Three children of a former chairman of Semo Group, which was involved in the operation of the Sewol ferry that sank off South Korea's southwestern coast in 2014, were ordered by a local court Friday to cover 70 percent of the state funds spent to deal with the ferry sinking.The Seoul Central District Court ordered former Semo Group Chairman Yoo Byung-eun's three children -- 53-year-old daughter Yoo Sum-na, 51-year-old daughter Yoo Sang-na and 47-year-old son Yoo Hyuk-ki -- to pay a total of 170

President Moon Jae-in has invited senior ruling party officials to a dinner with him at Cheong Wa Dae on Friday to thank them for the passage of several key reform bills, his aides said.The meeting will be joined by Rep. Lee In-young, floor leader of the Democratic Party, and 13 other party officials who led negotiations with some opposition parties in the process of handling the bills, especially those on electoral and prosecution reform. It will be Moon's first dinner with the ruling party lea

President Moon Jae-in called Friday for all-out efforts to pull off "tangible" accomplishments from his administration's New Northern Policy aimed at improving South Korea's partnerships with Russia and other countries located north of the peninsula.He made the comment while receiving a briefing from Kwon Goo-hoon, chairman of the Presidential Committee on Northern Economic Cooperation, on the panel's major policy goals this year.Moon launched the body weeks after taking office in May

A growing number of foreigners staying illegally in South Korea are voluntarily leaving the country after the government offered various incentives, including an opportunity for reentry, to overstayers choosing to voluntary depart, a government agency said Friday.According to the Incheon Immigration Office, the number of illegal stayers leaving the country of their own free will soared 66 percent from 433 last November to 720 last December. In the first 14 days of this month, the number already

President Moon Jae-in said Thursday his government will make every effort to promote South Korea's artificial intelligence industry on the basis of its information technology prowess.He emphasized that the country has great potential to become an AI powerhouse while starting a meeting to receive a briefing from the Ministry of Science and ICT and the Korea Communications Commission on this year's core policy goals.It was held at the Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute (ETRI) in

President Moon Jae-in reaffirmed his unswerving push for lasting peace on the Korean Peninsula, delivering a message to ethnic Koreans living in the United States.He pointed out that 2020 marks the 70th anniversary of the outbreak of the Korean War in his statement for an annual Korean American Day event held in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday (local time), according to Cheong Wa Dae. It was read by Ambassador to Washington Lee Soo-hyuck on behalf of the president."(I) feel like that all Korea

Former Prime Minister Lee Nak-yeon returned to the Democratic Party on Wednesday, amid expectations that he will be a key candidate for the ruling camp in the general elections in April.Korea’s longest-serving prime minister wrapped up his term of two years and eight months on Tuesday, kicking off the day by attending the ruling party’s Supreme Council meeting.  Democratic Party Chairman Lee Hae-chan said he expects Lee Nak-yeon to play a core role when the party launches its in

The head of the national human rights committee on Wednesday voiced concern over a set of bills aiming to ease regulations on the use of personal information, citing the possibility of privacy breaches.Despite opposition from some civic groups, the National Assembly passed three data-related bills last week that are intended to enable the use of personal information offered under aliases for compiling statistics and industrial research.While the identity of people whose personal information have

Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun instructed government officials Wednesday to closely monitor the repercussions of tensions between the United States and Iran on the South Korean economy and boost their readiness to make a swift response.Chung, who took office Tuesday, said there has been no reported damage to South Korean companies in the Middle East and South Korea's oil imports and trade remain stable."But if the unstable situation in the Middle East continues, it could have repercussions o

Cheong Wa Dae spokesperson Ko Min-jung has tendered her resignation, seeking to run in the April 15 general elections, an informed source said Wednesday.President Moon Jae-in is expected to accept it later in the day, as his office is in the final stage of selecting her successor, according to the source."Her replacement will likely be announced soon, probably before the Lunar New Year holidays," the source added, requesting anonymity. Lunar New Year starts late next week. Two other pr

A day after suffering two painful setbacks, the main opposition Liberty Korea Party ratcheted up its rhetoric toward the liberal ruling camp, condemning almost every bit of President Moon Jae-in’s New Year’s press conference. Calling the Moon administration “a tyranny,” the party’s spokesperson Jun Hee-kyung said, “How dare the government praise itself when it entered the path of judicial control, public welfare debacle and security breakdown?” The heigh

Moon urges Japan to offer solutions for forced labor issue

SEJONG -- In South Korea, swing voters have often determined winners in the past presidential, general and local elections, playing a pivotal role.The swing voters who usually are ideologically neutral are estimated to take up 30-40 percent of the total voters across the nation. They are also roughly called centrists.Once more, the ruling and opposition parties are paying close attention to the opinion of centrists, three months ahead of the April 15 general election.According to recent surveys

President Moon Jae-in expressed hope Tuesday that South Korea's new prime minister, Chung Sye-kyun, will play a role in efforts to normalize the country's politics ridden with polarization and partisan strife.What's more urgent than any other thing is to "restore politics for dialogue, compromise and communication" in the country, Moon told Chung shortly after giving him a letter of appointment at a Cheong Wa Dae ceremony.In that sense, the president said, Chung is the right person to

President Moon Jae-in stressed the need Tuesday to expand inter-Korean cooperation, saying it could be conducive to drumming up international support for sanctions relief for the communist neighbor.Speaking at his New Year's press conference, he made it clear that South Korea will not sit idle waiting for Pyongyang-Washington dialogue to bear fruit."If (we) broaden cooperative ties between South and North to the maximum, it would not only facilitate North Korea-US dialogue but also help win