South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida voiced hope for closer cooperation between their countries as they met on the sidelines of an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit on Thursday. The two leaders met at a hotel in San Francisco, marking their seventh summit this year as Seoul and Tokyo have been pushing to mend badly frayed ties following the Yoon administration's decision in March to compensate Korean victims of Japan's wartime forced lab

Politics Nov. 17, 2023

WOODSIDE, California (Reuters) -- US President Joe Biden said on Wednesday he had not changed his view that Chinese President Xi Jinping was effectively a dictator, a comment likely to land with a thud in Beijing after the two leaders held straightforward summit talks. Biden held a solo news conference after four hours of talks with Xi on the outskirts of San Francisco. At the end of the news conference, he was asked whether he still held the view that Xi was a dictator, something he said in Jun

Foreign Affairs Nov. 16, 2023

South Korea and other negotiating members of the United States-led Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF) have reached a consensus on two additional sectors of the agreement, energy and fair economy, Seoul's trade ministry said Thursday. The IPEF was launched by US President Joe Biden in 2022 in a move to counter China's growing influence in the region, which involves a total of 14 member nations, including South Korea, Australia, India, Japan, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. Among th

Economy Nov. 16, 2023

The ruling People Power Party proposed a special bill aimed at merging the satellite city of Gimpo into the country's capital of Seoul on Thursday. The bill was proposed by Rep. Chung Kyoung-tae, the head of the PPP's special committee on the new city project, and co-signed by other party lawmakers, including party leader Kim Gi-hyeon. The PPP plans to process the legislation by the end of the parliament's session next year. If the bill is passed at the National Assembly, it will

Politics Nov. 16, 2023

South Korean shares closed nearly flat Thursday amid signs of cooling US inflation. The local currency gained ground against the US dollar. After choppy trading, the benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index added 1.51 points, or 0.06 percent, to close at 2,488.18. Trade volume was slim at 401.6 million shares worth 6.61 trillion won ($5.09 billion), with gainers outnumbering loser 546 to 311. Foreigners purchased a net 458 billion won worth of local shares while institutions offloaded a net 6

Market Nov. 16, 2023

North Korea and Russia have signed a protocol on expanding cooperation in various fields following bilateral talks on economy, science and technology held in Pyongyang, the North's state media reported Thursday. The agreement was signed after the two countries held the 10th meeting of the Committee for Cooperation in Trade, Economy, Science and Technology on Wednesday, the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said without specifying details. The meeting was a follow-up to the rare sum

North Korea Nov. 16, 2023

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol called Wednesday for enhancing the connectivity of the world economy in areas that include trade and supply chains, with the 21-member Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum at its center. Yoon issued the call during a keynote speech delivered at the APEC CEO Summit in San Francisco, shortly after he arrived in the city for the APEC leaders' summit. "Today the world economy is once again faced with an enormous challenge. The strength of connection is we

Politics Nov. 16, 2023

South Korean stocks opened almost flat Thursday following overnight gains on Wall Street buoyed by cooler-than-expected inflation data. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index gained 0.8 point, or 0.01 percent, to 2,487.47 in the first 15 minutes of trading. The local market opened an hour later, along with the government and all major institutions, including private businesses, to make room for the once-a-year national college entrance exam. US stocks closed higher overnight following r

Market Nov. 16, 2023

A US congressional commission official raised the need Wednesday to leverage more space-based defense capabilities, noting a ground-based interceptor system may have limits in dealing with the growing missile threats from North Korea, China and Russia cost-effectively. During a House Armed Services Committee session, John Kyl, the vice chair of the Congressional Commission on the Strategic Posture of the United States, made the remarks, saying the US' GBI program is "adequate today&quo

Foreign Affairs Nov. 16, 2023

A UN General Assembly committee on Wednesday passed a resolution on North Korean human rights for the 19th consecutive year amid growing concerns for the safety of North Korean escapees who were repatriated from China. The Third Committee handling human rights and social affairs adopted by consensus the resolution, which calls on countries to honor the international principle of non-refoulement. The resolution will be sent to a full General Assembly session for approval in December. The passage

Foreign Affairs Nov. 16, 2023

US President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping highlighted their shared desire to avoid conflict and pursue cooperation during a high-stakes summit in California on Wednesday, raising hopes for improved ties between the two superpowers. Their first in-person meeting in a year took place at Filoli estate in Woodside south of San Francisco, where South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and other world leaders will attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum this week. The summit came

Foreign Affairs Nov. 16, 2023

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol on Wednesday praised Korean residents in San Francisco for playing a large role in developing the alliance between South Korea and the United States. Yoon met with a group of around 150 Koreans living in the city shortly after arriving here to attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit. "The history of the development of the South Korea-US alliance is equivalent to the history of the development of the Korean community in the United States,"

Politics Nov. 16, 2023

About half a million students sat the college entrance exam across the country Thursday, South Korea's most important annual academic event during which airplane takeoffs and landings will be temporarily banned for noise control. A total of 504,588 high school seniors, graduates and others signed up to take this year's state-administered College Scholastic Ability Test, a nine-hour, five-session exam that began at 1,279 test sites nationwide. For the first time since the onset of the C

Social Affairs Nov. 16, 2023

A new boy band from local cable channel Mnet's latest audition program, "Boys Planet," made its debut Wednesday under the name "Ampers&One." It is the first boy group from FNC Entertainment, the K-pop label behind FTisland, CNBlue and SF9, in three years, following P1Harmony. The rookie group consists of seven members -- Brian, Kamden, Jiho, Siyun, Kyrell, Mackiah and Seungmo. The first three members were contestants on the show who scored high but failed to make t

K-pop Nov. 15, 2023

Football player Song Ui-young grew up in South Korea hoping to one day play at Seoul World Cup Stadium, considered the mecca of football here. That dream will come true for the 30-year-old on Thursday, but with a twist. Song, who became naturalized as a Singaporean citizen in August 2021, will represent his adopted country against his native country in their World Cup qualifying match. "I dreamed of being here when I first started playing football as a kid. I am excited and nervous at t

Soccer Nov. 15, 2023