[Yonhap News headlines at this time] - 18:00

Oh Se-hoon's 'Political Fund Act' overturned as not guilty in second trial... Myung Tae-gyun’s statement is rejected.

Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon, who was indicted on suspicion of 'Myung Tae-gyun paying for public opinion polls', was found not guilty in the second trial. The court overturned the first trial's guilty verdict, saying it was difficult to believe the core evidence, Tae-gyun Myeong's statement. On the 23rd, the 7th Criminal Division of the Seoul High Court (Chief Judge Koo Hoe-geun) acquitted Mayor Oh, who was put on trial for violating the Political Fund Act. Former Seoul Deputy Mayor for Political Affairs Kang Cheol-won and supporter Kim Han-jeong, close associates of Mayor Oh, who were also indicted, were also found not guilty.

Special prosecutor, Oh Se-hoon's innocence, "It's difficult to accept... I will correct the mistake through appeal."

Regarding the acquittal of Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon in the second trial, who was indicted on suspicion of 'Myung Tae-gyun's payment of public opinion poll fees', special prosecutor Min Joong-ki's team announced that it would appeal to the Supreme Court, saying it was "difficult to accept." Assistant Special Prosecutor Park No-soo told reporters on the afternoon of the 23rd, “This is a very disappointing ruling,” and “The mistake must be corrected through an appeal.” Special Prosecutor Park said, "I am well aware that there are parts of Myung Tae-gyun's statement that cannot be trusted," but added, "Not only in Myung's statement, but also among the evidence we submitted, there are decisive elements that force us to acknowledge the indictment as true."

South Korea proposes military talks to North Korea to prevent accidental collisions... “Special measures are needed”

On the 23rd, the Ministry of National Defense proposed to North Korea a meeting between the military authorities of South and North Korea to prevent accidental clashes in the Military Demarcation Line (MDL) area of the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ). After first proposing a meeting between the military authorities of North and South Korea to deal with the issue of establishing a baseline for the Military Demarcation Line (MDL) in November last year, the proposal for talks was repeated as tensions along the border increased due to explosions of North Korean land mines south of the MDL and North Korea's violations of the MDL. Kim Hong-cheol, head of the Defense Policy Office of the Ministry of National Defense, announced a statement on this day and said, "I officially propose to the North Korean authorities to hold a meeting between the military authorities of the North and South to mutually confirm the clear location of the military demarcation line on the ground between South and North Korea and discuss ways to restore military communication lines and prevent accidental clashes in the border area."

Thanks to the suspension of Solidigm’s IPO?... KOSPI narrows its decline and ends recovery at the 5,500 level

On the 23rd, KOSPI closed higher after repeated fluctuations. On this day, KOSPI ended trading at 5,550.30, up 16.53 points (0.30%) from the previous day. When SK Hynix [000660] announced that it would stop reviewing the U.S. initial public offering (IPO) of its subsidiary Solidigm, investor sentiment partially recovered, pushing up the index. In the stock market, foreigners turned to 'selling' in three trading days and made a net sale of 981 billion won. On the other hand, individuals net bought 45 billion won and institutions net bought 869 billion won.

'Life sentence without parole' for violent criminals... Considering the establishment of a new safety patrol unit

On the 23rd, President Lee Jae-myung held a 'government-wide response meeting for an ultra-safe society' at the Blue House and inspected each ministry's policy preparations to respond to violent crimes. At this meeting, the Ministry of Justice reported that it would actively pursue the introduction of a 'life sentence without parole' to permanently isolate violent criminals from society and protect the human rights of victims and their families, Chief Blue House Spokesperson Kang Yoo-jeong said in a written briefing. In response, Cho Won-cheol, head of the Ministry of Government Legislation, expressed his opinion in favor, saying, "What victims are most concerned about is that the perpetrators will eventually come out even after decades have passed. 'Life sentences without parole' are an effective response to replacing the death penalty."

'Impeachment of Chief Justice Cho Hee-dae': 34% in favor, 39% against... Within error [Gallup Korea]

The results of a public opinion poll were released on the 23rd, showing that the 'opposition' opinion on the impeachment of Supreme Court Chief Justice Cho Hee-dae was 5 percentage points (p) higher than the 'yes' response, within the margin of error. As a result of Gallup Korea asking 1,001 people over the age of 18 across the country on the issue of Supreme Court Justice Cho's impeachment from the 20th to the 22nd, the results were 34% in favor and 39% against. 28% of respondents had reserved opinions, such as ‘don’t know or refuse to answer’.

Director of the National Security Office, “Designate super-regional special zones for each region nationwide in the first half of next year”

On the 23rd, Director of the Office for Government Policy Coordination Lim Ki-geun said regarding the ultra-metropolitan special zones promoted by the government, "We are aiming to designate one special zone for each region nationwide within the first half of next year." Director Lim reported this at the second plenary meeting of the Regulatory Rationalization Committee held on this day, presided over by President Lee Jae-myung. He promised, "I will not sit back and wait until the law is enacted. We are now proactively pursuing all procedures in parallel," and promised, "We will immediately resolve any difficulties in the field even before the law is enacted."

Lee Tae-han, special prosecutor of the National Election Commission, visits the Central Investigation Agency… “Request to dispatch 10 investigative personnel”

Special prosecutor Lee Tae-han of the National Election Commission, who is investigating the June 3 local election ballot shortage situation, visited the Serious Crimes Investigation Office and requested the dispatch of investigative personnel. Special Prosecutor Lee announced that he visited the headquarters of the Heavy Investigations Agency on the afternoon of the 23rd and met with Kim Ji-yong, Director of the Heavy Investigations Agency, for about 30 minutes and requested that about 10 personnel be dispatched. They stated that temporary investigative support is needed for the special prosecutor's team's major search and seizure, and that manpower is needed to be deployed on a regular basis for digital forensic work on evidence.

‘Are airline tickets non-refundable after 24 hours?’… Trip.com was criticized by the National Assembly

Points were raised in the National Assembly that Trip.com, a global online travel platform, has been operating in Korea for several years without reporting as a mail order business and is applying excessive refund restrictions to airline tickets and lodging products. On the 23rd, during the comprehensive audit of the National Assembly's Culture, Sports and Tourism Committee, Jo Gye-won, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, interrogated Trip.com Korea branch manager Hong Jong-min, who appeared as a witness, on the issues of unreported mail order sales and restrictions on refunds for airline tickets and lodging products. Rep. Cho pointed out that Trip.com has been operating in Korea without reporting its mail order business since 2017, and only reported it last year.

LGU+ Hong Beom-sik, “I will take full responsibility” on whether or not to waive the penalty.

Regarding the hacking incident, Hong Beom-sik, CEO of LG U+, said, "If there is a judgment from the judicial authorities and guidelines from the government, we will fulfill our reasonable responsibility accordingly." CEO Hong appeared as a witness at the comprehensive audit of the Science, Technology, Information, Broadcasting and Communications Committee of the National Assembly on the 23rd and responded as follows to a question from Rep. Gyeong-tae Cho of the People Power Party, who asked whether the penalty would be waived if it is confirmed that the hacking was intentionally hidden or the investigation was obstructed. LG U+ is under police investigation on suspicion of interfering with the security authorities' forensic investigation by intentionally disposing and reinstalling a server suspected of a hacking incident, including personal information leakage, last year.