Unification Minister Kim Yung-ho on Tuesday underscored the importance of "cultural" approaches to fostering internal change in North Korea, saying the inflow of South Korean pop culture is causing "cracks" in a rigid ideology-based society of the reclusive country. Kim also pointed out North Korean authorities' "sense of crisis" over their people's growing rejection of the North's culture anchored in the ideology of "juche" or self-reliance

North Korea again launched balloons presumed to be carrying trash toward South Korea, the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said Wednesday. The JCS said the balloons appeared to be traveling toward the northern part of Gyeonggi Province that surrounds Seoul, and advised the public to not touch fallen balloons and report them to the military or police. North Korea has launched more than 3,000 trash-carrying balloons since late May, including some 500 such balloons Sunday, in a tit-for-tat move against

President Yoon Suk Yeol spoke by phone with Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala on Tuesday to discuss bilateral cooperation in nuclear energy and other areas, his office said. During their talks, Yoon agreed to visit Prague in September at the request of Fiala to discuss the successful implementation of a major nuclear power plant project following the Czech Republic's selection of a South Korean consortium as the preferred bidder. Yoon said the project will serve as an opportunity for both c

South Korea's ruling People Power Party on Tuesday elected Rep. Ihn Yohan, Korea’s first American Korean lawmaker, to its five-member Supreme Council, the party's highest decision-making body led by newly elected Chair Han Dong-hoon. Ihn, whose English name is John Linton, served as chair of the party's innovation committee last year. Elected to parliament this year through proportional representation, the dual US-Korean national was running mate to chair candidate Won Hee-r

A series of conflicts between President Yoon Suk Yeol and his political lieutenant Han Dong-hoon have come under renewed focus as Han was elected as the new chair of the ruling People Power Party in a resounding victory at the party's National Convention on Tuesday. Han was constantly at odds with Yoon's office in Seoul as he led the campaign for the April 10 general election as the ruling party's interim leader. On the latest occasion, earlier in July, Han zeroed in on the presidential office b

The South Korean Education Ministry announced Tuesday a comprehensive crackdown on advanced learning programs across the country’s private academies, particularly those offering high-school level curricula to young children. The initiative, running from July 3 to Aug. 30, aims to clamp down on "pre-curriculum learning" in these tutoring institutions known locally as hagwons. Many hagwons offer intensive college-prep courses for elementary students, exposing them to advanced sub

New leader tasked to keep ruling party afloat amid Yoon nearing lame duck status, opposition attacks on first lady

Same-sex couples in South Korea are expressing hope for the improvement of LGBTQ+ rights here, on the coattails of last week's Supreme Court ruling that recognized the legal rights of a same-sex couple for the first time ever. In the landmark ruling, the country's top court ruled that the plaintiff, So Sung-wook, should be eligible for spousal coverage under the National Health Insurance Service subscription of his male partner, Kim Yong-min. The court stated in its ruling that same-se

Malaysia’s newly appointed ambassador to Korea, Mohd Zamruni Khalid, suggested Korean companies jointly operate with Malaysia on carbon capture and storage (CCS) projects in a recent interview with The Korea Herald. Urging his country's potential for hydrogen energy exports, the ambassador said that Korea should take advantage of a legal framework on CCS which is likely to be ready by the end of this year. He said that hydrogen energy exports to Korea will positively impact other gree

Measures include improving working conditions for junior doctors, legal safety net for malpractice, better pay for essential medicine

Seoul says Pyongyang intends to call for shifts in US policy through state media statement

Nominee's daughter profits 63-fold by selling shares to her father

Prosecutor who questioned Kim Keon Hee reportedly offered to resign in protest against top prosecutor's inspection pledge

Charges center on Korean tech titan's role in alleged SM stock manipulation during its sale to Kakao

YouTuber Darcie on Tuesday apologized for her actions on what she had initially described as "housing fraud incident," which many people perceived as her trying to shift her own losses from a scam onto another victim. "I'm ashamed to admit that I failed to recognize the severity of the housing fraud issue, and made the mistake of referring to my personal experience as one. I apologize for the inaccurate depiction of my experience," she said in an apology posted via her