Stung by its employees‘ first collective action, Starbucks Korea said Sunday that it will hire 1,600 more baristas and store staff by the end of this year and improve working conditions. The hiring plan is part of the firm’s package of measures announced in response to recent complaints from in-store staff that they were overworked and underpaid. “We plan to hire in order to secure more staff and enhance work efficiency at stores nationwide. The company is also reviewing p

The Lees leave without offering sincere apology for bullying victims

South Korea's first vice foreign minister left for London on Sunday for talks with British officials on bilateral relations, the security situation on the Korean Peninsula and other issues of mutual interest, his office said. The weeklong trip by Choi Jong-kun will take him to Belgium where he will attend the seventh session of the Korea-EU High-level Political Dialogue for in-depth discussions on ways to boost their ties and regional security circumstances, it said. Choi is also set to meet w

Temperatures in Seoul sharply dropped to nearly 1 degree Celsius on Sunday, marking the coldest morning for mid-October in 67 years, the state weather agency said. The morning low in Seoul came to 1.3 C in the day, the lowest since Oct. 13, 1954, when the figure was 1.2 C, according to the Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA). Some areas of the capital city saw the mercury drop below zero, and the season's first ice was seen in the city, 17 days earlier than average, it added. Cold weath

Seoul records 1st ice of year with the lowest temperature for mid-October since 1957

The chief of the UN nuclear watchdog has vowed to continue close consultations with South Korea and other nations over Japan's plan to discharge radioactive water from its crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant into the ocean, Seoul's foreign ministry said Sunday. Rafael Grossi, Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), made the pledge during his meeting with Ham Sang-wook, Seoul's deputy foreign minister for multilateral affairs, in Vienna on Friday, according to the m

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Sunday sent offerings to a controversial war shrine for the first time since taking office this month, a news report said. Kishida sent a "masakaki" tree to the Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo to celebrate its two-day Autumn festival that runs through Monday, according to Japan's Kyodo news agency. It marked the first time Kishida has sent an offering to the shrine, seen as a symbol of the country's past militarism, since he took office earlier this

South Korea's daily new COVID-19 cases fell to the 1,400s on Sunday, as health authorities plan to apply eased distancing rules for a gradual return to normal life. The country added 1,420 more COVID-19 cases, including 1,403 local infections, raising the total caseload to 342,396, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA). The latest tally fell from 1,618 cases reported on Saturday, and 1,684 on Friday and 1,940 on Thursday. The daily infection count has stayed in th

South Korea's chief nuclear envoy said Saturday that a formal declaration of an end to the 1950-53 Korean War could pave the way for resuming the stalled denuclearization talks with North Korea. Noh Kyu-duk made the remark ahead of his meetings with his US and Japanese counterparts in Washington later this week to explore ways to bring Pyongyang back to the negotiating table. The upcoming talks will likely touch on President Moon Jae-in's recent proposal to declare a formal end to the Korean W

A key figure in a sprawling land development scandal is expected to return home from the United States early next week, legal sources said Saturday. Attorney Nam Wook, who left for the US in mid-September before the investigation into the case began, will arrive in Seoul as early as Monday, they said. Nam played a key role in the residential development project in Seongnam, south of Seoul. The project was initiated in 2015 under then Mayor Lee Jae-myung, who is now the ruling Democratic Party'

A rare exhibition is taking place in the country’s eastern coastal city of Gangneung, Gangwon Province.  More than 120 exquisite celadon ceramics from the Goryeo Dynasty (918-1392), known locally as cheongja, are on display at “Celadon, the Microscopic World of Goryeo.”  Renowned for its subtle and elegant beauty, various shapes and sizes of celadon ceramics, which get their name from their mystic blue-green glaze, trace the untold story of the kingdom that flourish

Villages in these old cities are full of stories to tell

Bakery crafts riffs off sourdough and jambon-beurre sandwiches