Latest news with #ex-Labor
Korea Herald
09-05-2025
- Politics
- Korea Herald
Han Duck-soo joins People Power Party, Kim's candidacy revoked
Former Prime Minister and acting President Han Duck-soo joined the People Power Party around 3 a.m. on Saturday, following the party leadership's decision to revoke ex-Labor Minister Kim Moon-soo's status as presidential candidate. Han announced in a press briefing that he has joined the People Power Party as of Saturday and highlighted his goal of helping South Korea 'move forward.' 'I only have one goal – it's to prevent the miracle that's happening from ending and to help South Korea continuously move forward. I believe that is the will of pthe people and the will of my fellow party members,' he added. Ahead of Han's announcement, the party's leadership decided to 'cancel the nomination' Kim following a meeting of the election management committee and emergency committee. The party then opened a new candidate registration process from 3 a.m. to 4 a.m. Kim reportedly reapplied for the process. The party's new presidential candidate will be announced during a national committee meeting scheduled for Sunday. Kim warned to take legal actions against the party's moves as the meeting of the election management committee and emergency committee convened. The ruling party's unprecedented move came amid a growing rift within the conservative bloc over the candidacy merger scenario between Kim and Han. The party leadership had pressured Kim to swiftly unify his candidacy with Han by Sunday, which is the deadline for candidate registration with the National Election Commission. Kim, who officially won the People Power Party's primary race last week refused to heed to the party's request, denouncing it as an 'illegal' plan to replace him with Han as candidate. Han, who was more popular in various opinion polls, compared to Kim, had insisted the merger to be finalized by Sunday. He pointed to the need to better counter Democratic Party of Korea candidate Lee Jae-myung, who has led several opinion polls, without dividing the conservative votes. The party's decision to cancel Kim's nomination came hours after Kim and Han held their third meeting over the issue of candidacy merger. The meeting collapsed in less than 30 minutes after it kicked off at 8:30 p.m. at the National Assembly. The previous two meetings also ended without agreements.
West Australian
04-05-2025
- Entertainment
- West Australian
ANDREW MILLER: Federal election result is a woke-up call for stale Libs
Our six-year-old vibes with Ed Sheeran. 'I'm in love with the shape of you,' she belts out in an Aussie schoolyard accent, while working intently on her cat drawing. I hum along until she starts yelling 'I'm in love with your BOD-DEEE.' They grow up so fast, with a new soundtrack for every generation. In 1975, Sweden's ABBA took off in Australia because their raw appeal resonated deeply with our fuss-free culture. 'The winner takes it all, the loser's standing small, beside the victory, that's her destiny.' Gough Whitlam was the biggest loser of 1975, but perhaps he's smiling somewhere today. Following their recent drubbing in the WA election, I suggested a welfare check for the Liberal Party. After Saturday's overwhelming rejection of Peter Dutton, and anything else with even a vague whiff of Trump Down Under, it's time to call the Coalition an ambulance and contact the family. The Liberals as we knew them are toast, jam-side down on the floor. Once a fearsomely professional political machine with a stranglehold on the top end of town, you're now just as likely to find a shiver of besuited ex-Labor ministers scoffing tapas in the boardroom, getting business done. The Coalition took a jump to the Right, and centrist Labor immediately leapt into their leather and velvet seats. The Libs peaked under grumbly John Howard, when he announced his visionary gun buy-back scheme after the Port Arthur massacre, veering away from the failure of the US to govern itself properly. A society built with economically rational bricks requires humane cement to hold it together. Reward for effort, safety for all. Voters respond to leaders that care about them, and we sniff out phony personality makeovers on politicians quicker than Gout Gout goes downhill. No-one was buying Dutton 2.0 with the glasses. The Libs now find themselves leaderless, rudderless and bleeding. The anti-woke panic of red-faced boomer-men has left them looking dated and misinformed. You won't get much sympathy in Australia if you sympathise with neo-Nazi clowns booing during the ANZAC service, or pretend to be protecting women's bathrooms from some imaginary trans menace while failing to acknowledge the true toll of male domestic violence. Australia has sensibly rejected nuclear reactors in favour of solar, batteries and other developing technologies; climate change denial in favour of sophisticated long-term mitigation; rolling back the public service in favour of stronger social safety nets, and banning work-from-home in favour of flexible work arrangements - it's only fair. None of that should surprise anyone, because our working and middle classes are happy to work hard, but not for nothing. We aspire to our creature comforts, but we also want accessible universal healthcare, and our kids to be able to afford housing. We respect science and education, so we voted for improvements to Medicare and HECS relief. We want our Government to thread the needle internationally: trade with China while promoting human rights; respond to alarming US authoritarianism; support the besieged Ukrainians, and condemn the death of innocents everywhere in the middle east. The UN credibly claim that over a thousand healthcare workers - my people - have been killed in Gaza. We expect to have our cake and eat it too, because it is the reasonable promise of our very wealthy, ethical modern democracy. Whether Prime Minister Albanese can get over this surprisingly generous gift from voters and deliver results will determine his legacy. Burn out like Whitlam, lose even his own seat like Dutton, Howard and Tony Abbott, or build a foundation for a century of success - independent of the flailing, failing US. Fernando sat at number one for 14 weeks in Australia - a record that ABBA held for 40 years until Ed Sheeran came along to claim it. It takes time for the world to change, but once it shifts, there's no going back. As the Nobel Laureate sang - the times they are a-changing. 'Can you hear the drums, Fernando?'
Korea Herald
01-05-2025
- Politics
- Korea Herald
Han Duck-soo set to resign, run for president
Acting President and Prime Minister Han Duck-soo was expected to announce his resignation on Thursday as of press time, in a bid to enter the upcoming June 3 presidential election. Local reports, citing Han's aides, said that Han planned to declare his presidential bid on Friday. Han presided over a ministerial-level meeting on national security issues in the morning. At the meeting, Han highlighted the importance of maintaining 'strong national security' to high ranking security officials, including National Security Adviser Shin Won-shik and Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul. 'Strong national security is the foundation of a country and a pillar that supports our economy,' he said, while expressing concerns about risks stemming from North Korea's advancing ties with Russia. Signs of Han gearing up to declare a bid for the presidency have been reported in recent days, backed by reports of officials from the Prime Minister's office and the presidential office resigning to join his election campaign. Son Young-taek, Han's former chief aide and secretary, were among the officials, reports said. Han's team has already set up a campaign office in Yeouido, western Seoul, reports added. If Han indeed resigns, Finance Minister Choi Sang-mok, who was the country's acting president and acting prime minister from Dec. 27 to March 24, when Han was impeached and suspended from his duties by the opposition-led National Assembly, would return to the roles as required by law. The main liberal Democratic Party of Korea denounced Han Duck-soo's potential bid for presidency as a selfish move selling out national interests. Rep. Kim Min-seok, who is on the Democratic Party's Supreme Council, said that Han has said 'he will resign to enter the election, finally revealing his true intentions,' during a press briefing held in front of the Government Complex Seoul. Kim pointed to the recent mass resignation of Han's aides, calling Han's likely candidacy a plan engineered through "abusing' his power as a public servant to prepare for election, which is subject to criminal punishment. Han's potential presidential bid could push the remaining two contenders vying for the conservative People Power Party's nomination for the presidential election to throw in their towel to back Han Duck-soo as their candidate, observers say. Han could either enter the presidential race as an independent conservative candidate or partner up with the winner of the People Power Party's ongoing primary race. With former People Power Party Chair Han Dong-hoon and ex-Labor Minister Kim Moon-soo competing for the party's nomination, the winner will be announced during party convention scheduled for Saturday. In a survey jointly conducted by Korea Research and three other firms, asking respondents of 'who is the most appropriate to become the next president,' Han Duck-soo ranked No. 2 with 13 percent, trailing behind Democratic Party candidate Lee Jae-myung, who saw 42 percent. Han Dong-hoon saw 9 percent, while Kim Moon-soo saw 6 percent. The survey released Thursday involved 1,000 respondents aged 18 or older. Han Duck-soo, 75, is a career technocrat, who served as prime minister under former President Yoon since May 2022. He has held the prime minister's office twice, as he previously held the role from April 2007 to February 2008, under the former Roh Moo-hyun administration. He has served in key leadership positions under five different presidents. Besides prime minister, his roles have ranged from ambassador to the United States, finance minister, trade minister, presidential secretary for policy coordination and ambassador to the OECD. Han studied economics at Seoul National University, earning his masters and doctorate in economics from Harvard University. mkjung@
Korea Herald
29-04-2025
- Politics
- Korea Herald
Kim Moon-soo, Han Dong-hoon to compete in final round of PPP primary
Eliminated ex-Daegu Mayor Hong Joon-pyo announces retirement from politics The conservative People Power Party on Tuesday named former Chair Han Dong-hoon and ex-Labor Minister Kim Moon-soo as the two finalists who will compete in the third and final round of its primary to be the party's candidate in the June 3 presidential election. Of the four contenders that competed throughout the second round, People Power Party Rep. Ahn Cheol-soo and former Daegu Mayor Hong Joon-pyo failed to make the cut. Hong, shortly after the announcement, said he would retire from politics, stating, "I will no longer engage in politics." There were originally eight contenders at the start of the primary. The results for the second round of the primary were determined by weighing in public surveys and votes of party members, unlike the first round, which only took the public opinion polls into consideration. The rates of support from the surveys and the vote counts for the four candidates were not disclosed. After the announcements were made, Han and Kim both pledged to put in their best efforts to 'protect the country' if they're elected as the People Power Party's sole candidate and president. 'I will do my best to make South Korea great again by overcoming the crisis surrounding the country and the difficulties that our people face,' Kim said in his speech. Han pointed out that Kim and he are both similar in the ways that they share the mindset to 'protect the country' and highlighted the need to cooperate to compete against Democratic Party of Korea candidate and front-runner Rep. Lee Jae-myung. 'We are both very honest people and we both share the mindset to protect our country. Under the current difficult circumstances surrounding the presidential election, we must (cooperate) as (conservative) candidates against Lee Jae-myung,' Han said. Han and Kim are set to face off in televised debate sessions scheduled for Wednesday. An electoral vote and public opinion polls will be conducted on Thursday and Friday. The party's sole candidate will be confirmed at a party convention scheduled for Saturday. The candidate who would ultimately clinch the ruling party's nomination would face off Democratic Party of Korea's candidate Lee Jae-myung in the upcoming June 3 presidential election. According to a Realmeter survey released Monday, Lee led the poll of preferred presidential candidates with 48.5 percent. Kim came at No. 2 with 13.4 percent, followed by former Daegu Mayor Hong Joon-pyo with 10.2 percent and former party chair Han Dong-hoon with 9.7 percent. Tuesday's announcement came amid growing speculations that acting President and Prime Minister Han Duck-soo may enter the presidential race as an independent conservative candidate. Observers say that Han may attempt to partner up with the People Power Party's presidential candidate after announcing his presidential bid.
Korea Herald
20-04-2025
- Politics
- Korea Herald
Personality test enters South Korean politics
South Korea's MBTI obsession moves into political arena as candidates tout traits of 'natural-born leaders' The conservative People Power Party incorporated the immensely popular Myers-Briggs Type Indicator test into its primary for the June 3 presidential election, with several candidates revealing their personality types for the first time during a televised debate held over the weekend. All eight presidential hopefuls vying for the party's nomination were asked to reveal their MBTI types as a way of introducing themselves to viewers, in debates held on Saturday and Sunday. Former People Power Party chief Han Dong-hoon, ex-Labor Minister Kim Moon-soo, Rep. Ahn Cheol-soo and Incheon Mayor Yoo Jeong-bok all claimed their type to be "ENTJ": extroverted, intuitive, thinking and judging. People in this category are often described as "natural leaders" and visionaries. The candidates highlighted their natural leadership capabilities and goal-oriented minds, pledging to stick with and pursue the policy plans they have announced, if elected president. Rep. Na Kyung-won and former lawmaker Yang Hyang-ja described themselves as 'ENFJ,' where "feeling" substitutes for "thinking" in the prior description. This combination is thought to have warm hearts, as 'the protagonist,' 'the giver' or 'the teacher' types. Yang described her personality type as that of a 'warm leader,' saying she shares the same type as former US President Barack Obama, South African activist and former President Nelson Mandela and American talk show host Oprah Winfrey. Na, on the other hand, said that ENFJ people have a 'strong sense of responsibility.' North Gyeongsang Province Gov. Lee Cheol-woo said he was 'ESFJ' — "sensing" instead of "intuitive." People with this personality type are described as "caregivers" or "consuls.' Former Daegu Mayor Hong Joon-pyo said he took the MBTI test when he was running in the People Power Party primary for the 2022 presidential election, revealing his type as 'ESTJ,' which is believed to be the 'executive' or 'supervisor' type. Despite MBTI being a big trend here, it is rare for politicians here to reveal their MBTI types to the public, or for a political party to incorporate the pseudoscience into major political events such as primaries. Ahead of the 2022 election, Yoon Suk Yeol, who was the conservative party's presidential candidate at the time, stated his MBTI type as 'ENFJ' through a website promoting his policy goals.
