Rival protests are intensifying on the streets as South Korea awaits the Constitutional Court's verdict on whether to uphold the National Assembly's vote to impeach suspended President Yoon Suk Yeol. After the court ordered Yoon's release Saturday, the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea announced it would hold nonstop protests. The party said all 170 of its lawmakers would take to the streets every day until Yoon is removed from office. Democratic Party's leader Rep. Lee Jae-myung has can

Police will look into a report of an alleged plan to assassinate Democratic Party of Korea Chair Rep. Lee Jae-myung, the main opposition party’s most likely presidential candidate, the country's police chief told the parliament Wednesday. Lee Ho-young, acting Commissioner General of the Korean National Police Agency, said in a meeting of the National Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee that the police will "conduct a thorough investigation" of the report. The response from the police

South Korea should gain the same right to reprocess and enrich spent nuclear fuel as its neighbor Japan has, Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon said Tuesday. The Seoul mayor -- floated as one of the ruling People Power Party's potential presidential contenders -- was speaking at a forum attended by more than a dozen lawmakers from his party to discuss the possibility of South Korea acquiring nuclear weapons as a way for the country to reduce its dependence on the US for defense. Oh said that South Korea cou

The Democratic Party of Korea is going all out to call for Yoon Suk Yeol's removal, with some lawmakers going on hunger strike or shaving their heads to urge the Constitutional Court to uphold the suspended president's impeachment. After the court released Yoon from detention Saturday, the Democratic Party has gone into "nonstop protest" mode, taking to the streets of central Seoul to hold rallies daily. The party's lawmakers have also begun taking turns participating in a hunger strike as well

Interim US ambassador says Seoul, Washington could be more aligned on Beijing South Korean lawmakers who are members of the South Korea-US interparliamentary alliance held their first meeting on Monday, in a rare display of bipartisan enthusiasm. Woo Won-shik, speaker of the National Assembly, said in congratulatory remarks that a bipartisan gathering for boosting the resilience of the alliance with the US was "especially meaningful" as South Korea rises from the aftermath of suspended President

The Ukrainian military is distributing leaflets written in Korean in an effort to convince North Korean troops fighting alongside Russia to surrender, according to a South Korean lawmaker who recently returned from the Ukrainian capital Kyiv. People Power Party Rep. Yu Yong-weon said Sunday the Ukrainian military was waging active psychological warfare against the North Korean troops, with one example being the propaganda leaflets. A leaflet revealed by Yu read: "Surrender, and live your dream i

After the court released President Yoon Suk Yeol from detention, the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea responded with renewed threats of impeachment and ramped-up anti-Yoon protests around Seoul. The Democratic Party on Sunday turned its attacks to the country's prosecution service for not appealing the court's decision to revoke Yoon's detention, threatening to impeach Prosecutor General Shim Woo-jung ― and possibly acting President Choi Sang-mok. After a meeting of the entire Democrati

Ex-leader of the People Power Party Han Dong-hoon debunks 'hurtful rumor' that he is pro-China Han Dong-hoon, the former People Power Party leader and one of the conservative party's potential presidential candidates, placed blame on suspended President Yoon Suk Yeol as well as main opposition Democratic Party of Korea Chair Rep. Lee Jae-myung for what he called the rise of "politics of extremism." In an apparent jab at both Yoon, with whom he had worked closely for years, and the Democratic Par

The two North Korean prisoners of war in Ukraine have expressed interest in defecting to South Korea, according to a South Korean lawmaker who interviewed them. People Power Party Rep. Yu Yong-weon met with the two North Korean soldiers who were captured by Ukrainian authorities on Feb. 25 and spoke with them for about an hour and 10 minutes. According to a recording Yu released at a press conference on Tuesday, one of the two North Korean captives, a sniper surnamed Ri born in 1999, was heard s

The Democratic Party of Korea rejected the ruling People Power Party leader Han Dong-hoon’s proposal that his party and Prime Minister Han Duck-soo would fill in while President Yoon Suk Yeol is phased out of office. In a joint address to the nation Sunday, Han said his party and the prime minister would lead the running of the country as the president steps down in an orderly transition of power. Rep. Kim Min-seok, the No. 2 of the Democratic Party, said the ruling party proposal to take

The prime minister and the leader of the ruling conservative party on Sunday jointly announced their plans to fill in for President Yoon Suk Yeol, claiming he will no longer be involved in handling state affairs, in a move denounced by the main opposition as unconstitutional. In a public address given by Prime Minister Han Duck-soo and the ruling People Power Party Chair Han Dong-hoon, the two said they would cooperate in operational matters related to "national governance." They did a

The National Assembly vote on whether to impeach President Yoon Suk Yeol was left open for hours on Saturday, as 300 members of the parliament gathered for a rare weekend plenary session. The bill to impeach Yoon was put to vote four days after South Korea watched in shock as armed soldiers broke into the Assembly grounds late Tuesday, about an hour after the president declared martial law. In order to pass, the Democratic Party of Korea-led bill needed just eight votes from the ruling People Po

Hong Jang-won, the former first deputy director of the National Intelligence Service, claims he was snubbed when he informed Cho Tae-yong, the NIS director, that President Yoon Suk Yeol asked for the spy agency to cooperate with the military in arresting political leaders on the night of martial law. Democratic Party of Korea Rep. Park Sun-won on Saturday shared with reporters the text of a KakaoTalk messenger conversation he had with Hong earlier the same day, in which the former NIS deputy dir

Han Dong-hoon, the leader of the ruling People Power Party, said Saturday an early end to President Yoon Suk Yeol’s term was “unavoidable,” but he did not specifically mention impeachment. Speaking to reporters immediately after Yoon’s address to the nation at 10 a.m., Han said the president was “in a situation where he is unable to perform his normal duties as a president.” “An early end to the president’s term appears unavoidable,” he said.

President Yoon Suk Yeol on Saturday apologized to the South Korean people for the public concern he caused by declaring martial law. In a televised address to the nation, he said he would entrust the running of the country to the ruling party and the government. Yoon also promised that there would not be another declaration of martial law. "I imposed martial law at 11 p.m. on Dec. 3 and ordered troops to leave and lifted it in a Cabinet meeting at around 1 a.m. Wednesday after the parliamen