The presidential candidate of the minor progressive Justice Party visited an apartment building collapse site in the southwestern city of Gwangju on Sunday, four days after she suspended her campaign to review her strategy amid dismal approval ratings. Sim Sang-jeung traveled to Gwangju unannounced as rescue workers searched for a sixth day to locate five of the six people who went missing in the collapse of the building under construction. The body of one person was retrieved from the rubble

Main opposition party’s presidential candidate proposes to adopt ‘science-based’ COVID-19 measures

N. Korea views negotiation as a sideshow, while US is unwilling to expend more political capital

BEIJING/SHENYANG -- A North Korean freight train crossed the Yalu River railroad bridge into China on Sunday, multiple sources said, raising the prospect of the two sides resuming land transactions in earnest following more than a year of suspension attributable to the COVID-19 pandemic. The train from Sinuiju arrived in the Chinese border city of Dandong at around 9:10 a.m., they said, while it was not immediately confirmed whether it carried cargo or was empty, they said. It is likely to ret

South Korea on Sunday reported another highly pathogenic avian influenza case at a duck farm in a southwestern region. The farm is raising about 33,000 ducks in Yeongam, 384 kilometers south of Seoul, according to the agriculture and livestock ministry. It marked the 21st case of highly pathogenic avian influenza found at poultry farms this winter. The government has alerted local poultry farm owners to recently increasing outbreaks of avian influenza, urging them to keep an eye on their far

Ruling party presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung said Sunday he will resume tourism to North Korea's Mount Kumgang as soon as possible if elected in March. Lee announced the pledge during a visit to the border county of Goseong, 466 kilometers northeast of Seoul, referring to a program that was suspended in 2008 following the shooting death of a South Korean tourist at the mountain by a North Korean guard. "I will reopen the doors of tourism to Mount Kumgang as soon as possible," Le

The South Korean government has further beefed up its early warning monitoring system on thousands of core industrial items in a bid to prevent the recurrence of a problem like the abrupt supply crunch of urea solution late last year, according to the country's foreign ministry Sunday. The ministry said such a strengthened "economic security" system has been established at 37 embassies and other diplomatic missions abroad to monitor the supply conditions of more than 4,000 items. In

South Korea's daily coronavirus cases stayed above 4,000 for the fifth straight day Sunday as health authorities remain vigilant over a possible upsurge in infections and the spread of the omicron variant ahead of the upcoming Lunar New Year holiday. The country added 4,194 new COVID-19 infections, including 3,813 local infections, raising the total caseload to 692,174, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA). The figure was smaller than the previous day's 4,419 but

Experts voice need for more authority of frontline workers with budgetary, legal support

Cheong Wa Dae said Tuesday it will continue to lease a presidential jet, called Air Force One, an official said Tuesday in response to a news report that it is considering buying a new one. The presidential office has leased a modified Boeing 747-400 airliner from Korean Air under a 10-year contract. It's slated to expire this year. Cheong Wa Dae is planning for another long-term lease, and a related budget has already been allocated, the official told reporters on the customary condition of a

North Korea said Saturday its railway-based missile regiment conducted a firing drill a day earlier, with two tactical guided missiles hitting a set target in the East Sea. The North's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported that the drill was aimed at "checking and judging the proficiency in the action procedures" of the unit. It marks the North's second known launches using a railway platform since the last one in September. On Friday, the South Korean military announc

South Korea's daily coronavirus cases stayed above 4,000 for the fourth consecutive day Saturday, as health authorities keep a tight vigilance with the extension of strict social distancing measures for three more weeks. The country added 4,423 new COVID-19 infections, including 4,077 local infections, raising the total caseload to 687,984, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA). The country reported 22 more COVID-19 deaths, raising the death toll to 6,281, accordi

Malls, grocery stores ‘essential’ to bar unvaccinated

North Korea test-fired what appeared to be two ballistic missiles from an inland area toward the East Sea on Friday in its third weapons launch this month, just hours after it warned of “stronger and certain reaction” toward Washington for imposing new sanctions against the regime’s recent back-to-back missile tests. 　 The Joint Chiefs of Staff said North Korea fired two projectiles, believed to be short-range ballistic missiles, from a site in North Pyongan Province toward i

Once omicron explodes, Korea plans to choose opposite of lockdown