S. Korea holds live-fire ballistic missile drills after N. Korean missile launches

South Korea fired a Hyunmoo-II surface-to-surface ballistic missile into the Yellow Sea this week in a show of force after North Korea's recent series of missile launches, the Joint Chiefs of Staff said Friday. The live-fire exercise took place Thursday in the western coastal county of Taean, 108 kilometers southwest of Seoul, days after North Korea fired short-range ballistic missiles Tuesday and a new intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) last week. Under a scenario of a North Korean

DefenseNov. 8, 2024

2 dead, 12 missing after fishing boat sinks near Jeju Island

A fishing boat carrying 27 people sank off the coast of Jeju Island on Friday, leaving two dead and 12 missing as authorities set up an emergency task force for rescue operations. As of Friday morning, Jeju Special Self-Governing Province is commanding rescue operations at the emergency headquarters in Jeju City. Dozens of vessels and multiple aircraft from the Coast Guard, Navy, Air Force and the civilian sector are conducting search and rescue operations in the waters off Biyangdo Island. Pr

Social AffairsNov. 8, 2024

[Contribution] APEC, passing the baton to Korea

On Nov. 16, President Yoon Suk Yeol will participate in the APEC Leaders' Summit in Lima, coinciding with his official visit to Peru. This is a significant occasion as Korea will assume the presidency of Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation for 2025, a forum which serves as the primary platform for economic cooperation in the Asia-Pacific region. Over the past 35 years, APEC has effectively promoted trade and investment integration in the world's most dynamic economic region, which curren

Diplomatic CircuitNov. 8, 2024

Tourist doing yoga in front of Gyeongbokgung stirs debate

Photos of a woman practicing yoga in green leggings in front of Gyeongbokgung in Seoul have stirred up debate online. The incident occurred when a woman, 37, from Hanoi, Vietnam shared photos on TikTok showing herself doing a yoga handstand pose in front of the stone wall surrounding Gyeongbokgung, the main royal palace of the Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910), during a visit to Seoul, Sunday. The photos went viral on social media, drawing criticism for being "rude," "disgraceful" a

Social AffairsNov. 8, 2024

South Korean courts suffer website outages in suspected cyber attacks

The websites of South Korean courts temporarily went down Thursday afternoon, a day after South Korean military websites suffered similar outages. The court websites, including that of the country’s largest Seoul central district court, were inaccessible due to suspected cyberattacks. The court administration office told reporters it suspects a distributed denial of service attack, in which servers are overwhelmed with large amounts of traffic to block access, by a potential foreign source

PoliticsNov. 7, 2024

Political sphere divided over Yoon’s public address

South Korea’s political sphere expressed divided opinions on President Yoon Suk Yeol’s public address delivered Thursday, with the main opposition party criticizing it as a speech “full of excuses” and the ruling party praising it as “honest.” In the televised address and press conference marking the second half of his term, Yoon did not directly mention his wife, but offered an apology amid the public discontent due to the multiple controversies surrounding f

PoliticsNov. 7, 2024

Poster of Kim Jong-un behind bars launches S. Korean groups' anti-NK campaign in Geneva

A group of South Koreans held a campaign denouncing North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in front of the North’s permanent mission to the United Nations in Geneva on Wednesday, one of its organizers said Thursday. The campaign, organized jointly by the South Korean civic group People for Successful Corean Reunification and the Seoul-based advertising agency Jeski Social Campaign, was initiated at the plaza in front of the United Nations Office building where a session of the UN Human Rights Cou

North KoreaNov. 7, 2024

Yoon dismisses North Korea’s drone incursion claims

President Yoon Suk Yeol on Thursday struck down claims raised by North Korea that South Korean uncrewed aerial vehicles had entered its skies. “It’s not worth responding to these claims when it is North Korea that is in the wrong,” he said. The president’s remarks came in response to a question from a reporter during a press conference held at the presidential office in Yongsan-gu, central Seoul. “North Korean drones have crossed the border into our skies 10 times a

PoliticsNov. 7, 2024

‘Trump may seek surprise NK deal at expense of Seoul’

With Donald Trump positioning himself for a second term in the White House, he and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un may renew summit talks, potentially reaching a deal that sidelines South Korea’s key interests, Seoul-based analysts warned. Observers caution that Trump could, for instance, tactically acquiesce to North Korea's nuclear weapons possession in exchange for a freeze on the development of intercontinental ballistic missiles capable of targeting the US mainland -- a concessio

Foreign AffairsNov. 7, 2024

Yoon apologizes but denies wife's role in state affairs

President Yoon Suk Yeol on Thursday apologized to the public for causing worry over escalating concerns regarding an election interference scandal involving Yoon and his wife Kim Keon Hee, but defended her, saying she did not meddle in state affairs. "No president is giving an excuse. It's all my fault," Yoon said. Yoon's first public apology since his inauguration in May 2022 came at a press conference held in an apparent bid for a breakthrough in his policy reform drive. He has been

PoliticsNov. 7, 2024

Allies face test with return of Trump’s transactional diplomacy

Donald Trump’s return to the White House would propel South Korea to reassess fundamentally its alliance strategy, prompting preparations for trading, deal-centered diplomacy tailored to his transactional approach -- in which there seem no exceptions, even for treaty-bound allies like South Korea. Observers in Seoul warn that Trump’s policies may bring significant challenges and pressures in three key areas: demands to renegotiate the defense cost-sharing agreement for increased cont

Foreign AffairsNov. 7, 2024

Yoon, Trump agree to meet 'at early date' in 12-minute call

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol said Thursday that he and US President-elect Donald Trump agreed to “meet at an early date” to discuss possible resolutions on North Korean provocation and the prosperity of the alliance, in a 12-minute phone call held early in the day. "We talked for some 10 minutes on the phone at 8 a.m. I, of course, offered him my congratulations first and discussed several (issues) including (the need) to build strong solidarity and partnerships in the A

PoliticsNov. 7, 2024

A look back on US' unpredictable foreign policy in Trump's 1st term

As Donald Trump returns to the White House for a second term, the world is reminded of his high-stakes, often unpredictable approach to diplomacy, especially regarding the Korean Peninsula. During his first term, Trump navigated one of the most volatile relationships in US foreign policy with North Korea, combining tough sanctions, blunt rhetoric and unprecedented summits. Trump's administration initially took a confrontational approach to North Korea, especially after Pyongyang conducted i

PoliticsNov. 7, 2024

South Korean ruling party chief ‘confident’ in Yoon-Trump synergy

South Korean ruling party leader Han Dong-hoon said Thursday he believed US President-elect Donald Trump’s reelection will be a chance for South Korea and the US to deepen ties further. Speaking at Thursday’s meeting of the party leadership, Han Dong-hoon congratulated Trump on his victory. “My sincerest congratulations to Mr. Trump. I have said that his Asia priority policy would be an opportunity for deepening the South Korea-US relationship in a way that benefits both countr

PoliticsNov. 7, 2024

13 dentists caught smuggling uncertified dental equipment via AliExpress

South Korea’s customs agency said Wednesday it has caught 13 dentists smuggling uncertified dental equipment into the country by purchasing it on Chinese e-commerce platform AliExpress. The dentists are accused of importing 11,349 pieces of equipment, worth approximately 140 million won ($100,000), that were allegedly used on patients, according to the Korea Customs Service at Seoul Regional Customs. The seized items included tools such as dental handpieces and burs for cavity treatment an

Social AffairsNov. 7, 2024

By tree color, Busan still holds on to summer

While the country faces chilly weather on Thursday with the onset of winter based on the lunar calendar, Busan has yet to burst into autumn gold and amber, leaving foliage spots still verdant, the state weather agency said. According to the Busan branch of the Korea Meteorological Administration, as of Wednesday, South Korea's second-largest city has not officially begun its autumn foliage season, nearly a week behind the city’s average, with ginkgo trees typically changing color by

Social AffairsNov. 7, 2024

City of Suwon searches for aggressive deer

The city of Suwon, Gyeonggi Province, has started the search for an unknown number of deer that have appeared on trails and attacked local parkgoers. In a joint operation among the city government, Suwon Fire Station and Suwon Jungbu Police Station, officials are scouring Gwanggyo Lake Park and Gwanggyosan to capture the deer that have attacked people at least twice and were seen several times in some neighborhoods in northern Suwon. According to reports, a deer was spotted in Yeonmu-dong early

Social AffairsNov. 7, 2024

Koreans still do not prefer Trump as US president: survey

As Donald Trump gets ready to kick off a second nonconsecutive term as the president of the United States, a survey shows that the majority of South Koreans do not prefer him as the leader of the country's most important ally. Local pollster Gongjung conducted a Nov. 4-5 survey of 1,000 adults, commissioned by media outlet Dailian, which showed that 76.8 percent of respondents here thought that a Kamala Harris win in the US presidential election would have been most beneficial for South Kor

Social AffairsNov. 7, 2024

Son kills abusive father, then tries to kill himself, his mother

A man in his 30s was arrested for murder of his father, who is thought to have inflicted repeated physical abuse on the son and his wife for years. Seoul Seobu Police Station said Thursday that it has forwarded the case to the prosecutors. The suspect is accused of beating his father, who was in his 70s, to death with a blunt object at their home in Eunpyeong-gu, Seoul, on Oct.27. The suspect had gotten infuriated by his father, who cursed at his mother and demanded money to buy alcohol. The sus

Social AffairsNov. 7, 2024

FM Cho confident S. Korea will build closer ties with incoming US administration

Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul voiced confidence Thursday that South Korea will deepen the relationship with the incoming US administration of President-elect Donald Trump, based on the solid foundation of cooperation in areas across the board. Cho's remark came after Trump won Tuesday's presidential election, a victory that raises expectations in South Korea of major policy shifts from the Joe Biden administration in a way that could shake up the bilateral alliance with Washington. &quo

PoliticsNov. 7, 2024