NEWS BRIEF

[Anchor Lead]

Presidential candidates of rival parties are showing obvious differences on monitoring of communication records by the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials. Lee Jae-myung said that communication records are crucial basic materials in investigations and that it is difficult to call the act surveillance when it was conducted in accordance with the law. By contrast, Yoon Suk-yeol strongly denounced the state anti-corruption agency for checking phone logs of him and his wife. He then vowed to win the presidential election against the ruling party and achieve the change of power.
Former President Park Geun-hye will be released from prison at the midnight of Friday. The Justice Ministry said the pardon of the ex-president takes effect on the New Year’s eve. Park has been serving a jail term of 22 years for her role in the 2016 power abuse scandal. She is one of the convicts who will be granted special pardons ahead of the new year. The former presidents was admitted to Samsung Seoul Medical Center on November 22 for medical attention. Procedures for her pardon will be concluded when she receives a letter of amnesty shortly before the midnight and security guards are withdrawn. It is said that Park plans to stay at the hospital until February.
The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport says the nation has won international construction orders worth over 30 billion U.S. dollars for the second straight year. This year, 319 South Korean builders have won contracts totaling 3.06 billion dollars in 91 countries. The Middle East accounts for the largest portion of 37 percent, followed by Asia with 30 percent and Europe with 15 percent. Until 2014, South Korea won 50 billion dollars worth of construction contracts overseas each year. But it has dropped to the 30 billion dollar level due to falling oil prices and the COVID-19 pandemic.