S. Korea launches presidential panel on carbon neutrality

South Korea established a presidential committee Saturday to serve as the control tower of the nation's carbon neutrality drive. President Moon Jae-in said the government-private panel would be a "pivot" in uniting national efforts to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050. He admitted that it would not be easy for the country to attain the goal, given its heavy reliance on manufacturing industries and fossil fuels. "Carbon neutrality is an unavoidable task, with which mankind shou

Social AffairsMay 29, 2021

National Assembly speaker meets Czech leaders, discusses nuclear power plant projects

South Korean National Assembly Speaker Park Byeong-seug has met with political leaders of the Czech Republic to promote Seoul's nuclear power plant solutions, his office said Saturday. Park spoke with Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis in Prague on Friday (local time) and emphasized that South Korea can be an ideal partner for the Czech Republic's nuclear power projects. "We are stronger than any other nation when it comes to construction time, cost and operation capabilities," Park s

Foreign AffairsMay 29, 2021

Military reports 2 more coronavirus cases

The South Korean military confirmed two more cases of the novel coronavirus, the defense ministry said Saturday. One Air Force officer in Osan, 55 kilometers south of Seoul, tested positive for COVID-19 while in quarantine. So far, seven people at his air base have contracted the virus since the first case there was reported on May 21. One Army soldier in Inje, Gangwon Province, 165 km east of Seoul, also tested positive following his emergency leave to Seoul. The latest cases raised the tota

Social AffairsMay 29, 2021

New virus cases in 500s for 2nd day; cluster, variant infections still pose problems

South Korea's daily new coronavirus cases stayed in the 500s for the second consecutive day Saturday as health authorities strive to contain cluster infections and the spread of virus variants. The country reported 533 more COVID-19 cases, including 505 local infections, raising the total caseload to 139,431, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said. There were five additional fatalities, raising the death toll to 1,951. The fatality rate was 1.4 percent. Daily caseloads ha

Social AffairsMay 29, 2021

Belgium recalls ambassador to Seoul, waives immunity for wife over assault case

Belgium ordered its ambassador to South Korea to leave his post this summer and waived diplomatic immunity for his wife, who stands accused of assaulting two clothing shop employees, its foreign ministry said Friday.  Xiang Xueqiu, the spouse of Ambassador Peter Lescouhier, has been questioned by police here over allegations that she slapped a clothing store employee in the face and another staff in the back of her head in early April. The assaults allegedly happened when the employees m

Foreign AffairsMay 28, 2021

Suspect in NK Embassy raid says he could be killed if he leaves US

A Korean American facing extradition to Spain for taking part in a raid of the North Korean Embassy in Madrid in February 2019 said he could be assassinated if he leaves the US. Christopher Ahn, a member of the group Free Joseon, which has helped several high-level North Koreans defect, was arrested by the FBI in Los Angeles in April 2019. Spanish prosecutors have asked the US to hand him over to face charges including unlawful break-in, illegal confinement, willful bodily harm and theft. &ldq

Social AffairsMay 28, 2021

Getting a COVID-19 vaccine in Korea: What’s the deal for foreigners?

All foreigners staying long-term in South Korea are offered COVID-19 vaccinations, and anyone planning to get shots here should know some things about the process. The following information is based on the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency’s replies Friday. Foreigners who aren’t registered or subscribed to the national health insurance service can receive COVID-19 vaccinations only at public health centers when it is their turn. But at the time of vaccination their stay in

Social AffairsMay 28, 2021

Farmers, fishers see income boost on back of aggressive government spending

  The average income for both farmers and fishers increased last year, government data showed, but the gain was mostly attributable to state emergency relief handouts aimed at propping up Korea’s pandemic-laden economy. The average farm household earned 45 million won ($40,300) last year, up 9.3 percent from the previous year, according to data by the Statistics Korea released on Wednesday. It was a record high for the industry since the institution started compiling relevant statis

Social AffairsMay 28, 2021

British, French, German leaders to join P4G summit: Cheong Wa Dae

SEOUL -- British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel are among those who will join a virtual summit of global leaders on climate to be hosted by South Korea, Cheong Wa Dae announced Friday. President Moon Jae-in will host the two-day P4G Seoul Summit set to open Sunday with more than 60 leaders and top-level officials of foreign countries and international organizations attending. US President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jin

Foreign AffairsMay 28, 2021

Moon-Biden summit further deepens alliance: foreign ministry

The summit talks between President Moon Jae-in and US President Joe Biden last week helped the two countries further deepen their alliance in a "comprehensive, constructive and mutually beneficial" manner, the foreign ministry said Friday. The ministry made the assessment in a report to the parliament, saying that the May 21 summit "brought achievements encompassing political, economic cooperation and global issues, while expanding and deepening the realms of cooperation."

Foreign AffairsMay 28, 2021

DP, govt. recognize need to resume inter-Korean dialogue to restore cross-border ties

The government and the ruling Democratic Party (DP) on Friday agreed on the need to restart dialogue with North Korea to restore inter-Korean relations as early as possible based on last week's Seoul-Washington summit deal that reaffirmed the allies' peace commitment toward the Korean Peninsula. "We have agreed that Seoul should facilitate conversations and exchanges with Pyongyang to ease the strained inter-Korean relations," DP spokesperson Rep. Koh Yong-jin said after a policy cons

PoliticsMay 28, 2021

Labor Ministry accused of passing the buck in sexual harassment case

South Korea’s Labor Ministry is facing criticism over a sexual harassment case at a foreign company’s Korean office. Early in 2020, a male employee in his 30s working for a large British investment firm in Korea reported to the UK headquarters that his female boss was sexually harassing him. Following the complaint, the boss began asking him to do things that violated company guidelines and the headquarters eventually fired him for failing to comply, according to the accuser. He

Social AffairsMay 28, 2021

Seoul to deal with Tokyo's Dokdo claim on Olympic map 'as strongly as possible': FM

Seoul will address Tokyo's renewed claim to sovereignty of South Korea's easternmost islets of Dokdo on the Tokyo Olympic website as strongly as possible, Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong said Friday. Japan described Dokdo as part of its territory on a map posted on the Tokyo Olympic website to show the route of the torch relay, its latest claiming of the islets. The move has prompted mounting calls to revise it and concerns that the inclusion of the islets could undermine the Olympic spirit

Foreign AffairsMay 28, 2021

Chief nuke envoys of S. Korea, US hold phone talks on peninsula denuclearization

The top nuclear envoys of South Korea and the United States held their second phone talks in less than a week on Friday to discuss cooperation to achieve denuclearization and lasting peace on the Korean Peninsula, the foreign ministry said. Noh Kyu-duk, the ministry's special representative for Korean Peninsula peace and security affairs, and his US counterpart, Sung Kim, discussed follow-up efforts to last week's summit between Presidents Moon Jae-in and Joe Biden, where the leaders stressed d

Foreign AffairsMay 28, 2021

Moon replaces senior secretary for public communication

President Moon Jae-in has named Park Soo-hyun, a former lawmaker, as new senior secretary for public communication, Cheong Wa Dae said Friday. Park succeeds Chung Man-ho, who has been in the post for less than 10 months. Park worked as Moon's first Cheong Wa Dae spokesman starting in May 2017 after serving as lawmaker of the ruling Democratic Party for four years from 2012. He left Cheong Wa Dae in 2018 in a failed bid to become governor of South Chungcheong Province. He was defeated in last ye

PoliticsMay 28, 2021

Jeju to raise social distancing rules to Level 2 next week

Jeju Island, South Korea's most popular holiday destination, will raise itsanti-COVID-19 social distancing measures by one notch to Level 2 at the end of this month to cope with growing local transmissions of the coronavirus, the provincial government said Friday. The Level 2 posture, the third highest in the country's five-tier COVID-19 alert system, will be enforced for two weeks beginning Monday, the government said, noting the operating hours of facilities used by the general public will be

Social AffairsMay 28, 2021

S. Korea to seek resumption of dialogue with N. Korea based on achievement of Moon-Biden agreement

The unification ministry said Friday it will seek to restore communication lines and dialogue with North Korea based on "sufficient conditions" for engagement created by last week's summit between President Moon Jae-in and US President Donald Trump. In a report to the National Assembly, the ministry also said that Pyongyang must be now thinking hard about its next steps after Moon and Biden agreed to take diplomatic and pragmatic approach in denuclearization efforts. "The leader

North KoreaMay 28, 2021

3 soldiers, 2 airmen test positive for coronavirus

Three Army soldiers and two airmen have tested positive for the new coronavirus, the defense ministry said Friday. The Army officers based in Hongcheon, some 100 kilometers east of Seoul, were confirmed to have contracted COVID-19 after one of them first developed symptoms, according to the ministry. On follow-up tests at the unit, 156 people have tested negative, while 16 are waiting for their results. In Osan, 55 km south of Seoul, two Air Force officers have tested positive while in quaran

DefenseMay 28, 2021

[Newsmaker] Young underdog emerges as winner of primary for main opposition party leader

Lee Jun-seok, a 36-year-old politician with no experience as a lawmaker, swept to victory Friday in the primary for the upcoming election to pick the new chairman of the main opposition party. Lee was among the final five candidates selected through opinion polls to compete in the People Power Party's (PPP) chairman election on June 11, according to the party's election management committee. The former member of the party's supreme council was followed by former four-term lawmaker Na Kyung-won

PoliticsMay 28, 2021

Vice justice minister offers to resign over assault allegations

Vice Justice Minister Lee Yong-gu offered to resign Friday, after he was embroiled in a controversy over unpunished assault against a taxi driver. The justice ministry announced the news, without detailing reasons for his abrupt resignation. In a short statement sent to reporters, Lee said he was resigning because he believed the ministry "badly" needed a "new worker" who could help the ministry to reinvent itself for the remaining one year of the Moon Jae-in government.

PoliticsMay 28, 2021