President Yoon Suk Yeol's foreign policy adviser, Chang Ho-jin, visited Australia on Monday to ask the country to allow South Korean firms to participate in its frigate project, Yoon's office said. In February this year, Australia announced a plan to acquire 11 new frigates for its Navy, with South Korean, Japanese, German and Spanish vessels being mentioned as candidates. On the sidelines of the East Asia Summit in Laos early this month, President Yoon met Australian Prime Minister An

A Chinese delegation of mid-level provincial government officials is visiting South Korea this week as part of efforts to boost cooperation and exchanges between the two neighboring countries, Seoul's foreign ministry said Monday. The delegation, made up of foreign affairs officials representing 16 provincial governments, including the Shandong, Sichuan, Guangdong, Liaoning and Jiangsu provinces, will begin a five-day visit to Seoul and other regions Monday, the ministry said in a release.

Police said Monday they are intensively cracking down on the sale and wearing of police officer costumes during the Halloween celebrations. The police have been strengthening online monitoring to prevent the indiscriminate distribution and use of fake police uniforms and equipment since last Friday, the Korean National Police Agency said, adding the crackdown continues for two weeks before and after Halloween until Nov. 3. The KNPA said 54 major online retailers and second-hand transaction platf

The national human rights watchdog determined Monday that denying rental spaces for a festival for sexual minorities on the grounds of potential conflicts with opposition groups constitutes a discriminatory act. The National Human Rights Commission issued the decision against the Seoul Museum of History and the Seoul city government's public activities support center after they refused to rent their spaces for this year's Seoul Queer Culture Festival, the biggest local festival for les

Ten years after the release of the groundbreaking United Nations Commission of Inquiry report on Human Rights in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, which concluded that the regime is committing crimes against humanity, we traveled to the Republic of Korea (South Korea's official name) to meet with victims and survivors, ROK government officials and activists. Our goal was to promote justice and accountability for those responsible for the widespread and systematic abuses

A 15-year-old boy is being investigated for assaulting a senior citizen and causing his death. The Muan Police Station in South Jeolla Province said it is investigating the middle school student for death resulting from violence, punishable by up to three years in prison. The suspect is accused of using fatal violence against a neighbor in his 70s at around 5:40 p.m. on Oct. 13. The suspect told police that he punched the victim when he saw him arguing with his mother. The victim fell to the gro

Jungkook of BTS surpassed 2 billion plays on Spotify with single “Seven (feat. Latto),” according to the platform. The solo single reached the milestone in 467 days, which is both a new record for an Asian artist and the fourth shortest time globally. It also dethroned Miley Cyrus’ “Flowers,” the previous holder of the record for a song released last year. Jungkook has been breaking multiple records on the music platform as a solo artist and most recently, became

Japan's JTI is reentering South Korea's heated tobacco market with a new product, Ploom X Advanced, in a renewed growth push. "We understand Korea's market is highly competitive, but we believe now is the ideal time to introduce our product," JTI Korea general manager David Wheeler said at the launch of the new product at a Seoul hotel on Monday. "As we are standing in a rapidly evolving market, it's crucial to develop products to an advanced level with top qua

In the upcoming sports movie “One Win” Song Kang-ho depicts a down-and-out coach who, despite a life miserable with continued failures, is betting on a single win. “One Win” was written and directed by Shin Yeon-sik, who Song worked with in the recent Disney+ drama “Uncle Samsik.” The movie revolves around Woo-jin, a volleyball coach who has never won before and players who have no idea how to win a game. As a team, however, they head toward their mutual goal

Samsung Electronics, facing challenges from its smaller rivals, is expected to carry out a major personnel reshuffle later this year, according to industry sources Monday. The world’s largest maker of memory chips and smartphones has been battling growing competition at home and abroad. When it comes to artificial intelligence chips, for instance, it has been outpaced by its crosstown rival SK hynix, as it failed to secure an earlier edge. “Samsung’s losses in HBM and foundry a

South Korean stocks rose more than 1 percent to hit a two-week high Monday led by a sharp rebound in top-cap Samsung Electronics shares. The Korean won gained against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index rose 29.16 points, or 1.13 percent, to 2,612.43, marking the highest closing price since Oct. 15 when the bourse finished at 2,633.45. Trade volume was slim at 327.6 million shares worth 9 trillion won ($6.5 billion), with winners outnumbering losers 615 to 271. Institu

As the year draws to a chilly close, it's time to book year-end concerts by your favorite artists. Peppertones, a duo known for bright and warm music, will cap off their 20th debut anniversary year with a year-end concert. The band will host "Twenty" on Dec. 14-15 at Daeyang Hall of Sejong University, Gwangjin-gu, Seoul. "Twenty" marks Peppertones' 20th anniversary and follows their successful sold-out tour in July, "Party Plenty." Singer Crush's ye

Doctors accused of performing a late-term abortion at 36 weeks could face murder charges, police said Monday, concluding in their investigation that the fetus was delivered alive. The case, which has drawn significant attention, involves a YouTuber in her 20s who sought pregnancy termination and later shared her experience online. “If a fetus is born alive, the case is subject to the crime of murder. After delivery, it is a living person," said Woo Jong-soo, head of the National Off

Assembly review of investment income tax scheme, AI support, low birth rate solutions likely to speed up