The top prosecutor on Tuesday pledged to speedily and strictly conduct an investigation into allegations that first lady Kim Keon Hee illegally received a luxury bag as a gift in 2022. Prosecutor General Lee One-seok made the pledge after he ordered last week the creation of an investigation team dedicated to the allegations involving the first lady. "The prosecution will conduct the investigation speedily and strictly only in accordance with evidence and the legal principles and take appro

Health Minister Cho Kyoo-hong said Tuesday that the government will extend its financial support for emergency care services by another month, as massive walkouts by junior doctors have disrupted health services at major hospitals for nearly three months. The government has injected 190 billion won ($140 million) per month from the national health insurance system since February to support operations at emergency rooms and increase compensation for emergency doctors. Cho told a response meeting

The main opposition Democratic Party (DP) plans to propose legislation providing cash handouts of 250,000 won ($184) to the entire population as its first bill of the new National Assembly set to open later this month, its new floor leader said Monday. Rep. Park Chan-dae unveiled the plan in a radio interview with local broadcaster MBC after DP leader Lee Jae-myung asked President Yoon Suk Yeol last Monday to accept his election pledge for the cash handouts as a way to help restore the people�

BEIJING -- South Korea and China are in the final stage of talks to set up a visit to Beijing by Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul that will make him the first South Korean foreign minister to visit the Chinese capital in more than six years, an official said Monday. The senior official at South Korea's Embassy in Beijing made the remark to South Korean correspondents, noting that Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi invited Cho to visit China when they held phone talks in February. "The two co

President Yoon Suk Yeol will hold a press conference Thursday, as he seeks a breakthrough from his stagnant job approval rating and looming political attacks by the opposition parties set to continue to control the new National Assembly that kicks off next month. Yoon's spokesperson Kim Soo-kyung told reporters Monday that Yoon will hold a media conference in the morning as he marks his second anniversary in the presidential office soon. Before the conference, Yoon will lay out his policy instru

A display in an illustration fair has stirred up controversy over a possible link to child pornography, triggering a police investigation. Police were dispatched Sunday to Kintex in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province, where the Illusta Fes subculture illustration fair was taking place, following a report that one of the fair’s booths had illustrations of naked children on display, according to Ilsan Seobu Police Station. The “Children Lunch Set” booth sold sexual illustration products a

More partisan strife expected as “hard-liners” among opposition line up for next speaker’s race

Kim Jin-pyo, the speaker of South Korea’s National Assembly, told a meeting with overseas Koreans in Los Angeles that he would try to push laws to permit multiple citizenships, according to the speaker’s office. “Allowing people to hold multiple citizenships has gained considerable consensus in the Assembly as well as the government,” he said during a meeting with members of organizations representing Koreans in the US at the Intercontinental Hotel in LA on Saturday. He s

Some hospitals encourage voluntary retirements among staff, excluding doctors

Seoul-based think tank suggests deaths outnumbering births fivefold by 2060, possible domestic market collapse

High school students who have a history of school violence in high school will be barred from becoming elementary school teachers, as the government takes stronger action against school bullying. According to the college entrance plans for 2026 released by the government Monday, all 10 national universities of education have disqualified high school students with a history of violence from applying. The ban is a follow-up to the comprehensive measure for eradicating school violence announced b

Despite notable progress in the recognition of gender equality, women continue to face numerous socioeconomic disparities, including limited access to education, health care and economic opportunities across the world. Such discrimination leads to women suffering higher chances of danger and poverty. Combined with fewer resources and less power, women become the first victims and the last to recover, noted the UN Women Center of Excellence for Gender Equality. To put an end to the vicious cycle,

The health ministry has asked hospitals to devise measures to minimize damage to patients from medical professors taking a collective action in support of a walkout by junior doctors protesting the increase in medical school quotas, officials said Monday. The Korean Hospital Association said the government has asked hospital chiefs to take appropriate measures for patients undergoing treatment when medical professors, who are senior doctors, resign or take a leave of absence. Medical professors

The South Korean government downgraded the COVID-19 crisis level to the lowest level on May 1, but a recent report indicates that the years of the pandemic have nonetheless left a lasting mark on people here in the form of depression. According to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency's report on depression in South Korea, 7.3 percent of the adult population experienced depression in 2023. The study was conducted on 230,000 adults across the country, and defined depression as &quo

City-hired breastfeeding counselors help over 5,000 new moms in nine months from July last year