Since China overtook Japan in terms of economy in 2010, Japan‘s vigilance and checks against China have been visibly rising. Mostly, the two countries have a wide gap regarding issues surrounding the East China Sea, South China Sea and the Taiwan Strait. The Russia-Ukraine war re-emphasizes the importance of traditional Japanese geopolitics. In addition, technological competition -- the core of supply chain and future hegemony -- intensifies Japan’s foreign and security policies an

President Yoon Suk-yeol said Monday he will decide soon on whether to appoint his health minister nominee amid allegations she diverted political funds for personal use. Kim Seung-hee is under investigation by prosecutors for allegedly using her political funds when she was a lawmaker to pay for her husband's car insurance and car rental fee in violation of the Political Funds Act. The nominee has denied any wrongdoing, saying there was an accounting error. "When it comes to the bigges

South Korea plans to launch a government-private consultative body later Monday on ways to resolve the longstanding diplomatic row with Japan about compensation for the Korean victims of wartime forced labor, one of the major sticking points in their relations. First Vice Foreign Minister Cho Hyun-dong is scheduled to preside over the inaugural session of the team composed of government officials and experts, as well as legal representatives of the victims and their families, according to his mi

The rival parties were looking to reach a last-minute compromise Monday to end an impasse in parliamentary committee formations that has left the National Assembly in limbo for more than a month. The floor leaders of the ruling People Power Party (PPP) and the main opposition Democratic Party (DP) failed to reach an agreement on the issue Sunday, though they agreed to hold negotiations until a National Assembly plenary session is convened in the afternoon. The DP, which holds 170 out of 299 seat

South Korea and the United States will hold the first session of their newly launched economic security dialogue in Washington this week, the presidential office said Monday. The dialogue channel was established as part of a summit agreement between President Yoon Suk-yeol and US President Joe Biden in May, and aims to help the two countries deepen cooperation on economic and energy security. Wang Yun-jong, presidential secretary for economic security, will leave for Washington on Wednesday and

A Seoul court has ordered rapper Dok2, famously known for his extravagant lifestyle on media, to pay an unpaid jewelry bill to an overseas jeweler, legal sources said Monday. Upholding a lower court's ruling, the Seoul Southern District Court delivered a mandatory mediation, ordering the 31-year-old, Lee Joon-kyung, to pay $34,740 to the jeweler based in Los Angeles. The court's mandatory mediation was delivered last month and took effect Friday after a two-week grace period, they said

North Korea's new suspected COVID-19 cases stayed below 4,000 for the second consecutive day, its state media said Monday. More than 3,030 people showed symptoms of fever over a 24-hour period until 6 p.m. the previous day, the official Korean Central News Agency said, citing data from the state emergency epidemic prevention headquarters. It did not provide information on whether additional deaths have been reported. The total number of fever cases since late April came to over 4.75 million

US-China relations are the most critical bilateral relations among numerous others in the international community. Since Xi Jinping became the supreme leader of China in 2012, China has been shaping its own diplomatic color, instead of “taoguang yanghui” (keep a low profile and bide your time, while also getting something accomplished). Although there is still a lack of sophistication and detail, it is clear enough to shock and give tension to the US, since the US has enjoyed a

President Yoon Suk-yeol's disapproval rating surpassed his approval rating in a poll released Sunday. The survey by Research View, conducted on 1,000 South Koreans aged 18 or over from last Tuesday to Thursday, was the latest in a series of national polls, in which those giving a negative assessment of Yoon's performance outnumbered those who were bullish on the president. This poll was conducted while Yoon was visiting Spain for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) summit, his firs

South Korea and China agreed Sunday to hold a ceremony returning remains of Chinese troops killed during the 1950-53 Korean War in September, in what would be the ninth such repatriation, Seoul's defense ministry said. Kim Sang-jin, the ministry's director-general of international policy, and Li Jingxian, a Chinese veterans affairs official, met in the southeastern Chinese city of Xiamen, and agreed to hold an event casketing the remains on Sept. 15 and return them the following day. The min

Floor leaders’ meeting on the eve of new provisional assembly ends with no progress

WASHINGTON -- Abortion, guns and religion -- a major change in the law in any one of these areas would have made for a fateful Supreme Court term. In its first full term together, the court's conservative majority ruled in all three and issued other significant decisions limiting the government's regulatory powers. And it has signaled no plans to slow down. With former President Donald Trump's appointees in their 50s, the six-justice conservative majority seems poised to keep control of the cour