NK leader opens key party meeting to discuss how to cope with 'current international situation'

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un opened a key Workers' Party meeting to discuss ways to deal with the "current international situation," food shortages, anti-pandemic efforts and other economic issues, state media said Wednesday. The multiday plenary meeting of the party's Central Committee was convened for "taking measures to solve the pending issues urgent for improving the economic work and the people's living and for the discussion of and decision on issues for powerfully and

North KoreaJune 16, 2021

Moon given 'golden key' in Spain visit

MADRID -- South Korean President Moon Jae-in received a "golden key" from Spain on Tuesday, as he expressed hope that it would bring big luck to the Korean Peninsula. He also said that he would open the door of overcoming the COVID-19 pandemic with the key. The president was given the gift by the mayor of Madrid, Jose Luis Mart?nez-Almeida, during a visit to City Hall in accordance with a longtime tradition for a foreign state guest in Spain. The mayor said the key means that the do

PoliticsJune 16, 2021

Both sanctions and diplomacy critical to denuclearizing N. Korea: Kritenbrink

WASHINGTON -- Strict and continued enforcement of sanctions on North Korea while also seeking to engage with the reclusive state diplomatically are important to the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, the nominee for US assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs said Tuesday. Daniel Kritenbrink also said he would try to find ways to further strengthen sanctions on the North if confirmed. "As I noted at the outset, the Biden-Harris administration is committed to

Foreign AffairsJune 16, 2021

Ex-prosecutor general to announce his presidential bid soon: aide

A former South Korean top prosecutor plans to officially announce his presidential bid later this month, his spokesman said Tuesday. Yoon Seok-youl, who has been a front-runner in opinion polls, will publicly “show the result” of his contemplation later in June or early July, Yoon‘s spokesman Lee Dong-hoon told Yonhap News Agency. Lee said Yoon will decide whether to join the main opposition People Power Party after meeting various officials. In the latest poll conducted by

PoliticsJune 15, 2021

Indian Embassy gears up for International Day of Yoga

The Embassy of India in South Korea kicked off celebrations on Monday ahead of the seventh International Day of Yoga on June 21. In keeping with this year’s theme, “Be With Yoga, Be at Home,” embassy officials delivered a livestreamed message about the yogic way of life and its effects on physical and mental health. Emphasizing the significance of yoga amid the challenging times brought on by the pandemic and restrictions on social gatherings, Indian Ambassador to Korea Srip

Foreign AffairsJune 15, 2021

Interim report on sex crime probe expected soon: official

An interim report on the suicide of an Air Force master sergeant who took her life after being sexually assaulted is coming out as early as next week, a senior official at the Ministry of National Defense said Tuesday. The master sergeant died by suicide in late May after a complaint she filed in early March went unanswered. The Defense Ministry is leading a full investigation into her death and the alleged cover-ups. “Given everything going on, we could release an interim report on th

DefenseJune 15, 2021

Moon, CureVac CEO discuss vaccine partnership

VIENNA/SEOUL – President Moon Jae-in and German pharmaceutical company CureVac’s CEO Franz-Werner Hass discussed ways to bolster vaccine partnership during a virtual meeting Tuesday. No new deal was immediately disclosed. Their 20-minute videoconference came on the heels of Moon’s summit talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel at the G-7 gathering in Cornwall, England on Saturday, during which the leaders agreed to seek synergy between Korea, the world’s second-

Foreign AffairsJune 15, 2021

[Newsmaker] Opposition leader says ex-chief prosecutor must show ability to run state affairs

The new leader of the main opposition party said Tuesday that former chief prosecutor Yoon Seok-youl, who has topped polls on presidential preference, should start talking about his ability to run state affairs. “Other than his image of resistance against the Moon Jae-in administration, (Yoon) must answer people’s questions on whether he can run state affairs,” Lee Jun-seok, the newly elected chief of the People Power Party, said in a YTN radio interview Tuesday morning. &ldq

PoliticsJune 15, 2021

Korea meets first vaccine target: 13 million people get one dose

Korea reached its COVID-19 vaccine target for the first half of the year on Tuesday, with 13 million adults inoculated with at least one dose, according to Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency statistics, more than three months since its vaccination campaign kicked off on Feb. 26. “About a quarter of Koreans had one dose of a vaccine as of today,” the agency’s senior official Kim Ki-nam told a news briefing. Tuesday’s feat brings Korea closer to the goal of hav

Social AffairsJune 15, 2021

Unification minister’s trip to Washington postponed

Unification Minister Lee In-young’s planned trip to the US has been put off, his office said Tuesday, as Pyongyang remains largely unresponsive to overtures from Seoul and Washington. 　 Lee had sought to visit Washington this month to meet with officials, think tank leaders and experts to discuss a coordinated approach toward North Korea in hopes of a breakthrough in stalled inter-Korean ties. The US recently completed a policy review on the recalcitrant regime and is now pursuing an app

North KoreaJune 15, 2021

Sejong University ranks 1st among general Korean universities in 2021 Leiden Ranking

For four years in a row, Sejong University has ranked No. 1 among general universities in South Korea in the annual Leiden Ranking due to its continued research initiatives, the Seoul-based institution said Tuesday. According to this year’s Leiden Ranking, released earlier this month, Sejong University placed second among all higher education institutions in Korea, after the Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology. The Leiden Ranking assesses universities from around the world

Social AffairsJune 15, 2021

DP seeks to pass this month legislation on expanding alternative holidays

The ruling Democratic Party (DP) said Tuesday it will seek to pass legislation this month to expand alternative statutory holidays. The legislative initiative, if approved, will enable the designation of official alternative holidays for a broader range of national holidays that fall on weekends, according to party officials. Currently, alternative statutory holidays are allowed only for Chuseok, Korea's autumn harvest celebration, Lunar New Year's Day and Children's Day in May in the case th

PoliticsJune 15, 2021

State academy chief calls Japan's cancellation of pull-aside between Moon, Suga 'discourtesy'

Japan committed a "discourtesy" by canceling agreed-upon talks between President Moon Jae-in and Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga during the recent Group of Seven (G-7) summit in Britain, the head of South Korea's state diplomatic academy said Tuesday. Kim Joon-hyung, chancellor of the Korea National Diplomatic Academy, also said on a local radio station that it is "diplomatically impolite" for Japan to press the South to accept its demands in a row over wartime forced

Foreign AffairsJune 15, 2021

70 US civic groups condemn Fukushima water release

Seventy US civic groups sent a joint letter to Japan opposing the release of contaminated water from the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant, arguing that Japan’s filtration system is insufficient to make the water safe. According to the Korean Federation for Environmental Movement on Tuesday, US nongovernmental organizations including the Manhattan Project for a Nuclear-Free World wrote to Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and its Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry on June 5 o

Social AffairsJune 15, 2021

S. Korea to deploy mobile robots, AI-based surveillance system in border areas

South Korea plans to deploy moving robots on guard missions and establish an artificial intelligence (AI)-based surveillance system in border areas to beef up border security, the arms procurement agency said Tuesday. Under the "rapid acquisition" project worth 2.8 billion won ($2.5 million), the Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) decided to introduce the two items this year that employ state-of-the-art technologies. The robot is designed to move along a rail at a spee

DefenseJune 15, 2021

Sex offenders to be banned from becoming homeroom teachers for up to 10 yrs: ministry

SEJONG -- Teachers punished for sexual misconduct will be banned from becoming homeroom teachers for a maximum of 10 years, the education ministry said Tuesday. According to the ministry, the Cabinet approved revised enforcement decrees of the Educational Officials Act and the Private School Act to enhance students' safety and prevent secondary damage from sex-related crimes at school. Under the revision, teachers who have been dismissed or expelled from their posts due to sex offenses, inclu

Social AffairsJune 15, 2021

Unification ministry calls on N. Korea to restore inter-Korean communication channels

The unification ministry urged North Korea on Tuesday to restore inter-Korean communication lines immediately as this week marks one year since the cross-border communication lines were suspended. On June 16 last year, the North vowed to cut off all communication lines with the South and even blew up an inter-Korean liaison office in its border city of Kaesong in anger over anti-Pyongyang propaganda leaflets coming in from the South. "The inter-Korean communication channel must be immedia

North KoreaJune 15, 2021

7 soldiers from same Army base test positive for COVID-19

Seven soldiers from the same Army base in the central city of Nonsan tested positive for the new coronavirus, the defense ministry said Tuesday. They were confirmed to have been infected while being in isolation after coming into contact with a colleague who earlier tested positive, according to the ministry. "All of them tested negative in a test carried out upon their enlistment and have been quarantined at the same space. But one of them tested positive in a second test last week, and

DefenseJune 15, 2021

[Newsmaker] 10 Air Force members questioned over suicide of sexually harassed soldier

Military prosecutors questioned 10 Air Force service members and officials in connection with the suicide of a sexually harassed noncommissioned officer amid suspicions they mishandled the sexual abuse case or attempted to hush it up, the defense ministry said Tuesday. The ministry also said that about 100 people at the two Air Force units, where the victim had worked, went through internal probes last week in an indication that more people would be formally called in for questioning. The fema

DefenseJune 15, 2021

S. Korea extends pandemic-driven advisory against overseas travel until July 15

South Korea on Tuesday extended its special advisory against overseas travel for another month amid the continued spread of the new coronavirus, the foreign ministry said. The measure, which calls for citizens to cancel or postpone trips abroad, will remain in effect until July 15. The current advisory was set to expire Tuesday. The extension came as many countries around the world continue to restrict the entry of people arriving from overseas amid the continued spread of COVID-19, the minist

Foreign AffairsJune 15, 2021