Fire in Incheon damages 3 factories, no casualties

A fire that broke in Incheon late Monday spread to three factories before being extinguished after more than four hours. No one was reported as injured or killed in the process, officials of the Incheon Fire Service said Tuesday. According to rescue authorities, the fire started at a makeshift building in the district of Seo-gu, northwestern Incheon, at around 8:55 p.m. Monday. It spread to three adjacent factories, which were mostly vacant as it was after working hours. The sole employee at one

Social AffairsMarch 19, 2024

NK leader guides firing drills involving super-large multiple rocket launchers

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has guided firing drills involving super-large multiple rocket launchers and called for perfecting readiness to collapse the capital of the enemy with the "core striking means," state media said Tuesday. On the previous day, Kim oversaw the "salvo" drills of artillery units in the country's western region using the 600mm multiple launch rocket system, according to the Korean Central News Agency. The South Korean military said Monday it det

North KoreaMarch 19, 2024

Blinken says US will always work with S. Korea against NK provocations

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Monday the United States will always work with South Korea to firmly respond to North Korea's provocations, according to the presidential office, after Pyongyang fired multiple short-range ballistic missiles toward the East Sea. Blinken made the remark during a meeting with President Yoon Suk Yeol on the sidelines of the third Summit for Democracy hosted by South Korea this week. "Secretary Blinken said the United States will always be with Sou

Foreign AffairsMarch 18, 2024

N. Korean leader congratulates Putin on reelection

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un on Monday congratulated Russian President Vladimir Putin for being reelected as Moscow's leader, state media said, amid deepening military cooperation between the two nations. Putin won a landslide victory in Russia's election Sunday for a fifth term in office, which will extend his 24-year rule for another six years. "I am firmly convinced that, under your energetic and correct guidance, the Russian people will surely win victory in the cause of ..

North KoreaMarch 18, 2024

Taiwanese minister attends democracy summit amid China's opposition

Taiwan's digital minister on Monday virtually attended a session of the third Summit for Democracy in Seoul amid Chinese opposition against inviting Taiwanese officials to the gathering. In a video message, Taiwan's Minister of Digital Affairs Audrey Tang participated in the session, stressing the risk of cyberattacks in elections around the globe this year. "Bad actors in the pay of authoritarians pulled out all stops, coming close to poisoning our information climates and interf

Foreign AffairsMarch 18, 2024

Defense chief reaffirms current size of US troops in S. Korea 'absolutely necessary'

South Korea's Defense Minister Shin Won-sik on Monday reaffirmed that the current size of US troops stationed in the country is "absolutely necessary" after a former top Pentagon official questioned the need for such a presence. Christopher Miller, who served as the acting secretary of defense under the former Donald Trump administration, said in a recent local media interview that it was time to discuss whether South Korea still needs 28,500 American troops or if change was neede

DefenseMarch 18, 2024

Yoon calls for dialogue, trust from medical community

President Yoon Suk Yeol on Monday urged the medical community to engage in dialogue and to trust the government, rather than refusing to bend on plans to increase the annual medical school enrollment quota. The president made the remarks during his visit to the pediatric ward of the Asan Medical Center earlier in the day. There, he met with hospital officials, including Park Seung-il, the head of the hospital and Lee Je-hwan, the vice director of medical services, to encourage medical workers wh

PoliticsMarch 18, 2024

Top diplomats of S. Korea, Indonesia agree to continue cooperation on delayed fighter jet project

SEOUL, March 18 (Yonhap) -- The top diplomats of South Korea and Indonesia reaffirmed their commitment to work on the joint development of the KF-21 fighter jet delayed due to Jakarta's suspended payment, Seoul's foreign ministry said Monday. The discussions between Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul and his Indonesian counterpart, Retno Marsudi, were held earlier in the day on the margins of the third Summit for Democracy hosted by South Korea. Indonesia has agreed to shoulder about 20 pe

Foreign AffairsMarch 18, 2024

Health ministry sends final notice of license suspension to 2 leaders of doctors' group

The health ministry has sent a final notice of license suspension to two leaders of a lobby group of senior doctors, the two doctors said Monday, marking the first formal suspension of a license since trainee doctors walked off their job in protest of a plan to increase the number of medical students. The final notice was sent to Park Myung-ha and Kim Taek-woo, leaders of an emergency committee at the Korea Medical Association, Park told Yonhap News Agency by telephone. "I have received a

Social AffairsMarch 18, 2024

People Future Party, New Future Party announce election candidates

A satellite of the ruling party and another launched by former Prime Minister Lee Nak-yon on Monday announced their list of candidates for the upcoming general election on April 10. The candidates will be vying for National Assembly seats through proportional representation under the current voting system. The People Future Party announced a total of 35 candidates, including Choi Bo-yun, a 45-year-old attorney with a spinal cord disability, and Park Chung-kwon, a 38-year-old North Korean defecto

PoliticsMarch 18, 2024

North Korea may ramp up provocations after monthlong break

North Korea fired several short-range ballistic missiles into the sea off the east coast of the Korean Peninsula on Monday morning, just over two hours ahead of an international summit held in Seoul that invited the US secretary of state, and three weeks ahead of South Korea’s National Assembly general election. The firings come more than a month after the launch of a cruise missile in mid-February. According to South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff, several SRBMs were fired at around 7

PoliticsMarch 18, 2024

Man arrested for stealing semen of hanwoo breeding bull

A South Korean man was arrested for breaking into a livestock lab in Jangsu County, North Jeolla Province, and stealing the semen of a Korean bull of high genetic significance, local police said Monday. According to the county police, the suspect, a meat industry insider in his 30s, is alleged to have broken into the laboratory around 8 p.m. on March 8 and committed the theft. He stored the stolen semen in a cryogenic nitrogen container which he had to preserve its condition. The suspect was i

Social AffairsMarch 18, 2024

Yoon orders measures to stem fruit prices

President Yoon Suk Yeol on Monday pledged to lay out contingency measures to stem the acute food price hikes in South Korea. Beginning Monday, at least 150 billion won ($112.5 million) of emergency funds will be deployed to stabilize the price partly by reducing or lifting tariffs on imported fruit, on a limited amount of agricultural goods or processed foods. If the plan as of Monday goes full-fledged, a total of 29 types of fruit will be subject to "tariff quotas" -- permission to im

PoliticsMarch 18, 2024

Leaders call for action against threats to democracy posed by AI

The third Summit for Democracy kicked off on Monday in Seoul, underscoring the urgency of addressing digital technology threats, particularly the proliferation of disinformation fueled by artificial intelligence, which poses a challenge to the foundations of democracy. President Yoon Suk Yeol shed light on the paradoxical nature of digital technologies, highlighting their simultaneous provision of "convenience" and their instigation of a "crisis of democracy" in his welcoming

Foreign AffairsMarch 18, 2024

4 out of 10 Korean youths say 'reunification not necessary'

Four out of 10 students in South Korea believe that reunification between the divided Koreas is no longer necessary, a government survey showed. The survey conducted in October last year by the Ministry of Unification involving 73,991 students aged 6 to 18 across the country comes amid escalating inter-Korean tensions. Pyongyang has conducted five rounds of cruise missile tests so far this year. Some 38.9 percent of the respondents responded that reunification is "not necessary," marki

North KoreaMarch 18, 2024

Seoul city offers up to W200m to foreign-invested firms for new hiring

The Seoul Metropolitan Government announced Monday that the city would provide subsidies of up to 200 million won ($150,000) per firm to foreign-invested enterprises -- legal structures in which overseas-based companies can participate in the economy here -- in growth industries and that hire six or more new employees. Under the subsidy plan, the new employees must be Korean nationals and retained until 2026. To be eligible, enterprises must have invested in one of the city’s eight new gro

Social AffairsMarch 18, 2024

Private physicians mull reducing night service, weekend openings

Private practitioners nationwide are mulling whether to reduce night services and weekend openings in protest against the government’s medical reform policies. Kim Dong-seok, an obstetrician who heads the Korean Medical Practitioners Association, a group representing private physicians, said during a spring medical academic conference Sunday afternoon that private medical practices are considering taking action to support junior doctors and medical professors’ walkout by shortening t

Social AffairsMarch 18, 2024

Pressure mounts on Yoon aide over remarks threatening press freedom

President Yoon Suk Yeol's office on Monday released a statement over mounting calls for presidential aide Hwang Sang-moo to step down after his controversial remarks about press freedom were disclosed by a media outlet. The presidential office said in a statement that it "respects press freedom" and the responsibilities that come with that freedom. Yoon's office also denied that it has ever attempted to suppress the media's freedom of expression. "The presidential o

PoliticsMarch 18, 2024

S. Korea to crack down on ticket scalping via macro tools

The South Korean government said Monday that the recent law revision banning the use of macro tools to buy tickets will take effect Friday as part of its measures to fight widespread ticket scalping in the country. The revision of the Public Performance Act specifies that no one shall illegally buy tickets for performances by using computer programing tools for automated repetitive inputs -- the macro programs -- for the purpose of reselling them, according to the Ministry of Culture, Sports and

Social AffairsMarch 18, 2024

Odaesan braille map marks start of project to make nature more accessible

Braille maps of Odaesan National Park, located in Gangwon Province, are now available, the Korea National Park Service announced Monday. The release marks the first of a planned series covering all 23 national parks designed to assist both people with low vision and those who are blind. Developed in collaboration between the parks administration body and the National Geographic Information Institute, the maps, including the inaugural edition for Odaesan, will be distributed to centers and school

Social AffairsMarch 18, 2024