South Korean military authorities said Thursday that a report by the Wall Street Journal that the country is in the process of transferring hundreds of thousands of rounds of artillery to Ukraine is "inaccurate," and that the Korean government's position "remains unchanged." Defense Ministry spokesperson Jeon Ha-gyu told reporters that there was some discussion about the export of ammunition between the US Department of Defense and Korean companies, but the government

Foreign Affairs May 25, 2023

President Yoon Suk Yeol on Tuesday vowed to enhance protection and authority of law enforcement officials, while strongly criticizing large-scale protests by unionized workers as disruptions to public order. Citing the massive rally of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions last week as an example, Yoon said during a livestreamed Cabinet meeting on Tuesday, “It will be difficult for the people to accept the behavior of a protest that violates the public’s freedom and basic rights a

Politics May 23, 2023

President Yoon Suk Yeol and European Union leaders have agreed to strengthen their cooperation to foster peace and stability in their regions in the face of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and North Korea’s growing provocations, during their summit held in Seoul on Monday. Yoon held a summit meeting on Monday with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President Charles Michel, who flew to Seoul after attending the Group of Seven summit held in Hiroshima

Foreign Affairs May 22, 2023

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and Indonesian President Joko Widodo discussed widening their relations and cooperation in future industries at a summit on the sidelines of the Group of Seven Summit in Hiroshima, Japan, on Sunday. During the bilateral summit, Yoon said he is pleased with the rapid progress in cooperation between the Korea and Indonesia since Widodo’s visit to Korea in July last year, according to a written briefing from the presidential office. Yoon said the Korean go

Foreign Affairs May 21, 2023

Leaders of South Korea and Japan on Sunday visited a cenotaph dedicated to the Korean victims of the 1945 atomic bombing in Hiroshima, Japan, for the first time in history, underscoring their shared commitments to honoring a "painful history" while forging a path toward a "peaceful future" in unison. On the final day of the Group of Seven meeting held in the city where the first-ever use of an atomic bomb killed an estimated 200,000 civilians 78 years ago, South Korean Presid

Foreign Affairs May 21, 2023

President Yoon Suk Yeol pledged $24 million to a coalition combating epidemics and double its provision of grain through the UN World Food Program during an expanded meeting of the G7 summit in Hiroshima, Japan, Saturday. Yoon pledged the new donation to the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations to strengthen global health care systems. The coalition was created at the 2007 Davos Forum as a public-private joint venture whose backers included the Norwegian government and the Bill Gate

Foreign Affairs May 20, 2023

President Yoon Suk Yeol and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi have agreed to develop cooperation in the defense industry, and advanced technologies in digital, biohealth and space during a bilateral summit held on the sidelines of the G7 summit, according to the Korean presidential office on Saturday. On the second day of his visit to Japan, Yoon met Modi at a hotel in Hiroshima at around 10:30 a.m. It was the first face-to-face meeting between the two leaders, whose nations commemorate the 50

Foreign Affairs May 20, 2023

President Yoon Suk Yeol will hold summits with leaders of seven nations including Japan on the sidelines of the three-day G-7 summit that kicks off on Friday in Hiroshima, Japan, according to the presidential office on Thursday. Yoon is set to hold summit talks with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh on Friday. On the following day, he will meet with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Indonesian President Joko Widodo and British Prime Minis

Foreign Affairs May 18, 2023

President Yoon Suk Yeol is set for a trilateral summit with the leaders of the United States and Japan on Sunday, where the focus of the meeting is expected to be on enhancing real-time information sharing to effectively tackle persistent North Korean missile threats, according to experts. Six months after their previous meeting in November, the three leaders will resume talks on the last day of the G-7 summit which kicks off on Friday. The last summit in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, resulted in the th

Foreign Affairs May 18, 2023

A group of nurses said Wednesday that they will refuse to carry out doctors' orders for medical procedures that are illegal for them to proceed with, such as prescribing medication, performing surgery and collecting blood samples, in response to President Yoon Suk Yeol's veto of the Nursing Act. Announcing their first collective action since his rejection of the legislation, the Korean Nurses Association said they will also not follow doctors' orders to conduct ultrasound and elec

Politics May 17, 2023

President Yoon Suk Yeol on Tuesday exercised his second presidential veto to reject the passing of the Nursing Act, saying that the bill has generated "significant conflict" among related professions. The Nursing Act got the parliamentary nod in a vote led by the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea and was transferred to the government on May 4. The bill defines the legal role of nurses, sets appropriate working hours and grants the right to demand improved treatment. Doctors an

Politics May 16, 2023

President Yoon Suk Yeol will hold a meeting with US President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on the sidelines of the upcoming Group of Seven summit to be held in Hiroshima, Japan, to discuss ways to cooperate on North Korea’s nuclear and missile threats, according to the presidential office on Sunday. The trilateral summit comes six months since the three leaders' meeting in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, in November last year. It marks the third such meeting since Yoon

Foreign Affairs May 14, 2023

TWINS HOMECOMING DAY -- Quadruplets stood side by side, holding hands at the "Twins Plus Homecoming Day" event held at the Seoul National University playground on Saturday. The Seoul National University Medical Research Center invited families with multiple pregnancies, including twins or more, who were delivered at the hospital, and opened a one-day amusement park. Professor Jeon Jong-kwan of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology explained that the purpose of the event was to ha

Social Affairs May 13, 2023

President Yoon Suk Yeol may hold a bilateral talk with Japan as well as a trilateral summit with the US and Japan on May 21, the final day of a G-7 summit in Hiroshima, according to Japanese media outlets on Thursday. According to the news report, the Japanese government plans to strengthen trilateral cooperation in the security sector and speed up the normalization of Korea-Japan relations through the summits. If a Korea-Japan summit takes place on the last day of the G-7 summit, the leaders

Foreign Affairs May 11, 2023

President Yoon Suk Yeol on Wednesday vowed to prioritize addressing the economic crisis and improving citizens’ livelihoods during his second year in office, according to the presidential office on Wednesday. At a luncheon held with members of the ruling People Power Party and Cabinet members to mark the completion of his first year at the presidential office, Yoon said: “Our people have not had enough time to experience change and reform over the past year,” according to his

Politics May 10, 2023