S. Korea begins production of spy drones for N. Korea surveillance

South Korea has begun production of medium-altitude unmanned aerial vehicles to enhance the military's surveillance over North Korea, the state-run procurement agency said Thursday. In December, the Defense Acquisition Program Administration signed a 471.7 billion-won ($353.6 million) deal with Korean Air, South Korea's biggest airline, along with two defense firms, LIG Nex1 and Hanwha Systems, to manufacture advanced spy drones by 2028. The state-run Agency for Defense Development ini

DefenseJan. 25, 2024

S. Korea's top nuclear envoy discusses NK threats with NATO officials

South Korea's top nuclear envoy has met with two senior officials of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and discussed North Korea's recent provocations, the foreign ministry said Thursday. Kim Gunn, special representative for Korean Peninsula peace and security affairs, met one-on-one with Mircea Geoana, NATO's deputy secretary general, and separately with David Van Weel, assistant secretary general for innovation, hybrid and cyber, at the NATO headquarters in Brussels on Wedn

Foreign AffairsJan. 25, 2024

Ministry extends after-school programs

South Korea announced plans to dramatically extend after-school care and reform education programs for elementary school students in an effort to combat the country's low birth rate. Under the extension plan announced by the Ministry of Education on Wednesday, before and after-school child care programs provided by elementary schools will be extended, opening from 7 a.m. to 9 a.m., and closing at 8 p.m., officials said. Previously, after-school programs were provided to some 50.3 percent of

Social AffairsJan. 24, 2024

Defense chief warns N. Korea will face end of regime if it wages war

South Korea's defense chief said Wednesday that North Korea will face the end of its regime if it wages war, hours after the North fired several rounds of cruise missiles into the Yellow Sea in its latest series of weapons tests. Defense Minister Shin Won-sik issued the warning during his visit to the 17th Fighter Wing at Cheongju Air Base, 112 kilometers south of Seoul, which operates 40 F-35 stealth fighter jets. "North Korea has defined the Republic of Korea as its principal enemy

North KoreaJan. 24, 2024

Length of hospital stays in S. Korea to increase by 45% in 2035: report

The number of days South Koreans spend in hospitals is expected to increase by 45 percent by 2035 when compared to 2022, government data showed Wednesday. The Ministry of Health and Welfare recently conducted a study based on recent data from the National Health Insurance Service and Statistics Korea. The findings indicated that South Koreans are expected to be admitted to hospitals for an accumulated 200.5 million days in 2035, compared to 138 million days in 2022. The ministry also speculated

Social AffairsJan. 24, 2024

Cab driver caught going the wrong way on expressway, blames passenger

A taxi driver was caught after driving 37 kilometers on the wrong side of an expressway, saying that he turned the car around because his passenger said he had been going the wrong way, local police said Wednesday. According to the Gyeongbuk Provincial Police Agency, the 65-year-old driver is being investigated on the charge of violating the Road Traffic Act at the Gyeongsan Police Station in North Gyeongsang Province. The suspect's car had been on the Seoul-bound side of the Gyeongbu Expre

Social AffairsJan. 24, 2024

Seoul’s spy agency accuses China of major cyber attacks

South Korean spy agency on Wednesday reported a significant uptick in attempts of cyber attacks by foreign sources last year, waged mainly by North Korea and China. Chinese attacks tended to inflict more severe damage than North Korean ones, despite the latter being more frequent. The National Intelligence Service said cyber attacks against the public sector increased by 36 percent overall last year compared to the year before. North Korea accounted for 80 percent of those attacks, and China, 5

DefenseJan. 24, 2024

Main opposition leader proposes military pay raise

The main opposition party on Wednesday rolled out a set of pledges aimed at improving the livelihoods of soldiers here, including raising their night and weekend shift payments. The pledges were announced by Democratic Party of Korea Chair Lee Jae-myung during his visit to the Second Marine Division in Gimpo, Gyeonggi Province, in the morning. The party plans to help the Ministry of Defense raise the weekday late shift pay for soldiers from the current 10,000 won ($7.50) to 30,000 won per shif

PoliticsJan. 24, 2024

Apgujeong Rolls Royce case driver gets 20-year prison sentence

A Seoul court on Wednesday sentenced a man to 20 years in prison for killing a pedestrian while driving under the influence of illicitly prescribed drugs. The 28-year-old driver, surnamed Shin, who ran over a woman while driving a Rolls-Royce in Apgujeong, Gangnam, Seoul in August 2023, was charged with murder via hit-and-run. The Seoul Central District Court sentenced the man to 20 years in prison on Wednesday. “The defendant caused the car accident after ignoring the doctor's instru

Social AffairsJan. 24, 2024

[Herald Interview] Ties 'turbulent,' but ball in Seoul's court: Russian Ambassador

South Korea and Russia are currently in a "turbulent" place, but the future will be different if Seoul takes steps to stabilize bilateral ties, according to the new Russian Ambassador to Seoul Georgy Zinoviev. "We perceive that the ball is in the (South) Korean court. So, we are ready when our (South) Korean partners are ready," the ambassador in an interview with The Korea Herald in Seoul on Monday. "But, we are not going to enforce or try to impose any goodwill on our

Foreign AffairsJan. 24, 2024

Health insurance criteria for foreigners, overseas Koreans to become stricter in April

Following an amendment to the Health Insurance Act that goes into effect on April 3, foreign nationals and overseas South Koreans must reside in the country for at least six months to receive health insurance coverage as dependents of the actual subscribers. The new measures, however, will allow children under the age of 19 or spouses of foreign workers to be covered by the national health insurance before residing in Korea for six months so that families of diplomats and expatriate employees ca

Social AffairsJan. 24, 2024

Extreme cold temperatures to continue until Fri. morning

As a cold continental high pressure extends from northern China, temperatures will remain below freezing nationwide on Wednesday and continue until Friday morning, said the Korea Meteorological Administration. In the central region, eastern parts of North Jeolla Province and inland regions of North Gyeongsang Province where a cold wave warning has been issued, temperatures were recorded to be as low as minus 10 degrees Celsius, while other regions’ temperatures recorded as low as minus 5 C

Social AffairsJan. 24, 2024

S. Korean food agency warns against eating … toothpicks, seriously

South Korea's food and drug safety authorities on Wednesday issued a warning not to eat toothpicks -- specifically the green ones made of corn starch. In response to a growing social media trend of cooking and eating the toothpicks, the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety said the starched toothpicks are supposed to be used only for sanitary purposes. The officials explained that the toothpicks are hygiene items, just like cups and straws, and are not subject to the safety regulations that app

Social AffairsJan. 24, 2024

Court sentences 2-year jail term for concert ticket scam

Seoul Eastern District Court on Wednesday sentenced a 29-year-old man to two years in prison for pretending to sell concert tickets and making some 12.4 million won ($9,200) in illegal profit. From April of August of last year, the defendant surnamed Lee posted notices on various websites that he was selling tickets for concerts, amusement parks and gift certificates at a discounted price, scamming 67 people. He lured the victims by saying he was selling tickets that had already sold out, using

Social AffairsJan. 24, 2024

Talent agency chief gets suspended term for embezzlement

The head of a local talent agency has been sentenced to a suspended prison term for illegally transferring the profit from the firm to the parent company, also run by him, a local court said Wednesday. Seoul Western District Court recently sentenced the 57-year-old defendant surnamed Ahn to three years in prison, suspended for four years, on charges of embezzlement. Investigation found that Ahn, formerly the chief of the now-defunct K-Stars, used the profit from the agency to operate K Stars

Social AffairsJan. 24, 2024

Reality check: How diverse is Korea really? Disabilities and politics (3)

As of 2022, individuals with disabilities make up 5.2 percent of South Korea's population. Using basic arithmetic, this percentage corresponds to approximately 15 seats in the country’s 300-member unicameral parliament. In reality, just four seats are currently occupied by individuals with disabilities, constituting only 1.3 percent. The first person with a disability to win a parliamentary seat as a constituency representative was Lee Chul-yong. In 1988, on the ticket of the libera

PoliticsJan. 24, 2024

Court acquits ex-Yonsei professor who calls comfort women 'prostitutes'

A former Yonsei University professor indicted for making disparaging remarks against Korean victims of Japan's wartime sexual slavery was acquitted of defamation charges by a court on Wednesday. The Seoul Western District Court said it found Lew Seok-choon, who previously taught sociology at the prestigious university in Seoul, not guilty of defaming the Korean sexual slavery victims, euphemistically called "comfort women," during a lecture five years ago. Lew, a 69-year-old right

Social AffairsJan. 24, 2024

Korean character spotted on missile Russia fired into Ukraine: report

A handwritten Korean character was found on a ballistic missile Russia fired into Ukraine, a report showed Wednesday, adding to growing suspicions over arms transactions between North Korea and Russia amid their deepening military ties. Earlier this month, the White House revealed that the North has provided Russia with several dozen ballistic missiles, some of which were used to strike Ukrainian targets in late December and early January. "On a barometer documented in Ukraine on January 11

North KoreaJan. 24, 2024

N. Korea fires several cruise missiles into West Sea: JCS

North Korea fired several cruise missiles toward the West Sea on Wednesday, the South Korean military said, the latest in a series of saber-rattling that heightened tensions. The Joint Chiefs of Staff said the North's launch took place around 7 a.m. but did not elaborate, citing an ongoing analysis. "While strengthening our monitoring and vigilance, our military has been closely coordinating with the United States to monitor additional signs of North Korea's provocations," th

North KoreaJan. 24, 2024

US maintains 'appropriate' defense posture against NK threats: White House official

A White House official expressed confidence Tuesday that the United States is keeping an "appropriate" defensive posture against North Korean threats, amid tensions heightened by Pyongyang's continued weapons tests and hardening rhetoric. John Kirby, the National Security Council coordinator for strategic communications, made the remarks in response to a question of whether there has been a change in the North's military posture following its tough rhetoric against the South

North KoreaJan. 24, 2024