The South Korean government said Wednesday a disaster alert it issued in Seoul at around 6:30 a.m. was issued in error after North Korea launched what it says is a space satellite. According to an official at the Joint Chiefs of Staff of South Korea, the North Korea's projectile "flew over the Yellow Sea, and (its trajectory) had nothing to do with the Seoul and the neighboring areas." This cam...

South Korea's Supreme Court on Tuesday expanded the definition of harassment to include repeated missed calls by an offender meant to intimidate a victim in a landmark ruling. On May 18, the nation's top court remanded the case to the Busan District Court, dismissing the lower court's ruling that refused to recognize the behavior of leaving numerous missed calls as harassment. It was the first S...

The scandal surrounding alleged unfair hiring practices in South Korea's National Election Commission is growing. Jeon Hyun-heui, chair of the Anti-corruption and Civil Rights Commission, told a press briefing Tuesday that it has embarked on an investigation into unfair hiring practices in the election commission, following complaints filed with the civil rights authorities. The investigation w...

The Seoul Metropolitan Government on Tuesday proposed a bill to increase its annual budget by 3.04 trillion won ($2.3 billion) to boost the social safety net, as inflation bites hard on finances of the city's nearly 10 million residents. The plan, submitted to the city council, will bring this year's total budget of South Korea's capital city to 50.3 trillion won. The increased budget will be s...

South Korea's crackdown on protests it sees as unlawful is materializing amid escalating tensions between the conservative Yoon Suk Yeol administration and local labor unions voicing disapproval of Yoon's union-busting drive. On Thursday, the police detained three demonstrators at around 8:50 p.m. in front of the Supreme Court of Korea in Seocho-gu, Seoul, for staging a protest without providing...

South Korea is facing calls for universal provision of free period products, like menstrual pads or tampons, for young Korean women, as the nation is already experiencing the world's lowest fertility rate. Rep. Jang Hye-young of the progressive minority Justice Party told reporters on Friday at the National Assembly that she was working to propose a revision of the Youth Welfare Support Act to a...

According to Asiana Airlines and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, a male passenger in his 30s who was sitting in an emergency exit aisle pulled the emergency exit lever by force. The man reportedly claimed that he accidentally opened the door by touching the wrong device. The case was being handled by the Dongchon District Office under the Daegu Police Agency. Asiana said the...

Over the past seven decades, The Korea Herald has been a mirror of South Korea's rapid democratization, economic growth and cultural prosperity for its short modern history of rising from the ashes of the Korean War, the US ambassador to South Korea said. Philip Goldberg, at "The ROK-US Alliance Plus" forum Wednesday commemorating the 70-year Korea-US alliance, thanked The Korea Herald reporters...

James Kim, chairman and CEO of the American Chamber of Commerce in Korea, echoed Kim in that the more diversified partnership between the two countries will strengthen ties that have been built over the past 70 years since the cease-fire of the 1950-53 Korean War. "The US and Korea have such a rich history of cooperation based on trust, shared values and strategic interests. ... The economic par...

South Korea's parliament is on the verge of passing a revision bill to make it mandatory for high-ranking public officials to declare any cryptocurrency asset holdings, just a few weeks after a loophole in the law aimed at preventing corruption of public officials was exposed. Lawmakers are looking to float the revision of the Public Service Ethics Act at the plenary session of the National Asse...

South Korea's first lady Kim Keon Hee pledged on Tuesday to make South Korea a bucket list destination for travelers in the world, stressing a need of offering cultural experiences to visitors. "More of the world's travelers are enjoying the emerging trend of soaking themselves in the mood of being in Korea with Korean foods, cultural elements, artworks and traditional forms of architecture," sh...

Sin Chang-won, Korea's most famous fugitive, has attempted to take his own life but was not in critical condition, according to the Justice Ministry on Monday. Sin, 56, was found by a correctional officer while attempting to commit suicide in Daejeon Prison at around 8:15 p.m. Sunday. After resuscitation, he was immediately transferred to an unnamed hospital nearby. Sin was admitted to the inte...

A dozen human rights advocacy groups led by the Switzerland-based MENA Rights Group have in an open letter called on World Expo organizers not to consider Riyadh as a potential host for the World Expo 2030. In the letter dated May 16, the groups cited concerns that the event could be used to "whitewash" the country's human rights record, which includes the continued use of the death penalty, cru...

Earlier this week, Yoon met Zelenskyy's wife, first lady Olena Zelenska, in Seoul. On Tuesday, Zelenska asked for Seoul's support within its capacity, telling Yoon that she understands the country's challenges in providing lethal weapons, according to Yoon's office. Seoul has long insisted that it would only provide humanitarian aid to Ukraine, effectively rejecting Kyiv requests for lethal wea...

A 21-member Fukushima Daiichi wastewater inspection team departed from Incheon Airport Sunday morning for a six-day trip to Japan to deliver Seoul's own assessment of the wastewater treatment facilities in the quake-hit region before Japan's planned discharge of the water starting as early as this year. The inspection team reiterated that it would affirm the safety of the facilities in Japan bas...