Stronger South Korea can set North Koreans free: Yoon

President Yoon Suk Yeol said Thursday in his Memorial Day address to the nation that South Korea must become stronger to change North Korea and free North Koreans. At the ceremony held at the Seoul National Cemetery, the president said that “fellow Korean compatriots living north of the border, just about 50 kilometers from right here, are suffering from starvation, deprived brutally of their freedom and human rights.” “Peace is maintained through strength, not through submissi

June 6, 2024

Yoon pledges to enhance critical mineral partnership with Africa

President Yoon Suk Yeol said Wednesday that South Korea will establish a critical mineral partnership with major African nations to develop resources on the continent in a "mutually beneficial" way. Yoon made the remark during a business summit attended by industry leaders from Korea and Africa, an event on the second day of the first-ever Korea-Africa Summit. On the first day of the summit, Korea and delegates from 48 African countries adopted a joint declaration to boost trade and in

June 5, 2024

Controversy reemerges over former first lady’s India trip

A controversy surrounding accusations that former first lady Kim Jung-sook spent an “excessive” amount of taxpayers’ money to fund her 2018 trip to India has resurfaced in recent days, with the ruling party proposing a special counsel investigation. Ruling People Power Party Rep. Yoon Sang-hyun on Monday floated a bill that mandates a special counsel investigation into allegations that the former first lady wrongfully used her position and public funds to take a personal trip t

June 5, 2024

Assembly speaker elected without a single ruling party vote

The speaker to lead the first half of the National Assembly through its new term was elected Wednesday in a vote that was held in the absence of the ruling People Power Party. The first plenary session of the new Assembly term was convened on this day before a bipartisan agreement could be reached over appointment of committee chairs. The Democratic Party of Korea -- which outnumbers the People Power Party by 171 to 108 -- is pushing to chair all of the 17 committees of the Assembly. The ruling

June 5, 2024

Chat records show pastor sent photo of gift to first lady ahead of meeting

Choi Jae-young, a Korean American pastor who secretly filmed himself handing over a luxury Dior handbag to first lady Kim Keon Hee in 2022, persistently demanded a meeting with Kim by sending a photo of the gift to her via a chat app, according to records of messenger dialogue obtained by Yonhap News Agency on Wednesday. Choi sent a photo of the Dior handbag and a gift box to Kim via the messaging app KakaoTalk on Sept. 7, 2022, saying he wants to give Chuseok (Korean Thanksgiving) greetings to

June 5, 2024

Daegu, North Gyeongsang to form unified provincial govt. in July 2026

Leaders of the southeastern metropolitan city of Daegu, 240 kilometers from Seoul, and the surrounding North Gyeongsang Province on Tuesday agreed on plans to launch an integrated provincial government in 2026 with support from the central government. The agreement was made at a meeting attended by Daegu Mayor Hong Joon-pyo, North Gyeongsang Gov. Lee Cheol-woo, Minister of the Interior and Safety Lee Sang-min and Woo Dong-gi, chairman of the Presidential Committee for Decentralization and Bala

June 4, 2024

Leaders of Korea, Africa agree to open critical minerals dialogue

GOYANG, Gyeonggi Province -- The leaders of South Korea and African countries agreed to launch a multilateral dialogue for critical minerals to ensure their stable supply and promote technology cooperation at a summit held in Seoul to redefine diplomatic and economic ties between Asia's fourth-largest economy and the continent on Tuesday. At the first-ever summit hosted by the Korean government with African countries to strengthen mutual trust and solidarity, Seoul vowed to provide up to $10 bil

June 4, 2024

Marking complete return, Kim Keon Hee hosts luncheon for African first ladies

South Korean first lady Kim Keon Hee hosted a luncheon for a group of first ladies from 16 African nations visiting to participate in the first-ever Korea-Africa Summit on Tuesday, marking a full return to public engagement after nearly six months of her absence from the public eye. The luncheon was held at Sangchunjae, a traditional Korean-style house located within the perimeters of the former presidential residence of Cheong Wa Dae in central Seoul. Kim, who was in charge of hosting the lunch

June 4, 2024

Yoon says summit marks new era of ties with Africa

President Yoon Suk Yeol said in an opening speech of the 2024 Korea-Africa Summit Tuesday that the event marks a new era of ties between Asia's fourth-largest economy and the African continent. "Today's Summit will herald an important milestone of the new era of ties between South Korea and Africa," Yoon told delegations of 48 African countries in the largest multilateral summit hosted by the Yoon administration. "We hope we can briskly start our grand journey to achieve the futur

June 4, 2024

S. Korea will be 'true friend' to Africa: Yoon

President Yoon Suk Yeol said Monday that South Korea will be Africa's "true friend" for the continent's common goal of achieving economic growth, given that South Korea, which was once one of the world's poorest countries, achieved its own economic breakthrough and prosperity in a dramatic fashion. At a welcoming dinner held Monday in Seoul on the eve of the 2024 Korea-Africa Summit, Yoon brought up "ubuntu," a term referring to the essence of humanity used amo

June 3, 2024

Yoon meets 10 African leaders ahead of Korea-Africa Summit

President Yoon Suk Yeol held a series of bilateral summit meetings with leaders of 10 African nations Monday to discuss ways to expand cooperation on the eve of the first-ever Korea-Africa Summit, the presidential office said. Yoon had back-to-back meetings with leaders from Lesotho, Ivory Coast, Mauritius, Zimbabwe, Togo, Rwanda, Mozambique, Sao Tome and Principe, Guinea-Bissau and Cape Verde at the presidential office in Seoul. The leaders were in South Korea to attend the inaugural Korea-Afri

June 3, 2024

Oil dream revived, yet pitfalls remain

Importing nearly all the oil and gas it consumes, South Korea has long desired its own fuel wells. Yet, a discovery of one with massive deposits within its territory seemed almost too good to be true. On Monday, President Yoon Suk Yeol reignited the country’s fading dreams of becoming an oil-producing nation with a surprise announcement that there could be a significant fossil fuel field off the coast of Pohang, North Gyeongsang Province. The promise is a reserve of 14 billion barrels of o

June 3, 2024

[Bills in Focus] Improvements for working condition, cultural diversity

Proposed Bill: Partial Amendment to the Act on the Management of Public Institutions Proposed by Rep. Song Ki-hun (Democratic Party of Korea) ● The current Act requires the Minister of Economy and Finance to evaluate the management performance of public enterprises and quasi-governmental institutions with evaluation criteria that include how rational management goals are, how well they are being achieved, and the adequacy of organizational and personnel management. However, despite the heightene

June 3, 2024

Yoon OKs exploratory drilling for 'massive' oil, gas reserve in East Sea

South Korean government on Monday authorized drilling off the country's southeastern coast for oil and natural gas reserves a recent study by a foreign seismic research company indicated would be equivalent to about 14 billion barrels of oil. The resources are believed to be in the in the shores off the Yeongil Bay near Pohang, about 260 kilometers southeast of Seoul, President Yoon Suk Yeol said in a briefing at the presidential office in Yongsan, Seoul. If confirmed, he said the reserve would

June 3, 2024

Korea, US, Japan to kick off 1st trilateral exercises this year

SINGAPORE -- The defense ministers of South Korea, the United States and Japan on Sunday agreed to launch a trilateral exercise under the name "Freedom Edge," starting this summer. The plan for the trilateral exercise was reached at a meeting held on the last day of the annual Shangri-La Dialogue defense summit in Singapore. The trilateral exercise is to build on efforts outlined at the Camp David summit last year, according to the joint statement issued after the Singapore meeting. Ac

June 2, 2024

Yoon meets leaders of Tanzania, Ethiopia ahead of Korea-Africa Summit

President Yoon Suk Yeol on Sunday held two rounds of bilateral talks with Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan and Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed Ali, respectively, on the sidelines of the 2024 Korea-Africa Summit scheduled for later this week in Seoul. Seoul described the meetings as a stepping-stone for Asia's fourth-largest economy to weather the transnational crises through increased strategic cooperation with the African continent. The Korean president and Hassan held a summit-level

June 2, 2024

Court dismisses claim Korea neglected duty to rescue Sewol Ferry victims

The Constitutional Court of Korea has dismissed a constitutional petition by the bereaved families of April 2014 Sewol ferry disaster that the South Korean government had neglected its duty to rescue passengers from the capsized vessel. A 5-4 court ruling on Thursday dismissed the claim of state negligence filed in December 2014 and January 2015 for not meeting the relevant legal requirements, ending 10 years of legal actions by the victims' bereaved families. The petition stated that South

June 2, 2024

Seoul vows strong action against NK trash balloons

North Korea sent another batch of balloons carrying filth and propaganda to South Korea over the weekend, prompting a stern reaction from the South Korean government, which vowed Sunday to take “unendurable” action. “Dispatching of trash balloons and jamming GPS are despicable and irrational acts of provocation that could not have been imagined by a normal country,” National Security Adviser Chang Ho-jin said after presiding over a National Security Council meeting called

June 2, 2024

Seoul defense chief thanks Congress for bill keeping US troops in South Korea

SINGAPORE -- Seoul’s Minister of National Defense Shin Won-sik on Saturday credited the bipartisan support from the US Congress for its role in protecting the US troop presence in South Korea. Shin held a closed-door meeting with the US House of Representatives delegation comprising Reps. Young Kim, Michael McCaul, Gregory Meeks, Joe Wilson and Joe Courtney at the Shangri-La Dialogue summit on this day, according to the minister’s office. The South Korean defense minister was quoted

June 1, 2024

Seoul defense chief seeks US congress support for defense-related science cooperation

SINGAPORE -- Seoul’s Minister of National Defense Shin Won-sik said Friday a delegation of US senators agreed to help raise bipartisan support on expanding the two countries’ cooperation in defense-related science and technology. The minister and the three US senators -- Sens. Tammy Duckworth, Laphonza Butler and Dan Sullivan -- held a closed-door meeting held at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore for about half an hour. “The bipartisan US senate delegation, one Republican an

May 31, 2024