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

On Tuesday, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol completed his first year in office, receiving mixed reviews for his initiatives in foreign affairs and criticism for his handling of domestic affairs, which have at times starkly divided the public. Yoon's performance as Korea's leader has been closely watched, with supporters praising him -- the former prosecutor general and a political novice, for what they see as his efforts to improve diplomatic relations -- and opponents criticiz

Politics May 9, 2023

President Yoon Suk Yeol invited Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida to his residence for an official dinner after their summit on Sunday. Kishida, accompanied by his wife, first lady Yuko Kishida, was the second foreign leader to have been invited to Yoon’s Hannam-dong home in Seoul, after Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman last November. The dinner featured a variety of traditional Korean dishes, such as gujeolpan, japchae, tangpyeongchae, steamed Korean beef ribs, beef tripe, croak

Politics May 7, 2023

Leaders of South Korea and Japan agreed to elevate bilateral ties to a higher level at a summit held in Seoul Sunday, both touting that the restored "shuttle diplomacy" has brought yearslong strained relations back on track. At the summit, the second in less than two months, the two leaders agreed to allow a group of Korean experts to visit Japan to inspect the safety of contaminated water to be discharged from Fukushima nuclear reactors. “I hope that meaningful measures will be

Politics May 7, 2023

  The leaders of South Korea and Japan on Sunday began their second summit this year in Seoul to fully restore the two countries' "shuttle diplomacy," aiming to improve strained ties in the areas of regional security, economic partnership and cultural exchanges. Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida arrived in Seoul for a two-day working visit, less than two months after the March summit in Tokyo. He was the first Japanese leader to make a bilateral visit to Korea in 12 years afte

Foreign Affairs May 7, 2023

    President Yoon Suk Yeol invited children to Chung Wa Dae, the former presidential office, to spend time with him on Friday, which falls on Children’s Day. The 320 children who have been invited are from remote islands, have been entrusted to foster care facilities, or come from single-parent households and multicultural families. At the event, President Yoon thanked the parents, teachers and facility workers who take care of the children with love and dedication. He vowed to

Politics May 5, 2023