South Korea's whiskey imports surged by 40 percent year-on-year through August, signaling the potential for record-breaking annual inbound whiskey shipments this year. Whiskey product imports totaled 22,799 tons in volume from January to August this year, marking a significant increase from 16,267 tons recorded during the same period in 2022, according to data from the Korea Customs Service. If the current import trend continues, this year's volume is likely to surpass the 2002 record

Industry Sept. 29, 2023

Opposition leader Lee Jae-myung on Friday publicly proposed one-on-one talks with President Yoon Suk Yeol amid intensifying feuds between the political rivals. The proposal from the chairman of South Korea's main opposition Democratic Party comes just two days after he narrowly averted a crisis in his political career, with the court dismissing an arrest warrant request related to corruption charges filed against him. With the arrest reprieve that bolstered the DP’s counterattack, the poli

Politics Sept. 29, 2023

North Korea's advancements in nuclear and missile capabilities have enabled the country to deploy its nuclear weapons "at any stage of conflict," the US Defense Department said in a new defense strategy revealed Thursday. The Strategy for Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction has been updated for the first time since 2014. This update reflects the current and emerging challenges and threats associated with WMD, including the trend of actors that pose a threat to the US. The Penta

North Korea Sept. 29, 2023

Lee Jae-myung, the leader of South Korea’s main opposition Democratic Party of Korea, returned from the brink of a legal crisis as the court dismissed an arrest warrant request linked to corruption charges filed against him early Wednesday. The request, had it been approved, would have seen Lee become the first incumbent opposition leader in South Korea's history to be arrested. The Seoul Central District Court's rejection marks a substantial setback in the prosecution’s ef

Politics Sept. 27, 2023

The South Korean military showcased an array of domestically produced advanced weaponry in a rare, large-scale military parade in downtown Seoul on Tuesday, with its commander-in-chief warning North Korea of the collapse of the Kim Jong-un regime in the case of a nuclear attack against the South. In commemoration of the 75th anniversary of Armed Forces Day, observed each year on Oct. 1, South Korea demonstrated its robust conventional military capabilities, serving as a resolute message to North

Defense Sept. 26, 2023

South Korea's defense minister nominee has said the inter-Korean military agreement should be abolished in light of its adverse security implications for South Korea in a written statement submitted to the National Assembly. The nominee, Rep. Shin Won-sik of the ruling People Power Party, who previously served as a three-star general, repeatedly reiterated his critical stance on the inter-Korean comprehensive military agreement that was signed on Sept. 19 during the inter-Korean summit in 2

Defense Sept. 25, 2023

North Korea released scathing criticism filled with abusive language on Monday in response to South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol's denunciation of internationally prohibited, potential military transactions between Moscow and Pyongyang during his speech at the UN General Assembly. South Korea, however, has opted to disregard the criticism, considering it unworthy of a response. North Korea's state-run Korean Central News Agency, primarily oriented toward an international audience, re

North Korea Sept. 25, 2023

Leading figures of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea lashed out at party rebels Friday, after the previous day's unexpected approval of a hearing on a warrant to arrest the party's leader, Lee Jae-myung. The hearing has been scheduled for Tuesday. The result of the vote came as a shock, as Lee's party holds 168 out of the 298 seats in the National Assembly. The outcome suggests that dozens of Democratic Party lawmakers cast dissenting votes. At the Supreme Council meet

Politics Sept. 22, 2023

Seoul and Washington embarked on their inaugural joint underwater search operation, aiming to locate the wreckage of a US fighter jet and the remains of American pilots who lost their lives during the 1950-53 Korean War in the waters of the East Sea on the Korean Peninsula. South Korea's Ministry of National Defense Agency for Killed in Action Recovery Identification (MAKRI) and the US Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) commenced a three-week retrieval operation on Sept. 7 in the wate

Defense Sept. 22, 2023

North Korea held a Politburo meeting on Wednesday to discuss leader Kim Jong-un's recent visit to Russia and subsequent actions required to put the trip's outcomes into effect, state-run media reported Friday. Kim made his first public appearance following his extensive 10-day overseas trip by participating in a Political Bureau meeting at the headquarters of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea in Pyongyang. During the meeting, Kim Song-nam, the director of the In

North Korea Sept. 22, 2023

The South Korean government on Thursday handed out the world's first unilateral sanction on North Korea's defense minister, who had accompanied North Korean leader Kim Jong-un on his recent trip to Russia. The financial sanctions also targeted other individuals and entities allegedly involved in illicit arms and financial transactions with third party countries, most notably Russia. The announcement of sanctions appears to be a tit-for-tat response to indications of illicit military tr

Foreign Affairs Sept. 21, 2023

South Korea will consider imposing unilateral sanctions as a viable course of action should concrete evidence of illicit military cooperation between North Korea and Russia be confirmed, Seoul's vice foreign minister said Thursday. Vice Foreign Minister Chang Ho-jin emphasized that Russia's potential transfer of technologies to enhance North Korea's weapons of mass destruction would constitute a "serious violation of UN Security Council resolutions" if confirmed. "T

Foreign Affairs Sept. 21, 2023

North Korean state-run media on Wednesday broadcast a documentary that featured North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's motorcade in Russia, notably escorted by vans manufactured by South Korea's auto giant, Hyundai Motor. The state-controlled Korean Central Television, which primarily targets the North's domestic audience, unveiled an hour-and-a-half-long documentary titled "A Historical Moment: Setting a New Milestone in North Korea-Russia Relations," providing a comprehensi

North Korea Sept. 21, 2023

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un was on his way back to Pyongyang on Sunday, wrapping up a six-day trip to the Russian Far East that focused on military cooperation with Moscow amid blistering criticism from the international community for defying sanctions. As his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin stoked fears across the West and its allies over a potential arms deal, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol said the military cooperation between Pyongyang and Moscow is "illegal and

North Korea Sept. 17, 2023

Russian President Vladimir Putin has accepted an invitation from North Korean leader Kim Jong-un to visit North Korea, following their high-stakes summit where they mutually committed to strengthening their alignment against perceived "imperialists’ military threats." Kim extended the invitation to Putin after the reception of their summit at the Vostochny Cosmodrome in the Amur region of Russia's Far East on Wednesday, asking him to visit "at his convenience," Nor

North Korea Sept. 14, 2023