Police seek warrant for local official's arrest in land speculation probe

Police said Wednesday they have sought a warrant for the arrest of a local government official, the first such action in a widening investigation into property speculation by public workers nationwide. The Gyeonggi Bukbu Police Agency said the arrest warrant was sought against a senior official of the Pocheon municipal government, 46 kilometers north of Seoul, over suspicions he used classified information to purchase land and a building near the site of a train station ahead of its constructio

Social AffairsMarch 24, 2021

Unification minister promises support for aid groups to resume assistance to N. Korea

Unification Minister Lee In-young on Wednesday met with the head of a local aid organization and promised active support for their efforts to send humanitarian assistance to North Korea. During the meeting with the leader of Korea NGO Council for Cooperation with North Korea (KNCCK), Lee stressed that the ministry will continue to keep an eye on the coronavirus situation and make an overall assessment to resume humanitarian assistance. "North Korea declared the 'highest level of alert' ag

North KoreaMarch 24, 2021

S. Korea develops new adjuvant against foot-and-mouth disease

South Korea's agricultural ministry said Wednesday it has developed a new adjuvant that can bolster the effectiveness of vaccines against foot-and-mouth disease (FMD). The new adjuvant, dubbed "rpHSP70-AD," is capable of developing antibodies at a faster pace while coping with various strains of FMD, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. The latest finding compares with the existing oil-based treatments, which take longer for animals to develop antibodies

Social AffairsMarch 24, 2021

New suspected case of bird flu reported, total now at 107

South Korea's agricultural ministry said Wednesday it is investigating a new suspected case of highly pathogenic bird flu, with the total confirmed caseload currently standing at 107. The latest suspected case of malign H5N8 strain of bird flu came from a duck farm in Naju, 355 kilometers south of Seoul, the previous day, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food, and Rural Affairs. The farm was raising 19,000 ducks. The result is expected to be delivered within three days. South Korea h

Social AffairsMarch 24, 2021

Army civilian employee tests positive for COVID-19

An Army civilian employee in Seoul has tested positive for the new coronavirus, the defense ministry said Wednesday. The official was confirmed to have contracted the virus while in quarantine after a family member was found to be infected, according to the ministry. The latest case raised the total number of infections reported among the military population to 645. Of them, 613 have been fully cured and 32 are under treatment. Nationwide, South Korea reported 428 new cases Wednesday, bringin

DefenseMarch 24, 2021

PM calls for virus alertness to ensure safe proceedings of April by-elections

Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun on Wednesday urged health authorities to remain guarded against potential new coronavirus outbreaks as to allow safe proceedings of the upcoming April by-elections. Citizens of Seoul and Busan, the nation's second-largest city in the southeast, will hit voting booths on April 7 to pick their new mayors in their respective by-elections. Nineteen other seats, mostly of local governments and councils, scattered across the country will also be up for grabs. The mayora

PoliticsMarch 24, 2021

UN adopts resolution on NK human rights for 19th consecutive year

GENEVA/SEOUL -- The United Nations Human Rights Council has adopted a resolution condemning North Korea's human rights violations for the 19th consecutive year, officials said Wednesday. The 47-member council adopted the resolution by consensus in its 46th session in Geneva on Tuesday (local time), according to officials. South Korea took part in the adoption process by consensus and not as a co-sponsor of the resolution, a position that it has remained in for the past three years amid its eff

North KoreaMarch 24, 2021

New infections back above 400; current virus curbs likely to be extended

South Korea's daily new coronavirus cases bounced back to over 400 Wednesday as sporadic cluster infections continued at workplaces and private gatherings, spurring concerns over a resurgence in cases. The country reported 428 more COVID-19 cases, including 411 local infections, raising the total caseload to 99,846, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA). The country added three more deaths from COVID-19, increasing the total to 1,707. The fatality rate was 1.71 pe

Social AffairsMarch 24, 2021

NK leader calls for stronger relations in verbal messages to Cuba, Vietnam, Laos

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un sent verbal messages to the leaders of Cuba, Vietnam and Laos and called for stronger relations, state media reported Wednesday, in a move apparently intended to strengthen ties with socialist countries amid stalled nuclear talks with the United States. Kim sent the messages to "notify the accounts of the 8th Congress of the WPK" to Vietnamese President Nguyen Phu Trong, Laotian President Thongloun Sisoulith, and Raul Castro, the first secretary of Cuba

North KoreaMarch 24, 2021

Defense ministry opens new war remains identification center

South Korea was to open a new war remains identification center Wednesday to more efficiently carry out its project to discover and identify the remains of soldiers killed in the 1950-53 Korean War, the defense ministry said. The ministry was to hold a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the three-story identification center built at the national cemetery in Seoul. The center houses laboratories for gene testing and data analysis, ministry officials said. Previously, DNA testing equipment was at the C

DefenseMarch 24, 2021

US focused on denuclearization of N. Korea: Pentagon spokesman

WASHINGTON -- It is North Korea that threatens security and stability on the Korean Peninsula, US Defense Department spokesman John Kirby said Tuesday, adding that it is North Korea the US is focused on when it talks about denuclearization of the peninsula. The spokesman, however, said the terms of denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and denuclearization of North Korea only marked a "distinction without a difference." "I think it's a distinction without a difference,"

North KoreaMarch 24, 2021

US enjoys 'unquantifiable' benefits from military presence in S. Korea: GAO

WASHINGTON -- The United States enjoys a range of benefits from maintaining its military presence in South Korea and Japan, US officials said Tuesday. The officials from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) also suggested while some of those benefits may not be quantified, they could easily justify the associated costs. "There are important, intangible benefits coming from the military and interoperability issues. I mean it's not an insignificant benefit," said Diana Maurer, di

Foreign AffairsMarch 24, 2021

'Robust' US military presence will support denuclearization of N. Korea: Aquilino

WASHINGTON -- A strong and robust US military presence in and around the Korean Peninsula is needed to help support the efforts to denuclearize North Korea, the nominee for commander of the US Indo-Pacific Command said Tuesday. Adm. John Aquilino made the assertion while arguing that sanctions regimes alone will not lead to the denuclearization of North Korea. "I do not believe sanctions alone will lead to the denuclearization of North Korea," the Navy four-star admiral said in a sta

North KoreaMarch 24, 2021

Pyongyang denounces EU sanctions as 'political provocation'

North Korea on Tuesday denounced the European Union's recent sanctions against its top officials over human rights abuses as a "political provocation" aimed at infringing upon its sovereignty. In an answer to a question by the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), North Korea's foreign ministry spokesperson said Pyongyang "strongly denounces and categorically rejects" the EU sanctions on its senior officials. "It constitutes a part of the stereo-typed policy host

North KoreaMarch 24, 2021

[Newsmaker] Online vigil to honor victims of deadly Atlanta shootings

WASHINGTON -- A vigil will be held this week to honor the victims of recent deadly shootings in Atlanta and to call for a stop to hate crimes in the United States that are increasingly targeting people of Asian descent, organizers said Tuesday. The solemn event will be held in Atlanta on Friday and streamed live at www.326vigil.org, according to KA Vote, a nonpartisan organization dedicated to promoting Korean American civic engagement and representation. The move comes in the wake of shooting

Foreign AffairsMarch 24, 2021

Biden says 'nothing much changed' despite N. Korean missile launches

US President Joe Biden said Tuesday that "nothing much has changed" despite North Korea's launch of short-range missiles, as senior US officials said the firings were not in violation of UN Security Council resolutions. "We've learned nothing much has changed," Biden told reporters before boarding Air Force One en route to Washington from Columbus, Ohio, where he was making a visit to promote the American Rescue Plan. He also said the missile launches were not considered a

North KoreaMarch 24, 2021

N. Korea fired two cruise missiles off west coast Sunday: JCS

North Korea fired two cruise missiles off the west coast Sunday, the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said Wednesday, Pyongyang's first missile test in about a year seen as aimed at testing the administration of US President Joe Biden without being too provocative. "We detected two projectiles presumed to be cruise missiles fired from the North's western port county of Onchon early Sunday," a JCS officer told reporters. He refused to disclose other details, including their exact type, fli

North KoreaMarch 24, 2021

S. Korean defense chief meets with UAE counterpart to discuss bilateral ties

South Korean Defense Minister Suh Wook held in-person talks with his United Arab Emirates counterpart on Tuesday to discuss ways to boost the nations' defense and arms industry ties, the defense ministry here said. Suh met with Mohammad Ahmed Al Bowardi, the UAE's minister of State for Defense, and other senior UAE military officials during his visit to the Middle Eastern nation, as part of efforts to improve bilateral cooperation in a wide range of defense-related areas, the ministry said. Du

DefenseMarch 23, 2021

2 ex-judges given suspended terms in judiciary power abuse cases

Two former senior judges were handed suspended terms on Tuesday on charges of abuse of power intended to sway outcomes of high-profile cases and professional misconduct during the administration of previous President Park Geun-hye. The Seoul Central District Court sentenced Lee Min-geol, former director of planning at the National Court Administration, to 10 months in prison, suspended for two years. The court also handed Lee Kyu-jin, a former member of the Supreme Court's sentencing committee

Social AffairsMarch 23, 2021

Lavrov raps US' Indo-Pacific strategy, 'bloc' building, ahead of Seoul visit

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has expressed concern that the US strategy for the Indo-Pacific region could be an attempt to create a bloc against specific countries. Lavrov made the remarks during a virtual meeting with Korean correspondents in Moscow last week ahead of his trip to Beijing and Seoul. He is set to arrive in Seoul on Tuesday to hold talks with Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong and attend other events. He claimed that the Indo-Pacific region expression was introduced as pa

Foreign AffairsMarch 23, 2021