The number of emergency patient transports to hospitals that took more than an hour increased by 22 percent this year compared with the previous year, a National Fire Agency report showed Saturday, amid the protracted doctor walkout. According to the report submitted to Rep. Chai Hyun-il of the main opposition Democratic Party, the number of such cases from March to August came to 13,940 this year, up 22 percent from 11,426 cases tallied during the same period last year. In Seoul, 1,166 cases

Social Affairs Sept. 14, 2024

WASHINGTON -- Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump said Friday he will be able to solve "most of the problems" related to North Korea and Iran through "phone calls" and possibly in-person talks, as he commented on Pyongyang's rare disclosure of a nuclear facility and Tehran's supply of missiles to Russia. Trump highlighted his foreign policy chops during a press conference as various polls have shown the former president and his Democratic rival, Kamala

Politics Sept. 14, 2024

WASHINGTON -- The "only viable path" toward lasting peace is through the "complete" denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, a State Department spokesperson said Friday, after North Korea made a rare disclosure of a uranium enrichment facility this week. The spokesperson made the remarks, renewing calls for Pyongyang to return to "constructive" dialogue and reaffirming America's "ironclad" security commitment to South Korea and Japan. The North'

Politics Sept. 14, 2024

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has met with the head of Russia's Security Council in Pyongyang and vowed to deepen the bilateral ties between the two countries, state media said Saturday. The meeting came on the anniversary of a rare summit between Kim and Russian President Vladimir Putin last year at the Vostochny Cosmodrome space center in Russia's Amur region, during which Kim pledged his "full support" for Moscow. During their talks Friday, Kim and Sergei Shoigu, secreta

North Korea Sept. 14, 2024

South Korea's central bank is likely to cut its policy rate in November, rather than in October, as it wants to be confident of a slowdown in household debt increase amid moderating inflation, analysts have said. The Bank of Korea has only two rounds of its monetary decision meetings left this year in October and November. Last month, the BOK kept interest rates unchanged at 3.5 percent, the highest level in about 16 years, for the 13th straight time. The central bank delivered seven cons

Economy Sept. 14, 2024

The United States on Friday highlighted it has "devoted" more intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance assets for security on the Korean Peninsula, after North Korea made a rare disclosure of a uranium enrichment facility this week. White House National Security Communications Advisor John Kirby commented on the North's nuclear facility, saying that the US continues to monitor developments in the recalcitrant regime's nuclear and ballistic missile programs. The North&#

North Korea Sept. 14, 2024

Suwon FC announced Friday they have terminated their contract with Son Jun-ho, three days after the Chinese Football Association slapped the midfielder with a lifetime ban for match fixing. The CFA banned Son for participating in illegal transactions and manipulating matches while playing for Shandong Taishan FC in the top Chinese league from 2021 to 2023. Son was detained by the Chinese police in May 2023 over bribery allegations and was released in March this year. In a teary press conferenc

Soccer Sept. 13, 2024

Doctors and medical professors announced a decision Friday not to join a consultative body proposed by the government and the ruling party to resolve the monthslong medical standoff, saying that it is "premature" to do so unless the government changes its course. Earlier this month, the government and the ruling People Power Party proposed the establishment of a joint consultative body involving rival parties and the medical community to discuss the government's medical reform plan tha

Social Affairs Sept. 13, 2024

President Yoon Suk Yeol visited hospitals in Seoul on Friday to encourage medical staff and reaffirm the government's commitment to carry out health care reform measures to enhance essential medical services. The visit to two public emergency hospitals, the Seoul Medical Center and National Medical Center, came a day before the five-day Chuseok holiday to address concerns about potential disruptions in medical services amid a prolonged walkout by trainee doctors. It marks his second hospita

Politics Sept. 13, 2024

President Yoon Suk Yeol's approval rating fell to 20 percent, marking its lowest level since he took office in May 2022, a poll showed Friday. The survey, conducted by the polling agency Gallup Korea, showed that the positive assessment of Yoon's performance plunged 3 percentage points from the previous week, while his negative assessment reached an all-time high of 70 percent, up 3 percent from a week earlier. Yoon's handling of medical school quotas, the economy, and lack of com

Politics Sept. 13, 2024

The South Korean economy continues to show signs of recovery, driven by strong exports and manufacturing output, with consumer prices showing signs of stabilization, the finance ministry said Friday. The Ministry of Economy and Finance made the assessment in the Green Book, its monthly economic report, noting that domestic demand is also recovering, led by facility investment and the service sector. "The South Korean economy is experiencing a recovery trend amid the stabilization of consume

Economy Sept. 13, 2024

Naver Corp., the operator of South Korea's largest internet platform, has signed an initial agreement with Saudi Arabia's artificial intelligence (AI) agency to jointly develop an Arabic language-based large language model (LLM), company officials said Friday. During the Global AI Summit hosted by the Saudi Data & AI Authority (SDAIA) in Saudi Arabia's capital of Riyadh earlier this week, Naver and the SDAIA signed the memorandum of understanding (MOU) to cooperate in various

Industry Sept. 13, 2024

A high-ranking official at the Presidential Security Service has been arrested on charges of illegally taking personal profits while supervising the relocation of the presidential office, sources said Friday. The Seoul Central District Prosecutors Office arrested a presidential security official, identified by his surname Jeong, and a construction broker, surnamed Kim, after obtaining arrest warrants the previous day, the legal sources said. In October last year, the Board of Audit and Inspectio

Politics Sept. 13, 2024

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has called for increasing the number of centrifuges for uranium enrichment in order to increase its nuclear weapons for self-defense, the state media said Friday. Kim made the call during a visit to the Nuclear Weapons Institute and the "production base of weapon-grade nuclear materials," according to the Korean Central News Agency. The dispatch did not release the location of the facility or date of the visit. "He went round the control room of the

North Korea Sept. 13, 2024

Seoul shares opened higher Friday, tracking overnight gains on Wall Street, as investors expect the Federal Reserve will cut rates next week. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index rose 0.17 percent, or 4.43 points, to 2,576.52 in the first 15 minutes of trading. In August, the US core consumer price index and producer price index rose slightly from a month earlier, dashing hopes for a big cut by the Fed next week. But market participants expect the US central bank to cut rates by at le

Market Sept. 13, 2024