S. Korea, US, Japan to discuss regional security issues: White House

National security advisors of South Korea, the United States and Japan are expected to discuss a "robust" agenda of regional security issues and trilateral cooperation at their talks in Seoul this week, a White House official said Wednesday. John Kirby, National Security Council coordinator for strategic communications, made the remarks as South Korea's National Security Adviser Cho Tae-yong and his US and Japanese counterparts, Jake Sullivan and Takeo Akiba, respectively, are set to m

Foreign AffairsDec. 7, 2023

S. Korea asks UAE to correct nat'l flag image mix-up on COP28 website

South Korea has requested the United Arab Emirates correct the faulty posting of North Korea's national flag as that of South Korea on the website of the 28th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP28), Seoul's foreign ministry said Wednesday. On the COP28's official website, an image of the North Korean flag had been put up above the Republic of Korea, the official name of South Korea, in a list of 38 countries that participated in the mutual recognition of certification sc

Foreign AffairsDec. 6, 2023

Drug offences rise by nearly 50 percent on-year

South Korea’s special investigation unit on drug crimes on Wednesday said it had caught a record-high of 22,393 people suspected of drug offenses from January to October this year. The figure is nearly a 50 percent increase, or up 7,211, from last year’s tally of 15,182, reflecting the troubling trend of rapidly growing drug use here. People in their teens and 20s made up the largest number, accounting for 34.6 percent of the total -- 1,174 were in their teens and 6,580 were in their

Social AffairsDec. 6, 2023

Seoul high court sides with iPhone owners against Apple over ‘batterygate’

The high court in Seoul on Wednesday ruled against Apple in a damages suit filed by consumers here over allegations the US tech giant purposefully degraded the performance of older iPhones in a controversy that came to be known as “batterygate.” The Seoul high court on this day called on Apple to pay 70,000 won ($53) each to seven iPhone owners who were part of the lawsuit that accused the company of slowing down the devices through software updates. The owners then alleged that the

PoliticsDec. 6, 2023

‘Korea could go extinct without proper immigration policy’: minister

South Korea has reached a point where accepting more immigrants under a solid policy is no longer a choice, but a necessity because the country could face extinction without it, the justice minister said Wednesday. “We have already surpassed the phase of contemplating whether or not to adopt immigration policies,” Justice Minister Han Dong-hoon said during a ruling party policy meeting held at the National Assembly. “Korea faces the fate of becoming extinct due to a population

Social AffairsDec. 6, 2023

Woman sentenced to 13 years for forcing co-worker into prostitution

A 41-year-old woman accused of coercing a close co-worker into prostitution over the course of three years has been sentenced to 13 years in prison by an appellate court on Wednesday, after a lower court sentenced her to 10 years. The defendant, who worked with the victim between October 2019 to September 2022, has been accused of forcing 2,500 accounts of prostitution on the victim, and pocketing the 500 million won ($380,000) profit made from the illegal acts. The police's investigation f

Social AffairsDec. 6, 2023

Half of young people struggling financially: Seoul

Nearly half of the youth population residing in Seoul now lives in poverty, with many seeking financial support from their parents, according to a new study released by the Seoul Metropolitan Government and Seoul Institute on Wednesday. According to the 2022 Seoul Young Adult Panel Study, 55.6 percent of the youth population in Seoul faced asset poverty, meaning that they lack sufficient liquid assets to cover their basic needs for three months. In particular, the asset poverty rate for the yout

Social AffairsDec. 6, 2023

Court overturns ruling on fabricated asylum interview: report

A 2021 court ruling that had ordered the South Korean government and two civil servants to compensate for the fabricated asylum interview of an Egyptian human rights activist was overturned recently, as an appellate court acknowledged unlawful acts in the process but did not hold the two civil servants responsible for compensating the victim financially. According to local media outlet The Hankyoreh on Wednesday, the appellate division of the Seoul Central District Court has ruled against Darwis

Social AffairsDec. 6, 2023

Ideal spouse material? Above-average salary, height and office job

According to a survey of single men and women of Korean nationality, the ideal husband should be earning an annual salary exceeding 60 million won ($45,745) and have a height of 178.7 centimeters, while the ideal wife should earn around 44 million won annually and be 164.2 centimeters tall. The survey, conducted by matchmaking agency Duo on Korean singles between 25 and 39, also showed that both men and women prefer their partner to be working in an office setting. Around 45 percent of males a

Social AffairsDec. 6, 2023

[News Focus] Why Kim Jong-un spotlights mothers

North Korea orchestrated a unique event on Tuesday, where personally curated gifts from leader Kim Jong-un were presented to participants at the national mothers' meeting, continuing the trend of promoting the pivotal role of mothers in state-controlled media. North Korea hosted the fifth National Conference of Mothers in Pyongyang on Sunday and Monday, marking the first occurrence of the event since 2012. Speaking at the event, Ri Il-hwan, the secretary of the Central Committee of the Work

North KoreaDec. 6, 2023

Passengers file complaints over burning smell on Gimpo Goldline

Several passengers commuting on a subway line connecting Seoul with its western satellite city of Gimpo expressed concern after they detected a burning smell on Wednesday. The subway lines’ operator, Seoul Metro, said it had received a total of three complaints of a burning smell between Pungmu Station and Gimpo International Airport Station at around 7:50 a.m. The operator said it immediately launched an investigation into the matter. A passenger told local media that “a burning rub

Social AffairsDec. 6, 2023

Yoon visits Busan after failed World Expo bid

President Yoon Suk Yeol on Wednesday reiterated his push for Busan's infrastructure development in his visit to South Korea's second-most-populous city, in an apparent attempt to appease Busan residents' sentiment after the port city's failed bid to host the 2030 World Expo. Yoon told some 100 Busan residents that he would work to open a new international airport on the small islet of Gadeok-do near Busan's ports, relocate the state-run Korea Development Bank's headquarters from Seoul to Busan a

PoliticsDec. 6, 2023

Drug demand rises over surge in ‘walking pneumonia,’ flu

South Korean drugmakers are in a rush to mass-produce antipyretics and antibiotics to keep pace with demand for medicines amid the rise in cases of mycoplasma pneumonia -- a bacterium that causes respiratory infections -- and flu viruses during the winter. To avoid a medicine shortage, Daewon Pharmaceutical has started boosting the production of fever medicines and antibiotics, according to reports on Wednesday citing pharmaceutical industry insiders. Hanmi Pharmaceutical, another leading drugma

Social AffairsDec. 6, 2023

'Violent crimes induced by noise disputes increased tenfold since 2016'

The number of violent crimes developing from apartment noise disputes rose 10-fold from 2016 to 2021, a report by a local civic group showed Wednesday. There were 11 court cases of violent crimes that were related to noise feuds between neighbors in 2016, but the number increased every year, reaching 114 in 2020, according to the analysis of the local courts' verdicts by released by the Citizens' Coalition for Economic Justice. It dipped slightly back down to 110 the following year. &q

Social AffairsDec. 6, 2023

Woman claiming to 'see God' committed to mental health facility

A 50-something woman who threw objects out the window of her 18-floor apartment and shouted "I'm seeing God," has been committed to a psychiatric facility, police said Wednesday. Officers of Gimpo Police Station on Monday received reports from residents of a residential-commercial complex in Gimpo, Gyeonggi Province, that a woman was throwing items like bags and a cellphone out of her window. The woman had blocked the entrance to her home with clothes and other items, refusing t

Social AffairsDec. 6, 2023

Yoon nominates former boss to head broadcasting watchdog

President Yoon Suk Yeol on Wednesday nominated Kim Hong-il, the incumbent chief of the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission, as the head of the Korea Communications Commission, the state broadcasting watchdog. Kim, who joined the prosecution in 1982, was Yoon's boss in the early 2010s when the two worked at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office. Kim quit his job at the prosecution in 2013. He has been leading the anti-corruption watchdog since July. Kim is set to go through a confirma

PoliticsDec. 6, 2023

Boeing eyes more Chinook helicopter exports to S. Korea

US defense giant Boeing is seeking to win more orders from South Korea for its Chinook heavy-lift helicopters amid Seoul's efforts to reinforce readiness against North Korean threats. The company touted the CH-47ER variant for South Korea's plans to acquire new special operations choppers during a tour of its production facility in Mesa, Arizona to a group of reporters from the defense ministry's press corps last Thursday. In April, South Korea's defense authorities endorsed

DefenseDec. 6, 2023

Prosecutors raid residence of Newstapa's chief over suspected defamation of Yoon

Prosecutors on Wednesday raided the home of the head of online news outlet Newstapa in connection with its reporting of an alleged fake interview given in 2021 to discredit then opposition presidential candidate Yoon Suk Yeol. The Seoul Central District Prosecutors Office sent prosecutors and investigators to the residence of Newstapa's chief, Kim Yong-jin, in the morning to seize materials related to the coverage of the interview on the eve of last year's presidential election. The ca

Social AffairsDec. 6, 2023

N. Korea doles out gifts to participants in mothers' conference

North Korea has held a meeting to hand out gifts to participants in the latest national conference of mothers, state media reported Wednesday, in an apparent move to secure their loyalty amid a declining birth rate. The central committee of the ruling Workers' Party provided the participants with significant gifts "associated with the meticulous paternal affection" of leader Kim Jong-un. Kim did not attend Tuesday's event, but the Korean Central News Agency said he made sure

North KoreaDec. 6, 2023

Man adopts 2 cats, just to kill them

A man in his twenties who killed two cats on the same day he adopted them has been sentenced to eight months in prison for animal cruelty, Changwon District Court said Tuesday. The defendant was accused of killing the cats inside his car at a parking lot in Gimhae, South Gyeongsang Province in September last year, and mutilating their remains. The man had adopted the cats just hours before killing them. A police investigation found his motive to be contempt toward cats, which was sparked by stra

Social AffairsDec. 6, 2023