NEWS BRIEF

[Anchor Lead]

Ahn Cheol-soo has called on President Moon Jae-in to leave the ruling party and pursue the unity of the nation. The People’s Party’s presidential candidate stressed there are no reasons for the president to stay with the ruling party when he has less than six months left in office. Ahn added the president’s departure will lead Cabinet members to quit the ruling party, too, and there will be no disputes over the management of the upcoming presidential election.
Justice Minister Park Beom-kye says the government will carry out a large scale of pardon to mark the arrival of the new year. Park told reporters Monday morning that the ministry’s pardon review committee will hold a two-day meeting on December 20 and 21 and criteria and principles of granting the sspecial pardons have already been determined. Regarding whether or not former presidents Park Geun-hye and Lee Myung-bak would be pardoned this time, the minister said granting pardons is the president’s exclusive right and no details can be released before the final decisions are announced.
The government and Korea Electric Power Corporation say they have decided to leave the final fuel cost unchanged for the first three month of the new year. The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said despite a jump in international fuel prices, the decision was made to help the people hit by the prolonged pandemic and rising inflation. The power company, however, said it is calculating the standard fuel cost, and climate and environment charges that will be reflected on next year’s electric bills.