BRUSSELS (Yonhap) -- South Korea and three other Indo-Pacific partners of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization will attend the upcoming defense ministerial meeting for the first time later this month, NATO's chief said Tuesday. New NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said the defense ministers of South Korea, Japan, Australia and New Zealand, collectively known as IP4, were invited to the meeting scheduled for Oct. 16-17 in Brussels. "I look forward to welcoming them and forging a sh

Foreign Affairs Oct. 1, 2024

South Korea's exports extended on-year gains to the 12th straight month in September, data showed Tuesday, on the back of robust shipments of chips. Outbound shipments rose 7.5 percent on-year to $58.7 billion last month, according to data compiled by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. Imports added 2.2 percent on-year to $52.1 billion, resulting in a trade surplus of $6.66 billion. South Korea has maintained a trade surplus for 16 consecutive months. By sector, exports of semicond

Economy Oct. 1, 2024

North Korea will never bargain over its "national prestige," Pyongyang's envoy to the UN said Monday, reaffirming the regime's adherence to its nuclear weapons program despite criticism over its growing security threats. Ambassador Kim Song made the remarks during a general debate at the UN General Assembly, repeating accusations of America's "hostility" toward Pyongyang and claiming that its nuclear weapons were "just made and exist to defend ourselves.&q

North Korea Oct. 1, 2024

The government discussed plans Monday for a potential emergency evacuation of South Korean nationals in Lebanon as the escalating conflict between Israel and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah is raising fears of a full-scale war in the region. The meeting, led by the Foreign Ministry, was the latest to be held to review contingency plans for South Korean citizens in Lebanon and nearby regions, following a serious of strikes by Israel on Lebanon that have killed dozens of people, including He

Foreign Affairs Sept. 30, 2024

North Korea has been removed as an observer of a regional anti-money laundering group due to its lack of engagement and failure to fulfill obligations, South Korea's foreign ministry said Monday. The unanimous decision was made at the 26th general assembly of the Asia Pacific Group on Money Laundering (APG), held in the United Arab Emirates last Tuesday, the ministry said in a press release. The APG, formed in 1997, is an intergovernmental body committed to effectively implementing the inte

North Korea Sept. 30, 2024

President Yoon Suk Yeol instructed the sports ministry to uncover the truth behind the appointment of the national football team's head coach and come up with measures to enhance transparency in the hiring process. Yoon made the call after Culture, Sports and Tourism Minister Yu In-chon briefed him on the ministry's probe into the Korea Football Association (KFA)'s controversial selection of Hong Myung-bo as the head coach of the South Korean men's squad in July, presidential

Politics Sept. 30, 2024

Prosecutors demanded Monday a three-year prison term for opposition leader Lee Jae-myung on charges of suborning a former mayoral secretary to make false court testimony in his favor in 2018. Lee, chair of the main opposition Democratic Party (DP), was indicted last year on charges of demanding a secretary of former Seongnam Mayor Kim Byung-ryang to give false testimony in a 2018 election law violation case involving him. The court will deliver the verdict on Nov. 25. The case involves Lee'

Politics Sept. 30, 2024

Seoul shares fell by more than 2 percent Monday as investors remained on the sidelines ahead of the releases of key economic data in the United States later this week. The local currency ended at a 9-month high against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index dropped 2.13 percent, or 56.51 points, to 2,593.27. Trading volume was moderate at 352.4 million shares worth 10.5 trillion won ($8.03 billion), with losers outnumbering winners 708 to 181. Institutions and foreign inv

Market Sept. 30, 2024

South Korea's media regulator said Monday that Telegram has pledged to adopt a zero-tolerance policy and immediately remove deepfake pornography and other illegal content from its platform, in cooperation with local authorities. The Korea Communications Standards Commission (KCSC) said it had a face-to-face working-level meeting with Telegram on Friday, raising concerns over deepfake content involving doctored images of Korean women, which has surfaced on Telegram in recent months. In respo

Social Affairs Sept. 30, 2024

A Seoul court is set to deliver verdicts Monday for the Yongsan Ward office chief and a former chief of the Yongsan Police Station over the deadly 2022 crowd crush in the district of Itaewon. Park Hee-young, head of the Yongsan Ward office, and former Yongsan Police Station chief Lee Im-jae were indicted last year over allegations that they failed to take steps to prevent the crowd crush that left 159 people dead on a Halloween weekend in the Itaewon nightlife district on Oct. 29, 2022. The Seou

Social Affairs Sept. 30, 2024

Prosecutors on Monday grilled an e-commerce tycoon believed to be at the center of the large-scale insolvency incidents involving online shopping platforms TIMON and WeMakePrice. Ku Young-bae, CEO of the Singapore-based Qoo10 Group, the parent company of TIMON and WeMakePrice, underwent questioning as a fraud and embezzlement suspect at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors Office in the morning. He entered the prosecution office at 8:55 a.m. after telling reporters that he will faithfully unde

Social Affairs Sept. 30, 2024

President Yoon Suk Yeol's approval rating has fallen to 25.8 percent, the lowest level since he took office in 2022, with the negative assessment of his performance topping 70 percent for the first time, a poll showed Monday. The survey, conducted by Realmeter and commissioned by a local news outlet, showed Yoon's positive rating fell 4.5 percentage points from the previous week. The previous record low in Realmeter surveys was 27 percent in the second week of September. The survey att

Politics Sept. 30, 2024

Prosecutors were set to request a sentence Monday for opposition leader Lee Jae-myung on charges of suborning a former mayoral secretary to make false court testimony in his favor in 2018. Lee, chair of the main opposition Democratic Party, was indicted last year on charges of demanding a secretary of former Seongnam Mayor Kim Byung-ryang to give false testimony in a 2018 election law violation case involving him. The Seoul Central District Court was scheduled to hold the closing hearing on the

Politics Sept. 30, 2024

Seoul shares opened slightly higher Monday, led by gains in battery and steel shares. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index rose 0.05 percent, or 1.3 points, to 2,651.08 in the first 15 minutes of trading. Battery and steel shares led the overall gains, with industry leaders LG Energy Solution and Posco Holdings increasing 2.53 percent and 1.94 percent, respectively. Bio and internet service operators also added momentum. Samsung Biologics rose 0.91 percent, and top internet portal ope

Market Sept. 30, 2024

South Korea's industrial output increased for the first time in four months last month on the rising production in the auto and semiconductor sectors, data showed Monday. Retail sales, a gauge of private spending, also rose by the most in 18 months in August, but facility investment ended two months of on-month growth and fell markedly, according to the data compiled by Statistics Korea. Industrial output advanced 1.2 percent on-month in August, the first increase since April. The figure fe

Economy Sept. 30, 2024