Rep. Lee Nak-yon, former prime minister and one of the leading presidential candidates for 2022, was elected the new chairman of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea on Saturday.   　 The party elected its new leadership at its headquarters in Yeouido, western Seoul, during an unprecedented virtual convention attended by only a minimal number of party officials at the site, due to recent surge of the new coronavirus cases here. 　 The 67-year-old five-term lawmaker overwhelmingly won 60.77

Politics Aug. 29, 2020

Typhoon Maysak, currently a tropical storm forming in the Pacific Ocean east of the Philippines, is expected to hit the Korean Peninsula next week, the national weather agency said Saturday.  The Korea Meteorological Administration said the ninth storm of this year’s typhoon season is located some 970 kilometers northeast off Manila, Philippines, and currently traveling at about 3 kilometers per hour to the northwest with a central pressure of 985 hectopascals and wind speeds of up

Social Affairs Aug. 29, 2020

South Korea’s daily tally of new COVID-19 cases exceeded 300 for the fourth consecutive day Saturday, with sporadic cluster infections in the Seoul metropolitan area continuing to raise alert.  The country reported 323 new virus cases Saturday -- 308 locally transmitted and 15 imported from overseas -- putting the total caseload at 19,400, according to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Five more people died of the coronavirus, bringing the death toll to 321. The

Social Affairs Aug. 29, 2020

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s reported decision to delegate part of his authority to his younger sister Kim Yo-jong and other key aides should be seen as a show of confidence, affirming the leader’s grip on the country, rather than a sign that he has health problems or has chosen his sister as his successor, experts here said Friday. The National Intelligence Service on Thursday told lawmakers in a closed-door meeting that Kim Jong-un appears to have transferred some of his res

North Korea Aug. 21, 2020

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has delegated some of his authority to his younger sister Yo-jong, allowing her to manage South Korean and US affairs, South Korea’s spy agency told lawmakers Thursday. 　 The move appears to be intended to lighten Kim Jong-un’s burden, the National Intelligence Service said, denying that the leader has any serious health issues. 　 “In regards to Kim Jong-un’s circumstances, ‘delegation of power’ was mentioned,” Rep. Ha

North Korea Aug. 20, 2020

South Korea has resumed defense cost-sharing talks with the new chief of the US negotiation team, but no meaningful progress has been reached yet.  Jeong Eun-bo, Seoul’s top negotiator for the talks, has been communicating with his new US counterpart Donna Welton via phone and email from early this month, according to the Foreign Ministry on Thursday.  But the two sides are said to have confirmed differences in their positions, while agreeing to continue communication to reso

Foreign Affairs Aug. 20, 2020

A group of civic and religious organizations here urged the Seoul government to send 14 aged North Korean spies and prisoners of war back to the North this year. 2020 marks the 20th anniversary of the first and last such large-scale repatriation. 　 The 14 North Koreans have been held in South Korean prisons for decades for refusing to abjure communism. Most are now in their 80s, and the majority of North Koreans held for similar reasons were released in the early 2000s. 　 Local organizations i

North Korea Aug. 19, 2020

Seoul’s Unification Ministry said Wednesday that it will justify its decision to revoke the operating permit of a defector-led group that sent anti-Pyongyang leaflets across the border, in response to a recent court ruling suspending the government action. 　 “We respect the judiciary’s decision, which approved suspension of the ministry’s action,” Yoh Sang-key, the ministry’s spokesperson, said during a regular briefing Wednesday. “During the main laws

North Korea Aug. 19, 2020

Unification Minister Lee In-young met with US Ambassador Harry Harris on Tuesday, seeking support from the US for South Korea’s push for inter-Korean cooperation projects, and called for adjustments to the South Korea-US working group that coordinates North Korea policy.  It was the first time the minister had met with a foreign envoy since he took office last month.  During the meeting, Lee reiterated his stance of wanting to start with humanitarian cooperation and small-sca

North Korea Aug. 18, 2020

North Korea is set to convene a key meeting of the ruling Workers’ Party on Wednesday to discuss a “crucial” matter as the reclusive regime is grappling with severe flood damage and the COVID-19 pandemic amid a failing economy under international sanctions.  Top party officials will decide on the issue of “crucial significance in developing the Korean revolution and increasing the party’s fighting efficiency” during the plenary meeting of its central c

North Korea Aug. 18, 2020

A South Korean court has dismissed an appeal filed by a Japanese steelmaker against a ruling that authorized the seizure of its assets in Korea to compensate victims of wartime forced labor. 　 The Daegu District Court’s Pohang branch said Monday that it had found “no reason” to accept the appeal by Nippon Steel, formerly known as Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal. The decision, however, is not final and the case now moves to a higher court of appeal in Daegu. 　 Nippon Steel

Foreign Affairs Aug. 17, 2020

South Korea and the US are set to kick off their annual summertime combined military exercises on Tuesday, with drills to be reduced in scope due to the coronavirus pandemic. 　 The computer-simulated Combined Command Post Training will start Tuesday and run until Aug. 28, the Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement Sunday, while “comprehensively taking into consideration the COVID-19 situation.” 　 The joint exercise was initially scheduled to start Sunday, but the date was pushed

Defense Aug. 17, 2020

Caught in a spiraling spat between the US and China, South Korea should balance its strategy to maintain the alliance with its longtime ally the US and at the same time prosper from the Chinese economy, a renowned American political scientist said Thursday.  Joseph S. Nye, Harvard University professor emeritus who served as assistant secretary of defense for international security under former US President Bill Clinton, said South Korea, sandwiched between larger countries like China and

Foreign Affairs Aug. 13, 2020

Flooding in North Korea may have damaged the facilities at the Yongbyon nuclear complex, the communist regime’s main nuclear facility, a US-based North Korean monitoring website said Thursday. 　 Comparing satellite images of the region taken July 22 and Aug. 6, the website, 38 North, said they show a dramatic rise in the water level of the Kuryong River, which runs alongside the Yongbyon complex, and that the flooding appears to be the worst the North has seen in several years. 　 &ldquo

North Korea Aug. 13, 2020

The United Nations said it is willing to help North Korea recover from severe flood damage, and is in contact with authorities there. 　 “In the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, the unusually heavy rains this month have resulted in flooding,” UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters during a regular briefing on Tuesday (US time), referring to North Korea by its formal name. 　 “The UN team is in contact with authorities and stands ready to support its response

North Korea Aug. 12, 2020