South Korea's Air Force said Monday it will resume the operation of its combat aircraft suspended after a pilot died earlier this month following the sudden crash of an F-5E fighter. The armed service said the operation of its warplanes, except for F-5Es and F-35As, will resume in phases, starting at noon. Since the fatal crash last week, the Air Force has run only essential assets, such as rec...

The scheduled talks between South Korean President Moon Jae-in and Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan were canceled due to an "unforeseen matter of state" of the de facto ruler of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), a senior Seoul official has said. Moon, who is in Dubai for a three-day visit as part of his weeklong trip to the Middle East, had been scheduled to hold talks with the ...

A spate of missile tests serves ‘domestic political and foreign policy purposes,’ analysts say

South Korea will strengthen cooperation with the United Arab Emirates in major technologies related to the hydrogen economy, President Moon Jae-in said Sunday. The president, who is in Dubai for a three-day visit as part of his trip to the Middle East, made the remark at a business forum attended by Suhail bin Mohammed Al Mazrouei, Minister of Energy and Infrastructure of the UAE. “Korea and th...

Daily figure hovers over 4,000, omicron likely to become dominant strain in coming days

Main opposition presidential candidate Yoon Suk-yeol said Sunday he will deal sternly with illegal labor rallies if elected in March. In a Facebook post, Yoon of the conservative People Power Party slammed the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, a major umbrella labor group, over its massive street rally in downtown Seoul on Saturday. "The KCTU, which reigns above the law, is a symbol of unfa...

The presidential candidate of the minor progressive Justice Party visited an apartment building collapse site in the southwestern city of Gwangju on Sunday, four days after she suspended her campaign to review her strategy amid dismal approval ratings. Sim Sang-jeung traveled to Gwangju unannounced as rescue workers searched for a sixth day to locate five of the six people who went missing in th...

Main opposition party’s presidential candidate proposes to adopt ‘science-based’ COVID-19 measures

N. Korea views negotiation as a sideshow, while US is unwilling to expend more political capital

BEIJING/SHENYANG -- A North Korean freight train crossed the Yalu River railroad bridge into China on Sunday, multiple sources said, raising the prospect of the two sides resuming land transactions in earnest following more than a year of suspension attributable to the COVID-19 pandemic. The train from Sinuiju arrived in the Chinese border city of Dandong at around 9:10 a.m., they said, while it...

South Korea on Sunday reported another highly pathogenic avian influenza case at a duck farm in a southwestern region. The farm is raising about 33,000 ducks in Yeongam, 384 kilometers south of Seoul, according to the agriculture and livestock ministry. It marked the 21st case of highly pathogenic avian influenza found at poultry farms this winter. The government has alerted local poultry farm...

Ruling party presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung said Sunday he will resume tourism to North Korea's Mount Kumgang as soon as possible if elected in March. Lee announced the pledge during a visit to the border county of Goseong, 466 kilometers northeast of Seoul, referring to a program that was suspended in 2008 following the shooting death of a South Korean tourist at the mountain by a North K...

The South Korean government has further beefed up its early warning monitoring system on thousands of core industrial items in a bid to prevent the recurrence of a problem like the abrupt supply crunch of urea solution late last year, according to the country's foreign ministry Sunday. The ministry said such a strengthened "economic security" system has been established at 37 embassies and other...

South Korea's daily coronavirus cases stayed above 4,000 for the fifth straight day Sunday as health authorities remain vigilant over a possible upsurge in infections and the spread of the omicron variant ahead of the upcoming Lunar New Year holiday. The country added 4,194 new COVID-19 infections, including 3,813 local infections, raising the total caseload to 692,174, according to the Korea Di...

Experts voice need for more authority of frontline workers with budgetary, legal support