Climate groups urge S. Korea to declare coal phaseout at US-led climate summit

A coalition of South Korean environmental groups urged the government to declare its intention to go coal-free by 2030 at the upcoming US-led climate summit of world leaders, with a two-day campaign featuring a blue-spotted giraffe mascot. President Moon Jae-in is among the 40 world leaders invited by US President Joe Biden to the Leaders Summit on Climate to be held online Thursday, where the leaders are expected to discuss how to limit global warming. Seeking to reestablish his country&rsq

Social AffairsApril 16, 2021

UN experts ‘deeply disappointed’ by Japan’s plan to dump contaminated water into ocean

United Nations experts said Japan’s plans to discharge contaminated water from the destroyed Fukushima nuclear plant into the ocean were “very concerning” as this action could impact millions of lives and livelihoods in the Pacific region. “The release of one million tonnes of contaminated water into the marine environment imposes considerable risks to the full enjoyment of human rights of concerned populations in and beyond the borders of Japan,” independent exper

Foreign AffairsApril 16, 2021

Yellow dust storm from China, Mongolia heading towards Korea

The density of fine dust particles smaller than 10 micrometers in diameter, known as PM 10, will rise to "very bad" levels in Seoul and many other parts of South Korea, beginning Friday evening, due to the influx of yellow dust originating from deserts in northern China and Mongolia, a state forecasting agency said. The PM 10 reading is to soar above the government-designated "very bad" level in the greater Seoul area and central and southern provinces, including Gangwon and

Social AffairsApril 16, 2021

Govt. to mobilize full capacity to overcome COVID-19 as soon as possible: Chung

South Korea's outgoing prime minister said Friday the government will mobilize its full capacity to achieve herd immunity against COVID-19 and ultimately overcome the pandemic. "COVID-19 can never win against South Korea. The government will do everything it can to win this intense war against the virus as soon as possible," Chung Sye-kyun said while chairing his final daily interagency meeting on the coronavirus response held at the government complex in Seoul. Chung resigned from h

PoliticsApril 16, 2021

Moon replaces senior secretaries for political affairs, social policy, Cheong Wa Dae spokesperson

President Moon Jae-in replaced some of his senior secretaries at Cheong Wa Dae on Friday, a move coupled with a major Cabinet shake-up to name a prime minister. Former lawmaker Lee Cheol-hee was tapped as senior presidential secretary for political affairs, and Lee Tae-han, an audit official at the National Health Insurance Service, as senior secretary for social policy, Moon's office announced. The president also named Park Kyung-mee, secretary for education policy, as new Cheong Wa Dae spoke

PoliticsApril 16, 2021

Military chiefs get AstraZeneca shots for overseas trips

Defense Minister Suh Wook and Gen. Won In-choul, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, received their first doses of AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine on Friday as they prepared to travel overseas. Suh is taking part in the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore on June 4-5, while Won will attend a change-of-command ceremony for the US Indo-Pacific Command in Hawaii later this month. There Won will meet with his US and Japanese counterparts to discuss expanding military ties. South Korea’s

DefenseApril 16, 2021

S. Korea, Indonesia to bring fighter jet project back on track

South Korea and Indonesia will soon resume work on their joint fighter jet project, as Indonesia works to catch up on its already late payments and return engineers to production lines here, Korea’s arms procurement agency said Thursday. The Indonesian defense minister, who took part in the rollout ceremony here on April 9, when Korea revealed a prototype jet, agreed to work out a plan for the resumption of the project, saying Indonesia remains committed to the joint work, a senior agency

DefenseApril 16, 2021

Govt. team probes former LH executive over alleged speculation

A government probe team has been looking into allegations of real estate speculation by a former executive of the state housing developer, the Korea Land and Housing Corp. (LH), an official said Friday. The former executive was vice president of LH until his retirement in 2016 and is suspected of using insider information to purchase land and a four-story building in Seongnam, south of Seoul, in 2017, before the land was designated for redevelopment, according to the probe team. The suspect sol

PoliticsApril 16, 2021

Moon nominates new prime minister in Cabinet shake-up

President Moon Jae-in has nominated former Interior Minister Kim Boo-kyum as his third prime minister and is replacing five other ministers as part of a major Cabinet shake-up, Cheong Wa Dae said Friday. The ministers in charge of industry, land, labor, science and oceans are set to be replaced in the reshuffle, and key Cheong Wa Dae staff are to be reorganized. The reshuffle is seen as an attempt to stabilize state affairs at the end of Moon’s term after the ruling party lost mayoral

PoliticsApril 16, 2021

Unification ministry hopes Moon-Biden summit will help build consensus on denuclearization

The unification ministry on Friday expressed hopes that an upcoming summit between South Korean President Moon Jae-in and US President Joe Biden will help improve inter-Korean relations and strengthen efforts for denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. Moon is set to hold his first in-person summit talks with Biden in Washington D.C. "in the latter half of May," Cheong Wa Dae announced earlier. "We hope that the May summit will help build a 'large consensus' between the leader

North KoreaApril 16, 2021

Biden to discuss deterioration of S. Korea-Japan ties in summit with Suga: US official

US President Joe Biden wants to discuss the deterioration of relations between South Korea and Japan during his talks with Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga set for this week, a senior Washington official was quoted Thursday as saying. The first in-person summit between Biden and Suga is scheduled to take place in Washington on Friday, amid tensions between the US allies over wartime history, trade and Tokyo's recent decision to discharge into the ocean contaminated water from the crippled

Foreign AffairsApril 16, 2021

[Photo News] Late NK founder’s birth anniversary

A nighttime outdoor ball of North Korean students and youths takes place in Pyongyang on Thursday, in celebration of the birth anniversary of the late North Korea founder Kim Il-sung, in this photo released by the Korean Central News Agency. Fireworks light up the sky over Pyongyang on Thursday, in celebration of the birth anniversary of the late North Korea founder Kim Il-sung, in this photo released by the Korean Central News Agency.  An outdoor ball of North Korean students and youths

North KoreaApril 16, 2021

2021 Korea Basic Income Fair to kick off on April 28

The 2021 Korea Basic Income Fair, the world’s largest venue for public discussions on basic income, will take place online and offline at the Korea International Exhibition Center (KINTEX) in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province, from April 28 to 30. The first Korea Basic Income Fair was held in 2019. Now marking its third anniversary, this year’s event will be the largest to date with 68 scholars from around the world participating in online discussions under the theme of “Humans Humane

Social AffairsApril 16, 2021

War memorial to hold photo exhibition on Canadian veterans of Korean War

South Korea's national war memorial said Friday it will open a photo exhibition next week to pay tribute to Canadian soldiers who fought during the 1950-53 Korean War. The exhibition, titled Kapyong 70: A Tribute to the Canadian Veterans of the Korean War, was co-organized with the Canadian Embassy in Seoul to mark the 70th anniversary of a battle in the northern county of Gapyeong. During the battle that took place in April 1951 at the height of the three-year war, the 27th British Commonweal

Social AffairsApril 16, 2021

Vice FM Choi holds phone talks with new US deputy secretary of state

First Vice Foreign Minister Choi Jong-kun spoke by phone with new US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman on Friday and discussed bilateral issues, including the upcoming summit between the two countries, the foreign ministry said. Their first phone talks came after the US Senate approved her nomination Tuesday (US time) as the country's No. 2 diplomat. Sherman is known here for her key role as the policy coordinator for North Korea under the Bill Clinton administration from 1999-2001. Duri

Foreign AffairsApril 16, 2021

[Graphic News] Over half of single Koreans in 30s live with parents: report

　More than half of unmarried South Koreans in their 30s live with their parents, a report showed, as young people delay marriage amid the economic slowdown. 　A total of 54.8 percent of single Koreans in their 30s live with their parents, according to the report from Statistics Korea. 　The report showed that 62.3 percent of unmarried people aged between 20 and 44 lived with their parents. (Yonhap)

NationalApril 16, 2021

New virus cases in 600s for 2nd day, virus battle at inflection point

South Korea's daily new coronavirus cases stayed in the 600s for the second straight day Friday as the country's virus fight is at a critical juncture of bracing for another wave of the pandemic. The country reported 673 more COVID-19 cases, including 652 local infections, raising the total caseload to 112,789, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said. Friday's daily caseload was down from 698 on Thursday and 731 on Wednesday, which marked the highest since Jan. 7. The coun

Social AffairsApril 16, 2021

S. Korea, Indonesia to soon resume fighter jet negotiations: official

South Korea and Indonesia will soon resume talks about their joint fighter jet development project, an official said, after Indonesia's defense minister attended the jet's prototype unveiling ceremony in a show of commitment to the project. Indonesia is a partner for the 8.8 trillion won ($7.9 billion) project, called IF-X in the country, but doubts have grown over Jakarta's commitment to the joint program after the Southeast Asian country stopped making payments for the 20 percent of the total

DefenseApril 16, 2021

NK leader visits mausoleum to mark birth anniversary of late national founder

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un visited a mausoleum of his late grandfather and national founder Kim Il-sung to mark his birth anniversary, state media reported Friday. Kim and his wife, Ri Sol-ju, visited the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun on Thursday on the occasion of the 109th birth anniversary, according to the Korean Central News Agency. The mausoleum is where the bodies of his late grandfather and father lie in state. "Kim Jong-un, together with his wife, paid high tribute to the statu

North KoreaApril 16, 2021

Biden renews pledge to support Asian American communities

US President Joe Biden on Thursday reaffirmed his support for Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) communities, pledging full government efforts to help such communities. The renewed pledge came one day after the Senate voted 92-6 to open debate on a bill proposed by the administration to address hate crimes targeting Asian Americans. "We need to stand with the AAPI community in the whole of government response with what we have to get done," Biden said in a meeting with member

Foreign AffairsApril 16, 2021