President Yoon Suk Yeol approved the appointment of Kim Moon-soo as new labor minister Thursday, his office said, as the opposition bloc strongly denounced Kim's view about the Japanese colonial rule. Kim, former head of the presidential Economic, Social and Labor Council, was nominated by Yoon for new labor minister late last month. During Monday's parliamentary confirmation hearing, Kim said Koreans during Japan's 1910-45 colonial rule were regarded as Japanese nationals, stic

South Korea's Unification Ministry on Thursday organized a first-ever event where families of South Koreans abducted and held captive by North Korea made a direct appeal to foreign missions in Seoul, urging global support in bringing these decades-old unresolved cases to the UN stage for resolution. The event, titled "Families' Call for International Solidarity: Issues of Abduction, Arbitrary Detention and Forced Disappearance," aimed to garner support for highlighting North

South Korea's carbon neutrality law does not conform with the Constitution because the absence of post-2030 targets violates the basic rights of the people, the Constitutional Court ruled Thursday. In a unanimous decision on Thursday, the court ruled that first paragraph of Article 8 of the country's Framework Act on Carbon Neutrality and Green Growth for Coping with Climate Crisis is unconstitutional. This marks the first court decision in Asia to recognize an inadequate climate respo

The number of Korean students in kindergarten, elementary, middle and high school nationwide fell by nearly 100,000 in a year to 5.68 million while the foreign national or multicultural student populations increased, showing a stark contrast to the country's low birthrate crisis. According to the Ministry of Education's "2024 Basic Education Statistics Survey" results Thursday, as of April 1, there were 5.684 million elementary, middle and high school students in Korea. This

South Korea's parliament passes bill banning absentee parents' claims to their child's assets

The South Korean Ministry of Food and Drug Safety announced Thursday that it has banned 34 imported sweets after detecting illegal substances, including marijuana. The ministry said it tested 34 items, including gummies, chocolate, candy and beverages, suspected of containing drugs imported from countries where recreational marijuana is legal. The inspection confirmed that these products purchased directly from overseas websites contained drugs or substances prohibited here. Officials reported t

LG Display said Thursday it has kicked off mass production of its 27-inch 480Hz Quad HD gaming OLED panel that boasts the industry’s highest refresh rate and fastest response time, targeting the high-end gaming market. The new panel is made to show the best performance in key criteria for gaming displays, which are refresh rate, images displayed per second and response time in displaying graphic card signals, LG said. “We will create differentiated customer value and secure leadershi

South Korean police said Thursday that they have arrested the leader of a cryptocurrency scam operation that defrauded investors of 16 billion won ($12 million) and who even underwent plastic surgery to avoid capture. The man, in his 40s, was apprehended earlier this month for deceiving 158 victims between November 2021 and June 2022 by promising a monthly return of 18 percent on investments in a so-called cryptocurrency mining business, according to the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency. Police

A coach for the national jump rope team was sentenced to five years in jail for his yearlong sexual exploitation of a teenage athlete, in a ruling Wednesday by a local court. The Uijeongbu District Court found the 28-year-old defendant guilty of violating the Act on the Protection of Children and Youth Against Sex Offenses, specifically Article 7 that prohibits sex with a juvenile by a deceptive scheme. He was also banned from working at facilities for juveniles or people with disabilities for

On US candidates omitting NK denuke policy, Yoon says Washington won’t tolerate NPT violations

Officials plan to establish special communication channel with Telegram

The chief executive of lithium battery manufacturer Aricell and his son, who oversees factory operations, have been arrested over the deadly fire at the company’s Hwaseong plant that claimed the lives of 23 -- 17 Chinese nationals, five Korean nationals and one Laotian national. The incident marks the first time a company head has been formally arrested under the Serious Accidents Punishment Act, which came into effect in January 2022. The law mandates a minimum prison sentence of one year

Union convinced by nursing bill granting expanded roles for nurses, experts say

Births to those not married accounted for nearly 5 percent of all births last year, setting a new record high, while the total number of newborns dropped to a new low, data showed Thursday. According to Statistics Korea, of the 230,028 babies born last year, 10,900, or 4.7 percent, were born to women who were not married, marking the highest proportion since records began in 1981. Babies born to people who were not married have steadily increased since 2020, reaching 9,800 in 2022, or 3.9 percen

A sinkhole opened up in the middle of a road in western Seoul on Thursday morning swallowing an entire car. Two people were injured, with one in critical condition, according to fire authorities. At 11:26 a.m., the vehicle, carrying the driver and a passenger, rolled over sideways crashing into the sinkhole while driving on Seongsan-ro in Yeonhui-dong, Seodaemun-gu, northwestern Seoul, toward Seongsan Bridge. The two who were injured, a woman in her 70s and a man in his 80s, sustained serious