Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong continued to be hopeful on North Korea, but failed to give details or reasons when pressed on the issue in a US media interview on Thursday, a day ahead of a summit between President Moon Jae-in and US President Joe Biden in Washington DC. “North Korea has a very unique system of governance. There is only one person who can make final decisions, which is their sup...

South Korean soldiers have been using substandard exercise clothes and berets for years, the Defense Acquisition Program Administration said amid continued reports about poorly fed troops. According to DAPA data released by Rep. Yoon Joo-kyung of the main opposition People Power Party on Thursday, eight of the 18 companies that provide apparel for the military has supplied substandard exercise c...

US Forces Korea commander nominee Gen. Paul LaCamera said he will advocate for inclusion of the USFK in contingency plans in the Indo-Pacific region, if it is confirmed he will take up the post. “Given the global role of the US military and, increasingly, the international reach of the South Korean military, opportunities are emerging for (Korea-US) alliance cooperation beyond the Korean Peninsu...

The case of a 21-year-old medical student found dead in the Han River on April 30, which has received much media interest, took a new turn on Monday as his friend spoke out through his lawyer for the first time. Sohn Jung-min went missing early on April 25 after drinking overnight with his friend at a riverside park in Banpo, Seoul, and was found dead in the river days later. As Sohn’s father d...

The court said Friday that it had rejected an injunction request from NGOs to ban the sales and distribution of a memoir of North Korea’s founder Kim Il-sung. Kim Seung-kyun, who runs a company that used to trade with North Korea, republished the eight-volume memoirs, titled “With the Century,” last month for the first time in South Korea, and sales of the books once called by the Supreme Court ...

The US State Department detailed the South Korean government’s limitations on in-person worship to contain COVID-19, and conflicts that arose in the process in its annual International Religious Freedom report released Wednesday. The report mentioned that the South Korean government placed restrictions on the number of persons who could gather together for any purpose, including for religious wo...

Lee Sung-yoon, chief of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office, was expected to be indicted for abuse of authority on Tuesday on the recommendation of a panel of experts. He is alleged to have stopped an inquiry into an illegal travel ban on an ex-vice justice minister. If indicted, Lee would be the first incumbent Seoul prosecution chief to stand accused in court. Out of the 13 panel m...

President Moon Jae-in’s approval ratings inched up to 36 percent in a weekly poll, while 60.3 percent disapproved of his presidential performance. In a survey of 2,015 adults nationwide conducted by Realmeter on May 3, 4, 6 and 7, approval ratings went up by 3 percentage points from the week before. Those who gave the president a thumbs-down slid 2.3 percentage points. The poll had a margin of ...

The ruling party’s presidential hopefuls have begun talking about giving money to young people who completed their military duties, young people who do not own homes and even newborns. The opposition has decried them as populist pledges. Former Democratic Party leader Lee Nak-yon proposed on Thursday, “let’s spend the comprehensive real estate holding tax revenue collected from owners of multip...

The father of a 21-year-old medical student who was found dead in the Han River bid farewell to his son at his funeral Wednesday, as he awaits the final autopsy results. Sohn Jung-min was last seen asleep early April 25 by a friend who drank with him at the riverside park in Banpo, Seoul. Sohn’s body was found on April 30 in the Han River. The father had written on his blog asking for help to f...

New Prosecutor General nominee Kim Oh-soo stressed the organizational stability of the prosecution as his top priority on Tuesday as he prepares for a parliamentary confirmation hearing to succeed Yoon Seok-youl, who rose to political stardom by defying his bosses. “If I am appointed as prosecutor general, I think stabilizing the organization is the most important thing,” Kim told reporters as h...

A 22-year-old medical student was found dead in the Han River on Friday after going missing for six days, and his family is awaiting the results of an autopsy to learn how he died. Sohn Jung-min was last seen asleep at the riverside park in Banpo, Seoul, early on April 25 by his friend, who had also fallen asleep. The two had been drinking together. An autopsy was conducted at the request of So...

Oscar winner Youn Yuh-jung, 73, is loved not just for her acting, but also for her candid and humorous remarks. The veteran actor of over 50 years said on a US television show on Tuesday that she doesn’t “admire” Hollywood. “When some project comes from America, people in Korea think I admire Hollywood,” Youn told NBC Asian America. “No, I don’t admire Hollywood. The reason I keep coming is be...

The Foreign Ministry called in a Japanese diplomat Tuesday to protest Tokyo’s renewed territorial claims over South Korea’s easternmost islets of Dokdo in its annual foreign policy paper. The 2021 diplomatic blue book, an analysis of last year’s international affairs and record of Japan’s diplomatic activities, was the first issued under Japanese Prime Minister Suga Yoshihide, who took office in...

Gyeonggi Province Gov. Lee Jae-myung and opposition lawmaker Rep. Yoon Hee-sook argued on Monday over Lee’s proposal of a system where the amount of fines is based on how rich the offender is. Lee, who has long been among the ruling party’s strongest presidential hopefuls in public polls, wrote via Facebook on Sunday that the amount of fines should be proportionate to the offender’s property. “...