Day laborers and low-income earners in South Korea feel that they have a high chance of dying alone and remaining unnoticed for days, compared to peers with regular jobs earning higher incomes, a survey showed Sunday. Those employed and paid daily without a regular job feared they would have an average 41.8 percent chance of suffering a "lonely death," compared to 28.6 percent for those with regular jobs, according to data from a survey by the Korea Institute for Health and Social Af

Social Affairs Dec. 3, 2023

President Yoon Suk Yeol revived the presidential office for policy which he ditched last year and replaced all of his senior secretaries, effective on Monday, the presidential office announced Thursday. Yoon promoted Lee Kwan-sup, the incumbent senior presidential secretary in charge of state affairs coordination, to become the first chief presidential secretary for policy in Yoon's term. Yoon abolished the post to reduce the team of presidential advisers upon his inauguration in May 2022.

Politics Nov. 30, 2023

President Yoon Suk Yeol on Wednesday extended an apology for the South Korean port city Busan's failure to host the World Expo 2030. "I feel that we greatly missed our prediction target, which was based on what we've felt from meetings (to ask for support for Busan's bid)," Yoon said in a 10-minute speech to South Korean citizens at his office. "The blame is all on me." Yoon expressed his appreciation for the all-out efforts of those involved in Busan's bi

Politics Nov. 29, 2023

Riyadh, Saudi Arabia has won the right to host the World Expo in 2030, beating South Korea's port city of Busan, results of the final vote showed on Tuesday. Members of the Bureau International des Expositions, the World Expo organizing authority, held a vote by secret ballot during a general assembly on Tuesday in Paris, following the final presentations of the bidders' proposals. Riyadh garnered 119 votes out of the 165 as Busan won 29 votes in the first round of voting by members of

Foreign Affairs Nov. 29, 2023

President Yoon Suk Yeol on Tuesday ordered the Cabinet to look into possibilities of a cyberattack on public digital infrastructure amid a series of administrative network breakdowns that caused inconveniences to the public in the past week. According to Yoon at a Cabinet meeting held in his office in Seoul, the presidential National Security Office has launched a pangovernmental investigation to inspect any potential vulnerabilities in South Korea's administrative networks, adding the lack of c

Politics Nov. 28, 2023

Speculation is growing over how the reshuffle of President Yoon Suk Yeol's Cabinet will play out with less than five months left before the parliamentary elections, widely seen as a litmus test of public support for the conservative leader. More than half of the 19 members of the Cabinet are likely to be replaced over the course of the next month, according to ruling party sources cited by media reports Monday. The Cabinet reshuffle will be carried out along with a presidential office shake

Politics Nov. 27, 2023

President Yoon Suk Yeol accepted the National Intelligence Service head Kim Kyou-hyun's offer to step down from the post without naming his successor. Yoon's office said Sunday in a statement that Kim "reestablished NIS' position as the nation's top agency dedicated to security and intelligence, and put in efforts to set up a system for cooperation with allies' intelligence agencies." Kim, former deputy national security adviser, was tapped as the spy agency ch

Politics Nov. 26, 2023

Prime Minister Han Duck-soo departed for Paris on Sunday to attend a general assembly of the Bureau International des Expositions on Tuesday, where a vote will take place to determine the fate of Busan's bid to host the World Expo in 2030. Accompanying Han at Incheon Airport were Industry Minister Bang Moon-kyu, Second Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Oh Young-ju, Busan Mayor Park Heong-joon, and Chey Tae-won, who is the head of the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the chairman

Politics Nov. 26, 2023

First lady Kim Keon Hee told Queen Camilla about South Korea's legislative moves to ban the consumption of dog meat during their meeting in London last week, according to a presidential spokesperson on Sunday. Touting the move initiated by the Yoon Suk Yeol administration and the ruling party to ban dog meat sales by 2027, Kim described the proposed legal ban as a constructive step to enhance the awareness of animal rights, spokesperson Lee Do-woon said in a written statement. Yoon's t

Politics Nov. 26, 2023

South Korea and the United Kingdom on Wednesday agreed to establish a "two plus two" ministerial dialogue where foreign and defense ministers would hold regular bilateral meetings, amid signs of a destabilizing international order that the countries seek to jointly defend. The UK now becomes the third country to establish such ministerial dialogue with Korea, following the United States and Australia, according to Kim Tae-hyo, first deputy director of the presidential National Securi

Politics Nov. 23, 2023

President Yoon Suk Yeol and King Charles III celebrated the 140th anniversary of the two countries' diplomatic relationship in a series of high-profile events held in London on Tuesday, pledging to set new milestones for their bilateral ties as well as to join hands to promote freedom, peace and prosperity worldwide. Tuesday's grand ceremonial welcome celebrated the centuries-old friendship between South Korea, which rose from the ashes of the Korean War to becoming Asia's fourth-

Politics Nov. 22, 2023

South Korea and the United Kingdom are poised to adopt a new bilateral framework called the Downing Street Accord, during the upcoming summit between President Yoon Suk Yeol and UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, Yoon's office said Tuesday. The adoption of the new agreement will upgrade the relations between the two countries to a "global strategic partnership" from a "broad and creative partnership," emphasizing that the two countries will jointly address geopolitical risks as t

Politics Nov. 21, 2023

President Yoon Suk Yeol on Monday began a four-day state visit to the United Kingdom, invited by King Charles III, to mark the 140th anniversary of relations between the two countries this year. During the visit, Yoon is poised to strengthen bilateral security and economic ties with the UK in the face of the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East. He will meet Prime Minister Rishi Sunak during the four-day trip, according to the presidential office on Sunday. "Korea will serve as a nonpermanen

Politics Nov. 20, 2023

While time is running out, there are still no clear prospects of a formal meeting between President Yoon Suk Yeol and Chinese President Xi Jinping. "We have a day left (before departing from the United States) and discussions (over an arrangement of the Yoon-Xi meeting) are ongoing," a presidential official told reporters on condition of anonymity Thursday. "We cannot guarantee that the meeting of the two leaders would actually happen due to the leaders' packed schedules.&quo

Politics Nov. 17, 2023

President Yoon Suk Yeol met US President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida at Moscone Center in San Francisco on the margins of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation leaders' week on Thursday, according to Yoon's office on Friday. It was their first trilateral meeting in six months. They last met in Hiroshima, Japan, during the Group of Seven meeting in May. The talks lasted for about 10 minutes, according to Kim Tae-hyo, first deputy director of the presidential Nati

Politics Nov. 17, 2023