Former President Park Geun-hye on Monday refused to attend a hearing in her trial, making good on an earlier pledge to boycott the process. The Korea Herald explains possible motives behind her boycott and what is likely to happen next. One of five public lawyers assigned by the court to former President Park Geun-hye takes questions Monday at Seoul Central District Court in Seoul. Yonhap1. Things to know about Park Geun-hye and her trialPark Geun-hye was South Korea’s conservative icon and firs

Social Affairs Nov. 27, 2017

Shortly before Chuseok, the Korean thanksgiving, earlier this month, I had the opportunity to step back from the front line of daily news production and take a break. I stayed a wonderful five nights and six days in Riga, the capital of Latvia, as part of a South Korean media delegation. It was slightly off the “best season” for travel in the Baltic state -- spring and summer -- but luckily the weather was mostly favorable, almost like the weather in Seoul now. With its beautiful medieval city c

Viewpoints Oct. 18, 2017

RIGA, Latvia – Latvia will participate in next year’s PyeongChang Winter Olympics despite security concerns over North Korea’s weapons of mass destruction program, its president Raimonds Vejonis has confirmed. In an interview with Korean media, the leader also confirmed his official visit to South Korea in February, timed to coincide with the sports event. Latvian president Raimonds Vejonis (Yonhap)“I will be the first Latvian president to visit your country,” Vejonis told a group of Korean repo

Foreign Affairs Oct. 9, 2017

South Korean President Moon Jae-in ended his four-day visit to the United Nations General Assembly in New York, where he had sought international support for efforts to contain the wayward North Korea. His talk of peace on the global diplomatic stage, however, appears to have made little impact, as the war rhetoric between the US and North Korea only became fiercer with the North’s leader Kim Jong-un threatening “highest-level” actions to make “deranged” US President Donald Trump “pay dearly” fo

North Korea Sept. 22, 2017

South Korean President Moon Jae-in called for a greater United Nations role in resolving the North Korea crisis, in his debut speech to the UN General Assembly on Thursday, urging fellow leaders to together confront the “Cold War’s last stand” in the Far East. “The Korean Peninsula is where the guiding spirit of the UN -- world peace through multiculturalism -- is most desperately needed right now,” Moon said at the UN headquarters in New York. (Yonhap)Introducing the two Koreas’ history of war,

North Korea Sept. 21, 2017

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un on Saturday declared the intermediate-range Hwasong-12 missile operationally ready, a day after test-firing it at a normal angle over Japan’s northern island of Hokkaido. This is the missile with which the communist regime had earlier threatened to contain the Pacific island of Guam, a key US military outpost about 3,400 kilometers from Pyongyang. The Korea Herald looks into what an “operational Hwasong-12” means in the North’s missile capacities, as well as for S

North Korea Sept. 17, 2017

North Korea fired yet another missile over Japan into the northern Pacific Ocean, South Korean and Japanese officials confirmed Friday, in a clear show of defiance against international sanctions and pressure. The launch, which came days after the United Nations adopted its toughest-ever sanctions against the North, put millions in Japan into a “duck and cover,” escalating a sense of crisis in the region over the wayward regime’s relentless pursuit of missile and nuclear capabilities. According

North Korea Sept. 15, 2017

The National Assembly on Monday rejected President Moon Jae-in’s nominee for the Constitutional Court president, in spite of a prolonged void in the top judiciary’s leadership. In a floor vote that took place more than two months after Kim Yi-su’s confirmation hearing, 145 out of 293 lawmakers present voted for the nominee, while another 145 voted against him. One abstained. Two votes were listed as invalid. It was the first time a court chief designate was rejected by the legislature.  Rep. Cho

Politics Sept. 11, 2017

In light of recent brutal crimes involving minors, calls are growing in South Korea that it is time to end leniency toward juvenile offenders. Politicians appear to concur. Rep. Choo Mi-ae, chairwoman of the ruling Democratic Party, highlighted the need to revise the Juvenile Act, which covers criminal offenders aged 10 to 18 and allows them to receive more lenient treatment. Minors under 14 do not face criminal trials at all, while those under 18 are punishable by a maximum of 20 years in jail.

Social Affairs Sept. 6, 2017

North Korea's threat against Guam, a key US military outpost, is based on the Hwasong-12, a new intermediate range missile the country successfully flight-tested for the first time in May.　The liquid-fuel missile is designed to be fired from road mobile launchers and has been previously described by North Korea as built for attacking Alaska and Hawaii. The North followed the May launch with two flight tests of its Hwasong-14 ICBM last month. Analysts said that a wide swath of the continental Uni

North Korea Aug. 13, 2017

Last summer was memorable. Memorable in a bad way. I love summer, but last year’s was unbearable, with day highs hovering over 35 degrees Celsius for weeks. My long-awaited summer holiday was ruined because the wet, sauna-like conditions outside made me not want to leave the comfort of an air-conditioned room. I was then served with electricity bill “bombs” for resorting to air conditioning day and night. I thought it was an exceptional summer.And here we are, in the middle of another scorcher.

Viewpoints Aug. 9, 2017

The conservative Liberty Korea Party on Monday narrowed down its presidential contenders to four in the second round of its in-house competition to pick its single nominee for the May 9 presidential election.The four contenders, who were picked through an opinion poll, were South Gyeongsang Province Gov. Hong Joon-pyo, former six-term lawmaker Rhee In-je, Rep. Kim Jin-tae. and North Gyeongsang Gov.Kim Kwan-yong.  The logo of the Liberty Korea Party (Yonhap)Hong, a tough-talking former prosecutor

Politics March 20, 2017

Looking for plants to clean the air in your home? Here are some low-maintenance plants which are powerful natural air purifiers, recommended by The Korea Herald.

Social Affairs Jan. 13, 2017