The religious groups of the two Koreas have exchanged congratulatory messages for the March 1 Independence Movement Day for the first time amid a growing mood of detente driven by the PyeongChang Winter Olympics. (Yonhap) The South's Celebratory Committee of the March 1 Independence Movement said Wednesday it exchanged statements with a religious coalition of the North. The messages will be rea...

A capsized boat has been found in waters off South Korea's southwest coast, local maritime police said Wednesday. It was reported to the police at about 4:30 p.m. that the boat was found floating upside down in waters off Wando, South Jeolla Province, according to the police. (Yonhap) It is presumed to be a small fishing boat with seven crew said to have been on board when the accident took pl...

The National Assembly on Wednesday passed a bill aimed at shortening working hours despite businesses‘ concerns about increased labor costs. The revision to the Labor Standards Act calls for reducing the country’s maximum statutory working hours to 52 hours a week from the current 68 hours. The working hours under the revision comprise 40 hours a week and up to 12 hours for overtime work. Under...

The Seoul metropolitan government has decided to remove a collection of works dedicated to a top South Korean poet, regularly short-listed for the Nobel Prize in literature, over his alleged sexual harassment of a junior poet, a city official said Wednesday. The official at the Seoul Metropolitan Library, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the library will keep visitors from accessing the...

GENEVA -- Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha will soon meet with US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson in the United States as Seoul ramps up efforts to broker dialogue between Washington and Pyongyang, the ministry has said. "I am trying to talk to my counterpart Tillerson whenever there's the chance and time. ... (The two sides) are currently discussing the meeting to take place in the near future,...

South Korea's Defense Minister Song Young-moo refused Wednesday to confirm a controversial North Korean official's alleged link to the communist state's naval attack in 2010 that killed 46 South Korean sailors. Song's remarks came amid continued criticism of Seoul's decision to embrace Kim Yong-chol, a vice chairman of the Central Committee of the North's ruling Workers' Party, as the chief of P...

President Moon Jae-in hopes to invite leaders of the ruling and opposition parties to Cheong Wa Dae to brief them about inter-Korean relations and other developments that happened during the PyeongChang Winter Olympics, an official said Wednesday. "We're at a stage where the office of the senior political affairs secretary is trying to check the schedules of the leaders of parties in order to pr...

A series of international sanctions will likely plunge the North Korean economy into a deeper slump this year and sharply worsen the living conditions of its citizens, a report said Wednesday. The United States, the United Nations and other nations imposed tough economic sanctions on the reclusive country in retaliation for its nuclear and missile tests last year. Lee Suk, a senior researcher a...

PARIS -- During Japan's 1910-45 colonization of the Korean Peninsula, dozens of Korean laborers were able to emigrate to France, where they helped reconstruct the war-torn European country following World War I, according to French documents obtained by a South Korean researcher. The findings are based on an analysis of documents containing a list of Koreans who were residing in Suippes in the M...

A co-leader of the minor opposition Bareunmirae Party proposed Wednesday that President Moon Jae-in hold talks with the leaders of political parties over the results of a North Korean official's recent visit to Seoul. Park Joo-sun made the call, citing the need to satisfy people's right to know what Seoul officials discussed during their talks with Kim Yong-chol, a vice chairman of the Central C...

GM Korea Co., the South Korean unit of General Motors Co., froze the base wages for 500 executives and team leaders early this year in a drive to cut costs ahead of a local plant shutdown, the company said Wednesday. As the 500 workforce does not belong to GM Korea's 13,000-member union, the company didn't need to seek an agreement for its actions. The company also asked them to reduce the use o...

육군의 주력 무기체계인 전차를 운용하는 기갑 병과를 이끌 여군 장교가 처음으로 탄생했다. 육군은 28일 오후 2시 충북 괴산 육군학생군사학교에서 열리는 2018년 학군장교 임관식에서 여군 박승리(24) 소위와 윤채은(24) 소위가 육군 기갑 병과로 임관한다고 밝혔다. 육군은 2014년 기갑, 포병, 방공, 군종 병과를 여군에게 개방하며 모든 병과의 남녀 제한을 없앴지만, 기갑 병과에서는 아직 여군 장교가 배출되지 않았다. 부사관의 경우 2015년 여군 4명이 처음으로 기갑 병과로 임관했다. 여군 장교 최초 기갑 장교로 임관한 박승리(왼쪽), 윤채은 소위 (사진=연합뉴스) 박승리 소위는 할아버지가 6·25 참전용사이기도 하다. 박 소위는 "금녀의 영역 이었던 기갑 병과에 대한 호기심과 전차 등 기계화...

South Korea's presidential office Cheong Wa Dae on Wednesday welcomed US President Donald Trump's appointment of his secretary for homeland security to lead a delegation to the PyeongChang Paralympic Games. The White House announced earlier that Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen will head the presidential delegation to the March 9 opening ceremony of the Paralympics set to run thro...

Bob de Jong, the Netherlands-born coach for South Korean speed skating at the PyeongChang Winter Olympics, is set to leave the country later this week, with his contract expiring on Wednesday, the sport's national federation said. The Korea Skating Union added it is also considering an extension of de Jong's deal, depending on the opinions of skaters and other coaches. "Bob de Jong is returning...