Seoul, Washington almost ready for humanitarian aid to Pyongyang: nuclear envoy

South Korea and the US are almost ready in their preparation to provide humanitarian assistance to North Korea, Seoul’s top nuclear envoy said Saturday, amid the allies’ efforts to revive stalled diplomacy with the recalcitrant regime. 　 Noh Kyu-duk, the special representative for Korean Peninsula peace and security affairs, made the remark upon arriving in Washington for talks with his US and Japanese counterparts on ways to bring the reclusive Pyongyang back to the table for the

North KoreaOct. 17, 2021

Lack of Korean language skills not reason to deny child custody: Supreme Court

The Supreme Court on Sunday overturned a lower court’s ruling that a foreign woman who married a Korean man and later divorced could not have child custody due to a lack of Korean language communication skills. The nation’s highest court said that it partially reversed and remanded the case to the Jeonju District Court after the lower court previously ruled in favor of the Korean husband and gave him parental rights over the Vietnamese wife in a divorce and child custody case. Acc

Social AffairsOct. 17, 2021

Scandal-hit volleyball twins depart for Greece

Two South Korean volleyball players left for Greece to continue their athletic careers after being ousted from the national team as well as their club due to claims of bullying. Twins Lee Jae-yeong and Da-yeong were spotted Saturday night at Incheon Airport ready to fly to Greece with their mother. They were leaving to join PAOK Volleyball Club in Thessaloniki. The twin Lees stayed silent and did not respond to reporters’ questions when passing through immigration. Their mother was spott

Social AffairsOct. 17, 2021

Vice FM leaves for Europe for senior-level talks on security, diplomatic ties

South Korea's first vice foreign minister left for London on Sunday for talks with British officials on bilateral relations, the security situation on the Korean Peninsula and other issues of mutual interest, his office said. The weeklong trip by Choi Jong-kun will take him to Belgium where he will attend the seventh session of the Korea-EU High-level Political Dialogue for in-depth discussions on ways to boost their ties and regional security circumstances, it said. Choi is also set to meet w

Foreign AffairsOct. 17, 2021

Seoul logs coldest mid-October morning in 67 years

Temperatures in Seoul sharply dropped to nearly 1 degree Celsius on Sunday, marking the coldest morning for mid-October in 67 years, the state weather agency said. The morning low in Seoul came to 1.3 C in the day, the lowest since Oct. 13, 1954, when the figure was 1.2 C, according to the Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA). Some areas of the capital city saw the mercury drop below zero, and the season's first ice was seen in the city, 17 days earlier than average, it added. Cold weath

Social AffairsOct. 17, 2021

Early cold snap grips Korea

Temperatures dropped sharply across the country over the weekend as cold wave alerts were issued for most regions. The Korea Meteorological Administration said Sunday’s morning lows dropped below 5 degrees Celsius nationwide with many regions marking the coldest weather of the year. Seoul saw its first ice of the year Sunday, a week earlier than the last year and 17 days earlier than the average, according to the KMA. The capital city’s Sunday morning low recorded 1.3 degrees C

Social AffairsOct. 17, 2021

IAEA chief vows close consultations with S. Korea over Japan's Fukushima water release plan

The chief of the UN nuclear watchdog has vowed to continue close consultations with South Korea and other nations over Japan's plan to discharge radioactive water from its crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant into the ocean, Seoul's foreign ministry said Sunday. Rafael Grossi, Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), made the pledge during his meeting with Ham Sang-wook, Seoul's deputy foreign minister for multilateral affairs, in Vienna on Friday, according to the m

Foreign AffairsOct. 17, 2021

Kishida sends offerings to controversial Yasukuni Shrine: report

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Sunday sent offerings to a controversial war shrine for the first time since taking office this month, a news report said. Kishida sent a "masakaki" tree to the Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo to celebrate its two-day Autumn festival that runs through Monday, according to Japan's Kyodo news agency. It marked the first time Kishida has sent an offering to the shrine, seen as a symbol of the country's past militarism, since he took office earlier this

Foreign AffairsOct. 17, 2021

New infections fall to 1,400s; eased virus curbs ahead

South Korea's daily new COVID-19 cases fell to the 1,400s on Sunday, as health authorities plan to apply eased distancing rules for a gradual return to normal life. The country added 1,420 more COVID-19 cases, including 1,403 local infections, raising the total caseload to 342,396, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA). The latest tally fell from 1,618 cases reported on Saturday, and 1,684 on Friday and 1,940 on Thursday. The daily infection count has stayed in th

Social AffairsOct. 17, 2021

S. Korea's nuclear envoy pins hope on end-of-war declaration to resume talks with North

South Korea's chief nuclear envoy said Saturday that a formal declaration of an end to the 1950-53 Korean War could pave the way for resuming the stalled denuclearization talks with North Korea. Noh Kyu-duk made the remark ahead of his meetings with his US and Japanese counterparts in Washington later this week to explore ways to bring Pyongyang back to the negotiating table. The upcoming talks will likely touch on President Moon Jae-in's recent proposal to declare a formal end to the Korean W

North KoreaOct. 17, 2021

Key figure in land development scandal to return from US on Monday

A key figure in a sprawling land development scandal is expected to return home from the United States early next week, legal sources said Saturday. Attorney Nam Wook, who left for the US in mid-September before the investigation into the case began, will arrive in Seoul as early as Monday, they said. Nam played a key role in the residential development project in Seongnam, south of Seoul. The project was initiated in 2015 under then Mayor Lee Jae-myung, who is now the ruling Democratic Party'

Social AffairsOct. 16, 2021

[Weekender] Separating recyclables from trash is harder than it seems

Plastic waste and disposable packaging are overflowing as coronavirus concerns prompt more South Koreans to shop online and order delivery food or takeout coffee. According to the Ministry of Environment, the amount of plastic waste generated last year increased by 20 percent compared with the previous year. Paper waste increased by 25 percent on-year. Korea introduced a garbage volume-rate system in 1995, meaning people have to pay for garbage bags as an incentive to minimize trash. The cou

Social AffairsOct. 16, 2021

Unification minister reiterates resolve to revive peace efforts with N. Korea

Unification Minister Lee In-young on Saturday reiterated South Korea's resolve to revive peace efforts with the North, pinning hopes on the recent reactivation of communication lines between the two Koreas. Speaking during a forum in the eastern city of Chuncheon, Lee said that the Beijing Winter Olympics slated for February next year may offer an opportunity to restore inter-Korean relations. "(The government) will focus its efforts to resume the Korean Peninsula peace process and make p

North KoreaOct. 16, 2021

Cold wave alerts issued for most of S. Korea

Cold wave alerts were issued for most of the country Saturday as an Arctic air mass brought an unseasonably chilly weather, the state weather agency said. The Korea Meteorological Administration said that cold wave warnings will take effect for about a dozen central cities and counties at 9 p.m. while Seoul and most other parts of the country will be under cold wave advisories. It will be the first time in 17 years that a cold wave alert has been issued for Seoul in October. The cold wave adv

Social AffairsOct. 16, 2021

New COVID-19 cases remain in 1,600s as authorities set to relax virus curbs

South Korea's daily new COVID-19 cases stayed in the 1,600s for the second consecutive day Saturday, as the government plans to relax social distancing rules, starting next week, ahead of a gradual return to normal life. The country added 1,618 more COVID-19 cases, including 1,594 local infections, raising the total caseload to 340,978, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency. The latest tally was down from 1,684 cases reported on Friday and 1,940 on Thursday. The daily in

Social AffairsOct. 16, 2021

S. Korea, US, Japan cooperation important to denuclearizing peninsula: State Dept.

WASHINGTON -- The United States is committed to working with its allies in denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula, a State Department spokesperson said Friday, also stressing the importance of key US allies, South Korea and Japan, working together to that end. Ned Price made the remark after Japan's newly inaugurated Prime Minister Fumio Kishida held his first call with South Korean President Moon Jae-in on Friday (Seoul time), more than 10 days after his inauguration last Monday. "As you kn

North KoreaOct. 16, 2021

N. Korea may be considering engaging with S. Korea, US: Biegun

North Korea may be considering engaging with South Korea and the rest of the world, former Deputy Secretary of State Stephen Biegun said Friday. Biegun noted the North may be trying to influence the outcome of South Korea's upcoming presidential election, but insisted having a direct communication channel with the reclusive state was more important to South Korea, as well as the United States, than having such consequences. "We've seen a sequence of events that many analysts have interpre

North KoreaOct. 16, 2021

Moon asks Japan’s Kishida for diplomacy on disputes

South Korea and Japan should work out their wartime disputes before it is too late, President Moon Jae-in said in his first phone call with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida since he took office last week, Cheong Wa Dae said Friday. But the talks, which came amid worsening ties over disagreements on virtually every issue between the two neighbors, did little to close the widening gap. “We should leave open our communication channels and continue to engage each other for a way out of

PoliticsOct. 15, 2021

Prosecutors raid Seongnam City Hall over land development scandal

Prosecutors raided Seongnam City Hall in connection with a land development corruption scandal, Friday, the day after a court dismissed a request for an arrest warrant for the key suspect. A team of prosecutors and investigators searched the offices, seizing documents and other materials. Seongnam City was responsible for licensing and approving various urban development projects in Daejang-dong, a district in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province. The city also oversaw the Seongnam Development Corpo

Social AffairsOct. 15, 2021

N. Korea opens western sea route to receive medical supplies: UNICEF

North Korea has opened a key sea route on the western coast to receive humanitarian aid deliveries following its closure attributable to the COVID-19 pandemic, a United Nations agency official said Friday. The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) has begun shipping medical supplies from the Chinese port of Dalian to North Korea's Nampo and plans to deliver more items, according to its Seoul office.  "A limited shipment of health and nutrition supplies has been delivered through th

North KoreaOct. 15, 2021