Blinken agrees to regular meetings of 'Quad' foreign ministers

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has agreed to regularly meet with his counterparts from three other countries that form a regional forum known as the Quad, the State Department said Thursday. The agreement was made in a virtual meeting that included Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne, Indian Minister of External Affairs S. Jaishankar and Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi. "They reiterated their commitment to the Quad meeting at least annually at the ministerial level

Foreign AffairsFeb. 19, 2021

S. Korea confirms another case of highly pathogenic bird flu

  South Korea confirmed another case of highly pathogenic bird flu in poultry Thursday, bringing the total caseload to 98. The latest case of the H5N8 strain of avian influenza (AI) came from a duck farm in Goesan, some 160 kilometers south of Seoul, the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs said. All poultry within a 3-kilometer radius of the infected farm were culled, officials said. The authorities are investigating another suspected case in Gyeonggi Province near Seoul,

Social AffairsFeb. 18, 2021

Half of Jeju residents opposed to new airport on island: polls

More than half of the residents of Jeju Island are opposed to a new international airport on the southern island, polls showed Thursday. However, residents of the town selected as the site of the airport were in favor of the project in separate surveys by the same pollsters. All of the surveys were conducted from Monday to Wednesday. Nine local news outlets commissioned Gallup Korea to conduct a poll on Jeju residents' view of the central government's drive to build a second international air

Social AffairsFeb. 18, 2021

FM says S. Korea, Japan can seek US' help if it's needed to resolve their rows

Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong said Thursday that South Korea and Japan can seek help from their shared ally, the United States, if it is needed to address their protracted historical rows. Chung made the remarks in a parliamentary session, amid worries that persistent diplomatic tensions between South Korea and Japan could hurt Seoul's efforts to deepen cooperation with the administration of US President Joe Biden, which is intent on tightening its regional alliances. "As I recently he

Foreign AffairsFeb. 18, 2021

COVID-19 could be ‘tamed by November,’ says KDCA deputy chief

The COVID-19 pandemic in South Korea will be “sufficiently tamed by November, or possibly earlier,” Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency Deputy Director Kwon Jun-wook said Thursday, referring to the vaccination timetable. The deputy director said COVID-19 rates have fallen globally, largely due to the immunization efforts that are already underway in the US and many countries in Europe. He said that once vaccinations kick off in Korea, this country too can expect the

Social AffairsFeb. 18, 2021

Gyeonggi chief Lee widens lead in presidential hopefuls' poll

Gyeonggi Province Gov. Lee Jae-myung has widened his lead in a poll of potential presidential candidates released Thursday, with his closest rivals falling behind marginally compared to two weeks ago. In the survey conducted jointly by four polling agencies on 1,007 people over the age of 18 from Monday to Wednesday, 27 percent picked Gov. Lee as their favored candidate in next year's presidential election. The poll was conducted by Embrain Public, Kstat Research, Korea Research International

PoliticsFeb. 18, 2021

Civic activists lose lawsuit to suspend operation of nuclear plant

A group of civic activists and residents lost a lawsuit against a state nuclear safety commission Thursday, in which they sought to suspend the operation of a nuclear power plant in the southeastern provincial city of Ulsan for safety reasons. The Seoul Administrative Court handed down the ruling against 723 complainants who claimed that the Shin Kori-4 plant poses dangers to the protection of people's lives and that the operator, the Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power Plant (KHNP), should suspend

Social AffairsFeb. 18, 2021

S. Korea's NSC expresses concern about Myanmar situations

South Korea's top security officials voiced concern Thursday about political instability in Myanmar in connection with a recent coup. They also agreed to cooperate with the international community for the "restoration of constitutional order" through a legitimate, democratic and peaceful manner in the Southeast Asian country, according to Cheong Wa Dae. It was briefing media on the results of the weekly session of the National Security Council (NSC) standing committee, presided over

PoliticsFeb. 18, 2021

[Newsmaker] US charges 3 North Koreans over cyberattacks costing $1.3b

The US Justice Department indicted three North Koreans in December on charges related to cyberattacks to steal over $1.3 billion in crypto and traditional currencies from banks and companies. The indictment, filed in December and disclosed Wednesday, alleges that the three -- Jon Chang Hyok, 31; Kim Il, 27; and Park Jin Hyok, 36 -- were members of the Reconnaissance General Bureau, a North Korean military intelligence agency that engages in criminal hacking. Wednesday’s indictment builds

North KoreaFeb. 18, 2021

[Photo News] Cold wave hits nation once again

Chonnam National University, just north of Gwangju, is covered in white after another cold wave gripped the country. A citizen walks down a snowy path on the campus. In subzero weather, pigeons walk on the frozen lake on the campus of Chonnam National University. Jeju Island, one of the warmest areas of South Korea, could not avoid the cold this time. A person walks through a blizzard as white snow falls from the sky.  Yet there are signs of spring -- flowers are beginning to bloom even

Social AffairsFeb. 18, 2021

Defense chief apologizes over border security breach

South Korea’s Defense Minister Suh Wook on Wednesday apologized for the latest lapse in border security after a North Korean man swam across the eastern maritime border unnoticed. The man, who was taken into custody Tuesday hours after being spotted by military surveillance personnel, is believed to be a civilian in his 20s seeking to defect. He was captured walking along the road on the southern side of the Demilitarized Zone separating the two Koreas. “Commanders and the rank an

DefenseFeb. 18, 2021

Top economic advisers of Seoul, Washington open new hotline

A new instant line of communications has been launched between Seoul and Washington to further boost cooperation on economic, trade and other global issues such as climate change, Cheong Wa Dae announced Wednesday. Though the allies already have a long-established hotline to discuss security issues, this is the first time they have set up a separate line for direct communications to address economic and policy issues. The new communications line followed the first phone call between Kim San

PoliticsFeb. 18, 2021

English education should start at earlier age: lawmaker

A South Korean lawmaker serving on the education committee said the nation needs to change the paradigm of English education by providing it at an earlier age and abolishing test-focused, cram-style education. “Preschoolers are building up a considerable level of English skills through private education. Students who first encounter English in the third grade of elementary school have a different starting line than students who learn earlier through private education.” Rep. Kim By

Social AffairsFeb. 18, 2021

Advocates welcome plan for birth registration system for Korea-born foreign children

Children’s rights activists welcomed a move by the Ministry of Justice toward the establishment of a birth registration system for non-Korean children born in South Korea, as a means to ensure that every child has legal status regardless of nationality. A network of advocacy groups said in a statement Wednesday that the ministry’s decision would help Korea better track all children and protect them from mistreatment. It is expected that more than 20,000 unregistered foreign children

Social AffairsFeb. 18, 2021

Progressive South Korean lawmaker listed among Time's top 100 emerging leaders

Jang Hye-young, a novice female lawmaker with the progressive minor Justice Party, has been listed among the Time magazine's "100 Next" emerging leaders for 2021. The 34-year-old lawmaker made the annual Time list in the advocates category, out of the total five categories that also include artists and leaders. She was the only South Korean on the list featuring "100 emerging leaders who are shaping the future," according to the magazine's website on Wednesday. "Jang

PoliticsFeb. 18, 2021

UN begins to refer to NK leader as 'president,' not 'chairman'

The United Nations has started referring to North Korean leader Kim Jong-un as "president" instead of his previous title "chairman," a change apparently made at the request of Pyongyang, a unification ministry official said Thursday. State media had mostly used "chairman" of the State Affairs Commission (SAC) in describing the leader, but since early this month, "president" has replaced the previous title in what experts see as intended to rev up his stat

North KoreaFeb. 18, 2021

S. Korea investigating 2 suspected cases of highly pathogenic bird flu

South Korea said Thursday it is investigating two suspected cases of highly pathogenic bird flu, with the country's total confirmed caseload approaching close to 100. The latest suspected cases of the H5N8 strain of bird flu were reported from the provinces of North Chungcheong and Gyeonggi, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. South Korea has so far identified 97 farm-linked cases. The country reported its first seriously contagious avian influenza from poultry f

Social AffairsFeb. 18, 2021

[Newsmaker] Independence fighter grandson ends archive donation talks with Harvard over professor's comfort women claim

A grandson of a renowned Korean independence fighter said Thursday that he had sent a letter to Harvard University's president to end any discussions about donating his historical archives due to a professor's article depicting Japan's wartime sexual slavery as voluntary prostitution. In an email and phone interview with Yonhap News Agency, Philip Ahn Cuddy, the grandson of Ahn Chang-ho who fiercely fought against Japan's 1910-45 colonization, revealed that he wrote the letter to President Lawr

Social AffairsFeb. 18, 2021

Army officer tests positive for COVID-19

An Army officer in Pocheon, north of Seoul, has tested positive for the new coronavirus, the defense ministry said Thursday. The officer was confirmed to have contracted the virus after developing symptoms, according to the ministry. It was not known how he got the virus. The case raised the total number of infections reported among the military population to 563. Of them, 554 patients have been fully cured while the other nine are under treatment. Nationwide, South Korea reported 621 new

DefenseFeb. 18, 2021

New COVID-19 cases over 600 for 2nd day, virus fight struggling with cluster infections

South Korea's daily new coronavirus cases stayed in the 600s for a second consecutive day on Thursday as infections at a slew of manufacturing plants and hospitals surged, prompting authorities to guard against a potential virus resurgence. The country reported 621 more COVID-19 cases, including 590 local infections, raising the total caseload to 85,567, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said. The country added six more deaths, raising the total to 1,544. The daily caselo

Social AffairsFeb. 18, 2021