The ruling Democratic Party of Korea has entered an emergency phase as its approval rating fell behind that of the conservative opposition United Future Party -- for the first time in almost three years -- a survey revealed Thursday. The Realmeter survey found the ruling party’s support rating reach 33.4 percent, down 1.7 percentage points from a week earlier, while the United Future Party gained 1.9 percentage points to 36.5 percent. It is the first time the main opposition party has su

Gyeonggi Province Gov. Lee Jae-myung is leading in a popularity poll for the next presidency, a survey showed Friday. In a Gallup survey of 1,001 adults in South Korea conducted from Tuesday to Thursday, Gov. Lee for the first time raced ahead of Democratic Party of Korea Rep. Lee Nak-yon in terms of popularity. Over 19 percent of the respondents preferred Gov. Lee, up 6 percentage points from a month earlier. The endorsement rate for his political rival Rep. Lee dropped 7 percentage points to

President Moon Jae-in tapped Choi Jong-kun, a key Cheong Wa Dae aide, as new vice foreign minister Friday, according to Moon's office. Choi has served as secretary for peace planning at Cheong Wa Dae's national security office. He is known as one of the major players in Moon's drive for permanent peace on the Korean Peninsula. Choi, a former Yonsei University professor of political science and international studies, has expertise in the diplomatic and security field, Cheong Wa Dae spokesman K

Gyeonggi Province Gov. Lee Jae-myung has surpassed Democratic Party Rep. Lee Nak-yon for the first time in a popularity poll of South Korea's prospective presidential candidates, pollster Gallup Korea said Friday. In a Gallup survey of 1,001 adults nationwide conducted from Tuesday to Thursday, Gov. Lee was favored by 19 percent of respondents, beating out his political rival Rep. Lee, who obtained support from 17 percent. The governor's endorsement rate rose by 6 percentage points from the p

The ruling Democratic Party’s support rating has fallen behind that of the conservative opposition United Future Party for the first time in nearly three years, a survey showed Thursday. In the survey conducted by Realmeter, the ruling party’s support rating came to 33.4 percent, down 1.7 percentage points from the previous week, while that of the United Future Party rose 1.9 percentage points to 36.5 percent. The gap remains relatively small, but this is the first time the Demo

President Moon Jae-in on Wednesday named new senior secretaries for public relations, and social policy, continuing the reshuffle that began last month. For the post of social policy senior secretary, Moon named Yoon Chang-yul, who currently heads the planning and coordination office under the Prime Minister’s Office. The current senior social policy secretary Kim Yeon-myung is not among the six senior aides who offered their resignation on Friday, and speculations have risen that Moo

President Moon Jae-in on Monday named three new senior secretaries, three days after six of his top aides including his chief of staff offered their resignations. The three posts replaced are that for political affairs, civil affairs and justice, and civic and social agenda, and the new secretaries will be appointed on Tuesday, Cheong Wa Dae said. For the post of political affairs secretary, Moon chose former ruling Democratic Party lawmaker Choi Jae-sung, and Board of Audit and Inspection

President Moon Jae-in said Monday that the government will consider setting up a separate supervisory body, if needed, to make sure that existing policy steps to curb home price hikes work properly. He also proposed a review of ways to alleviate the tax burden of low- to mid-priced single-house owners as part of "complementary" measures. "The housing problem has become the foremost pending policy task for the people," he said at the outset of his weekly meeting with senior

Recent offers to resign by top presidential aides have presented another major hurdle for the Moon Jae-in administration, resulting in ridicule from the public and harsher attacks from the opposition bloc. On Friday, six of President Moon’s top aides offered to resign, including chief of staff Noh Young-min, over the growing controversy surrounding the government’s real estate policies. The other senior officials who offered to resign are Yoon Do-han, in charge of public communi

President Moon Jae-in's Chief of Staff Noh Young-min and all five senior secretaries of his team offered to resign on Friday, taking responsibility for recent management of administration, the presidential office Cheong Wa Dae said. The five are Kang Gi-jung for political affairs, Yoon Do-han for public communication, Kim Jo-won for civil affairs, Kim Geo-sung for civil society, Kim Oe-sook for personnel management. "They are offering to resign to take overall responsibility for recent s

President Moon Jae-in expressed regret over North Korea not giving Seoul advance notice of the discharging of water from its dam just north of the inter-Korean border, sources said Thursday. The chief executive made the comment during a visit to Gunnam Dam, which lies downriver from the North's Hwanggang Dam, aides to the president said. Earlier in the week, Hwanggang's floodgates opened to release water down the Imjin River that flows through South Korea into the Yellow Sea. The discharge c

Cheong Wa Dae, the presidential office, said Thursday that the National Security Council (NSC) discussed ways to help Lebanon recover from a deadly explosion earlier this week, including provision of support from South Korean peacekeeping unit Dongmyung stationed in the Middle Eastern country. NSC members exchanged views on ways to extend support to Lebanon through the Dongmyung Unit during the regular meeting of the council's standing committee, Cheong Wa Dae said in a release. About 280 Do

New legislation levying steep taxes on owners of multiple homes and protecting the rights of tenants faces strong resistance from landlords and civic groups, despite the government’s commitment to stamp out housing speculation. Angry landlords are planning to hold a candlelight vigil in Gwanghwamun, central Seoul, Aug. 15, which would be the latest in a series of rallies held to protest the government’s real estate policies. The organizers call themselves a “tax resistanc

President Moon Jae-in sent a message of condolence to his Lebanese counterpart, Michel Aoun, Wednesday over a deadly explosion in Beirut that killed more than 100 people and injured 4,000 others.    The massive blast occurred on Tuesday at Beirut's port, as ammonium nitrate, a highly explosive material, caught fire while in storage at a warehouse, according to media reports.    In his message, Moon said that he was deeply sorry for the deadly explosion that resulted in hea

The National Assembly on Tuesday approved a package of real estate-related bills that would introduce the heftiest-ever levy on homeowners, despite resistance from opposition lawmakers. A total of 11 bills passed through the parliament during Tuesday’s voting session pertaining to income tax, corporate tax and property ownership tax on multiple-home owners, as part of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea’s campaign to deliver nonhomeowners a better chance at owning a house. 　 C