North Korean leader Kim Jong-un slammed South Korea's show of force against Pyongyang's attempted spy satellite launch as a "very dangerous provocation" that cannot be overlooked, the Korean Central News Agency reported Wednesday. Kim also said that a spy satellite is needed to safeguard the country's sovereignty, adding that South Korea had "shown hysterical madness" over its satellite launch attempt despite having complied with international regulations by no

Emergency texts over NK leaflets saying 'air raid' in English cause widespread confusion

Former Defense Minister Lee Jong-sup had multiple phone calls with President Yoon Suk Yeol on the day that an internal investigation over a marine corporal's death was transferred to and returned from civilian police in August last year, communication records show. Yoon called Lee directly three times on Aug. 2 between 12 p.m. and 1 p.m. soon after the internal report by a Marine investigator was sent to the police in the morning, according to the records obtained by Yonhap News Agency. T

An online survey shows 40% of Korea's workers want a midweek break on Wednesday, while 25% choose Friday.

A total of 3,752 patients have died between 2017 and 2023 after emergency rooms refused to admit them due to lack of doctors, the Health Ministry said Wednesday, stressing the need for medical school expansion to address the shortage of doctors in ER. Kang Joon, who heads the health care reform task force at the Health Ministry, said that most of the patients had died because there were no doctors who could treat them, adding that the country's critical care is in "extreme trouble.&quo

Sungsimdang, a renowned bakery that has become one of the biggest tourist attractions in Daejeon, recently said it may close its Daejeon Station branch over a rent dispute with the station operator. Korail has rented out a space to the bakery since 2012, with a five-year contract inked in 2019 due to expire in October. Sungsimdang currently pays 100 million won ($73,300) a month for the space, but Korail is reportedly requesting around 440 million won for the next contract, which would be arou

The government has decided to accept and promulgate an opposition-led bill extending support for victims of the 2014 sinking of the ferry Sewol, while asking President Yoon Suk Yeol to veto four other contentious bills, sources said Wednesday. The legislation on the Sewol disaster was one of five bills that the main opposition Democratic Party and other minor opposition parties unilaterally passed through the National Assembly on Tuesday despite objections from the ruling People Power Party. The

A US State Department spokesperson reiterated the need Tuesday for China to play a "productive" role in countering North Korea's weapons of mass destruction (WMD) programs, after South Korea, China and Japan did not include the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula as a shared goal in their joint summit statement. Matthew Miller, the spokesperson, made the remarks during a press briefing in response to a question regarding the outcome of the rare trilateral summit that Sout

South Korea's military said Tuesday it is vetting objects assumed to be propaganda leaflets distributed by North Korea. "The military is taking measures after unidentified objects assumed to be North Korean propaganda leaflets were found in border areas in Gyeonggi and Gangwon provinces," the Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a notice sent to the press. The JCS advised residents in the areas to refrain from accessing the objects and report to nearby military or police authorities in

President Yoon Suk Yeol and United Arab Emirates President Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan bonded over dinner and a stroll through an ancient palace as the UAE leader embarks on a state visit to South Korea on Tuesday, Yoon's office said. The two leaders visited the Huwon Secret Garden at Changdeok Palace in Seoul and discussed various topics, including South Korean culture, while taking a walk through the palace grounds, the presidential office said. First lady Kim Keon Hee joined the two. Als

A Chinese national who worked for South Korean chipmaker SK hynix is on trial accused of smuggling technology to reduce semiconductor defects to the company's Chinese rival Huawei, Gyeonggi Nambu Provincial Police Agency said Tuesday. According to police officials, the ex-employee in her 30s was arrested under the Act on Prevention of Divulgence and Protection of Industrial Technology in April. She was indicted by prosecutors earlier in the month and is currently standing trial at Suwon Dis

The unification ministry said Tuesday it will push to provide educational support for North Korean defectors' children who were born in third countries in an effort to tackle the blind spot in the welfare system. The move is part of the fourth three-year basic plan to support the resettlement of North Korean defectors. The ministry in charge of inter-Korean affairs held a pan-government meeting earlier in the day to review and approve the 2024-2026 plan. Under the blueprint, the government

Army ranks face police investigation for fatal disciplinary session

South Korea is expected to see more mosquitoes this summer as the acceleration in climate change is amplifying mosquito-borne diseases such as malaria across the nation. "The weather agency predicts this year's summer to be hotter than usual. ... Extremely hot weather leads to a surge in mosquito activity. This means that people will notice more mosquito bites this summer, and thus be more uncomfortable," Lee Hee-il, the head of the division of vectors and parasitic diseases at th

Political tension likely to shift to new parliament as Democratic Party plans to railroad bill