North Korea fired two medium-range ballistic missiles into the East Sea on Sunday morning from the site it claimed to have tested a high-thrust solid-fuel engine three days ago, apparently used for developing newer and more advanced intercontinental ballistic missiles. The National Security Office vowed to "take all possible measures" to protect the people from North Korea’s provocations and to ...

President Yoon Suk-yeol vowed to make Korea a safe nation from sexual and drug crimes, touching on multiple economic, welfare and labor issues in a rare pangovernmental meeting broadcast live on Thursday afternoon. In the meeting presided over by Yoon and attended by all ministers and 100 ordinary people, Yoon and his officials answered questions from a public panel in three sessions about the e...

As the truckers strike ended last week, President Yoon Suk-yeol on Tuesday said he would hold responsible those workers who didn't comply with the state order to return to work “until the end” of his presidency. Truckers voted to return to work after 16 days of striking on Friday after calling for the government to make permanent a minimum freight rate system that is to expire this year. During ...

The Seoul Metropolitan Government said trains would pass without stopping in the case of severe delays at subway stations due to a disabled advocacy group’s protests on Tuesday. Solidarity Against Disability Discrimination announced Monday it would stage subway-riding protests at Seoul's Samgakji Station on Line Nos. 4 and 6 at 8 a.m. and 2 p.m. the following day. A city official said, “This do...

President Yoon Suk-yeol appears to be considering granting presidential pardons to politicians and businessmen currently serving jail time, including former President Lee Myung-bak and former South Gyeongsang Province Gov. Kim Kyoung-soo, by the end of this year, according to reports quoting multiple sources from the ruling bloc. The Ministry of Justice is expected to open a pardon review commit...

Senior officials of the International Labor Organization are set to meet with the Korean ministries of labor and transport to discuss matters regarding the local truckers strike on the occasion of attending a local conference in Seoul, the United Nations agency confirmed on Monday. The ILO members, including Tim de Meyer, senior adviser on standards policy, Karen Curtis, chief of the freedom of ...

The closest aide to the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea's leader Lee Jae-myung was handed over to trial on Friday on bribery charges, heightening the possibility of investigating Lee soon. The prosecution indicted Jeong Jin-sang on charges of receiving a total of 240 million won ($184,000) in bribes from Yoo Dong-gyu, the former head of the Seongnam Urban Development Corporation. Yoon ...

South Korean truckers voted to return to work after 16 days of striking, with a majority of union members voting against continuing the demonstration. The Cargo Truckers Solidarity union has been on strike since Nov. 24, calling for the government to make permanent a minimum freight rate system that is to expire this year. They held an emergency meeting on Thursday and decided to vote on whethe...

A couple in their 60s who owned a bear breeding farm were found dead in an apparent attack by the bears they own, the police said on Friday. Bear breeding faces criticism for violating animal rights, but the government is not able to provide other options at the moment, as it would take many more years to build adequate facilities. On Thursday night, police found the bodies of the couple at the ...

President Yoon Suk-yeol on Thursday hosted a formal dinner for the national soccer team in celebration of the team's performance in the 2022 Qatar World Cup, officials said. The banquet was held at Yeongbingwan, a reception hall at Cheong Wa Dae, a former presidential office. It was attended by 22 members of the South Korean national soccer team, including captain Son Heung-min, coach Paulo Bent...

President Yoon Suk-yeol has likened the ongoing truckers strike to North Korea's nuclear threats, saying the government should respond sternly with principles like it does to protect the people from Pyongyang's repeated actions of menace. "If we had pursued (consistent) North Korea policies based on the principle of nuclear intolerance, we wouldn't be facing North Korea's nuclear threat as we do...

President Yoon Suk-yeol has instructed officials to prepare the extension of the “work start order” for the oil and steel industries, calling the prolonged truckers' protests "political, illegal and violent." President Yoon presided over a meeting with related ministers on Sunday afternoon, urging the ministers to prepare for immediate issuance of a work start order in the industries concerned a...

Vietnamese President Nguyen Xuan Phuc welcomed The Korea Herald CEO Choi Jin-young to his presidential palace in Hanoi on Thursday for a special meeting commemorating the 30th anniversary of Korea-Vietnam diplomatic relations. The meeting was attended by Park Hang-seo, head coach of Vietnam's national soccer team, Ambassador to Vietnam Oh Young-ju and leaders of the Korea-Vietnam Friendship Asso...

"I think any country where you see people trying to speak out, trying to speak up, to protest peacefully, to make known their frustrations -- whatever the issue is -- in any country where we see that happening and then we see the government take massive repressive action to stop it, that's not a sign of strength,” US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said. “It's a sign of weakness." Canada Prime...

The presidential office on Wednesday denied rumors that South Korea offered to give up its bid to host the 2030 Expo in exchange for a contract for Saudi Arabia's $500 billion Neom city project, calling it "fake news produced by the opposition party." “Currently, Prime Minister Han Duck-soo and the office of future strategy and planning in the presidential office are touring the world in a fierc...