President Moon Jae-in, who is visiting the United Arab Emirates, met with Prime Minister Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum at the Dubai Expo on Sunday and discussed ways to strengthen cooperation in defense, nuclear power plants and Korea’s plan to host the 2030 Busan Expo. During the meeting, the UAE decided to import the Korean interceptor missile Cheongung II, or M-SAM2, becoming the first count...

Panregional cooperation is the key to balanced national development, President Moon Jae-in said Thursday, presiding over the nation’s first meeting for cooperation between central and regional governments. The meeting, called “the second Cabinet meeting,” was held for the first time for top decision-makers of the central and local governments to deliberate on major policies related to regional a...

North Korea’s recent missile launch, which would previously have been a variable in a South Korean presidential election, will have little effect on the upcoming election, as provocations become routine and receive less attention from the public and candidates, experts say. “North Korea’s missile launch is unlikely to have a direct impact on the presidential election,” said Hong Min, a senior re...

President Moon Jae-in will visit three countries in the Middle East -- the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Egypt -- on an eight-day trip beginning Jan. 15, according to the presidential office on Monday. Moon will first visit the UAE between Jan. 16-17 at the invitation of Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan. It is Moon‘s first visit to the country in four years. After th...

North Gyeongsang Province is striving to boost its cultural, tourism, medical and bio sectors that will be in the spotlight in the era of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, said Gov. Lee Cheol-woo in an interview with The Korea Herald. The governor stressed the need for balanced regional development, saying a new engine for national growth lies in the provinces, and that the power and capital mon...

South Korea should join the democratic coalitions designed to keep China in check, instead of hedging between the US and China, which could result in Seoul having to deal with Beijing alone, says Victor Cha, a former top adviser on North Korea in the George W. Bush administration. “Hedging is not a long-term strategy for South Korea between the US and China. It does not help relations with eithe...

President Moon Jae-in on Wednesday reiterated his willingness to build an integrated railway network for the peace on the Korean Peninsula during a visit to a groundbreaking ceremony for railroad construction in the Jejin railway project. On the same day, the North fired a suspected ballistic missile into the sea. “It could symbolically show our trust and willingness to connect the Donghae Line ...

The Korean government says the nation is moving toward stabilizing housing prices due to its supply and policy measures, but experts are scratching their heads. “(Cheong Wa Dae) has thoughts close to a conviction that housing prices have begun to stabilize,” said Park Soo-hyun, senior presidential secretary for public communication, in a local radio interview Tuesday. The nation’s housing price...

Washington should ease sanctions on North Korea with a “snapback” clause, as current measures only give Pyongyang justification for nuclear armament, says the head of the Korean National Diplomatic Academy. “The original purpose of sanctions is to make a country a normal state so that they stop further provocation or give up nuclear weapons. Punishment for doing wrong is incidental,” said Hong H...

President Moon Jae-in hailed progress in South Korean democracy in a New year’s address on Monday, saying it has “matured” and been recognized by the world. “The government, which was launched without a transition committee in the face of an impeachment of the president, unprecedented in constitutional history, straightened up the collapsed constitutional order and advanced democracy,” Moon said...

The next president, to be elected in March and take office in May, will have a host of urgent issues. Korea’s economy has been hit hard by the prolonged pandemic. Millions of small business owners and self-employed people are burdened with mounting debts. Housing prices have soared. The deepening US-China rivalry is posing a tricky policy challenge. Relations with the North and with Japan have t...

South Korea will extend the current social distancing measures for another two weeks, and the youth vaccine pass will be applied from March 1, a top official said Friday. “It is too early to be sure that we have overcome the crisis,” said Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum at the COVID-19 Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters meeting, explaining the plan to strengthen quarantine meas...

Former President Park Geun-hye was to be released at Thursday midnight, when the presidential pardon takes effect, after spending four years and nine months in prison for several corruption convictions. According to the Ministry of Justice, the amnesty of Park was to take effect at midnight. Park was to be released from her room at Samsung Medical Center in Seoul, where she has been receiving tr...

People Power Party presidential candidate Yoon Suk-yeol’s spouse Kim Keon-hee apologized in public Sunday for causing controversy with the allegations that she had made false claims about her career history. “There were my faults in the process of working and studying together,” Kim said with her head bowed as she read out a statement at a press conference in Seoul. “I inflated my career to look...

President Moon Jae-in will meet with leaders of South Korean conglomerates, including Samsung chief Lee Jae-yong, to thank them for their efforts in participating in government-led job creation projects for young people and discuss implementation plans on Monday, Cheong Wa Dae confirmed Sunday. The meeting will be attended by Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong, Hyundai Motor Chairman...