S. Korea, ASEAN seek ‘sustainable, resilient future’ with elevated partnership

Government officials and renowned scholars from South Korea and member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations convened at an international conference to chart pathways for further developing cooperation, building on the October milestone that elevated Korea-ASEAN relations to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. The International Conference on ASEAN-Korea Partnership 2024 was held Thursday under the theme "Towards a Sustainable and Resilient Future" at the Lotte Hotel i

Foreign AffairsNov. 10, 2024

Police uncover over 4,700 minors in crackdown on online gambling

Police said Sunday they have identified over 4,700 minors involved in online gambling activities over the past year. The National Police Agency said 4,715 individuals under the age of 19 were discovered during a special crackdown on illegal online gambling conducted from September 2023 to October this year. No arrests of minors have been made. The figure accounts for 47.2 percent of all age groups involved in the crackdown. Initially, police focused on targeting illegal gambling operators and ha

Social AffairsNov. 10, 2024

Fire erupts at POSCO Pohang plant; 1 worker injured

A fire broke at a Posco factory in the southeastern city of Pohang early Sunday, leaving one worker injured, fire authorities said. The fire started with multiple explosions at the steel company's third Finex furnace of the plant, located about 270 kilometers southeast of Seoul, at around 4:20 a.m. The blaze was initially contained by around 6:30 a.m. and completely extinguished at around 9:20 a.m. Witnesses reported hearing explosions that felt like an earthquake, and some said they felt the gr

Social AffairsNov. 10, 2024

Drug use rises, but 13 addiction clinics treated no one last year: report

The number of estimated drug users in South Korea has surged to over 400,000 this year, but several of the state-designated hospitals for drug addiction treatment have not treated a single patient this year. According to local DongA Ilbo newspaper, a Ministry of Health and Welfare report estimated that 400,530 people in South Korea are thought to have used illegal drugs this year. This figure is derived from the ministry's formula of multiplying by 30 the actual number of those investigated

Social AffairsNov. 9, 2024

Police bust illegal casino in Gangnam office space

Police have cracked down on an illegal gambling house disguised as a regular business office in Gangnam, southern Seoul, which reportedly wagered hundreds of billions of won in bets. Seoul Metropolitan Police’s International Crime Investigation Unit said Thursday that it has apprehended the 54-year-old ringleader, who allegedly ran gambling establishments across the Nonhyeon, Sinsa and Yeoksam neighborhoods from June 2023 to August 2024. The man has been charged with violating the Tourism

Social AffairsNov. 9, 2024

N. Korea jams GPS signals, affecting ships, civilian aircraft: JCS

North Korea staged GPS jamming attacks for the second consecutive day Saturday, affecting several ships and dozens of civilian aircraft, South Korea's military said. The jamming attacks were conducted in the North's Haeju and Kaesong areas, the Joint Chiefs of Staff said, warning vessels and civilian aircraft operating in the Yellow Sea to beware of the attacks. Military operations and equipment were not affected, according to the JCS. "North Korea should immediately halt the GPS provocatio

North KoreaNov. 9, 2024

Over 3,700 N. Koreans visited Russia in Q3 for 'studies': RFA

More than 3,700 North Koreans visited Russia during the third quarter this year for "study" purposes, marking the highest quarterly figure since 2010, a United States news outlet reported Saturday. US broadcaster Radio Free Asia said a total of 5,263 North Korean nationals visited Russia during the July-September period, citing data from Russia's Federal State Statistics Service. The number is comparable to the 5,591 recorded during the same period in 2019, after which it dropped

North KoreaNov. 9, 2024

Yoon to convene emergency security, economic meeting to discuss Trump's return

President Yoon Suk Yeol will convene an emergency economic and security meeting Sunday to discuss the possible impact of former US President Donald Trump's return to office, Yoon's office said Friday. The meeting will focus on monitoring potential policy shifts under the Trump administration and preparing proactive response measures, the office said. Ministers of economy, foreign affairs, defense and trade along with senior presidential aides will attend the meeting. A second Donald Tr

Foreign AffairsNov. 8, 2024

Yoon says S. Korea-US alliance will immediately strike NK if it attempts nuclear attack: Newsweek

President Yoon Suk Yeol said a nuclear-based alliance between South Korea and the United States will immediately strike if North Korea attempts a nuclear attack against the South, according to an interview published Friday. Yoon made the remark during an interview with US magazine Newsweek to address growing concerns over North Korea's evolving nuclear and missile threats. "I believe that it would be irrational for them to decide to wage a nuclear attack against the Republic of Korea a

North KoreaNov. 8, 2024

Presidential office says hacking attacks increased following NK's troop deployment to Russia

The presidential office said Friday cyber attacks by pro-Russian hacking groups against South Korea have increased following North Korea's troop deployment to Russia in support of its war in Ukraine. The National Security Council (NSC) held an emergency intra-agency meeting on Thursday after several government websites, including those of the defense ministry and courts, suffered distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks earlier this week. The NSC said the cyber attacks, mostly DDoS, by

North KoreaNov. 8, 2024

Sought by prosecutors: Key man in Yoon presidential couple’s political drama

Myeong Tae-kyun, the self-proclaimed power broker that many South Koreans had never heard of until two months ago, made a public appearance Friday as he arrived for questioning by prosecutors. He is the man driving the spiraling election drama surrounding the presidential couple and some of the most influential power players of the ruling People Power Party. The little-known man in mainstream Seoul circles apparently blew the whistle on President Yoon Suk Yeol’s wife Kim Keon Hee, claiming

PoliticsNov. 8, 2024

First lady to keep low profile as Yoon’s ratings hit new low

First Lady Kim Keon Hee will not accompany President Yoon Suk Yeol on his planned state trips this month, a senior Yoon official told reporters Friday. The official said whether she would travel with the president in the future would be decided on a “case-by-case basis.” The decision follows the press conference by Yoon on Thursday where he said that the scope of his wife’s public role and appearances would depend on how South Koreans feel about it. “If the people like it

PoliticsNov. 8, 2024

South Korean opposition head hails Trump for Korean Peninsula peace efforts

Democratic Party of Korea leader Rep. Lee Jae-myung on Friday praised US President-elect Donald Trump’s summit meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un during his first term as a “historic contribution to peace in the Korean Peninsula.” “The first Trump administration made a historic move of holding the first-ever summit with North Korea and contributed to peace in the Korean Peninsula,” he told a meeting of the party leadership. He said that as Trump won a seco

PoliticsNov. 8, 2024

Sunken fishing boat's location confirmed; fishing net hinders search

South Korean officials have confirmed the location of the sunken fishing boat off the coast of Jeju Island, but a tangled fishing net is making the search for the vessel difficult, Jeju Coast Guard said Friday. Officials from the Coast Guard held a briefing at 2 p.m. on the search and rescue operations for the crew of the 129-ton Geumseong which sank early Friday morning, leaving two of the 27 crew dead and 12 unaccounted for. Sixteen of the crew were Korean and 11 were of foreign nationality. U

Social AffairsNov. 8, 2024

Top court upholds 8-year sentence for mother who killed newborns, stored bodies in freezer

South Korea’s Supreme Court has upheld an eight-year prison term for a woman who killed her two newborn babies and hid their bodies in her refrigerator. The top court confirmed a lower court’s verdict that sentenced the mother, in her 30s, on charges of murder and concealing of a corpse on Oct. 8, according to media reports Friday. She was convicted of strangling a daughter and a son to death shortly after their birth in November 2018 and November 2019, respectively. Prosecutors said

Social AffairsNov. 8, 2024

Murder charge sought over death of mentally disabled student who was pushed into sea

South Korean prosecutors on Thursday requested an appellate court to hand a 25-year prison term to a 20-year-old over the death of a mentally disabled 18-year-old, who died after the accused pushed him into the sea for losing a game. Prosecutors want the defendant convicted of murder, after a lower court found him guilty only of a lesser offence. He pushed the victim into the sea in Mokpo, South Jeolla Province, on Feb.1. The defendant lured the victim to the port by suggesting to go fishing,

Social AffairsNov. 8, 2024

Police nab 20 suspects connected to ‘international sender’ phishing texts

Seoul police have uncovered six companies accused of mass-sending phishing messages beginning with “international sender” under the direction of criminal organizations, authorities said Thursday. After investigating the six firms from May to October this year, police sent 20 individuals -- among them a key operator named Kim, his employees and system developers – to the prosecution on charges of violating the Telecommunications Business Act and the Information and Communicati

Social AffairsNov. 8, 2024

Woman jailed for hiding her baby's body for 4 years

A woman accused of causing her newborn's death and then hiding the baby's body was sentenced to a four-year prison term by a local court, officials said Thursday. Daejeon District Court on Oct. 26 found the defendant guilty of violating Article 4 of the Act on Special Cases Concerning the Punishment of Child Abuse Crimes, death resulting from child abuse. The defendant in her 30s was held responsible for the death of her child, who died a week after being born in September 2019. The de

Social AffairsNov. 8, 2024

Yoon’s approval rating drops to new low

President Yoon Suk Yeol’s approval rating has fallen to a new low in the latest Gallup Korea poll released Friday, coming in at a record 17 percent. The results, however, do not reflect reactions to Thursday’s press conference, which was met with mixed reactions. The poll, conducted between Nov. 5 and 7, indicated that public sentiment has further deteriorated, with only 17 percent rating Yoon’s performance positively -- 2 percentage points lower than two weeks ago. Over the sa

PoliticsNov. 8, 2024

Self-proclaimed power broker appears before prosecutors

Myung Tae-kyun, a self-proclaimed power broker at the center of a growing political scandal, appeared before prosecutors Friday for questioning over allegations of receiving illicit funds from a former ruling party lawmaker in exchange for his assistance with her candidacy in the 2022 parliamentary by-elections in violation of political funding laws. Myung, who runs a public polling agency, arrived at the Changwon District Prosecutors Office in the city about 300 kilometers southeast of Seoul at

PoliticsNov. 8, 2024