Japanese Foreign Minister Takeo Mori refused to take part in a joint press conference with his South Korean and US counterparts Wednesday, citing a recent visit by South Korea's top police official to Dokdo. The joint press conference was originally set to follow their trilateral talks in Washington but was instead held alone by US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman. "We agreed to the US, the host of the trilateral talks, announcing the outcome of the South Korea-US-Japan vice minist

The ruling Democratic Party said Thursday it has agreed with the minor Open Democratic Party to seek their merger, a move that comes less than four months ahead of the presidential election. The agreement was reached during a meeting between DP Chairman Song Young-gil and his Open Democratic Party counterpart, Choe Kang-wook, according to Koh Yong-jin, a senior DP spokesperson. The minor party is considered a "satellite party" of the DP, as it was launched by former DP lawmakers ahea

South Korea's exports of automobiles fell for the second consecutive month in October due mainly to an extended global supply shortage of automotive chips, data showed Thursday. Outbound shipments of automobiles reached 159,520 units last month, down 18.1 percent from a year earlier, according to the data compiled by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. In terms of value, exports also decreased 4.7 percent from a year earlier to $3.83 billion, the data showed. It is the second month in

The US-led UN Command (UNC) plans to resume a tour program to the inter-Korean border village of Panmunjom later this month after a pandemic-driven monthslong hiatus, its officials said Thursday. The UNC will restart the program to the Joint Security Area in Panmunjom in the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) separating the two Koreas on Nov. 30 in line with South Korea's "living with COVID-19" scheme for a gradual return to normal life, they said. The UNC coordinated the date for the tour res

North Korea's state-controlled media tried Thursday to shed light on the past progress made by its "three-revolution" movement aimed at developing its ideology, technology and culture, with preparations under way for a major conference on the movement. In a detailed report, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) highlighted the accomplishments of the "spirit and traits of the three-revolution frontrunners in the 1970s" under the movement initiated by Kim Il-sung, late founder

South Korean stocks opened lower Thursday, tracking overnight losses on Wall Street, with tech and chemical shares weighing on the market. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) fell 11.76 points, or 0.4 percent, to 2,950.66 in the first 15 minutes of trading. The Dow Jones Industrial Average retreated 0.58 percent, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite declined 0.33 percent amid concerns about the growing inflation pressure. The Korean stock market opened at 10 a.m., one hour

The number of stalking complaints filed with police shot up to about 103 cases a day since the anti-stalking law went into effect a month ago from the daily average of 24 cases, police data showed Thursday. A total of 2,774 stalking complaints were filed for four weeks since the law took effect on Oct. 21, compared with 6,939 cases reported for nearly 10 months this year before the law's implementation, according to the data. The anti-stalking law, the first in South Korea to specifically targ