nominee for the Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism, according to Lee's Chief of Staff Kang Hoon-sik on Friday. Three-term lawmaker Rep. Kim Yun-duk of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea was named to lead the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport. Chae, 61, is a journalist-turned-entrepreneur who also formerly led South Korea-based technology firm Naver from 2005 to 2009. Kang said Chae would be the right fit for the president's push for cultural content market expansion "based on his show of expertise and originality in the private sector." Nol Company was formed from the merger of Yanolja Platform and Interpark Triple in late December. Kim, 59, is currently a member of the National Assembly's Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee. Kang said Kim is expected to "take a housing policy stance from the standpoint of ordinary people, not of experts or bureaucrats." Kang added that Kim would deliver on President Lee's promise of zero tolerance against speculative housing purchases to prevent the housing market from overheating. Before Friday, the two positions were the only ones left in the 20-member Cabinet awaiting presidential nominations. Confirmation hearings are scheduled next week, starting on Monday. Incumbent Agricultural Minister Song Mi-ryung, who was picked by Lee to continue working for his administration, will be an exception. Among Lee's 19 ministerial nominee picks are eight Democratic Party lawmakers, a former lawmaker of the conservative rival party and four entrepreneurs. So far, Prime Minister Kim Min-seok, who is also a four-term Democratic Party lawmaker, is the only member of the Cabinet who gained parliamentary approval. Asked about the incumbent lawmakers of the ruling party accounting for nearly half of the Cabinet, Kang said the administration lacked time for vetting processes because no transition period was granted to Lee. The president was inaugurated immediately after his election victory in June due to former President Yoon Suk Yeol's ouster in April. Chae is Lee's third presidential nomination with experience at South Korea's internet technology giant Naver, alongside Han Seong-sook, nominee for minister of startups and SMEs, and Ha Jung-woo, senior presidential secretary for AI future planning.

Korean exporters urge bold policy shift in response to US tariffs
Korean exporters urge bold policy shift in response to US tariffs

Korea Herald

timea day ago

  • Korea Herald

Korean exporters urge bold policy shift in response to US tariffs

South Korea's trade sector has identified strategic trade policy as the top priority for the new government, particularly in response to growing risks such as US tariffs, a survey showed Friday. According to a report released by the Korea International Trade Association, 20.7 percent of 416 trade industry professionals surveyed on June 10-11 selected the implementation of a strategic trade policy — aimed at maximizing national interest and strengthening industrial competitiveness — as the most urgent economic and trade agenda for the new administration. Closely following were diversification of export items and markets (20.3 percent) and support for turning domestic small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) into export-oriented companies (18.1 percent). Among specific tasks under strategic trade policy, the most frequently cited was an active response to tariff risks posed by the United States. 'The trade sector hopes the new administration will establish a stable trade environment, diversify technology-driven exports, and help SMEs shift toward export-led growth,' said Jung Hee-chul, executive director of KITA's trade promotion division. 'We look forward to bold export policies that can overcome US-led tariff risks and rising protectionism to upgrade Korea's export momentum.' KITA noted that uncertainty in global trade has intensified in recent years, particularly due to tariffs imposed by the Trump administration on key Korean exports such as steel and automobiles. Companies are seeking fairer export conditions to remain competitive globally, the association said. Other key demands included expanding and upgrading free trade agreements, as well as strengthening coordination between the government and the private sector in trade negotiations. For export diversification, respondents emphasized the importance of supporting high-potential sectors such as secondary batteries and biohealth, as well as expanding exports of consumer goods such as cosmetics and food. Without diversification of export items, efforts to expand into new markets will face limitations, especially amid rising global protectionism, KITA added. Other priorities cited included fostering AI-powered export industries (9.5 percent), enhancing trade security enforcement (7.5 percent), and improving logistics security through increased use of Korea-flagged vessels (7 percent). The export outlook for 2025 remains pessimistic. About 43.3 percent of respondents expect exports to decline by more than 5 percent this year, while 38.9 percent anticipate no major change and only 17.8 percent foresee growth. About 71.1 percent of respondents said they believe an export recovery will not begin until next year or later.

People Power Party's popularity dips below 20% for 1st time in 5 years
People Power Party's popularity dips below 20% for 1st time in 5 years

Korea Herald

timea day ago

  • Korea Herald

People Power Party's popularity dips below 20% for 1st time in 5 years

South Korea's conservative People Power Party saw its popularity rating fall below the 20 percent mark for the first time in nearly five years, amid intensifying special counsel probes into disgraced former President Yoon Suk Yeol. The main opposition party's support ratings for the second week of July came to 19 percent, down by 3 percentage points from the previous week, according to a poll on 1,002 South Korean adults by Gallup Korea on Friday. According to the pollster, Friday's figure was the lowest rating for the major conservative party since November 2020, while those who had no political party to support amounted to 27 percent of all respondents, up 4 percentage points compared with the previous week. The ruling left-wing Democratic Party of Korea's rating reached 43 percent, down by 3 percentage points, leaving the 24 percentage point gap in popularity level unchanged from the previous week. The support level for the ruling party was higher than that of the main opposition party across the nation, and the conservative strongholds in the southeastern regions were no exception. Especially in Daegu and the surrounding North Gyeongsang Province combined, the support rating for the People Power Party stood at 27 percent, lower than the 34 percent rating for the liberal ruling party. Only 47 percent of conservatives expressed support for the People Power Party, the poll also showed. The major right-wing party, which was rebranded as the People Power Party in September 2020, struggled to win public support in the first three years of the former liberal president Moon Jae-in's five-year tenure. But starting April 2021, the gap in support level between major parties mostly amounted to low single digits, until Yoon's presidential election victory in March 2022, according to Gallup Korea. Immediately after Yoon's botched martial law declaration in December, the People Power Party's support level plummeted. From January to May, its ratings hovered mostly in the mid-30 percent range until the early presidential election, which took place due to Yoon's impeachment in December and ouster from office in April. The party's ratings have remained in the low 20 percent range since liberal President Lee Jae Myung's election victory in early June. Yoon, who quit the People Power Party in May, has been under arrest on charges related to his short-lived martial law imposition. The court approved his arrest warrant Thursday morning after the special counsel looking into his insurrection allegations sought a warrant Sunday. Another poll by the National Barometer Survey, jointly conducted by Embrain Public, KStat Research, Korea Research and Hankook Research, also indicated a similar downtrend in the People Power Party's popularity, with the rating standing at 19 percent on Thursday. Meanwhile, Friday's Gallup Korea poll suggested that President Lee's job approval rating in the second week of July slipped 2 percentage points to 63 percent in a week.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store