Liberal candidate Lee Jae-myung projected to win S. Korea's presidential snap election

SEOUL, June 03 (AJP) - Liberal candidate Lee Jae-myung of the Democratic Party is projected to win South Korea’s snap presidential election held Tuesday, with exit polls showing him ahead with 51.7 percent of the vote. His conservative rival Kim Moon-soo of the People Power Party follows with 39.3 percent, according to a joint exit poll survey by public broadcasters KBS, MBC, and SBS. This marks South Korea’s first presidential snap election in eight years, following t

June 3, 2025

Turnout reaches record 65.5 percent by 2 p.m. in South Korea's presidential vote

SEOUL, June 03 (AJP) - South Korea's snap presidential election drew an unprecedented level of voter participation by Tuesday afternoon, with turnout reaching 65.5 percent as of 2 p.m., according to the National Election Commission (NEC). It marks the highest voter turnout at this time of day in any presidential election in the country’s history. Of the 44.39 million eligible voters, more than 29 million had cast their ballots by 2 p.m. The figure includes those who vote

June 3, 2025

New president to emerge late night on Tuesday

SEOUL, June 2 (AJP) - Voting for the June 3 presidential election begins at 6 a.m. on Tuesday at some 14,300 polling stations nationwide. As ballot counting begins at 8 p.m., the country's new president is not expected to emerge until around 11 p.m. or midnight. As the snap election follows the premature ouster of former disgraced President Yoon Suk Yeol over his botched martial law debacle late last year, polling hours have been extended by two hours from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m., so &

June 2, 2025

Court weighs detention of subway arson suspect as probe continues

SEOUL, June 02 (AJP) - A man in his 60s accused of starting a fire on Seoul’s Line 5 subway on May 31 appeared in court Monday for a detention hearing, two days after the blaze disrupted Seoul’s subway train service and sent dozens to the hospital. The suspect, surnamed Won, was brought to the Seoul Southern District Court. The hearing, held to decide whether to formally detain him ahead of trial, lasted about 15 minutes. Won faces charges of setting fire to a train

June 2, 2025

Samsung Pay outage disrupts morning transactions across country

SEOUL, June 02 (AJP) - A three-hour outage of Samsung Pay, the popular mobile payment service, disrupted morning routines across South Korea on Monday, leaving customers unable to complete transactions and prompting widespread frustration among users and retailers. The disruption began around 7 a.m. and was resolved by 10:22 a.m., according to Samsung officials. During the outage, users attempting to make purchases with their smartphones reported failures at convenience stores, ca

June 2, 2025

Candidates make last-ditch appeals to voters on eve of presidential election

SEOUL, June 2 (AJP) - Monday is the final day of campaigning ahead of Tuesday's presidential election, with candidates set to canvass until the last minutes to win over voters. Kim Moon-soo, the presidential candidate of the ruling People Power Party (PPP) kicked off his final day of campaigning with a visit to the southern resort island of Jeju, before making stops in Busan, Daegu, and Daejeon, and wrapping up in Seoul as the final leg of his rally. According to a PPP spokes

June 2, 2025

Lee Jae-myung and Kim Moon-soo enter final stage of campaign as snap election nears

SEOUL, June 02 (AJP) - With just one day remaining before South Korea’s Jun. 3 snap presidential election, Democratic Party candidate Lee Jae-myung and People Power Party candidate Kim Moon-soo launched their final push to win over voters on Monday morning. Lee is spending his last campaign day in the Seoul metropolitan area, a key battleground in previous elections. His campaign is highlighting policies focused on economic revitalization, balanced regional development, and

June 2, 2025

Astana International Forum wraps up with call for stronger global cooperation

SEOUL, June 1 (AJP) - A two-day international forum aimed at strengthening multilateral cooperation and tackling global challenges wrapped up in Kazakhstan’s capital on Friday. The Astana International Forum (AIF), held from Thursday to Friday, brought together more than 1,000 participants from over 70 countries, including heads of state, business executives, renowned academics, and representatives. Throughout the event, over 40 panel discussions, side events, and specia

June 1, 2025

Candidates blitz key battlegrounds as presidential race enters final stretch

SEOUL, June 01 (AJP) - South Korea’s leading presidential contenders crisscrossed the country on Sunday in a final bid to rally voters ahead of Tuesday’s election, with both major candidates making strategic forays into regions outside their political comfort zones. Lee Jae-myung of the liberal Democratic Party spent the day traversing the conservative stronghold of Yeongnam, seeking to peel away support from traditional bastions of right-wing dominance.

June 1, 2025

Public opinion manipulation allegations roil final days of election

SEOUL, June 01 (AJP) - With just two days remaining before South Korea's presidential election, Democratic Party candidate Lee Jae-myung on Sunday accused a far-right group of orchestrating an online campaign to manipulate public opinion in favor of his conservative rival, calling the alleged operation an “insurrection.” Lee urged law enforcement authorities to launch an immediate and thorough investigation into what he described as a "systematic attempt to distort the el

June 1, 2025