S. Korea expresses 'strong regret' over Japan's Fukushima water

  South Korea on Wednesday expressed strong regret over Japan's move to release contaminated water from the crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant without consultations with neighbors, following new reports of an undersea tunnel construction plan to release radioactive water from the plant. The government convened a vice-ministerial interagency meeting in response to news reports that the Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc., the operator of the Fukushima plant, was planning to con

Diplomatic CircuitAug. 25, 2021

Navy to hold training with British aircraft carrier

The Navy will hold training sessions with the UK’s HMS Queen Elizabeth aircraft carrier and its escort ships in waters off the Korean Peninsula as the carrier strike group called off a port call in South Korea amid the raging coronavirus pandemic, the Ministry of National Defense said Wednesday. “Given the pandemic crisis, we will take part in naval exchanges involving humanitarian and disaster relief, from Monday to Wednesday next week,” the ministry said, noting there were i

DefenseAug. 25, 2021

[Newsmaker] Public remains poles apart over accepting Afghan refugees

A public debate over whether Korea should accept Afghan refugees continues to heat up with the government granting special stay permits for Afghans here while airlifting nationals who worked for Korea in the war-torn country. Since the Taliban took control of Kabul earlier this month, opinions are split over whether Korea should help Afghan nationals. A national petition against the idea of taking in Afghan refugees posted on the presidential website of Cheong Wa Dae on Tuesday has gained ove

Social AffairsAug. 25, 2021

US back to waiting on NK amid standoff

The US is being forced back to former President Barack Obama’s strategic patience on North Korea, as Pyongyang rebuffs any diplomatic outreach and shows no signs of returning to nuclear negotiations, experts said Wednesday. During his visit to South Korea that ended Tuesday, US special representative on North Korea Sung Kim reiterated that Washington is ready to meet with Pyongyang anytime, anywhere and without preconditions. But Pyongyang is likely to leave Washington hanging, according

North KoreaAug. 25, 2021

South Korea set to accept 391 Afghan evacuees Thursday

South Korea is airlifting a total of 391 Afghans out of the war-ravaged country, the Foreign Ministry said Wednesday, as part of Seoul’s mission to evacuate civilians who worked alongside the Korean government and are therefore vulnerable to retaliation. 　 Afghan allies and their families were expected to arrive at Incheon International Airport aboard military jets Thursday. In the operation, code-named “Operation Miracle,” Korea deployed three military planes to Afghanistan

Foreign AffairsAug. 25, 2021

Assembly vote on 'fake news' bill delayed

South Korea’s National Assembly postponed a plenary meeting scheduled for Wednesday, preventing the ruling party from passing two controversial bills that have drawn fierce protests from opposition lawmakers. Early Wednesday, National Assembly Speaker Park Byeong-seug notified the political party floor leaders that the plenary meeting scheduled later in the day would be postponed, since bills should not go through two legislative stages on the same day. At around 4 a.m. Wednesday, a cont

PoliticsAug. 25, 2021

Delta variants are 9 out of 10 in confirmed cases: PM

South Korea has been speeding up its vaccination efforts, with 1 in 4 now fully vaccinated, but a surge in the delta variant is hampering the country‘s efforts to contain the pandemic. Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum said Wednesday, “The number of confirmed cases exceeded 2,000 again after five days. The delta variant is being found in 9 out of 10 confirmed cases in Korea.” He added that the delta variant emits up to 300 times more virus than conventional COVID-19 viruses. &l

Social AffairsAug. 25, 2021

Korea, Colombia to bolster post-COVID partnership

President Moon Jae-in and Colombian President Ivan Duque held summit talks in Seoul on Wednesday and agreed to further bolster bilateral ties that mark the 60th aniversary next year.  Duque and his wife Maria Juliana Ruiz arrived in Seoul on Tuesday for a three-day state visit, becoming the first presidential couple to visit Korea since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic. For the Colombian president, it was his first trip outside Latin America amid the pandemic. The state visit was ma

Foreign AffairsAug. 25, 2021

Plenary parliamentary meeting postponed ahead of planned vote on controversial media bill

The National Assembly postponed a plenary meeting set for Wednesday, hours after the ruling party railroaded a controversial media bill through a parliamentary committee despite protests from opposition parties. National Assembly Speaker Park Byeong-seug expressed his decision to put off the plenary meeting set for the afternoon, according to Rep. Han Byung-do, spokesman of the ruling Democratic Party (DP). The DP, controlling an absolute majority at the National Assembly, planned to push the

PoliticsAug. 25, 2021

Seoul City to offer free online courses for 110,000 citizens in need

Seoul will provide free online lectures to 110,000 underprivileged students and young people as a means to bridge the growing achievement gap among students from different socioeconomic backgrounds. The Seoul Metropolitan Government said Wednesday that the free academic package will be provided to elementary, middle and high school students from low-income families, starting Friday, as well as to adolescents who are not in school and those from multicultural families. The online courses will b

Social AffairsAug. 25, 2021

S. Korea grants temporary stay permits to Afghans on humanitarian grounds

The justice ministry said Wednesday it will grant special stay permits to Afghans living in South Korea out of humanitarian concerns. The ministry said a total of 434 Afghans, who have been staying in the country on either short- or long-term visa, will benefit from the measure. The measure will remain in place until "the situation in Afghanistan becomes stabilized," the ministry said. Afghanistan remains in a state of chaos following the Taliban's seizure of power earlier this month

Foreign AffairsAug. 25, 2021

Air Force chief to visit US for talks with space, air force commanders

Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Park In-ho will visit the United States this week for multilateral talks with leaders in charge of space and air operations, his office said Wednesday. Park will depart South Korea later in the day for a 10-day trip to Colorado and Hawaii at the invitation of US chief of space operations, Gen. John Raymond, and US Pacific Air Forces Commander Gen. Kenneth Wilsbach, according to the Air Force. During his planned visit to the US Space Command, Park is scheduled to

Foreign AffairsAug. 25, 2021

NK foreign ministry defends Cuba's capture of American, boat seizure as 'legitimate measure'

North Korea said Wednesday that Cuba has captured an American attempting to smuggle people from Havana to the United States, calling it a "legitimate measure." The North's foreign ministry made the claim in an article on its website, saying the American approached the eastern coast of the Cuban capital on a speedboat on Aug. 7 in an attempt to take several Cubans to the US. "The Cuban Coast Guard seized the speedboat and captured the American who had violated the territorial wat

North KoreaAug. 25, 2021

Military reports 4 COVID-19 cases

Four service members have tested positive for the new coronavirus, raising the total infections reported among the military population to 1,592, the defense ministry said Wednesday. A newly enlisted soldier at the Korea Army Training Center in Nonsan, some 200 kilometers south of Seoul, was confirmed to have contracted COVID-19 while in isolation after a series of infections were reported there, according to the ministry. In the central city of Chungju, two airmen were found to have been infe

DefenseAug. 25, 2021

New cases spike to over 2,000 again, infections in Seoul at record high

South Korea's daily new coronavirus cases spiked to over 2,000 again Wednesday, as the Seoul metropolitan area reported a record high daily caseload since the pandemic began amid growing concerns over untraceable and variant cases. The country added 2,155 more COVID-19 cases, including 2,114 local infections, from the previous day, raising the total caseload to 241,439, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency. The latest tally marked a sharp rise from 1,418 cases Monday

Social AffairsAug. 25, 2021

Top 500 firms' hiring rises in H1 despite pandemic

South Korea's major companies increased their hiring of new employees in the first half of the year despite the coronavirus pandemic, a corporate tracker said Wednesday. According to CEO Score, 460 out of the country's top 500 firms by sales had a combined workforce of 1,503,643 as of end-June, up 13,667 from a year earlier. Their net employment came to 5,259 in the January-June period, which contrasts with a decrease of 3,930 a year earlier. CEO Score said those large companies jacked up hir

Social AffairsAug. 25, 2021

S. Korea looks set for legislation to curb Google, Apple's in-app billing system

A parliamentary committee on Wednesday passed a bill to ban Google and Apple from forcing app developers to use the platforms' payment systems, clearing the last remaining hurdle before a final vote. The legislation and judiciary committee of the National Assembly approved the revision of the Telecommunications Business Act, which seeks to bar app market operators from requiring developers to use certain payment systems by unfairly using their positions. If the bill is approved in a plenary

PoliticsAug. 25, 2021

[Newsmaker] Controversial media bill passes last hurdle to go on parliamentary plenary vote

A controversial bill on curbing fake news passed the last parliamentary hurdle Wednesday to be put to a final plenary vote at the National Assembly amid heated protests from opposition parties and journalists' associations. The bill to revise the Act on Press Arbitration and Remedies, Etc. for Damage Caused by Press Reports received the green light from the Legislation and Judiciary Committee, the final gatekeeping committee for all bills before they go on a final vote at a parliamentary plenar

PoliticsAug. 25, 2021

3 military planes carrying out operations to bring Afghan evacuees to South Korea: foreign ministry

South Korean military aircraft are carrying out operations to bring to the country Afghan people who aided Seoul's efforts to help rebuild the war-torn nation, the foreign ministry said Tuesday. Three military planes were sent to Afghanistan and a neighboring country to "bring to South Korea Afghan workers, who supported our government's activities in Afghanistan, and their family members," the ministry said in a text message to reporters. The Afghan people worked at South Korea's e

Diplomatic CircuitAug. 24, 2021

Korea mulls ‘living with COVID-19’ after reaching 70% vaccine target

Public health officials and political leaders in South Korea are teasing the possibility of adopting a new exit plan of “living with COVID-19” in a couple of months’ time, when the country expects to reach its target vaccination rate of 70 percent. Jeong Eun-kyeong, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency’s commissioner, told a Monday meeting of the parliamentary Health and Welfare Committee that around October, the country may be able to switch to a new strate

Social AffairsAug. 24, 2021