Democratic Party Sejong Chapter Secures Private Investment Eligibility for Chungcheong Metropolitan Express Railway (CTX)

On November 7, the Sejong City Chapter of the Democratic Party of Korea issued a statement welcoming the final approval of the Chungcheong Metropolitan Express Railway (CTX) project, which will connect Sejong, Daejeon, and North Chungcheong Province, for private investment eligibility after passing the review of the Private Investment Project Review Committee. The chapter stated, "CTX will significantly reduce travel time between major hubs in the Chungcheong region to around 30 minutes and is expected to play a major role in the region's growth as a pillar of the megacity economic zone. The travel time between Sejong, Daejeon government complexes, and central government ministries will be greatly shortened, thereby improving administrative collaboration efficiency and strengthening Sejong's role as the administrative capital." In particular, the chapter emphasized that securing private investment eligibility for CTX is the result of persistent efforts by the Sejong City Chapter of the

Party

11.07 14:49

Lee Junseok Again Dismisses Alliance With People Power Party: "We Will Definitely Field a Seoul Mayoral Candidate"

Lee Junseok, leader of the Reform New Party, has once again drawn a clear line, stating that his party will not form an alliance with the People Power Party in the 9th nationwide local elections scheduled for June 3 next year. He also declared that the Reform New Party will field its own candidate for the Seoul mayoral race. On November 7, during an appearance on YTN Radio's "Kim Youngsoo's The Interview," Lee dismissed ongoing speculation in political circles that his party might cooperate with the People Power Party in next year's local elections. Addressing the People Power Party, the subject of these alliance rumors, he said, "There has been no change in their attitude, and even if there were, how could that make them a viable partner for us?" He added, "We will see the race through to the end and conduct our campaign in our own way." Regarding the possibility of an alliance with Seoul Mayor Oh Sehoon, Lee commented, "I often communicate with Mayor Oh personally, and sometimes it f

Party

11.07 11:22

Sloppy National Assembly Audit Ends in a Month... "Effectiveness Must Be Enhanced"

The National Assembly audit, often referred to as the "highlight of the regular session," is losing public trust due to insufficient scrutiny and complacent follow-up measures. While the number of institutions subject to parliamentary oversight and checks increases every year, the legally mandated period for the audit remains just 30 days. As a result, it has become customary for lawmakers to focus more on sensational political issues that capture public attention, rather than calmly presenting alternative solutions. This year, the 17 standing committees of the National Assembly conducted audits on a total of 834 institutions from October 13 to November 6. This is an increase of 32 institutions compared to last year. There are not a few committees that audited more than 10 institutions in a single day. Some witnesses and reference persons even leave without having spoken a single word all day. According to the National Assembly Bill Information System and the Citizens' Coalition for Ec

Party

11.07 11:14

Retirement Age Extension Raised, but Neither Party Takes the Lead

Both the ruling and opposition parties are showing interest in the issue of extending the retirement age, but legislative discussions are not gaining momentum. This is because the issue involves complex interests among labor, management, and different generations, including wage structures and youth employment, making it politically burdensome to accelerate the debate. According to political circles on November 7, the National Assembly's Climate, Energy, Environment and Labor Committee is scheduled to hold a subcommittee meeting for bill review on the 18th, but does not plan to address bills related to retirement age extension. An official from the office of Assemblyman Kim Jooyoung, who serves as the secretary of the Special Committee on Retirement Age Extension for the Democratic Party and the ruling party secretary of the committee, explained, "There are still issues to be discussed by the special committee, so the bill will not be included in this subcommittee meeting." The extensi

Party

11.07 11:09

'Parliamentary Audit Concludes': Ruling Party Highlights 'Settling Insurrection, Restoring Livelihoods'... Opposition Lists 'Worst 5'

With the conclusion of this year's parliamentary audit, the ruling party evaluated it as an audit focused on settling the aftermath of insurrection and restoring people's livelihoods, while the opposition party criticized it by highlighting the 'Worst 5 Scenes.' On November 7, Kim Byungkee, Floor Leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, stated on his Facebook account, "At midnight last night, the 2025 parliamentary audit concluded with the end of the Steering Committee session," adding, "It was a parliamentary audit that focused on settling the aftermath of insurrection and restoring people's livelihoods." The audit of the Steering Committee, which took place the previous day, ended at 12:02 a.m. on this day, extending past midnight. Kim, the floor leader, expressed his gratitude, saying, "I thank all the lawmakers who worked late into the night for nearly a month," and praised his party by stating, "As expected, Democratic Party lawmakers were different. Their thorough preparation and

Party

11.07 11:07

[Exclusive] National Assembly Audit Shifts from All-Nighters to On-Time Departures... Audit Hours Down 10% from Last Year

The 2025 National Assembly audit ended under the stigma of being a "toothless audit," lacking both heated debate and constructive alternatives. There are clear reasons why the harsh criticism from political circles and beyond, calling it the "worst ever" and giving it an "F grade," cannot be dismissed as unfair. According to a comprehensive analysis conducted by The Asia Business Daily on November 7 using the National Assembly’s video conference records system, the all-night audits?once a symbol of the National Assembly audit’s tenacity?have disappeared, replaced by what is now being called the "on-time departure" audit. The total duration of the audit was also shorter compared to previous years. Audits Shift from All-Nighters to On-Time Departure Last year (2024), there were 11 instances of audits continuing past midnight. For example, on November 1, the National Assembly Steering Committee’s audit of the Presidential Secretariat continued until 2:43 a.m. The Ministry of Education’s a

Party

11.07 11:01

President Lee's Approval Rating Recovers to Early 60%... Gallup: "Up 6%p to 63%" [PolPol News]

President Lee Jae-myung's approval rating for his administration has rebounded to the 60% range. Diplomatic achievements, such as the 2025 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit and the South Korea-U.S. and South Korea-China summits, have contributed to the rise in approval ratings. According to a public opinion poll released on the 7th by Gallup Korea (conducted from the 4th to the 6th through telephone interviews with 1,002 men and women aged 18 or older nationwide, using wireless phones; the margin of error is ±3.1 percentage points at a 95% confidence level, with a response rate of 12.7%), President Lee's approval rating stood at 63%, up 6 percentage points from the previous week. Since the fourth week of September, President Lee's approval rating had remained in the mid-50% range, but it has now returned to the level seen at the beginning of his term. The disapproval rating dropped by 4 percentage points to 29%. Among those who positively evaluated President Lee's job per

Party

11.07 10:49

Democratic Party Files Police Complaint Against Leader Jang Donghyuk Over "Real Estate Speculation Allegations"

Members of the Democratic Party have filed a complaint against Jang Donghyuk, leader of the People Power Party, accusing him of violating the Conflict of Interest Prevention Act and the Real Name Real Estate Act. On November 6, Assemblyman Jeong Junho of the Democratic Party stated, "During the recent National Assembly audit, Democratic Party members of the Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee raised suspicions of real estate speculation regarding land owned by Leader Jang near the terminus of the Dangjin Expressway," as he submitted the complaint to the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency. Assemblyman Jeong said, "Although Leader Jang owns land near the expressway terminus and is therefore considered a party with a private interest under the Conflict of Interest Prevention Act, he failed to fulfill his obligation to recuse himself and instead directly participated in the review to increase the expressway budget. Through written inquiries and other means, he managed to increase t

Party

11.06 16:02

Ruling and Opposition Parties to Prioritize Livelihood Bills Such as K-Steel Act Ahead of Legislative and Budget Battle

Democratic Party Sejong Chapter Secures Private Investment Eligibility for Chungcheong Metropolitan Express Railway (CTX)

Lee Junseok Again Dismisses Alliance With People Power Party: "We Will Definitely Field a Seoul Mayoral Candidate"

Sloppy National Assembly Audit Ends in a Month... "Effectiveness Must Be Enhanced"

Retirement Age Extension Raised, but Neither Party Takes the Lead

'Parliamentary Audit Concludes': Ruling Party Highlights 'Settling Insurrection, Restoring Livelihoods'... Opposition Lists 'Worst 5'

[Exclusive] National Assembly Audit Shifts from All-Nighters to On-Time Departures... Audit Hours Down 10% from Last Year

President Lee's Approval Rating Recovers to Early 60%... Gallup: "Up 6%p to 63%" [PolPol News]

Democratic Party Files Police Complaint Against Leader Jang Donghyuk Over "Real Estate Speculation Allegations"

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