In late January and early February, there was a local diplomatic escalation between the Russian Federation and the Republic of Korea, which, in the view of some experts, had the effect of cooling relations between the two countries by a couple of degrees. On January 19, 2024, Georgy Zinoviev, Russian Ambassador to the Republic of Korea told Russian journalists that as long as South Korea did not cross a “red line” and directly supply lethal weapons to Ukraine, Russia was ready to consider the Republic of Korea as a promising partner…

On February 8, on the eve of Diplomatic Worker’s Day, Russia’s Ambassador to the Republic of Korea, Georgy Zinoviev, together with Embassy staff, the Russian Military Attaché and a Russian trade delegation, visited the site of the former Russian Imperial Mission in Seoul. This building, designed by the Russian architect Afanasy Seredin-Sabatin, was built in 1890 but was destroyed during the 1950-1953 Korean War. Only a fragment of the building, the watch tower, still stands. It is protected as a historical heritage site of the Republic of Korea. The Korean authorities have recently completed the restoration of the building…

The attacker was quickly apprehended and turned out to be a 15-year-old schoolboy. Most likely, due to his age, full information about him will not be disclosed. Some sources claim that he is even under 15, and that this exempts him from criminal responsibility for assault. He has been treated for depression and has been taking pills, but the result of his assessment by medics for mental health problems is not yet known. The police hospitalized the teenager (under the emergency hospitalization system…

After taking over as Chairman of the Emergency Committee, Han Dong-hoon has been active in mobilizing supporters and raising the party’s ratings in the regions. Particular attention was paid to regions that are considered swing ones and on which the outcome of elections often depends to a large extent. Han also proposed reducing the number of lawmakers from 300 to 250 by cutting proportional representation or merging constituencies, and on January 18, he promised to seek…

We are monitoring the aftermath of the assassination attempt on the South Korean opposition leader, which may have significant political consequences in light of the upcoming parliamentary elections. After the incident, the police quickly assembled a 68-member investigation team to check on approximately 40 individuals, including the suspect who was detained at the scene. The investigations comprised searches of the suspect’s residence, office, vehicle, phone records, and bank transactions. Lee Jae-myung was released from the hospital on Jan. 10, eight days after he was stabbed in the neck…

After discussing the issues surrounding conservatives, some members of the audience criticized me for not showing support towards Lee Jun-seok, who took a more impartial stance compared to other conservatives. In response, we can recall precisely what Lee was warned for by the ethics committee, including his more significant tendency to solidarity with Ukraine. However, a detailed account of the ex-People Power Party (PPP) chairman’s recent activities is necessary. Indeed, the 37-year-old…

Back in the summer of 2022, factional infighting in the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) had gotten so out of hand that interim party chief Woo Sang-ho suggested getting rid of insults such as the word “watermelon.” In South Korea, this is considered a significant insult, despite its seemingly minor nature. For instance, the term ’banana’ is sometimes used as an insult towards American or overly Westernized South Koreans, implying that they are “yellow on the outside but white on the inside.”…

During a ceremony held on January 6, 2024 to mark the 100^th anniversary of the birth of former President Kim Dae-jung, who led the country from 1998-2003, leading politicians from rival parties called for “unity and tolerance” to bring harmony into society deeply divided by “extremist politics”. “Politics is now mired in confrontation, antagonism and division,” National Assembly Speaker Kim Jin-pyo, co-chair for the event, said in his congratulatory speech. “What former President Kim would have wanted from us was, of course, national unity,” he said. Former U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who also serves as a co-chair, said the politics had partly instigated distrust and hatred, stressing that “national unity and solidarity” were the only way to overcome crises…

The People Power Party (PPP) has undergone a long and difficult journey to reach its current situation. Our story begins in August 2022 when Lee Jun-seok’s party membership was suspended for six months by the ethics committee. Later, Lee Jun-seok was suspended from the party for one year and six months for destroying evidence of receiving sexual favors. Yoon’s team won this round, but none of the core members wanted to take first place. For instance, lawmaker Chang Jae-won, a key associate of the president, stated that he did not post as a conservative leader due…

This new year has witnessed a number of remarkable events in the current stage of the “Great World Game”, one of which was the event in the format of the US-Japan-ROK dialogue held on January 5 in Washington. We are talking about a meeting between the deputy heads of the foreign affairs departments of the three countries mentioned. It should be noted that Washington has been nurturing the idea of creating…

On November 28, the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE) held its meeting in Paris on the election of the host country of the World Expo-2030. Riyadh (Saudi Arabia), Busan (Republic of Korea) and Rome (Italy) were considered the main candidates. According to preliminary estimates, hosting the exhibition could earn South Korea 61 trillion won ($47 billion), attract at least 50 million tourists and create 500 thousand new jobs. A delegation of South Korean business representatives led by Prime Minister Han Duck-soo arrived to support the South Korean bid…

The 24-year long political career of the former chairman of the main opposition Democratic Party, Song Young-gil, hangs in the balance after he was arrested over a scandal related to the party’s leadership elections in 2021. NEO has already written about the situation around this person, but it’s worth recalling. A former mayor of Incheon and a five-term MP, Song was considered one of the most pro-Russian politicians in the Republic of Korea and was part of Moon Jae-in’s inner circle, who in 2017 sent him as a special envoy to the Russian Federation. After Moon became a “lame duck,”…