South Korean football star Son Heung-min was spotted playing a casual match at a public park near Seoul, drawing thousands of spectators in minutes and prompting police to control the scene, according to police and witnesses Saturday. Police said some 13 reports had been filed as of 9:20 p.m. Friday of a crowd surging to a "dangerous" level at a public sports park in Yongin, just south of Seoul, where the captain of Tottenham Hotspur apparently happened to have turned up and been playi

Soccer July 6, 2024

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization and its Indo-Pacific partners, including South Korea, plan to discuss resilience, support for Ukraine, disinformation, cybersecurity and emerging technologies during their summit in Washington next week, a senior U.S. administration official said Friday. The NATO summit is set to take place in the US capital from Tuesday through Thursday. The leaders of the alliance's four Indo-Pacific partners (IP4) -- South Korea, Australia, New Zealand and Japan --

Foreign Affairs July 6, 2024

Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul stressed the importance of a mutually considerate attitude in bilateral ties with Japan as he met with the country's new ambassador to South Korea, Koichi Mizushima, on Friday, Cho's office said. In their meeting, Cho said the two countries should wisely manage pending issues by putting themselves in each other's shoes to bolster the positive flow in bilateral ties as Seoul and Tokyo are set to mark the 60th anniversary of normalizing their ties next y

Foreign Affairs July 5, 2024

Under investigation for child abuse allegations, Son Woong-jung, football coach and father of South Korean Premier League star Son Heung-min, was seen kicking a young player at his namesake academy in a video obtained by Yonhap News Agency on Friday. Another clip showed other coaches at Son Football Academy, located in the eastern city of Chuncheon, yell at junior players with profanity during a match in Fukuoka, Japan. The senior Son and two of his coaches at the academy, including Son Heung-mi

Soccer July 5, 2024

Prosecutor General Lee One-seok on Friday denounced the main opposition party's push to impeach four prosecutors, mostly involved in corruption investigations into former party leader Lee Jae-myung, as an illegal act. The Democratic Party submitted the controversial impeachment motion to the National Assembly Legislation and Judiciary Committee earlier this week, triggering criticism from many senior prosecutors. The top prosecutor, who has already criticized the motion as unconstitutional

Politics July 5, 2024

South Korea logged the largest current account surplus in 32 months in May on the back of a sharp rise in the trade surplus and increased dividend income, central bank data showed Friday. The country's current account surplus reached $8.92 billion in May, a turnaround from a deficit of $290 million in April. The May surplus marks the largest since September 2021, when the surplus came in at $9.51 billion. In the first five months of the year, the country's current account surplus reach

Economy July 5, 2024

The government has been weighing measures on how to deal with trainee doctors who refuse to return to hospitals in protest of medical reform, according to officials Friday. With most trainee doctors still remaining unresponsive to the government's appeasement measures to help them return to hospitals, officials said the government will soon come up with measures on how to respond to the junior doctors who have left their worksites since late February. Health Minister Cho Kyoo-hong earlier p

Social Affairs July 5, 2024

Seoul shares opened higher Friday as investors await US jobs data this week for clues on the Federal Reserve's future policy path. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index gained 15.66 points, or 0.55 percent, to 2,840.60 in the first 15 minutes of trading. Institutions and foreigners bought a combined 358 billion won ($260 million) worth of stocks, offsetting individuals' stock selling valued at 352 billion won. The US jobs report due Friday is forecast to show slowing job grow

Market July 5, 2024

The driver involved in a recent car crash that killed nine pedestrians in central Seoul argued a sudden unintended acceleration caused the accident in the first police interrogation. The questioning comes three days after the 68-year-old man's Genesis G80 sedan plowed through a sidewalk guardrail and hit pedestrians while traveling against traffic on a one-way road near Seoul City Hall on Monday night. A total of nine people were killed, including six who died at the scene, most of them off

Social Affairs July 4, 2024

A civic group filed a complaint with the state anti-corruption agency Thursday for the second time over a luxury bag scandal involving first lady Kim Keon Hee after the case was dropped last month. The People's Solidarity for Participatory Democracy filed the complaint, which included additional evidence of the first lady receiving high-end perfumes and expensive liquors from a Korean American pastor, with the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission. "Since the complaint last year,

Social Affairs July 4, 2024

The Seoul city government said Thursday it will reinforce traffic signs and road markings on one-way roads as part of safety measures following a deadly car crash that left nine people dead earlier this week. "Although a no-entry traffic sign and a road marking are put up (at the accident site), we plan to reinforce them and install more to make them more noticeable to drivers throughout the day and night," a city official said. On Monday night, a sedan driven by a 68-year-old darted i

Social Affairs July 4, 2024

The average number of students per elementary school class could fall to single-digit levels in 10 years due to ultralow birth rates, a teachers' group said Thursday. The Good Teachers Movement announced the estimate during a forum held to discuss low birth rates and education reforms, saying the forecast is based on school-age population data that Statistics Korea released in June last year. According to the worst-case scenario, the average number of elementary school students per class co

Social Affairs July 4, 2024

Parents of players training at the football academy run by the father of South Korean football star Son Heung-min on Thursday dismissed child abuse allegations against him. Son Woong-jung, a former player and director of Son Football Academy, and two of his coaches are under investigation over charges that they had physically and verbally abused a young player. In a joint statement issued Thursday, parents of other players said they had never once heard of or seen any corporal punishment at the

Social Affairs July 4, 2024

South Korean stocks finished more than 1 percent higher to hit this year's high Thursday as investor sentiment was boosted by revived hopes for a rate cut in the United States and Samsung Electronics' upcoming earnings guidance. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index added 30.93 points, or 1.11 percent, to 2,824.94. It marked the highest closing price since Jan. 21, 2022, when it finished at 2,834.29. Trade volume was slim at 386.4 million shares worth 12.8 trillion won ($9.26

Market July 4, 2024

Finance Minister Choi Sang-mok called for proactive and preemptive responses Thursday to prevent possible massive changes in external circumstances from affecting South Korean exports so as to maintain economic recovery momentum. Choi made the remarks during a meeting of ministers working on external economic issues in Seoul, stressing the need to stay vigilant given growing geopolitical tensions and growing supply chain risks. "A growing number of major countries have put top priority on t

Economy July 4, 2024