Veterans Minister Kang Jung-ai will visit France and Germany this week to strengthen cooperation in veterans affairs with countries that participated in the 1950-53 Korean War, her office said Sunday. Kang departed for France earlier in the day for a seven-day trip that also includes a stop in Germany from Wednesday to Saturday, according to the Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs. In France, she will meet Christian Cambon, a member of the French Senate, to discuss bilateral cooperation on

President Yoon Suk Yeol on Sunday invited hundreds of children and parents to Cheong Wa Dae, the former presidential office, to commemorate Children's Day, his office said. Yoon invited around 360 children and their families to the Children's Day event, including those from rural areas and in foster care, as well as children from multicultural families, the presidential office said. "It is always exciting to meet with children," Yoon was quoted as saying by the office. "

Forty flights have been canceled on the southern resort island of Jeju due to adverse weather conditions, officials said Sunday. According to officials from Jeju International Airport, 20 arrivals and 20 departures had been canceled as of noon. Strong wind warnings have been issued for the island, with an advisory for wind shear also in effect at the airport. The Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA) asked air passengers to check their flight schedules in advance as the bad weather is expect

South Korea's Cyber Operations Command will participate in a US-led multinational cyber exercise this week to strengthen its capabilities to counter malicious cyber activities, Seoul's defense ministry said Sunday, amid growing security threats from North Korea. Nine personnel from the South's military will join the Cyber Flag exercise to be held from Sunday through Saturday (local time) in the US state of Virginia, according to the defense ministry. The online exercise is designe

The government appears to have shelved a plan to take punitive measures against a protracted walkout by trainee doctors and have pulled back slightly from its plan to increase medical school admission quotas amid a standoff with major doctors' associations, according to officials Sunday. Still, the doctors' associations remained adamant over the issue and renewed their call for the government to revisit the medical reform from scratch, despite some signs of an internal split. During a

North Korea on Sunday denounced the United States and other countries for seeking an alternative to the United Nations monitoring panel that enforced sanctions against Pyongyang, saying that such a move will be doomed to face "self-destruction." North Korean Ambassador to the UN Kim Song issued a statement condemning Seoul, Washington, Tokyo and 47 other countries for jointly calling for "objective" and "independent" analysis regarding the enforcement of anti-North

South Korea is in final consultations with China and Japan to hold a long-stalled trilateral summit of their leaders on May 26 and 27, according to the foreign ministry on Saturday. "South Korea, Japan and China agreed to hold the summit at the earliest date convenient for all sides," an official at the ministry said. "We have been in consultations with Japan and China as the current chair country." Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and Chinese Premier Li Qiang are expect

Excessive fat content in pork belly cuts sparks online controversy, calls grow for industry oversight

South Korea has seen a continued decrease in the average age of teenagers caught gambling in the past five years, reaching 16.1 years old in 2023, according to the National Police Agency. The country also saw a substantial on-year increase in the number of those aged between 14-18 years who were subject to criminal investigation for gambling, which more than doubled from 74 in 2022 to 171 in 2023. The figure does not include those who were caught but received a summary trial or a warning from po

South Korea has been seeking to curb an increasing number of false emergency reports that hinder police duties, with a law revision for stricter measures set to take effect in July. The recently revised law on 112 emergency call services passed last year will kick in on July 3, allowing the court to hand out an administrative fine of up to 5 million won ($3,600) for false reports to the police, even to first-time offenders. Prank calls to the police had previously been dealt with mostly under th

South Korean police on Saturday were searching for the individual who sent an email threatening to detonate bombs at a public facility on Children's Day. Police said they received a report from a local news outlet about the email, which detailed plans to place "high-performance bombs in public facilities in Korea, where many children visit," on Sunday. Written in English, the email declared the bombs would go off Sunday, describing the act as retaliation against U.S. President Joe

A man in his 40s was arrested by police while threatening a woman with a weapon in Seoul's southern district of Gangnam on Saturday morning, officials said. Police said they dispatched officers to the scene after receiving an emergency report that a man is holding a woman hostage in a store selling household items near Gangnam Subway Station at about 9:30 a.m., and the officers arrested the suspect about 25 minutes later. The victim is known to have been safely rescued. Police said they wer

A South Korean reported to have been missing for over two weeks while traveling in Paris was found alive and unharmed, ministry officials said Saturday. The South Korean Embassy in France said they were able to identify the whereabouts of the missing 30-year-old male, identified only as Kim. He is reportedly safe, the embassy said, though it did not provide further details as per the family's request. Kim flew into France from India around April 17 but disappeared on April 19, a day after m

The anti-corruption investigation office was questioning the commander of the Marine Corps on Saturday as part of a probe into an alleged influence-peddling case related to the death of a young Marine last year, officials said. Marine Corps Commandant Lt. Gen. Kim Kye-hwan appeared at the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO) in Gwacheon, south of Seoul, Saturday morning, while remaining tight-lipped when reporters asked him questions. Kim is suspected of being involve

The defense chiefs of the United States, Australia and Japan denounced growing military cooperation between North Korea and Russia, including their weapons transactions, during their trilateral talks in Hawaii this week, according to a joint statement released Friday. US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and his Australian and Japanese counterparts, Richard Marles and Minoru Kihara, held the meeting on Thursday to discuss a range of regional and global issues, including North Korea, Russia'