Latest news with #Seongnam
CNA
6 days ago
- General
- CNA
Who is Lee Jae-myung, South Korea's newly elected president?
Who exactly is Lee Jae-myung, South Korea's newly elected president? He was born in 1964 and grew up in deep poverty. His mother worked odd jobs as a farmer, cleaner and street vendor to support her family. At the age of 14, Mr Lee started working at factories, where an industrial accident permanently injured his left arm. Later, he became a lawyer and activist, and then mayor of a northern city. One of his achievements during his eight years as mayor was to shut the country's largest dog meat market. This is the 60-year-old's third run for president. Lim Yun Suk reports.
South China Morning Post
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- South China Morning Post
From blind date to first lady: Kim Hye-kyung's journey with South Korea's president
In August 1990, Lee Jae-myung, a newly qualified lawyer, made the bold decision to marry one of the five women he had blind dates with in a single month. With the same determination that would later characterise his political career, Lee arranged the five blind dates. Kim Hye-kyung, his third match, has remained by his side ever since, standing beside him during Wednesday's inauguration. South Korea's new first lady was born into a middle-class family in Seoul in 1966. She graduated from Sunhwa Arts High School and studied piano at Sookmyung Women's University. She met Lee while preparing to study in Austria, but seven months later, those plans changed when she married him, launching a turbulent 35-year political journey. When Lee entered politics in the early 2000s, Kim initially opposed the move. But as she saw him drive change in the community and build public support as mayor of Seongnam, her opposition gave way to support. During his first presidential bid in 2017, she accompanied him on regional campaign stops and even appeared alongside him on entertainment programmes.
Al Jazeera
7 days ago
- Business
- Al Jazeera
Who is Lee Jae-myung, South Korea's new president?
Lee Jae-myung's hardscrabble path to the South Korean presidency mirrors his country's stratospheric rise from grinding poverty to one of the world's leading economies. When Lee, a scandal-prone school dropout-turned-lawyer who was elected in a landslide on Tuesday, was born in 1963, South Korea's gross domestic product (GDP) per capita was comparable with sub-Saharan African nations. South Korea was so poor, in fact, that Lee's exact birthday is a mystery – his parents, like many families alert to the sky-high infant mortality of the era, took about a year to register his birth. Yet even by the standards of the day, Lee's early years were marked by deprivation and adversity, including stints as an underage factory labourer. Known for his populist and outspoken style, Lee, the standard bearer for the left-leaning Democratic Party, has often credited his humble beginnings with moulding his progressive beliefs. 'Poverty is not a sin, but I was always particularly sensitive to the injustices I experienced because of poverty,' Lee said in a speech in 2022. 'The reason I am in politics now is to help those still suffering in the pit of poverty and despair that I managed to escape, by building a fair society and a world with hope.' The fifth of seven children, Lee dropped out of school in his early teens to move to Seongnam, a satellite city of Seoul, and take up employment to support his family. At age 15, Lee was injured in an accident at a factory making baseball gloves, leaving him permanently unable to straighten his left arm. Despite missing years of formal education, Lee graduated from middle and high school by studying for the exams outside of work hours. In 1982, he gained admission to Chung-Ang University in Seoul to study law and went on to pass the bar exam four years later. During his law career, Lee was known for championing the rights of the underdog, including victims of industrial accidents and residents facing eviction due to urban redevelopment projects. In 2006, Lee made his first foray into politics with an unsuccessful bid for the mayorship of Seongnam, which he followed two years later with a failed run for a parliamentary seat in the city. In 2010, he finally broke into politics by winning Seongnam's mayoral election on his second attempt and went on to earn re-election four years later. From 2018 to 2021, Lee served as governor of Gyeonggi, the country's most populous province, which surrounds Seoul. Both as mayor and governor, Lee attracted attention beyond his immediate electorate by rolling out a series of populist-flavoured economic policies, including a limited form of universal basic income. After stepping down as governor, Lee entered the national stage as the Democratic Party candidate in the 2022 presidential election, which he lost to Yoon Suk-yeol by 0.73 percent of the vote – the narrowest margin in South Korean history. Despite facing a slew of political and personal scandals, culminating in at least five legal cases, Lee led the Democratic Party to one of its best results in last year's parliamentary elections, delivering it 173 seats in the 300-seat National Assembly. After Yoon's impeachment and removal from the presidential office following his short-lived declaration of martial law in December, Lee earned his party's nomination without serious challenge, garnering nearly 90 percent of the primary vote. 'His communication style is direct and straightforward, and he is astute at recognising social and political trends, which is a rare quality among politicians of his generation in Korea,' Lee Myung-hee, an expert on South Korean politics at Michigan State University, told Al Jazeera. 'However, this direct communication style can sometimes hinder his political advancement, as it may easily offend his opponents.' During his election campaign, Lee played down his progressive credentials in favour of a more pragmatic persona and a milder iteration of the populist economic agenda that powered his rise to national prominence. In the weeks leading to the vote, Lee's victory was rarely in doubt, with his closest competitor, Kim Moon-soo, of the conservative People Power Party, often trailing the candidate by more than 20 points in opinion polls. As president, Lee has pledged to prioritise the economy, proposing, among other things, a major boost in investment in artificial intelligence, the introduction of a four-and-a-half-day work week, and tax deductions for parents in proportion to the number of children they have. On foreign affairs, he has promised to mend relations with North Korea while pushing for its ultimate denuclearisation – in keeping with the traditional stance of his Democratic Party – and maintain the US-Korea security alliance without alienating China and Russia. 'I would call him a progressive pragmatist. I don't think he will stick to any consistent progressive lines or even conservative lines,' Yong-chool Ha, director of the Center for Korea Studies at the University of Washington, told Al Jazeera. 'Critics call him a kind of manipulator; his supporters call him flexible,' Ha said. 'I would say he is a survivor.' While Lee will enter office with the backing of a commanding majority in the National Assembly, he will take stewardship of a country that is deeply polarised and racked by divisions following Yoon's impeachment. 'The Korean political landscape remains highly polarised and confrontational, and his ability to navigate this environment will be crucial to his success,' said Lee, the Michigan State University professor. Lee will also have to navigate a volatile international environment shaped by the wars in Gaza and Ukraine, great power rivalries, and United States President Donald Trump's shake-up of international trade. For Lee personally, his election, after two unsuccessful bids for the presidency, marks an extraordinary comeback befitting the against-the-odds origin story that propelled his rise. Lee had been facing five criminal proceedings, including charges of election law violations and breach of trust in connection with a land corruption scandal. Following his election, Lee is all but certain to avoid trial during his five-year term in office. Under the South Korean constitution, sitting presidents enjoy immunity from prosecution, except in cases of insurrection or treason – although there is debate among legal scholars about whether the protection extends to proceedings that are already under way. To remove ambiguity, the Democratic Party last month passed an amendment to the criminal code stating that criminal proceedings against a person who is elected president must be suspended until the end of their term.
South China Morning Post
24-05-2025
- Entertainment
- South China Morning Post
‘Secret to eternal youth': Korean school principal, 93, shares tips for staying young
A 93-year-old school principal in South Korea who is known for her radiant skin, sharp mind and tireless passion for work, has shared tips for staying youthful. A recent video from Gachon University in Seongnam, a city in the country's most populous province of Gyeonggi, has gone viral for highlighting its president, Lee Gil-ya. Born in 1932, Lee speaks confidently about artificial intelligence, showcasing both insight and energy. Lee Gil-ya, 93, could easily be mistaken for a woman half that age. Photo: Lee has often made headlines for her age-defying youthful appearance. In 2023, she danced with students at a university festival, earning loud cheers from the crowd. In an interview with Chosun Daily, Lee said her secret to staying young is 'consistently doing very ordinary things'. She sticks to a strict routine, avoids alcohol and smoking, drinks tea instead of coffee, and makes sure to stay hydrated by consuming 1.5 litres of water a day.
National Post
20-05-2025
- Entertainment
- National Post
Wemade Max Opens Global Pre-Registration for Subculture RPG 'Lost Sword'
Article content 'Lost Sword,' Blockbuster Korean Subculture RPG, Targets Global Launch Pre-Registration event Runs to July 9, Official Launch in Mid-July Claim In-Game Items & 5-Star 'Guinevere' with Pre-Registration Article content Article content SEONGNAM, South Korea — Wemade Max (KRX: 101730, Independent Representative Directors Sohn Myun-seok and Lee Gil-hyung) today announced the opening of global pre-registration for its subculture mobile RPG, 'Lost Sword.' Article content 'Lost Sword boasts exceptional accessibility thanks to its excellent optimization across various devices, hassle-free gameplay, and premium character design – key factors in its unrivaled competitiveness and global appeal.' Article content Developed by Codecat (CEO Kim Je-hun) and published by Wemade Max's subsidiary, Wemade Connect (CEO Lee Ho-dae), ' Lost Sword ' quickly achieved significant success following its Korean debut in January. The game topped mobile subculture RPG charts in both downloads and revenue within just 50 days of its launch. It has garnered positive reviews for its high production quality, attributed to the effective integration of idle RPG mechanics, diverse content, and engaging characters. Article content To prepare for the global launch across North America and Europe, Wemade Connect is holding a pre-registration event on Google Play and the Apple App Store, which will run until July 9. The game's official release is slated for July, and the exact date will be announced subsequently via its brand site and social media. Moreover, Wemade Connect will partner with leading local publishers to launch the game in Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macau in the latter half of the year. Article content Pre-registering players will unlock escalating in-game rewards—including diamonds, gold, and the 5-star healer character 'Guinevere'—as participant milestones hit 100,000, 200,000, 350,000, and 500,000. Article content Codecat CEO Kim Je-hun stated, 'Lost Sword boasts exceptional accessibility thanks to its excellent optimization across various devices, hassle-free gameplay, and premium character design – key factors in its unrivaled competitiveness and global appeal.' He added, 'We encourage everyone to join the pre-registration event to unlock even greater rewards as the participant count increases.' Article content Article content Article content Article content Article content Contacts Article content Wemade Max Sylvia Byun sooki@ Article content Article content Article content
