Air Force chief retires after resigning over death of sexually abused soldier

President Moon Jae-in approved the retirement of South Korea's Air Force chief Thursday, a week after he offered to resign over the suicide of a female service member sexually assaulted by her male colleague. Moon was quick in accepting the resignation of Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Lee Seong-yong but waited until the end of an inquiry into whether he is involved in any wrongdoing subject to legal punishment to approve his retirement. A review by such organizations as the state prosecution s

DefenseJune 10, 2021

Lawmaker apologizes for using BTS photos to promote bill on tattoos

Rep. Ryu Ho-jeong of the progressive minor Justice Party apologized Thursday for using photos of BTS member Jungkook to promote her bill on legalizing tattooing. "I want to give my apology if there were people hurt (by the action)," Ryu told a radio program by local broadcaster MBC. "As a fan of BTS myself, I hated their acts of artistic expression getting restricted," the lawmaker noted. Ryu came under heat for uploading photos of Jungkook on her Twitter account on Tues

PoliticsJune 10, 2021

China hopes relations with S. Korea are unaffected by Sino-US rivalry: top Chinese envoy

China hopes its relations with South Korea will move forward unaffected by the country's growing rivalry with the United States, the top Chinese envoy here said Thursday. Ambassador Xing Haiming made the remark in a radio interview after China expressed discomfort over the mention of the Taiwan Strait in last month's summit statement adopted by President Moon Jae-in and US President Joe Biden. "Our relations have developed over the past 30 years. We should value that, and I think it wou

Foreign AffairsJune 10, 2021

Moon says June 10 democratic protest sprit is 'noble asset' for S. Korea

President Moon Jae-in on Thursday commemorated a historic pro-democracy uprising here in 1987, describing its spirit as a "noble asset" to be passed to future generations. "The spirit of the June 10 Democratic Protest is a noble asset that should be inherited by future generations," he wrote on his social media accounts. He was referring to an uprising, initiated by college students and joined by other citizens, against the authoritarian rule of Chun Doo-hwan 34 years ago.

PoliticsJune 10, 2021

S. Korea to offer $300,000 to DR Congo to help people displaced by volcanic eruption

South Korea plans to offer $300,000 in humanitarian aid to the Democratic Republic of the Congo to help its people displaced by last month's volcanic eruption, the foreign ministry said Thursday. "The government hopes that our support will be helpful to the people in the country suffering from the unexpected natural disaster," the ministry said in a press release. The May 22 eruption of Mount Nyiragongo, one of the world's most active volcanoes, killed about 30 people and displaced m

Foreign AffairsJune 10, 2021

Unification ministry has nothing to say about NK leader's health amid speculation over weight loss: official

The unification ministry is keeping an eye on North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's health but currently has nothing to say about any unusual signs amid speculation that he has significantly lost weight, an official said Thursday. A news report earlier said that Kim appears to have lost a "significant amount of weight" based on the analysis that his wrist watch seems to have been fastened tighter around his wrist during a politburo session of the ruling party last week. "The ministr

North KoreaJune 10, 2021

Chinese FM condemns US, stresses political consensus with South Korea

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi condemned the US’ Indo-Pacific strategy as evidence of a “Cold War mentality,” and called for China and South Korea to stick to their political consensus as President Moon Jae-in prepares for the G-7 summit, where Washington is expected to encourage its allies to take a tougher stance toward Beijing.  Wang’s remarks came during a phone conversation with South Korean Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong on Wednesday evening, according to

Foreign AffairsJune 10, 2021

[Newsmaker] New sex crime claims hit military amid expanding investigation

A commanding Army officer is under investigation over allegations that he sexually assaulted subordinates at his unit in Gangwon Province, the Ministry of National Defense said Thursday. The Army took over the case and is looking at whether there were more victims, it added. “A commander is facing serious charges and we thought it would be more prudent for us to ask our team to pursue the case rather than have the unit run its own probe,” Defense Ministry spokesperson Boo Seung-chan

DefenseJune 10, 2021

Moon’s Europe trip has packed agenda

After his first overseas trip to the US in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic last month, President Moon Jae-in is now heading to Europe with a packed agenda. The president is scheduled to depart for the UK on Friday to attend the G-7 summit in Cornwall on June 11-13 and then travel on to Austria and Spain to make state visits until next week. Despite the packed schedule, the size of the delegation has been reduced compared to previous years but this time first lady Kim Jung-sook is accompa

Foreign AffairsJune 10, 2021

[#WeFACE] H.eco Forum promotes sustainability with green products

In line with the environmentally friendly message of Herald Corp.’s first H.eco Forum, the venue was filled with plastic-free, reusable and recyclable products. These included paper banners and souvenirs made of coffee grounds. Under the theme “We Face the Climate Clock,” H.eco Forum 2021 was held Thursday in a multipurpose hall on Nodeulseom, an artificial island in the middle of the Han River that features an ecological park.  “The forum ditched the use of on

Social AffairsJune 10, 2021

Military reports 2 more coronavirus cases

An Army officer and a Marine tested positive for the new coronavirus, the defense ministry said Thursday. They were confirmed to have been infected while being isolated following their recent vacations, according to the ministry. The latest cases raised the total number of infections reported among the military population to 986, with 33 currently under treatment. Meanwhile, the defense ministry said the vaccination campaign for service members under 30 years old with Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccin

DefenseJune 10, 2021

Seoul to ease distancing at some sports facilities

Seoul City will implement a one-month pilot project and ease social distancing rules at some private sports facilities, officials said Thursday, amid growing vaccination rates in the city. The Seoul Metropolitan Government said it would allow fitness centers and indoor golf practice centers in the Mapo-gu and Gangdong-gu areas to operate until midnight for a month starting Saturday. The facilities in the two areas will be allowed to extend their hours for two hours beyond the current 10 p.m.

Social AffairsJune 10, 2021

[Newsmaker] Ex-prosecutor general leads presidential hopefuls' poll with record high support rate: Realmeter

Former Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl saw his support rating reach a fresh record high in the latest poll of potential presidential candidates released Thursday, amid signs of his imminent political debut. In the Realmeter survey on 2,013 voters nationwide conducted from Monday to Tuesday, 35.1 percent picked Yoon as their most favored candidate for next year's presidential election, up 4.6 percentage points from last month. It is the highest support that Yoon has received in Realmeter's mo

PoliticsJune 10, 2021

Top court remands bribery case of disgraced ex-vice justice minister

The top court on Thursday sent the bribery case of former Vice Justice Minister Kim Hak-ui back to a lower court for a retrial, calling into question the reliability of testimony used against him. The Supreme Court said it "cannot rule out the possibility" that a key witness could have changed his testimony that led to Kim's conviction, because of appeasement or pressure from the prosecution. The court said the prosecutors should "prove" that there were no such illegal acti

Social AffairsJune 10, 2021

DP to supply over 10,000 houses in capital region under special project

The ruling Democratic Party (DP) said Thursday it will supply more than 10,000 houses in six cities near Seoul starting next year through a special project aimed at stabilizing the overheated real estate market. The so-called "home for anyone" project, unveiled by the party's special committee on real estate, is the latest in the DP's policy efforts to rein in runaway property prices, seen as a major reason for its debilitating defeat in the Seoul and Busan mayoral by-elections in Apr

PoliticsJune 10, 2021

Chile and Korea in the integration of clean and reliable energy

Chile recently hosted, between May 31 and June 6, two major summits related to clean energy and innovation: Clean Energy Ministerial (CEM 12) and Mission Innovation Ministerial (MI-6). In doing so, it became the first country in South America to host and lead both meetings, which brought together the 23 major economies of the world, including South Korea, to discuss the acceleration of the global energy transformation. With high-level guests, such as the US Special Presidential Climate Envoy J

Foreign AffairsJune 10, 2021

Moon urges full probe into Gwangju building collapse

President Moon Jae-in ordered a thorough probe Thursday into the collapse of a five-story building that killed at least nine people, according to Cheong Wa Dae. Eight others were injured, as debris from the building being demolished in a redevelopment project fell on a bus stopped on a nearby street in the southwestern city of Gwangju on Wednesday afternoon. The president received briefings by phone from Interior and Safety Minister Jeon Hae-cheol and Gwangju Mayor Lee Yong-sup on the tragedy.

PoliticsJune 10, 2021

S. Korea on course toward vaccinating 14m by end-June

South Korea has inoculated over 10 million people amid its accelerating vaccination drive, making the country's goal to get about 14 million vaccinated by the end of this month attainable, health authorities said Thursday. A total of 10.06 million people had received their first shots of COVID-19 vaccines as of 11 a.m., accounting for 19.6 percent of the country's population, since the country started its vaccination program on Feb. 26, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agen

Social AffairsJune 10, 2021

Defense minister calls for prompt military judiciary reform

Defense Minister Suh Wook called Thursday for reforming the military's judiciary system to reduce commanders' influence over the investigation and trial process amid intense criticism the Air Force mishandled a sexual abuse case that led to a noncommissioned officer taking her own life. The minister made the appeal during a parliamentary session, apologizing again for last month's death of the master sergeant, surnamed Lee, three months after she was groped and suffered other abuse by a colleag

DefenseJune 10, 2021

US, S. Korea reaffirm efforts to bolster supply chain cooperation: Vice FM

WASHINGTON -- South Korea and the United States will work together to expand cooperation in strengthening their supply chains for critical products, such as semiconductors, First Vice Foreign Minister Choi Jong-kun said Wednesday. Choi said he and US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman also agreed on the need to engage with North Korea to advance the goal of denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula, as the two sides discussed follow-up measures to the outcome of last month's summit between Presi

Foreign AffairsJune 10, 2021