Yoon, first lady offer Lunar New Year greetings

President Yoon Suk Yeol and first lady Kim Keon Hee on Saturday offered Lunar New Year greetings to the people, renewing his commitment to vitalize people's livelihoods and take care of vulnerable people. In a video message, Yoon said the government "will take care of our needy neighbors more warmly and meticulously in the new year." Despite grim economic outlooks at home and abroad, Yoon said the government will make utmost efforts for a "new leap" this year. Yoon also

Jan. 21, 2023

Yoon returns home from visit to UAE, Switzerland Diplomacy

President Yoon Suk Yeol returned home Saturday from a weeklong visit to the United Arab Emirates and Switzerland. Yoon, who was accompanied on the trip by first lady Kim Keon Hee, arrived at Seoul Air Base following a four-day state visit to the UAE and a four-day visit to the European country. In Abu Dhabi, the president secured a $30 billion investment pledge from the UAE and visited a nuclear power plant built by South Korea. In Switzerland, he attended the annual meeting of the World Econo

Jan. 21, 2023

In trial on border killing, ex-Moon officials deny cover-up

Former top intelligence and security officials of the previous Moon Jae-in administration denied at the first hearing held Friday that they tried to cover up North Korean troops killing a South Korean government official at sea in 2020. Appearing at court, the lawyer representing former National Intelligence Service Director Park Jie-won said he “denies all that is written in the indictment.” According to the indictment Seoul prosecutors submitted to the National Assembly, Park order

Jan. 20, 2023

Ex-intel chief denies Moon let spies get away

Park Jie-won, former head of the National Intelligence Service, on Friday denied criticism that the intelligence agency was lax on counterespionage investigations under the previous Moon Jae-in administration. People Power Party Rep. Sung Il-jong claimed in Friday’s meeting of the ruling party leadership that the Moon administration “let spy activities slide” and “tried to debilitate the NIS by stripping the intelligence agency of the authority to investigate North Korean

Jan. 20, 2023

Yoon stresses solidarity, reaffirms nuclear power drive at Davos

President Yoon Suk Yeol stressed global cooperation and solidarity to overcome multiple global crises, and reaffirmed his willingness to return to nuclear power policies that his predecessor sought to scrap during his speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Thursday. This year’s Davos forum, under the theme of “Cooperation in a Fragmented World,” was marked by the absence of leaders of major economies, including US President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi

Jan. 19, 2023

Defector-turned-lawmaker announces bid for ruling party decision-maker

Rep. Tae Yong-ho, who was a North Korean diplomat before he defected in 2016, on Thursday announced his bid to run for the Supreme Council member of the ruling People Power Party. Speaking at a press conference, he said as someone who has known the North Korean regime from the inside, he believes he has a “historical responsibility” to put his experience to greater use. “Sooner or later, North Korea’s regime will find itself in an existential crisis. If we are prepared, w

Jan. 19, 2023

Assembly speaker Kim discusses improving bilateral cooperation with Indonesian president

National Assembly Speaker Kim Jin-pyo met with Indonesian President Joko Widodo Thursday and discussed improving bilateral cooperation in various areas, Kim's office said. During the meeting in Jakarta, Kim touted the 50th anniversary of diplomatic ties between South Korea and Indonesia and called for strengthening economic and security cooperation under a "special strategic partnership." The two countries established the special partnership in 2017 during then-South Korean Presid

Jan. 19, 2023

'Salesman' Yoon meets global CEOs

DAVOS, Switzerland -- On the second day of President Yoon Suk Yeol's visit to Switzerland, a day before attending the World Economic Forum, he had a lunch meeting with CEOs from global companies to discuss Korea’s competitiveness and investment environment. The Wednesday luncheon was attended by the heads of six major Korean companies -- Samsung, SK, Hyundai, LG, Lotte and Hanwha. Fifteen CEOs from foreign companies, including Intel, IBM, Qualcomm, Shell, JP Morgan, Mubadala Investmen

Jan. 19, 2023

[Korean History] Nuclear weapons and South Korea

“History through The Korea Herald” revisits significant events and issues over the seven decades through articles, photos and editorial pieces published in the Herald and retell them from a contemporary perspective. – Ed. In its Aug. 16, 1957 edition, The Korea Herald, then called The Korea Republic, carried a story titled “Atom arms now being sent here,” based on what the country’s envoy to the US learned from the Washington government. In this front page a

Jan. 18, 2023

National Intelligence Service, police raid labor group over alleged espionage

The South Korean spy agency and police raided the headquarters of a major umbrella labor union in central Seoul on Wednesday morning, on suspicion that some members had violated national security laws. The National Intelligence Service said it obtained a search and seizure warrant from the court for the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions on charges of violating the National Security Act, an NIS official confirmed to The Korea Herald on condition of anonymity Wednesday. "The NIS has been c

Jan. 18, 2023

Na goes low-key in People Power Party leadership race amid row with presidential office

Na Kyung-won, one of the leading contenders in the ruling party's leadership race, decided not to attend a local party event Wednesday, her aide said, an indication she is contemplating deeply whether to officially declare her leadership bid despite opposition from the presidential office. Na had previously planned to attend a New Year's event that the Daejeon branch of the People Power Party will hold in the central city in the afternoon but decided not to do so, the aide said without

Jan. 18, 2023

[Newsmaker] Yoon touts ties with Switzerland

ZURICH, Switzerland/DUBAI -- President Yoon Suk Yeol, who arrived in Switzerland on Tuesday evening, met with Koreans living in Zurich, vowing to make greater efforts for a new 60 years with Switzerland based on the trust and cooperation the two nations have built, before leaving for Davos. Upon arriving in the city, Yoon and first lady Kim had dinner with around 80 Korean residents in a hotel. An estimated 4,000 Koreans live in Switzerland. In an opening speech, Yoon said South Korea “sol

Jan. 18, 2023

Bereaved father collapses as Itaewon disaster probe ends in partisan row

Father who lost his son to the Itaewon crowd crush in October of last year collapsed Tuesday as the last day of the National Assembly probe turned into a row between the ruling and opposition parties. The father of late Lee Ji-han, who died at age 24 on the night of the disaster in central Seoul, was taken to a nearby hospital by an ambulance after collapsing near the end of the final plenary session of the parliamentary probe. He had to be escorted out of Tuesday’s session, after crying u

Jan. 17, 2023

Korea seeks to export nuclear power plant to UK with UAE

The presidential office said South Korea is seeking to export nuclear power plants to the UK in cooperation with the United Arab Emirates on the occasion of President Yoon Suk Yeol’s visit to the UAE. A senior official of the presidential office told reporters on Monday evening (local time) on the condition of anonymity that President Yoon said during his visit to the Barakah nuclear power plant, "Team Korea"’s technological experience led to the success of the Barakah nu

Jan. 17, 2023

Leaders of S. Korea, UAE adopt joint declaration to deepen partnership

ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates -- President Yoon Suk Yeol and Emirati leader Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan adopted a joint declaration to deepen the special strategic partnership between the two countries on Monday. It stated the Middle East country’s promise to invest $30 billion to Asia’s fourth-largest economy, the presidential office said. Under the declaration, the two countries agreed to strengthen strategic cooperation in areas, including economy, energy, nuclear ener

Jan. 17, 2023

Democratic Party accuses Yoon of ‘kowtowing to Japan’

The Democratic Party of Korea held a series of emergency meetings Monday, accusing the Yoon Suk Yeol administration of “being subservient” to Japan with its apparent plan for compensating victims of colonial forced labor. “The Yoon administration is willing to give up everything if it means mending ties with Japan,” Democratic Party head Rep. Lee Jae-myung said at the meeting convened by the party’s committee on peace and foreign affairs. “The administration m

Jan. 16, 2023

Yoon's approval rating falls below 40%: poll

President Yoon Suk Yeol's approval rating fell below 40 percent for the first time in five weeks in the wake of hard-line remarks he made on North Korea and a row with a potential candidate to become leader of the ruling People Power Party, a poll showed Monday. In the poll of 2,508 adults conducted by Realmeter from Monday to Friday of last week, 39.3 percent positively assessed Yoon's performance, down 1.6 percentage points from the previous week. Yoon's disapproval rating was 5

Jan. 16, 2023

Opposition leader Lee to head his party's new committee on public welfare

The leader of the main opposition Democratic Party, Rep. Lee Jae-myung, plans to head the party's new committee on enhancing public welfare, party officials said Sunday. The move is understood to indicate Lee's resolve to focus on seeking ways to improve the people's livelihoods amid controversies over whether it is appropriate to keep his post in the face of widening probes by state prosecutors into allegations that he took bribes from a football club and committed other wrongdoi

Jan. 15, 2023

Ex-intel chief deleted records to conceal North Korean murder of South Korean: prosecutors

The former head of the National Intelligence Service of Korea, Park Jie-won, ordered the deletion of all intelligence reports on North Korean troops killing South Korean government official Lee Dae-jun on Sept. 22, 2020 at sea, according to an indictment submitted to the National Assembly on Thursday. Park “had officials at the National Intelligence Service delete intelligence reports related to Lee Dae-jun’s case, which is not part of their duty,” and “destroyed records

Jan. 13, 2023

Yoon sacks vice chair of presidential committee on low birthrates

President Yoon Suk Yeol dismissed the vice chair of the of the presidential committee on low birthrates Friday, his office said, after she offered to resign following a clash over birth promotion policies. Na Kyung-won, a former four-term lawmaker, was relieved from the posts of vice committee chair and ambassador for climate and environment, senior presidential secretary for press affairs Kim Eun-hye said during a press briefing. Yoon named Kim Young-mi, a standing member of the committee, to r

Jan. 13, 2023