President Yoon Suk Yeol stressed the importance of solidarity and cooperation with Japan during his meeting with Korean compatriots in Tokyo, his first official event there prior to a summit with his Japanese counterpart on Thursday. “Japan is a partner who we cooperate with together in security, economy and the global agenda.” he said during the luncheon meeting with about 80 Koreans. “However...

Seoul and allies commit to enhance security cooperation; Yoon warns Pyongyang

President Yoon Suk Yeol said he expects Japan to roll out actions commensurate with its recently renewed commitment to a forward-looking South Korea-Japan relationship built on a past apology for its 1910-45 rule of the Korean Peninsula. Yoon flew to Japan on Thursday for a two-day summit. In a joint interview with major Japanese newspapers Thursday, Yoon said the March 6 decision to use Korean ...

President Yoon Suk Yeol views a workweek of 60 hours or longer as "excessive," the presidential office said Thursday, adding that he has ordered further adjustments to be made to proposed reforms to working time limits. The Ministry of Employment and Labor's plan unveiled earlier this month aimed to allow maximum working hours of up to 69 hours in a week. The president expressed regrets over th...

South Korea’s military said late Wednesday that it would look into claims made by the grandson of the late former President Chun Doo-hwan that his acquaintances, incumbent officers in the military, had used drugs inside the army. The military said that it would try to confirm such claims raised by the grandson, declining to further comment on the issue. The two military men are reportedly lieute...

South Korea's new COVID-19 cases fell below 10,000 Thursday, the lowest Thursday figure in two weeks, in a moderate decline in the virus trend. The country reported 9,934 new COVID-19 infections, including 11 cases from overseas, bringing the total caseload to 30,672,163, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency said. Thursday's count is down from 10,885 logged a week ago, and the lowest...

Seoul’s intelligence agency later acknowledged its role in the 1973 abduction of Kim, yet many details remain shrouded in secrecy

The presidential office has convened a National Security Council meeting after North Korea launched an intercontinental ballistic missile Thursday morning in the run-up to the summit between South Korean and Japanese leaders. South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol attended the meeting and was briefed on the ICBM launch by the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Kim Seung-kyum, the South Kor...

The number of Facebook users in South Korea fell to a record low last month as a growing number of young people opted to use Instagram and other social media platforms, industry data showed. Facebook had a combined 9.79 million South Korean monthly active users on the Google Play Store and the Apple App Store as of last month, down 2.6 percent from a month ago, according to the data by Mobile In...

South Korea's Navy is participating in a US-led multinational anti-submarine warfare exercise in waters off Guam, officials said Wednesday. The Navy sent two P-3 maritime surveillance aircraft and 40 sailors to Sea Dragon 23, which began Wednesday and will last through the end of this month. The annual exercise launched in 2014 is aimed at enhancing joint anti-submarine warfare capabilities. Fi...

"Room cafes" have been stipulated as a business that teenagers must stay away from, the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family said Wednesday. The designation was made in an amended administrative notice posted on Wednesday, which listed room cafes as a business that minors, those aged 19 and under, are banned from entering or being employed at. Under the notice, which was established in 2011, ...

South Korean police raided the Ministry of National Defense on Wednesday as part of an investigation into a claim made by a former spokesperson for the ministry that a fortuneteller had been involved in the relocation of the presidential residence to Yongsan in central Seoul. Investigators from the cyber bureau of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency were sent to confiscate evidence, including v...

But North Korea fired a total of 10 ballistic and cruise missiles in three discrete launches from March 9 to Tuesday in apparent protest of the revival of the theater-level field training exercises, after a five-year hiatus. North Korea launched two ballistic missiles from the area of Jangyon County, South Hwanghae Province, toward waters off its east coast on Tuesday morning, according to the S...

President Yoon Suk Yeol expressed deep concerns over the latest North Korean spying scandal during a dinner with the newly elected leaders of the ruling People Power Party on Monday, according to sources familiar with the matter Wednesday. Several ruling party sources said that the president was looking at the counter-North Korean meddling investigations seriously, referring in particular to the...

Minister of Justice Han Dong-hoon returned to South Korea on Wednesday from his weeklong trip to France, the Netherlands and Germany to learn about their immigration policies aimed at multicultural integration. The justice ministry, which oversees immigration-related policies and tasks in Korea, will put great effort into preparing new immigration policies based on the discussions the minister h...