NK blasts UN ‘double standard’ on missile tests

North Korea on Monday denounced the United Nations for applying a “double standard” in criticizing Pyongyang’s recent missile test, accusing the international organization of infringing on the North’s sovereignty.   　 Jo Chol-su, director general of the department of international organizations within North Korea’s Foreign Ministry, issued a statement via the state-run Korea Central News Agency on Monday, after Pyongyang test-fired two short-range ballistic m

North KoreaMarch 29, 2021

Moon’s top economic adviser resigns over excessive rent increase

President Moon Jae-in on Monday dismissed his chief of staff for policy Kim Sang-jo, who played a key role in implementing policies to better protect tenants’ rights but was recently found to have greatly raised the jeonse deposit for his Gangnam apartment days before the new laws took effect. According to government filings, Kim raised the jeonse deposit 14 percent -- from 850 million won ($751,000) to 970 million won -- when he renewed a lease with a tenant July 29 last year. Two days l

PoliticsMarch 29, 2021

S. Korea to prioritize expanded in-person classes for middle school students

South Korea will expand in-person classes and accelerate the vaccination of key school employees to restore educational opportunities lost to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Ministry of Education said Monday. Education Minister Yoo Eun-hae told reporters Monday that the ministry is prioritizing an expanded proportion of in-person classes for middle school students, especially those in Greater Seoul, as the country continues to fight the coronavirus pandemic. “We have been in talks with region

Social AffairsMarch 29, 2021

[Photo News] Seoul turns gray in yellow dust storm

A yellow dust warning was issued for Seoul on Monday. Warnings are issued when average fine dust concentrations are forecast to stay above 800 micrograms per cubic meter for two hours or longer. From the bridge Banpodaegyo, Gangnam District appears in a gray haze of fine dust.  A street full of cherry blossoms in Yeouido is coated with a cloud of fine dust.  (Photos: Yonhap) By Yoon Chae-won (choenayoon@heraldcorp.com)

Social AffairsMarch 29, 2021

KDI School of Public Policy and Management starts 2021 fall admissions process

Admissions for the KDI School of Public Policy and Management’s 2021 fall semester will start April 1 for both international and domestic applicants. Online applications can be submitted from April 1 at 9 a.m. until April 19 at 6 p.m. (Korean time). Affiliated with the Korea Development Institute, Korea’s No. 1 think tank, the KDI School of Public Policy and Management opened in March 1998. Since then it has remained unrivaled in teaching and research on development and public polic

Social AffairsMarch 29, 2021

Police investigate interior minister's ex-aide over property speculation allegations

SUWON -- Police have begun investigating a former aide to Interior Minister Jeon Hae-cheol over allegations that he and his family were involved in a speculative land purchase. A probe team of Gyeonggi Nambu Police Agency has been conducting raids into five places since this morning, including the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and the headquarters of the Korea Land and Housing Corp. (LH) in Jinju, South Gyeongsang Province, in connection with the allegations. The raids came af

Social AffairsMarch 29, 2021

Military closely monitoring NK amid report of activities at submarine shipyard

South Korea's military is keeping a close watch on North Korea, the defense ministry said Monday, amid a report that the North may be ready to roll out a new submarine capable of launching ballistic missiles. 38 North, a US website monitoring North Korea, reported Friday that a dry dock at the North's Sinpo shipyard on its east coast has recently been repositioned along the submarine launch quay, saying the move could indicate that the North's new ballistic missile submarine "may be nearin

DefenseMarch 29, 2021

S. Korea, US working closely on how to improve THAAD base conditions: Seoul ministry

South Korea is closely discussing with the United States ways to improve living conditions for American service members stationed on the THAAD missile defense base in the country, the defense ministry said Monday. Ministry spokesperson Boo Seung-chan made the remarks after a recent Chosun Ilbo report that said US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin strongly protested poor conditions of the base during his recent visit to Seoul, calling the neglect "unacceptable." "I do not confirm

Foreign AffairsMarch 29, 2021

Moon replaces Cheong Wa Dae policy chief amid property-related controversy

President Moon Jae-in replaced Kim Sang-jo, his top Cheong Wa Dae aide on policy, Monday, Moon's office announced amid a controversy over the leasing of his apartment in southern Seoul. Moon promoted Lee Ho-seung, senior secretary for economic affairs, to the post of handling policy at the presidential office, according to You Young-min, presidential chief of staff. Moon's decision came "in consideration of the very grave situation connected with real estate," a senior Cheong Wa Dae

PoliticsMarch 29, 2021

Law banning leaflets into N. Korea to take effect this week

A law banning the sending of anti-Pyongyang leaflets into North Korea will take effect this week, the unification ministry said Monday. The amendment to the Development of Inter-Korean Relations Act, set to go into effect Tuesday, has raised concerns that it could hurt freedom of expression and undercut efforts to send information into the reclusive North. "In the process of enforcing the ban, we will strive to do so in a way in line with the government's goal of improving the human right

North KoreaMarch 29, 2021

Veteran actor Park Joong-hoon caught drunk driving

A veteran South Korean actor Park Joong-hoon has been caught driving under the influence of alcohol, police said Monday. The Seoul Gangnam Police Station has booked the 55-year-old actor on charges of drunk driving for about 100 meters near his acquaintance's apartment building in the southern Gangnam Ward about 9:30 p.m. on Friday. His blood alcohol content was over 0.08 percent at the time, a level that calls for his driver's license to be revoked, the police said. He had his license suspe

Social AffairsMarch 29, 2021

Janssen COVID-19 vaccine shows 67% efficacy, eligible for approval: panel

A South Korean panel of experts said Monday that vaccines for the novel coronavirus by Johnson & Johnson's Janssen showed 66.9 percent efficacy, paving the way for the authorization of the country's third COVID-19 vaccine. The advisory board consisting of outside experts announced its review on the efficacy and safety of the Janssen vaccines, according to the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety. The panel's review is the first step of three separate independent evaluations before the ministry

Social AffairsMarch 29, 2021

[Newsmaker] Approval rating for conservative main opposition party tops 40% in Seoul: poll

The approval rating for the conservative main opposition People Power Party (PPP) has topped 40 percent in Seoul, expanding its lead over the liberal ruling Democratic Party (DP) in the runup to next week's Seoul mayoral by-election, an opinion poll showed Monday. According to the Realmeter survey conducted on 2,516 voters nationwide from last Monday through Friday, the approval rating for the PPP came to 41.2 percent, up 2.3 percentage points from a week ago. This marks the first approval rat

PoliticsMarch 29, 2021

New virus cases again back below 400 on fewer tests, virus curbs extended for 2 weeks

South Korea's daily new coronavirus cases fell back below 400 on Monday due to fewer tests over the weekend, but health authorities warned of the continued emergence of cluster infections at religious facilities and workplaces. The country reported 384 more COVID-19 cases, including 370 local infections, raising the total caseload to 102,141, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said. The country added four more deaths from COVID-19, increasing the total to 1,726. In South K

Social AffairsMarch 29, 2021

S. Korea suffocated by extremely powerful yellow dust storm

An extraordinarily strong yellow dust storm originating from the inland deserts in northern China and Mongolia blanketed all of South Korea on Monday, prompting authorities to issue a yellow dust warning for Seoul and almost all parts of the country. The density of fine dust particles smaller than 10 micrometers in diameter, known as PM 10, surged to the "very bad" level in the greater Seoul area and all other regions, authorities said. As of 10 a.m., the hourly average concentration

Social AffairsMarch 29, 2021

N. Korea to hold large sports competition to mark birth anniv. of state founder

North Korea will hold a large sports competition next month to mark the birth anniversary of state founder Kim Il-sung, state media reported Monday. The sports competition among athletes, students and workers from each province will kick off April 5 in Pyongyang and run through April 15, the birth anniversary of the late grandfather of current leader Kim Jong-un, according to the Korean Central News Agency. The founder's birthday, referred to in the North as the Day of the Sun, is the country'

North KoreaMarch 29, 2021

US put pressure on S. Korea to contribute to 1990 Gulf War: dossier

US officials put diplomatic pressure on South Korea to contribute to a US-led military coalition to fight in the 1990-91 Gulf War, suggesting that its role might affect the future course of bilateral ties, a declassified diplomatic dossier showed Monday. The pressure came when Ban Ki-moon, then director general for American affairs at Seoul's foreign ministry, met with Carl Ford, then deputy assistant secretary of defense, during his visit to Washington in December in 1990, shortly before the c

Foreign AffairsMarch 29, 2021

N. Korea accuses UN of 'double standard' for criticizing recent missile test

North Korea on Monday accused the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) of violating its sovereignty and applying a "double standard" as it is set to hold a meeting this week to discuss Pyongyang's recent missile launches. Jo Chol-su, director-general of the Department of International Organizations of North Korea's foreign ministry, made the criticism in a statement, as the UNSC is to hold a closed-door meeting Tuesday after the North test-fired two short-range ballistic missiles la

North KoreaMarch 29, 2021

NK paper stresses local economy as 'cornerstone' of national development

North Korea's official newspaper on Sunday called for local economic development to achieve self-reliance in securing food and other key necessities, saying cities and counties are a "cornerstone" of the national economy. "Development of cities and counties are a major requirement for an improvement in livelihood of people," the Rodong Sinmun, the organ of the ruling Workers' Party, said. "To significantly improve the livelihoods of people, resolving the food problem, a

North KoreaMarch 28, 2021

[News Focus] Korea sees discouraged workers increase 58% in 5 years

SEJONG -- The number of people who have given up on looking for jobs has shown a steady increase in South Korea since the nation started compiling the data in January 2014. They are dubbed “discouraged workers.” The tally for discouraged workers counts people who did not carry out job-seeking activities during the prior four weeks or longer, though they had looked for jobs within the past 12 months. Alongside sagging performances in the job creation sector in recent years, the COV

Social AffairsMarch 28, 2021