DPA -- Same-sex marriage will be legal in Thailand from January after Thai King Maha Vajiralongkorn signed the law on Tuesday, making the country the first in South-East Asia to legalize it. The upper and lower houses of the Thai parliament had already passed the legislation months ago, both with large majorities. Now that the king has signed the law, it will enter into force in 120 days. While Thailand is the first country in South-East Asia to allow for same-sex marriage, it is the third in al

Cho Jun-hyuk, a former lawmaker of the predecessor of the ruling People Power Party, was chosen Wednesday as the conservative bloc's single candidate for the Oct. 16 by-election for Seoul's education chief. The conservative bloc's candidacy merger committee said Cho defeated two other right-leaning candidates in a public opinion poll conducted last Saturday. Educator Ahn Yang-ok and Korea University professor Hong Hoo-jo previously raised objections to the method of electing a sin

Top stars, producers, and writers from the global drama industry gathered Wednesday afternoon for the 2024 Seoul International Drama Awards. The event, which honors excellence in drama series worldwide, saw a record 346 entries from 48 countries this year, featuring shows that aired between June 1, 2023, and June 30, 2024. This year, the spotlight was on film figures winning major awards, with renowned South Korean director Park Chan-wook taking home the Golden Bird Prize -- the highest honor in

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) slashed the growth outlook for the South Korean economy to 2.5 percent this year, Seoul's finance ministry said Wednesday. The latest figure marked a 0.1 percentage point fall from its projection presented in May and is on a par with the forecasts by the International Monetary Fund. The South Korean government expected a 2.6 percent expansion, and the Bank of Korea (BOK) forecast a 2.4 percent growth this year. "Growth is