S. Korea urges US to begin talks on revision of Trump-era steel tariffs

South Korea called on the United States Wednesday to quickly start talks to revise the Section 232 tariff rules on Seoul's steel exports.South Korean Industry Minister Moon Sung-wook made the request to his US counterpart, US Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo, in phone talks, the ministry said. "Moon told Raimondo that Washington should launch negotiations on the issue as soon as possible as it is related to a recovery in the global supply chain," the ministry said. South Korea has

Foreign AffairsDec. 22, 2021

Lee pledges to complete moon landing project by 2030

Ruling party presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung pledged Wednesday to complete the country's first moon landing project by 2030 if elected in the March presidential poll. The Democratic Party (DP) nominee also said he will establish a new position of deputy prime minister for science, technology and innovation to oversee planning and budget issues in the science industry. The plans, which were unveiled during a press conference at the DP headquarters, are part of Lee's top seven campaign pled

PoliticsDec. 22, 2021

S. Korea to offer $15 million to Africa for equitable vaccine access

South Korea on Wednesday unveiled a plan to offer $15 million to Africa for equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines during US-hosted virtual ministerial talks on responses to the omicron variant, the foreign ministry said. Seoul's Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong attended the session involving top diplomats from some 10 countries, as well as the African Union (AU) and the European Union. It was hosted by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken. At the session, Chung said Seoul will make the financia

Foreign AffairsDec. 22, 2021

Cold wave to hit N. Korea as it prepares to mark leader's 10 years in power

North Korea issued a cold wave alert Wednesday, forecasting strong winds and heavy snow over the weekend amid keen attention from the outside world about whether leader Kim Jong-un will again visit Mount Paektu on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of his ascension to power. Extreme cold weather is expected from Friday night to Sunday, with the temperature in the region of Mount Paektu, the highest peak on the Korean Peninsula, likely to drop to as low as minus 35 C to 40 C on Saturday mornin

North KoreaDec. 22, 2021

Military reports 24 more COVID-19 cases

South Korea's military on Wednesday reported 24 additional COVID-19 cases, including 22 breakthrough infections, raising the total caseload among its personnel to 3,001. Of the new cases, 13 are from the Army, four from the Navy, four from the Air Force, two from the Marine Corps and one from a unit under the direct control of the defense ministry, the ministry said. Currently, 297 military personnel are under treatment. Of the total military caseload, 1,223 are breakthrough cases. (Yonhap) &n

DefenseDec. 22, 2021

Lee, Yoon run neck-and-neck in latest poll amid family-related controversies

Ruling party presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung and his main opposition rival Yoon Suk-yeol are still running neck-and-neck, a survey showed Wednesday, after they apologized for controversies related to their family members. A Realmeter poll of 1,027 people, which was conducted on Monday and Tuesday, put Yoon ahead with 40.1 percent against Lee's 37 percent. The gap was within the margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points at the 95 percent confidence level. The Realmeter poll wa

PoliticsDec. 22, 2021

Military deploys upgraded chemical, biological reconnaissance vehicles

South Korea has completed the deployment of upgraded reconnaissance vehicles with stronger capabilities to counter chemical and biological security threats, the state arms procurement agency said Wednesday. The chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear (CBRN) reconnaissance vehicle is able to monitor hazardous airborne agents from a long distance and can send a CBRN warning via a military communications line, the Defense Acquisition Program Administration said. The vehicle has been develo

DefenseDec. 22, 2021

S. Korea to secure 10,000 extra beds for COVID-19 patients by mid-Jan.: PM

South Korea will secure an additional 10,000 hospital beds for patients with moderate to serious cases of COVID-19 by the middle of next month, raising their total number to 25,000, Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum said Wednesday. The plan comes as the country has experienced a shortage of hospital beds due to alarming increases in the number of critically ill COVID-19 patients. Kim said the additional beds will enable hospitals to cope in a situation where daily COVID-19 cases reach 10,000. Recent

Social AffairsDec. 22, 2021

New COVID-19 cases spike to over 7,000, critical cases at fresh high

South Korea's new coronavirus cases spiked to above 7,000 on Wednesday, and the number of critically ill patients surged to a record high. The country added 7,456 more COVID-19 cases, including 7,365 local infections, bringing the cumulative total to 583,065, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said. Wednesday's tally is sharply up from 5,318 on Monday and 5,202 on Tuesday. The number of new daily cases usually shrinks at the beginning of the week due to less testing over th

Social AffairsDec. 22, 2021

N. Korea's child mortality estimated at 17 per 1,000 in 2020: UN report

North Korea's mortality rate for children under age 5 was estimated at 17 per 1,000 births last year with a 3.2 percent annual rate of reduction over the past three decades, a recent UN report showed. The number is down from 43 in 1990 and 60 in 2000, according to the Level and Trends in Child Mortality: Report 2021. The global average of under-five mortality rate came to 37 per 1,000 in 2020, while the comparable figure for South Korea declined from 16 in 1990 to eight in 2000 and three last

North KoreaDec. 22, 2021

S. Korea expresses concerns as Fukushima operator seeks approval for water release plan

South Korea on Tuesday voiced concerns as the operator of Japan's crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant filed for approval for its plan to release radioactive water into the sea. The Seoul government held an emergency vice-ministerial meeting after Tokyo Electric Power Co. submitted an application for the planned release to Japan's Nuclear Regulation Authority. "We express serious concerns as Japan is proceeding with its plan to unilaterally release the contaminated water into the sea d

Foreign AffairsDec. 21, 2021

Vaccine pass challenged by increasing fraud, rejection

South Korea’s tightened vaccine pass regime has spawned fierce backlash from individuals remaining unvaccinated, with some attempting to get around the rules with fake certificates.  On neighborhood-based secondhand marketplace Carrot Market, a now-deleted posting offered to pay 50,000 won ($42) to fully vaccinated people lending their Naver ID and password earlier this week.  Naver, the country’s No. 1 web portal, is linked to the government’s vaccination record

Social AffairsDec. 21, 2021

[Newsmaker] Yoon's feminist recruit under attack from all corners

Shin ji-ye, a 31-year-old feminist with liberal political inclinations, made headlines Monday as she crossed party lines and joined the campaign of Yoon Suk-yeol, the presidential nominee of the conservative People Power Party. The young politician ran as a Seoul mayor candidate for Green Party Korea in 2018, finishing fourth in the race with over 80,000 votes. Her campaign gained support from feminists and progressives as one of the first candidates in the country’s political history to

PoliticsDec. 21, 2021

Discord deepens in opposition as chief quits election committee

The main opposition People Power Party’s chairman on Tuesday said he will resign from the election committee, following the latest spat with a party lawmaker that again highlighted the young leader’s struggle to take command. People Power Party Chairman Lee Jun-seok announced the intent to resign from the committee following an argument with the election committee campaign’s communication chief Rep. Cho Su-jin on Monday. Lee will maintain his post as party chairman. “

PoliticsDec. 21, 2021

Ending the Korean War: Risky gambit, with little chance of payoff

Will an end-of-war declaration bring us one step closer to a peaceful and nuclear-free Korean Peninsula? In Washington, there is a divergence of opinion on the utility of an end-of-war declaration as a means to reboot nuclear diplomacy with North Korea.  But the majority sees more risk than opportunity, with adverse ramifications for the security of the Korean Peninsula, the South Korea-US alliance, American deterrence and the status of the United Nations Command. There is also concern

North KoreaDec. 21, 2021

S. Korea, China to hold high-level strategic talks this week

South Korea said Tuesday it will hold high-level strategic talks with China via video links this week, the first bilateral session of its kind in more than four years. Choi Jong-kun, first vice foreign minister, is scheduled to hold the 9th Strategic Dialogue with his Chinese counterpart, Le Yucheng, Thursday afternoon, according to Choi Young-sam, spokesman for Seoul's foreign ministry. They had the 8th Strategic Dialogue meeting in June 2017. The two sides plan to have discussions on a wide

Foreign AffairsDec. 21, 2021

More protests held this year in S. Korea, despite spike in COVID cases

The number of protests held this year has jumped, even as the country’s daily coronavirus tally and the number of critically ill patients have continued to increase throughout this year. According to the National Police Agency’s report released Tuesday, the number of demonstrations held nationwide during the January-November period reached 79,407, around 238 protests per day. Last year, the figure marked 77,453 over the same period, police said. Demonstrations particularly spik

Social AffairsDec. 21, 2021

PPP chief offers to step down from presidential campaign leadership amid internal feud

The chief of the main opposition People Power Party (PPP) said Tuesday he will quit all his positions in the party's presidential campaign committee following a dispute with a senior member of the committee. Lee Jun-seok announced his departure at a press briefing at the National Assembly after Rep. Cho Su-jin, the PPP campaign's communications chief, disobeyed his order and said she would listen only to the party's presidential nominee, Yoon Suk-yeol. Later in the day, Cho also offered to res

PoliticsDec. 21, 2021

PM reiterates opposition to Lee's proposal of delaying heavy taxation on multiple home owners

Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum on Tuesday reiterated his opposition to a proposal from ruling party presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung to temporarily postpone heavy taxation on owners of multiple homes, saying it will bring down people's trust in government policies. Lee has been calling for the government to delay imposing a heavy capital gains tax on owners of multiple homes when they sell their properties, claiming that such a move will put more homes on the market and thus help stabilize soa

PoliticsDec. 21, 2021

Moon calls for readiness against spread of omicron

President Moon Jae-in called on the government Tuesday to prepare for the scenario of the omicron variant becoming the dominant version of COVID-19 in the country while making sure to reinforce the country's medical capacity. Moon made the remarks at a Cabinet meeting held after the country reported 49 new omicron cases, bringing the accumulated total to 227. South Korea's daily COVID-19 cases have recently hovered in the 7,000's, marked by alarming growth in the number of critically ill patie

PoliticsDec. 21, 2021