23 Thais busted for alleged distribution, use of illegal drugs: police

A total of 23 Thai nationals have been apprehended in a recent crackdown of a drug trafficking ring targeting migrant workers in South Korea, police said Wednesday. Seventeen of them were drug traffickers and six were users, the Seoul Dongjak Police Station said. All but three drug users have since been formally arrested, the police said. The ring's head of drug distribution is suspected of having smuggled a total of 2.5 kilograms of methamphetamine from Thailand to South Korea via internati

Social AffairsNov. 3, 2021

North Korea may launch space rocket next year: expert

North Korea may launch a space rocket next year as part of the regime’s program to enhance weapons capabilities amid long-stalled denuclearization talks with the US, a state-run think tank report says.    Ko Jae-hong, a researcher at the Institute for National Security Strategy, a think tank run by South Korea’s spy agency, released a report Tuesday examining the North’s weapons expo held last month and the country’s defense outlook. 　 Ko said that it i

North KoreaNov. 3, 2021

S. Korea seeks to sell 10 fighter jets to Slovakia

Korea Aerospace Industries, South Korea’s sole aircraft manufacturer, is in talks with the Slovakian government to sell 10 FA-50 homegrown trainer jets in a $500 million deal, the Defense Acquisition Program Administration said Wednesday. KAI is set to sign a deal with Slovakian aircraft repair company LOTN on Wednesday in Hungary upon President Moon Jae-in’s European tour this week. The president, who arrived in Budapest on Tuesday for a state visit, will hold a summit Thursday

DefenseNov. 3, 2021

Military reports 6 additional COVID-19 cases

South Korea's military reported six additional COVID-19 cases Wednesday, bringing the total caseload among its personnel to 2,050, the defense ministry said. Among the new cases is a Navy officer who tested positive while in quarantine following a vacation. A civilian employee of the Army also contracted the virus after a family member tested positive. The other cases are an officer of a military unit attached to the defense ministry, a Navy officer and two Army soldiers. Of the cumulative c

DefenseNov. 3, 2021

Man fined in retrial over illicit filming of woman in leggings

An appellate court has upheld a 700,000 won ($595) fine for a man charged with illegally filmed a woman in leggings in a retrial of the case after the Supreme Court overturned a not-guilty verdict for him. The case drew media attention as a district court and an appeals court were divided over whether secretly filming women in leggings constitutes a sexual crime, and the Supreme Court ruled it does because footage could be maliciously edited and shared online. The man, whose identity was withh

Social AffairsNov. 3, 2021

Court questions key figure in development corruption scandal

A Seoul court questioned the owner of an asset management firm at the center of an urban development corruption scandal Wednesday to determine whether to issue an arrest warrant for him on bribery and other charges. Kim Man-bae, owner of Hwacheon Daeyu Asset Management, is facing charges of breach of trust and bribery in connection with a 2015 project to develop the Daejang-dong district in Seongnam, south of Seoul, into apartment complexes. Prosecutors have been looking into suspicions over h

PoliticsNov. 3, 2021

Seoul to offer new concept administrative services via metaverse platform

The Seoul city government said Wednesday it will offer a new concept public service through online virtual worlds by building its own metaverse platform for the first time among local governments nationwide. The city's own high-performance platform, tentatively named Metaverse Seoul, will be established by the end of next year, according to its five-year "Metaverse Seoul Basic Plan." The city government will then begin implementing the metaverse ecosystem for administrative services

PoliticsNov. 3, 2021

Gyeonggi considering construction of new bridge over western Han River

UIJEONGBU -- Gyeonggi Province is considering building a new bridge connecting Goyang and Gimpo, two western satellite cities of Seoul separated by the Han River, officials said Wednesday. The city of Gimpo on Friday proposed the construction of a 1.4-kilometer bridge, named Yangchon Bridge, to meet growing transport demand between the two cities and disperse traffic concentrated on existing Ilsan Bridge, they said. If constructed, it will be the 30th bridge over the Han River. Gimpo and Go

Social AffairsNov. 3, 2021

[Graphic News] Online sex crimes targeting teenagers surge elevenfold over past 3 years

　More than 1,200 teenagers have fallen victim to online sex crimes so far this year, an 11-fold jump from 2018, government data showed.  　The number of teenage victims rose sharply from 111 in 2018 to 1,268 this year, according to the Gender Ministry data released by Rep. Yang Kum-hee of the main opposition People Power Party. The ministry tallied the number based on data from the state-run Women’s Human Rights Institute of Korea. 　Digital sex crime victims totaled 14,070 between A

NationalNov. 3, 2021

PM says govt. cannot afford extra universal COVID-19 relief grants

Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum said Wednesday the government cannot afford another round of universal COVID-19 relief grants as proposed by Lee Jae-myung, the presidential nominee of the ruling Democratic Party (DP). Kim made the remark during a radio interview, stressing that the most urgent task for now is to compensate the self-employed and small business owners suffering from the pandemic. "Our finance does not have enough capacity to do that," Kim said of Lee's proposal during the

PoliticsNov. 3, 2021

New infections spike to over 2,600 amid 'living with COVID-19'

South Korea's new coronavirus cases spiked to over 2,600 on Wednesday, two days after the country began its "living with COVID-19" scheme as part of a broader plan to gradually lift the virus restrictions. The country reported 2,667 new COVID-19 cases, raising the total caseload to 370,640, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said. Wednesday's tally marked a sharp hike from 1,589 reported a day earlier. It marks the first time since Sept. 30 that the daily new case

Social AffairsNov. 3, 2021

Ahn Cheol-soo says unifying candidacies with main opposition party 'impossible'

Ahn Cheol-soo, the presidential candidate of the minor opposition People's Party, has said he has no interest in unifying candidacies with the main opposition party, calling it an "impossible" deal. Ahn said, however, that if the main opposition People Power Party (PPP) yields to him, he will achieve a change of government in the upcoming presidential election in March as the single unified candidate. "I have no other thoughts at the moment," Ahn said in an interview with Y

PoliticsNov. 3, 2021

Moon pays tribute to victims of 2019 Budapest boat sinking

President Moon Jae-in paid tribute on Tuesday to the Korean and Hungarian people killed in a 2019 boat sinking, as he began a state visit to Hungary for a series of summit talks with Eastern European leaders. The accident happened on the Danube River on May 29, 2019, when the sightseeing boat Hableany (Mermaid) carrying 33 Koreans and two Hungarian crew members collided with a cruise ship. The sinking left 25 Koreans and the two Hungarians dead. One of the 33 Koreans remains missing. Shortly

PoliticsNov. 3, 2021

Foreign Ministry criticized for delay in conveying foreign governments’ condolences to Roh’s family

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is facing criticism for allegedly delaying the delivery of remarks of mourning issued from leaders of other countries upon the death of former President Roh Tae-woo. The Foreign Ministry officially delivered the statements to the bereaved family of Roh on Monday, days after remarks started flying in from global leaders after Roh’s death on Oct. 26. Remarks of condolences came from leaders of China, Japan and Vietnam, the ministry said. Ministry spokesperso

Foreign AffairsNov. 2, 2021

‘Army puts life on hold. KATUSA makes it easier’

Despite efforts by the military to introduce a culture that better respects soldiers’ rights, young Korean men still favor an alternative to their mandatory military service: the Korean Augmentation to the United States Army. Last week, the military loosened rules on hairstyles that can be worse by conscripts, in its latest move to drop discriminatory practices and boost morale following a number of scandals involving allegations of abuse and subsequent cover-ups. Nevertheless, KATUSA -

DefenseNov. 2, 2021

[News Focus] Seoul falls to 70% of Gyeonggi in population

SEJONG -- The population gap between Seoul and neighboring Gyeonggi Province has continued to grow in recent months and years, with the province having 4 million more residents than the capital in October, government data showed. These are the top two populous regions among 17 major cities and provinces in South Korea. According to the Ministry of Interior and Safety, the population of Seoul posted 9.53 million, which is down 9,828 from a month earlier. The figure for Gyeonggi reached a record

Social AffairsNov. 2, 2021

Nuke envoys of S. Korea, Japan discuss Korea peace process

The top nuclear negotiators of South Korea and Japan held phone talks Tuesday to explore measures for progress in stalled denuclearization efforts, Seoul's foreign ministry said. Noh Kyu-duk, the special representative for Korean Peninsula peace and security affairs, and his Japanese counterpart Takehiro Funakoshi shared their assessments of the regional security situations and discussed ways to achieve lasting peace, according to the ministry. The two sides agreed to closely work together for

Foreign AffairsNov. 2, 2021

Pope Francis unlikely to visit N. Korea in winter: Cheong Wa Dae

Pope Francis is unlikely to visit North Korea in the winter, although it is difficult to predict when the trip will happen, the Cheong Wa Dae spokesperson said Tuesday. President Moon Jae-in asked the pope during their meeting at the Vatican last week to visit North Korea to help foster peace on the Korean Peninsula. The pope responded that he would do so if he received an invitation from the North. "Various efforts are under way, but it's difficult to predict the timing," Cheong Wa

North KoreaNov. 2, 2021

Ruling bloc jump-starts ‘mammoth’ presidential campaign

The ruling Democratic Party of Korea is now in full "election mode" behind presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung, with his competitors from the presidential primary joining forces in hopes of maintaining power come next year. On Tuesday, the party held a ceremony launching the largest-ever election committee headed by its chairman, Rep. Song Young-gil, with 12 other party heavyweights to rally unified support for Lee in the presidential election slated for March. Lee Jae-myung's forme

PoliticsNov. 2, 2021

[Interactive] Number of delivery workers hits new high in 2020 amid pandemic

  The number of delivery workers in South Korea swelled nearly 12 percent in the second half of last year to hit a record high amid the coronavirus pandemic, government data showed. Asia’s fourth-largest economy had 390,000 carriers as of the end of December last year, up 11.8 percent from a year earlier, according to data from Statistics Korea. The tally covers mail carriers, door-to-door couriers, food delivery workers, newspaper delivery workers and carriers of milk and other bev

Social AffairsNov. 2, 2021