South Korea's military has identified the remains of another soldier killed during the 1950-53 Korean War, more than a decade after their first discovery at a former battle site, the defense ministry said Friday. The ministry's Agency for KIA Recovery and Identification and the 1st Marine Division recovered the remains of Ssg. Hwang Byeong-jun in the coastal county of Yeongdeok, 238 kilometers southeast of Seoul, in 2010 and 2017. KIA stands for killed in action. The agency later ident

Defense Aug. 25, 2023

Seoul shares opened lower Friday, tracking losses on Wall Street, as investors await the US Federal Reserve chief's speech for clues on its rate policy. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index fell 23.46 points, or 0.92 percent, to 2,514.22 in the first 15 minutes of trading. Overnight, US stocks declined, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average falling 1.1 percent and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite declining 1.9 percent. Investors are keeping an eye on the speech Friday to be delive

Market Aug. 25, 2023

South Korean golfer Tom Kim sits five strokes off the lead after the opening round of the PGA Tour's final playoff event. Kim shot a three-under 67 to begin the Tour Championship at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta on Thursday. He is tied for 14th place in the exclusive field of 30 players. Kim qualified for the playoff finale by ranking inside the top 30 in the FedEx Cup standings after two playoff events. As No. 16, Kim started the Tour Championship at two-under in the "starting stroke

Golf Aug. 25, 2023

Jang Jun and Lee Da-bin, two South Korean taekwondo medal hopefuls at the upcoming Asian Games in China, both want to use their recent slip-ups as fuel. Lee, 26, will be going for her third consecutive Asian Games gold medal in Hangzhou next month. Her first gold came in the lightweight (62 kilograms) event in 2014, but she moved up to heavyweight (+67kg) under the revised weight divisions in 2018 and won gold there too. She will be the defending champion in the heavyweight class in September. &

More Sports Aug. 25, 2023

North Korea on Thursday denounced the trilateral agreement among South Korea, the United States, and Japan as "the Asian version of NATO," and the US scheme to encircle Russia and China. Pyongyang's defense minister, Kang Sun-nam, issued a statement after the leaders of Seoul, Washington and Tokyo held a trilateral summit at Camp David last week, and agreed to beef up cooperation to deal with North Korea's nuclear and missile threats. "The recent confab brought to light

North Korea Aug. 24, 2023

The National Assembly on Thursday approved an election law revision banning political posters or banners on the streets until 120 days prior to polling day. Political banners have mushroomed on the streets since the Constitutional Court struck down an election law clause banning political banners until 180 days before an election day, citing freedom of political expression. The chaos continued as the ruling and the main opposition parties failed to come up with a revision, resulting in anyone be

Politics Aug. 24, 2023

North Korea said Thursday that Japan should immediately halt the release of treated radioactive water from its crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant into the sea. In a statement carried by the North's official Korea Central News Agency, a spokesperson for its foreign ministry said the act devastates the earth's environment, and seriously threatens the security and survival of mankind. Earlier in the day, Japan began to discharge its first batch of treated radioactive water into the se

North Korea Aug. 24, 2023

Over 200 people have been apprehended nationwide for posting murder threats on various online sites over the past month amid increasing violent crimes targeting random people, the Korean National Police Agency said Thursday. The KNPA said it has nabbed 216 suspects on charges of writing such threats as of 9 a.m. Thursday and put 21 of them under arrest. The number of online threats and apprehensions increased by seven and three, respectively, from the previous day, it added. A suspect was arrest

Social Affairs Aug. 24, 2023

The United States called on North Korea to refrain from launching additional satellites Wednesday, stressing that North Korean space launch vehicles violate multiple United Nations Security Council resolutions. A State Department spokesperson urged Pyongyang to engage in serious diplomacy instead. "Any DPRK launch that uses ballistic missile technology, which would include SLVs used to launch a satellite into space, violates multiple UN Security Council resolutions," the spokesperson t

North Korea Aug. 24, 2023

The US Department of Treasury on Wednesday imposed sanctions on a co-founder of virtual currency mixer Tornado Cash for assisting a North Korean hacking group that has stolen hundreds of millions of dollars in cryptocurrency. Roman Semenov is one of three co-founders of Tornado Cash, which was designated by the treasury department in 2022. "Today, the US Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned Roman Semenov, one of three co-founders of the sanctioned vi

Foreign Affairs Aug. 24, 2023

Seoul shares opened more than 1 percent higher Thursday, tracking overnight tech gains on Wall Street, amid expectations the Bank of Korea is likely to freeze its policy rate later in the day. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index rose 27.09 points, or 1.08 percent, to 2,532.59 in the first 15 minutes of trading. Wall Street finished higher Wednesday, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite rallying 1.59 percent ahead of the release of Nvidia's earnings results. The Dow Jones Industr

Market Aug. 24, 2023

President Yoon Suk Yeol ordered the National Security Council on Thursday to share its analysis of North Korea's botched space rocket launch with the United States and Japan and to prepare against possible additional provocations by the North, his office said. Yoon gave the instructions as he was briefed on North Korea's second launch of what it claimed was a military reconnaissance satellite that ended in failure earlier in the day. "The president was briefed on the NSC standing

Politics Aug. 24, 2023

Opposition leader Lee Jae-myung will appear before prosecutors this week for questioning over allegations of third-party bribery in connection with a company's allegedly illegal money transfers to North Korea, a party spokesperson said Wednesday. The announcement by Park Sung-joon, a spokesperson of the main opposition Democratic Party (DP), follows the Suwon District Prosecutors Office's summons of Lee issued earlier in the day. Park said the DP leader will present himself before pr

Politics Aug. 23, 2023

The United States ambassador to South Korea on Wednesday slammed Russia over alleged discussions with North Korea on military cooperation, amid signs of growing military ties between Pyongyang and Moscow. "What Russia appears to be doing with the DPRK is not just a violation of the very resolutions it voted for, but is dealing in weaponry and discussions of military cooperation with a regime that has flouted every aspect of international rule of law," Ambassador Philip Goldberg said in

Foreign Affairs Aug. 23, 2023

Prime Minister Han Duck-soo said Wednesday the government will stay ready to file an international lawsuit if Japan's release of treated radioactive water from the crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant goes beyond the standards. Han made the remarks during a meeting with reporters as Japan is reported to be discussing releasing the treated radioactive water as early as 1 p.m. Thursday. "The Ministry of Foreign Affairs will always remain ready to lodge a suit internationally if the rel

Social Affairs Aug. 23, 2023