The floor leader of the ruling People Power Party (PPP) on Monday pressured the widely unpopular health minister nominee, Chung Ho-young, to step down amid concerns that his appointment could hinder the party's chances in the upcoming local elections. "I listened to many lawmakers in the party, and many of them showed objections to Chung's appointment," PPP floor leader Rep. Kweon Seong-dong tol...

South Korea, the United States and five other countries on Monday condemned Russia for its invasion of Ukraine in the latest diplomatic pressure on Moscow to end the unprovoked war of aggression. Russia's war in Ukraine has destabilized the global economy and global supply chains and caused a rise in food insecurity and volatility in energy markets. The seven countries, which included Australia...

South Korea will resume an annual field training program for its reserve forces in a scaled-back manner next month after two years of suspension caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the state military recruitment agency said Monday. Starting June 20, some 500,000 reservists will be called upon to complete the program, consisting of field drills and an online session lasting eight hours each, accordi...

South Korea does not seek to alienate any specific country amid an aggressive campaign to bolster the "economy and tech alliance" with the United States under the new Yoon Suk-yeol administration, a senior government official stressed Monday. First Vice Foreign Minister Cho Hyun-dong said the government will make simultaneous efforts to strengthen economic and technology partnerships with China,...

Prime Minister Han Duck-soo said Monday he will make utmost efforts for national unity, while pledging swift implementation of an extra budget aimed at compensating small merchants hit by losses caused by stricter virus curbs. "I will take the lead in national unity and cooperation of politics to resolve matters of people's livelihood, economic recovery, sustainable growth and materialize the sa...

President Yoon Suk-yeol congratulated Tottenham Hotspur's South Korean attacker Son Heung-min on Monday on becoming the first Asian player to win the scoring title in the Premier League. Son scored twice in Tottenham's 5-0 rout of Norwich City at Carrow Road in Norwich, England, on Sunday (local time), and finished the 2021-2022 season with a career-high 23 goals. The player shared the Golden B...

South Korea's new COVID-19 cases fell to a 17-week low Monday, as the omicron-driven surge has slowed in recent weeks. The country added 9,975 new infections, including 17 cases from overseas, bringing the total caseload to 17,967,672, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said. Monday's tally dropped by more than 3,300 cases from a week earlier and was the lowest since the 8,5...

Hanwha Systems Co., the defense and ICT unit of South Korean conglomerate Hanwha Group, said Monday it has partnered with an Italian defense company to cooperate on the export of an advanced radar system as it eyes to further expand its overseas foothold. The memorandum of understanding signed with Leonardo S.p.A. commits the two firms to work on developing an integrated solution that combines H...

More than 52 percent of South Koreans gave a positive assessment of President Yoon Suk-yeol's handling of state affairs in the first poll on Yoon's approval rating since he took office on May 10, the pollster Realmeter said Monday. In the poll of 2,528 people aged 18 or above nationwide conducted from Monday to Friday of last week, 52.1 percent said Yoon did a good job, while 40.6 percent said h...

The homegrown action comedy "The Roundup" is on course to become a box office hit, luring more than 2 million people on its first weekend, data showed Monday. The sequel to the 2017 hit comedy "The Outlaws" attracted 2.53 million people from Friday-Sunday, bringing its cumulative total to 3.55 million in the five days following its release last Wednesday, according to the data by the Korea Film ...

South Korea's Lee Kyoung-hoon tied for 41st place at the second major tournament of the men's golf season, finishing as the top player from the country. Lee shot a final round of two-over 72 at the PGA Championship at Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa, Oklahoma, on Sunday (local time), for a four-day total of five-over 285. Lee hadn't made the cut at his five previous major appearances. This...

South Korea's exports rose 24.1 percent in the first 20 days of May from a year earlier on robust demand for chips and petroleum products, but the country suffered a trade deficit on high fuel costs, customs data showed Monday. The country's outbound shipments stood at $38.6 billion in the May 1-20 period, compared with $31.1 billion a year earlier, according to the data from the Korea Customs S...

In meeting with first lady Kim Keon-hee for the first time this past weekend, US President Joe Biden had a few good words to say, according to sources Monday. Biden was greeted by first lady Kim Keon-hee when he arrived at the National Museum of Korea for a state dinner Saturday. He told President Yoon Suk-yeol and Kim the two men had something in common: Both had "married up." Kim said she ho...

South Korean stocks open higher Monday, buoyed by the anticipation that the outcome of the South Korea-US summit will give a boost to key industrial sectors. The Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 6.88 points, or 0.26 percent, to trade at 2,646.17 in the first 15 minutes of trading. In a joint statement issued after the summit between Presidents Yoon Suk-yeol and Joe Biden on Saturd...

This is no longer a controversial thing to say, and it really shouldn't have been for some time now: Son Heung-min of Tottenham Hotspur may just be the GOAT in South Korean football history, as in, the greatest of all time. The 29-year-old further cemented his case by becoming the first Asian player to win the Golden Boot in Premier League history. Son grabbed a brace in a 5-0 victory over Norw...