January 26, 2026 – South Korea Headlines

Story gist: Lee Hae-chan, former South Korean prime minister from Cheongyang, died at age 73 during a business trip to Vietnam.

Bias summary: Left-leaning outlets emphasize Democratic Party’s internal mourning arrangements, like a lawmaker greeting visitors at the funeral. Center outlets report neutral facts on origin, death location, and age. Right-leaning outlets stress his ‘godfather’ status in the Democratic Party and close ties to presidents across parties, including conservative Lee Myung-bak.

Story gist: South Korea records -15°C temperatures on Monday with cold wave expected to continue into next week. Cold wave special alerts issued for nine cities and counties in Chungbuk province.

Bias summary: Left-leaning Hankyoreh employs direct, stark headline warning of -15°C severe cold persisting next week, emphasizing intensity. Center KBS highlights official alerts in specific Chungbuk regions and ongoing cold, focusing on factual impacts. Right-leaning Weekly Chosun uses relatable question about missing spring and stresses sub-zero daytime lows, adding casual human interest tone. Left alarms, center informs regionally, right personalizes.

Story gist: A 37-year-old man intervened in a scuffle and was shot dead by a U.S. federal agent. He was described as a kind nurse. Obama criticized Trump’s immigration policy, stating citizens must stand against injustice.

Bias summary: Left-leaning Hankyoreh humanizes the victim as a ‘kind nurse’ shot by federal agent, emphasizing tragedy. Center Yonhap neutrally reports Obama’s criticism of Trump’s policy as civic duty against injustice. Right-leaning Chosun frames U.S. political reactions as undue ‘concentrated fire’ on ICE, quoting Obama’s call to stop, portraying defense of enforcement.

Story gist: South Korean President Lee Jae-myung posted on social media over the weekend, stating he should visit public officials to encourage them. He also said those harming Republic of Korea citizens must face certain ruin.

Bias summary: Left-leaning Hankyoreh emphasizes Lee’s diligent weekend SNS activity and supportive tone toward officials, portraying him positively. Center policy briefing neutrally highlights his tough anti-crime rhetoric as official policy. Right-leaning Chosun Ilbo omits Lee entirely, focusing on romance scammers’ arrest and flight risk, stressing enforcement realities over leadership encouragement.

Story gist: Protesters in Greenland held dawn demonstrations near the US embassy, disturbing staff. Anti-Trump posters appeared throughout the city center.

Bias summary: Left-leaning outlets frame protests as US allies confronting Trump instead of appeasing him, emphasizing resistance. Center outlets report factually on dawn protests and posters without interpretation. Right-leaning outlets highlight extreme slogans like ‘NATO YES, pedophile NO’ and Epstein references to mock and discredit demonstrators as irrational.