South Korean short track speed skater Choi Min-jeong's quest for an unprecedented gold medal sweep at PyeongChang 2018 was spoiled at the start on Tuesday, as she was penalized in the women's 500-meter final. Choi Min-jeong (Yonhap)Choi appeared to win the silver medal behind Arianna Fontana of Italy, in a photo finish, at Gangneung Ice Arena in Gangneung. Choi clapped and waved to the delighted crowd in celebration of what she believed would be her first Olympic medal, and the South Korean tele

National Feb. 13, 2018

Jun. K, a member of South Korean boy band 2PM, was caught driving under the influence of alcohol over the weekend, police said Tuesday. Jun. K (Yonhap)Jun. K was caught for drunk driving in southern Seoul at 7 a.m. on Saturday, officials at Gangnam Police Station said. His blood alcohol content was 0.074 percent, a level that would lead to the suspension of his driver's license.Police plan to question him soon over how he got behind the wheel while intoxicated.His agency JYP Entertainment issued

Performance Feb. 13, 2018

South Korea and Uzbekistan on Tuesday agreed to further enhance bilateral ties and cooperation between the two countries, Seoul's finance ministry said.  Finance Minister Kim Dong-yeon gives a lecture in Uzbekistan on Wednesday. (Yonhap)The agreement came at high-level talks between South Korean Finance Minister Kim Dong-yeon and Uzbekistan's Prime Minister Abdulla Aripov in Tashkent.Their meeting is a follow-up to a summit meeting between South Korean President Moon Jae-in and Uzbek President S

Foreign Affairs Feb. 13, 2018

South Korean cross-country skiers on Tuesday failed to make it beyond the qualification round in the men and women's sprint classic competitions. Kim Magnus (Yonhap)Kim Magnus finished 49th, clocking a time of 3 minutes, 22.36 seconds in the men's sprint classic qualification competition at Alpensia Cross-Country Skiing Centre in PyeongChang, Gangwon Province, some 182 kilometers east of Seoul.Born to a Norwegian father and a Korean mother, Kim, 19, is one of South Korea's top cross-country skii

Sports Feb. 13, 2018

South Korean ice hockey players during PyeongChang Winter Olympics (Yonhap)On the eve of his team's showdown against the joint Korean team in women's hockey tournament at the PyeongChang Winter Olympics, Japanese assistant coach Yuji Iizuka said Tuesday he has been "surprised" with Korea's struggles so far.Korea has dropped its first two games, by a comned score of 16-0. It has lost to Switzerland and to Sweden by identical scores of 8-0, while managing a total of 27 shots in those losses.Iizuka

Foreign Affairs Feb. 13, 2018

As the South Korean government considers ways to create the “right conditions” for the inter-Korean summit proposed by the North, a sharp divide in South Korea remains a challenge for the government. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, via his sister Kim Yo-jong, invited President Moon Jae-in for talks in Pyongyang on Saturday, which put the Moon administration in the delicate position of having to continue the conciliatory mood without alienating the US. However, that’s not the only task for Moon,

Social Affairs Feb. 13, 2018

The US is ready to engage in direct talks with North Korea even as it maintains its “maximum pressure campaign” on the regime, US Vice President Mike Pence has said, hinting at a shift in Washington’s North Korea policy.　The US and South Korea have agreed on terms for further engagement with North Korea, first by Seoul and then possibly leading to talks with Washington, Pence said in an interview with the Washington Post aboard Air Force Two on his way home from the Olympics in South Korea on Su

Foreign Affairs Feb. 12, 2018

Rising from the ashes of war with the help of overseas aid and transforming itself from a recipient to a donor country in nearly half a century, South Korea presents a leading example of how development aid can help lift a country out of poverty. South Korea is on the right track toward sharing its experience as a development success, but there is still room for improvement to boost the effectiveness of its aid programs, said the chief of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development

Foreign Affairs Feb. 11, 2018

US Vice President Mike Pence met with North Korean defectors and visited a memorial for South Korean sailors killed in a North Korean torpedo attack on Friday in an apparent move to highlight his country’s tough stance on the reclusive regime. US Vice President Mike Pence meets a North Korean defector on Friday. (Yonhap)Hours before the two Koreas were to march under one flag at the opening ceremony of the PyeongChang Olympics, Pence met four North Korean defectors at a memorial for 46 South Kor

North Korea Feb. 9, 2018

As North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s younger sister comes to South Korea for the PyeongChang Olympics, questions are growing over whether her visit could be a game changer for talks between North Korea and the US. North Korea said Wednesday it would send Kim Yo-jong, first vice director of Workers’ Party of Korea Central Committee, as a member of the high-level delegation to South Korea for a three-day visit starting Friday. She is the first member of the North’s “Kim Dynasty” to visit the South

Foreign Affairs Feb. 8, 2018

North Korea is seeking ways to mend ties with South Korea and open talks with the US to ease sanctions on the communist regime by sending a member of the Kim dynasty as a delegate to the PyeongChang Olympics, experts say. On Wednesday, North Korea informed South Korea that its leader Kim Jong-un’s younger sister Kim Yo-jong, first vice director of the Central Committee of North Korea’s ruling Workers’ Party, would be part of the delegation led by the country’s ceremonial head of state Kim Yong-n

North Korea Feb. 7, 2018

US Vice President Mike Pence is expected to focus on ramping up pressure on North Korea by countering its charm offensives and highlighting the brutality of the regime during his trip to South Korea and Japan, dampening hopes for possible US-North Korea talks. On Monday, Pence left the US on a six-day trip to South Korea and Japan. Pence is set to arrive in Seoul on Thursday, and meet with President Moon Jae-in, before attending the PeyongChang Winter Olympics opening ceremony on Friday. Ahead o

Foreign Affairs Feb. 6, 2018

As North Korea has proposed sending its art troupe to South Korea by ferry for performances to mark the PyeongChang Winter Olympics, questions are growing over the North’s intention behind the decision. North Korea’s 140-member art troupe taking the ferry Mangyongbong-92 to South Korea and using it as accommodation here would be in violation of South Korea’s 2010 sanctions that ban North Korean ships from making a port call in the South. Experts said that North Korea’s decision to use the ferry,

North Korea Feb. 5, 2018

Expectations for direct contact between North Korea and US during the PyeongChang Winter Olympics appear to be dim even as Pyongyang announced it is sending Kim Yong-nam, ceremonial head of the communist state, to South Korea during the international sporting event. Pyongyang informed Seoul on Sunday night that Kim, president of the Presidium of the Supreme People’s Assembly, will head its high-level delegation to participate in the opening ceremony of the Feb. 9-25 Games. US Vice President Mike

Foreign Affairs Feb. 5, 2018