South Korea's chief nuclear envoy said Saturday that a formal declaration of an end to the 1950-53 Korean War could pave the way for resuming the stalled denuclearization talks with North Korea. Noh Kyu-duk made the remark ahead of his meetings with his US and Japanese counterparts in Washington later this week to explore ways to bring Pyongyang back to the negotiating table. The upcoming talks will likely touch on President Moon Jae-in's recent proposal to declare a formal end to the Korean W

North Korea Oct. 17, 2021

A key figure in a sprawling land development scandal is expected to return home from the United States early next week, legal sources said Saturday. Attorney Nam Wook, who left for the US in mid-September before the investigation into the case began, will arrive in Seoul as early as Monday, they said. Nam played a key role in the residential development project in Seongnam, south of Seoul. The project was initiated in 2015 under then Mayor Lee Jae-myung, who is now the ruling Democratic Party'

Social Affairs Oct. 16, 2021

Unification Minister Lee In-young on Saturday reiterated South Korea's resolve to revive peace efforts with the North, pinning hopes on the recent reactivation of communication lines between the two Koreas. Speaking during a forum in the eastern city of Chuncheon, Lee said that the Beijing Winter Olympics slated for February next year may offer an opportunity to restore inter-Korean relations. "(The government) will focus its efforts to resume the Korean Peninsula peace process and make p

North Korea Oct. 16, 2021

Cold wave alerts were issued for most of the country Saturday as an Arctic air mass brought an unseasonably chilly weather, the state weather agency said. The Korea Meteorological Administration said that cold wave warnings will take effect for about a dozen central cities and counties at 9 p.m. while Seoul and most other parts of the country will be under cold wave advisories. It will be the first time in 17 years that a cold wave alert has been issued for Seoul in October. The cold wave adv

Social Affairs Oct. 16, 2021

South Korea's daily new COVID-19 cases stayed in the 1,600s for the second consecutive day Saturday, as the government plans to relax social distancing rules, starting next week, ahead of a gradual return to normal life. The country added 1,618 more COVID-19 cases, including 1,594 local infections, raising the total caseload to 340,978, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency. The latest tally was down from 1,684 cases reported on Friday and 1,940 on Thursday. The daily in

Social Affairs Oct. 16, 2021

WASHINGTON -- The United States is committed to working with its allies in denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula, a State Department spokesperson said Friday, also stressing the importance of key US allies, South Korea and Japan, working together to that end. Ned Price made the remark after Japan's newly inaugurated Prime Minister Fumio Kishida held his first call with South Korean President Moon Jae-in on Friday (Seoul time), more than 10 days after his inauguration last Monday. "As you kn

North Korea Oct. 16, 2021

North Korea may be considering engaging with South Korea and the rest of the world, former Deputy Secretary of State Stephen Biegun said Friday. Biegun noted the North may be trying to influence the outcome of South Korea's upcoming presidential election, but insisted having a direct communication channel with the reclusive state was more important to South Korea, as well as the United States, than having such consequences. "We've seen a sequence of events that many analysts have interpre

North Korea Oct. 16, 2021

North Korea has opened a key sea route on the western coast to receive humanitarian aid deliveries following its closure attributable to the COVID-19 pandemic, a United Nations agency official said Friday. The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) has begun shipping medical supplies from the Chinese port of Dalian to North Korea's Nampo and plans to deliver more items, according to its Seoul office.  "A limited shipment of health and nutrition supplies has been delivered through th

North Korea Oct. 15, 2021

Thirty-one people affiliated with the US Forces Korea (USFK) have tested positive for the new coronavirus, the US military's latest infection tally showed Friday. Among the new cases counted from Sept. 30 to Oct. 7 were 19 American troops, including those working at Camp Humphreys and Osan Air Base, both in Pyeongtaek, 70 kilometers south of Seoul. "All individuals are currently in isolation at a facility designated for confirmed COVID-19 cases," the US military said in a statement.

Defense Oct. 15, 2021

Hanwha Energy Corp., a South Korean renewable energy company, said Friday it has launched a committee to beef up sustainable management in light of the Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) principles. The ESG committee, established within its board, will serve as the company's key division tasked with devising and reviewing mid- to long-term objectives and strategies in line with the ESG factors, which refer to business behaviors and practices that determine a company's future sustainabi

Industry Oct. 15, 2021

Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co. (DSME) said Friday that it has signed a 640.8 billion won ($542 million) deal to build four container carriers. Under the deal with a European country, DSME will deliver the vessels by November 2024, it said in a regulatory filing. In the first nine months, DSME posted $8.04 billion in new orders, surpassing its annual order target of $7.7 billion won. It is the first time for the company to achieve its annual order target since 2014, when the

Industry Oct. 15, 2021

Apple Inc. on Friday released its new smartwatch -- Apple Watch Series 7 -- in South Korea in the latest move to further boost its presence in the growing smartwatch market. The release came as the pandemic-driven stay-at-home trend and rising health concerns have fueled the popularity of smartwatches fitted with health care and fitness features. The latest Apple smartwatch comes with a 20 percent bigger screen and a 40 percent thinner body than the Apple Watch Series 6. Its battery runs for

Industry Oct. 15, 2021

Key members of an international criminal organization suspected of carrying out massive ransomware attacks on South Korean companies and universities in 2019 have been arrested in a joint investigation by South Korea and a few other countries, police here said Friday. The joint investigation, which also involved Ukraine's police, the Federal Bureau of Investigation of the United States and Interpol, busted four members of the unnamed criminal organization, including its money laundering chief,

Social Affairs Oct. 15, 2021

South Korea is closely cooperating with the United States on "diverse" measures to restart talks with North Korea, the unification ministry said Friday, after the US said it had made overtures to Pyongyang. "Through close communication, South Korea and the United States have pursued a completely coordinated North Korea policy," Cha Duck-chul, the ministry's deputy spokesperson, said in a regular press briefing. "Diverse measures to engage with the North are being closel

Foreign Affairs Oct. 15, 2021

About 1,000 food delivery workers will walk off the job next week as part of a general strike called by one of the country's two umbrella labor organizations, union officials said Friday. Delivery workers of South Korea's leading food delivery services, Baedal Minjok, Coupang Eats and Yogiyo, designated Wednesday next week as "No-delivery Day" and will take part in the general walkout called by the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU), official said. They plan to call for the

Social Affairs Oct. 15, 2021