A South Korean short track speed skater left off the team for the Beijing Winter Olympics due to an injury is accusing the sport's national federation of lacking transparency in its selection process. In an email statement sent to Yonhap News Agency on Sunday, Kim Ji-yoo said she was "upset" that she was "robbed of my ticket to the Beijing Olympics." "It's something precious and dear to my heart, because I earned it with so much hard work," Kim said. However, whe

Iran has paid its dues to the United Nations with the country's funds frozen in South Korea in a move to immediately restore its voting power, Seoul's finance ministry said Sunday. Iran made an emergency request to South Korea on Jan. 13 for the use of Tehran's funds in Seoul to pay its dues after being informed by the UN it would immediately lose its voting rights for the arrears. Iran has more than $7 billion in funds for oil shipments frozen at two South Korean banks -- the Industrial Bank

South Korea's daily coronavirus cases on Sunday spiked to the second-largest figure since the pandemic outbreak, putting health authorities on alert amid the fast spread of the omicron variant. The country added 7,630 new COVID-19 infections, including 7,343 local infections, raising the total caseload to 733,902, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA). Sunday's figure marks the second-largest tally since the daily record high of 7,848 on Dec. 15. The daily tally

South Korean Olympic figure skater Kim Ye-lim set a new personal best en route to winning the bronze medal in her final competition before Beijing 2022. Kim scored 209.91 total points at the International Skating Union Four Continents Figure Skating Championships in Tallinn, Estonia, on Saturday (local time), finishing in third place behind Mai Mihara of Japan (218.03 points) and fellow South Korean Lee Hae-in (213.52 points). Kim's previous career best had been 202.76 points set at the 2020 Fo

Nijimori Studio, a theme park located in Dongducheon, Gyeonggi Province, north of Seoul, features a set of buildings that bring visitors back to Japan’s Edo period (1603-1867).  The theme park had been used as a filming site for several local TV dramas and variety shows, including Netflix‘s original mystery entertainment series “Busted!” as well as SBS suspense drama “The Penthouse: War in Life” and MBC‘s “Those Who Cross the Line.”&nbs

Korea hosts an abundant number of dolmens, which stand as proof that the Korea Peninsula was a happening place during the prehistoric period. The dolmens are megalithic burial monuments and places of worship, estimated to have been erected from the early Neolithic period into the Bronze Age. The dolmens, similar to standing stones in other cultures, is as common as, and as Korean as kimchi in Korea. More dolmens are located in Korea than anywhere else. Some Korean dolmens have a st

Presidential election season is in full swing as the two main opposing parties level an endless stream of allegations at each other to win over more votes. This is a rough description of what happens in hit maker Byun Sung-hyun’s new political film “Kingmaker,” as well as what is happening in the Korean political scene right now. The film’s main lead Seol Kyung-gu, who played opposition party politician Kim Woon-beom, said that the movie’s release date was not in

The secular world uses meat flavored stocks to add savory taste to food, but at temples, vegetable stock is an indispensable ingredient. To make vegetable stock, most temples boil white radish, shiitake mushrooms and kelp, but Jinkwansa does not use kelp. Ven. Gyeho prefers not to add the fishy smell of kelp to the plain taste of veggie stock. Instead she prefers adding dried chilies to give dishes a mild heat. Ginger is also a common ingredient in Jinkwansa’s winter temple food. In addit

From hiking snow-covered mountains and horseback riding to ice fishing on frozen lakes, winter outdoor activities soothe pandemic fatigue

Tongyeong, a port city located in the southern coast of South Korea, will kick off its inaugural triennale -- an Italian word meaning “once every three years” -- in March, as an art festival that encompasses visual, media and craft art. The overarching theme will be “The Sea, The Seeds.” The port city in South Gyeongsang has been widely known as a home to many Korea’s established artists such as composer Yun I-sang, novelist Park Kyong-ni, poet Kim Choon-su and pa

President Moon Jae-in returned home Saturday from a three-nation trip to the Middle East, where bolstering economic and defense cooperation was high on the agenda. 　 In the United Arab Emirates, South Korea signed a preliminary deal to sell Seoul‘s midrange surface-to-air missiles to the Persian Gulf nation, in the latest sign of deepening defense cooperation between the two nations. 　 The deal was signed after Moon held talks with UAE Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum i

South Korea‘s daily coronavirus cases jumped to over 7,000 for the first time in a month on Saturday amid the fast spread of the omicron variant. 　 The country added 7,009 new COVID-19 infections, including 6,729 local infections, raising the total caseload to 726,274, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA). 　 It is the first time since mid-December that the number of daily infections stayed above 7,000. 　 The daily tally has surged at a fast pace this week fro