Lee proposes meeting with other candidates to discuss increasing extra budget to W35tr

Ruling party presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung on Friday proposed an emergency meeting between all presidential candidates to discuss increasing an extra government budget under consideration to 35 trillion won ($29.3 billion) to support pandemic-hit merchants. Lee of the liberal Democratic Party (DP) made the proposal only hours after the Cabinet endorsed a 14 trillion won extra budget for the same purpose to be submitted to the National Assembly for approval. The amount of 35 trillion won

PoliticsJan. 21, 2022

UNSC fails to agree on imposing UN sanctions on N.Koreans

UN Security Council members have failed to agree on imposing UN sanctions on North Koreans responsible for weapons development, while the US denounced opponents for giving Pyongyang a “blank check.” The UNSC on Thursday held a closed-door meeting on a spate of ballistic missile tests by North Korea at the request of several member countries, including Albania, France, Ireland, the UK, and the US. This is the second closed consultation on the matter this year. But the Security Coun

North KoreaJan. 21, 2022

Lee, Yoon neck-and-neck at 34% vs. 33%: poll

Ruling party presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung is running neck and neck with his main opposition rival Yoon Suk-yeol at 34 percent support against Yoon's 33 percent, a poll showed Friday. Lee of the liberal Democratic Party lost 3 percentage points from last week, while Yoon of the conservative People Power Party added 2 points, according to the Gallup Korea survey conducted on 1,002 adults from Tuesday to Thursday. Ahn Cheol-soo, the presidential candidate of the minor opposition People's

PoliticsJan. 21, 2022

Hanjin chief borrowed money from man at center of corruption scandal, but no illegality found: sources

Prosecutors have found Cho Won-tae, chairman of Hanjin Group and Korean Air, borrowed and repaid 3 billion won ($2.5 million) from a man at the center of a far-reaching development corruption scandal but concluded there was no illegality in the transaction, sources said Friday. The transaction was detected as the Seoul Central District Prosecutors Office looked into bank accounts of Kim Man-bae, who is at the center of the corruption scandal involving a lucrative apartment development project i

Social AffairsJan. 21, 2022

Military reports 66 more COVID-19 cases

South Korea's military on Friday reported 66 additional COVID-19 cases, including 53 breakthrough infections, raising the total caseload among its personnel to 3,828. Of the new cases, 57 are from the Army, five from the Air Force, one from the Navy and three from units under the direct control of the defense ministry. The Army infection count included 17 service members and trainees at a boot camp in Nonsan, 213 kilometers south of Seoul, according to an informed source. Currently, 345 mili

DefenseJan. 21, 2022

Daily cases over 6,000 for 2nd day amid omicron woes

South Korea's daily coronavirus cases stayed over 6,000 for a second straight day Friday amid concerns over the spread of the omicron variant ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday.   The country added 6,769 new COVID-19 infections, including 6,482 local infections, raising the total caseload to 719,269, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA). Health authorities are on high alert over a possible spike in infections as many people travel for family reunions

Social AffairsJan. 21, 2022

US, 7 other nations urge full implementation of N. Korea sanctions

WASHINGTON -- The United States and seven other members of the UN Security Council (UNSC) on Thursday called on all UN members to fully implement UNSC sanctions on North Korea. The call came after China blocked a US proposal to impose additional UN sanctions against the North for conducting at least four missile launches since the start of the year. "We also call on all member states to implement Security Council resolutions, to which the Security Council unanimously agreed, and which cal

Foreign AffairsJan. 21, 2022

Military to ship COVID-19 treatment pills to overseas units

South Korea's military is set to ship COVID-19 treatment pills to three overseas units Friday following virus outbreaks there, officials here said. Pfizer's Paxlovid antiviral pills will be sent by air to the contingents in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), South Sudan and Lebanon under Thursday's distribution approval by the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA), the officials said. The military also plans to send the pills to the Navy's anti-piracy Cheonghae unit operating in wate

DefenseJan. 21, 2022

Govt. to lower age of eligibility for COVID-19 treatment pills from 65 to 60: PM

The government will lower the age of eligibility for COVID-19 treatment pills from 65 to 60 to better contain the spread of the omicron variant, Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum said Friday. Kim announced the measure during a COVID-19 response meeting held a day after President Moon Jae-in said omicron has become the dominant strain in the country. The first batch of Pfizer Inc.'s COVID-19 treatment pills arrived in the country last week to be administered first to those with compromised immune sys

Social AffairsJan. 21, 2022

US, Japan reaffirm commitment to complete denuclearization of Korean Peninsula

WASHINGTON -- The United States and Japan reaffirmed their commitment to the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula Thursday, urging North Korea to quickly return to the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). The countries also urged all UN member countries to fully implement UN Security Council sanctions on North Korea. "We are strongly committed to the complete, verifiable, and irreversible dismantlement of all of North Korea's nuclear weapons, other weapons of mass destruction and

Foreign AffairsJan. 21, 2022

US ready, prepared to talk with N. Korea at anytime: Thomas-Greenfield

WASHINGTON -- The United States is willing and prepared to talk with North Korea at anytime, US ambassador to the United Nations said Thursday, while also stressing that the option has always been on the table for Pyongyang. Linda Thomas-Greenfield, however, also stressed the need to respond to North Korea's recent missile tests that she said jeopardized peace and security in the East Asian region. "We have been clear from day one that we are willing to go to the negotiating table with th

Foreign AffairsJan. 21, 2022

US senator highlights need for strengthened deterrence against N. Korea

WASHINGTON -- Sen. James Risch (R-ID) has called on the US government to enhance and improve its nuclear capabilities to provide added deterrence in support of US allies against threats posed by North Korea. The ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee also highlighted the need for joint military readiness to deter any North Korean aggression. "Our priority needs to be on US and allied cooperation and military readiness through a strong tempo of training and exercises -- n

Foreign AffairsJan. 21, 2022

S. Korea‘s nuke envoy holds phone talks with US, Chinese counterparts over North Korea

South Korea’s top nuclear envoy had back-to-back phone talks with his American and Chinese counterparts on Thursday, the foreign ministry said, amid rising tension over North Korea‘s apparent threat of nuclear and long-range weapons tests. Noh Kyu-duk, special representative for Korean Peninsula peace and security affairs, talked with his American counterpart, Sung Kim, in their latest emergency consultations, hours after the North hinted at restarting “all temporally-suspend

Foreign AffairsJan. 20, 2022

Worker killed in POSCO steel mill accident

A worker died at a plant of South Korea‘s top steelmaker POSCO on Thursday after being hit by a coal-moving vehicle, police said. The 38-year-old worker, affiliated with a service provider for the company, was run over by a vehicle charging coal at a POSCO steel mill in the southeastern city of Pohang at around 9:47 a.m. while on duty. He was sent to a nearby hospital, but pronounced dead, according to the Pohang Nambu Police Station and the company. “I offer my deepest apologie

Social AffairsJan. 20, 2022

Omicron to engulf Korea faster, cause sharper rise

Omicron is spreading through South Korea at a faster pace with the potential to cause a sharper rise than earlier projections, according to an expert advising the government. Dr. Jung Jae-hun, a preventive medicine specialist and COVID-19 adviser to the prime minister, said Thursday the omicron wave is “feared to be worse than previously thought.” Three weeks ago, all of the scenarios modeled by Jung’s team showed more than 10,000 cases a day and up to 2,000 intensive care a

Social AffairsJan. 20, 2022

N.Korea seeks ‘powerful physical means’ to overpower US

North Korea said Thursday it would seek to immediately develop more “powerful physical means” to overpower the US in preparation for “long-term confrontation,” expressing its potential intent to abandon the self-imposed moratorium on testing nuclear weapons and intercontinental ballistic missiles. Pyongyang made the decision at a Politburo meeting of the Workers’ Party of Korea on Wednesday, with the North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in attendance, the state-run med

North KoreaJan. 20, 2022

[Election 2022] Fan clubs and phone recordings, candidates’ wives in spotlight

As the presidential election is drawing near, an unexpected figure jumped into the spotlight: Kim Keon-hee, the wife of Yoon Suk-yeol, the candidate from the main opposition People Power Party. After controversial recordings of her phone call with a reporter were published last weekend, Kim has gained an unusual fandom, with her online fan club witnessing its members grow exponentially in only a couple of days. While the latest phenomenon reflects the high expectations the electorate holds f

PoliticsJan. 20, 2022

Two men sentenced to 3 years in prison over selling illegal abortion pill, abetting infanticide

Two men, who were convicted of selling illegal abortion pills and helping two cases of infanticide, have been sentenced to three years in prison, according to the Daejeon District Court, Thursday. The court also banned the two men from getting child-related careers for three years. In January, 2020, the two men, who are in their 30s, sold illegal abortion pills online to a woman in her 20s. However, the woman gave birth in her bathroom after the abortion pills failed. She then asked the two m

Social AffairsJan. 20, 2022

80-something man arrested for murder of wife

A man in his 80s who is believed to have murdered his wife over suspicion of a possible relationship with another man has been arrested, police said Thursday. The case has been sent to the prosecutor’s office for further investigation. According to the Seoul Dongdaemun Police Station, the man is alleged to have murdered his wife on Jan. 12 at home. The man reportedly called his son and confessed to the crime. The son reported the case to police, and police arrested him at the scene.

Social AffairsJan. 20, 2022

Number of N. Korean defectors plunges in 2021 amid pandemic

The number of North Koreans who defected to South Korea dropped to double digits last year apparently due to the North's strict border restrictions against the COVID-19 pandemic, according to an official here Thursday. A total of 63 North Koreans -- 40 men and 23 women -- settled in the South during the year, compared with 229 in 2020 and 1,047 in 2019, the unification ministry official told reporters on background. The decline seems attributable mainly to the North Korea-China border controls

North KoreaJan. 20, 2022