South Korea's top trade official called on the United States on Friday to launch negotiations swiftly to revise the Section 232 tariff rules on Seoul's steel exports. South Korean Trade Minister Yeo Han-koo made the request to US Trade Representative Katherine Tai during in a joint committee meeting of the bilateral free trade agreement. It is the first time in 10 years that a US top trade official has visited South Korea. She arrived in Seoul on Thursday for a four-day visit that includes a m

South Korea decided to lift the flight ban on Boeing 737 Max later this month, the land ministry said Friday, more than two years after its grounding following the crashes involving the same model in Indonesia and Ethiopia. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said its flight will be cleared for passage through the territorial sky, landing and takeoff, from Nov. 22. South Korea put a ban on the B737 Max on March 2019, after the one operated by Ethiopian Airlines plunged to the g

Prosecutors on Friday raided an office of the ruling Democratic Party (DP) over allegations government officials were illegally involved in the party's policy development process for the upcoming presidential election. The Seoul Central District Prosecutors Office dispatched a team of investigators to search the party's policy research office at a building inside the National Assembly compound in Yeouido, western Seoul, earlier in the day, according to judicial sources. The search came after

South Korean budget carrier Air Premia Co. said Friday it has partnered with French air cargo services agent ESG Group to focus on the cargo business to ride out the COVID-19 pandemic. Air Premia opened the Gimpo-Jeju Route in August, one month after it obtained government approval for offering commercial flight services. But it has temporarily halted the Jeju route this month.  "The deal with ESG Group is part of the company's two-track strategy in which the cargo business divisio

In-person school classes will fully resume next week following the end of this year's national college entrance exam, the education ministry said Friday. In line with the government's "living with COVID-19" scheme, all kindergartens, elementary, middle and high schools across the country will return to full-fledged in-person classes Monday for the first time in nearly two years since the pandemic broke out. Early this month, the government eased social distancing rules under the firs

Korean craftsmanship, both traditional and contemporary, is on full display at the Craft Trend Fair 2021 at Coex in southern Seoul. The main exhibition “Every Shape, Every Color,” the highlight of the fair, presents a variety of craftworks by 71 Korean and overseas artists. Jung Ku-ho, a well-known fashion designer and artistic director, organized the fair that features 320 artists, galleries and institutes. Jung was the artistic director for the “Monochrome Monologue&rdquo

South Korea held an annual ceremony Friday to commemorate a successful 1954 operation by the country's volunteer fighters to defend the easternmost islets of Dokdo against intruding Japanese ships, the veterans affairs ministry said. A civilian foundation honoring the group of 33 fighters hosted the event at a national cemetery in Daejeon, 160 kilometers south of Seoul, amid a renewed spat between Seoul and Tokyo over the East Sea outcroppings. Territorial tensions flared anew as a senior Jap

Labor minister An Kyung-duk met with US Trade Representative (USTR) Katherine Tai on Friday and discussed cooperation in enhancing rights of workers and international labor standards, An's office said. Tai was on a four-day trip to South Korea for talks on pending trade issues, such as supply chains for key components and steel tariffs. During the meeting held at a regional labor office in Seoul, An pointed to the "growing significance in ties between trade and labor on a global scale&quo

Long-awaited Korean movies are gearing up to hit local screens in the coming months to lure film buffs and holiday shoppers in the year-end winter vacation season. The political drama "Kingmaker," starring Lee Sun-kyun of "Parasite" and Seol Kyung-gu, will forefront the move, as distributor Megabox Plus M has earlier confirmed its public release in December. The film, which revolves around an opposition party politician who dreams of becoming the president and his excellent

The head of South Korea's financial regulator has called for more vigilance on growing global debt, warning excessive accumulation of debt could spark a global financial crisis, his office said Friday. Koh Seung-beom, chief of the Financial Services Commission (FSC), made the remark on Thursday as he joined a virtual plenary meeting of the Financial Stability Board (FSB), an organization made up of regulators from the Group of 20 countries to discuss cooperation. "There has always been ex

Jeju Air Co., South Korea's biggest budget carrier, said Friday it is resuming flights to Bangkok starting later next month on the back of eased entry curbs in the Southeast Asian country. Jeju Air will operate four flights per week for the Incheon-Bangkok route from Dec. 22, about 18 months after it suspended the route on the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. Since the flight suspension, it has only been running chartered planes to fly South Korean citizens traveling for essential reasons su

South Korea's military reported 10 additional COVID-19 cases Friday, bringing the total caseload among its personnel to 2,175, the defense ministry said. Of the new cases, a marine stationed in Pohang, 374 kilometers southeast of Seoul, tested positive following a case at the base. An Army draftee at a boot camp in Nonsan, 213 km south of Seoul, tested positive through a regular COVID-19 examination. A civilian employee of an Army unit in Cheorwon, 88 km north of Seoul, was infected after an