North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has attended a ceremony marking the completion of building another 10,000 new homes in Pyongyang, state media said Wednesday. Kim attended the ribbon-cutting ceremony Tuesday for the completion of new apartments in the Hwasong district of Pyongyang as part of a housing project to build a combined 50,000 new homes in the capital by 2025, the Korean Central News Agency said. Kim called for workers to attain the remaining goals for the five-year project to "turn

The number of passengers on South Korea’s bullet trains, the KTX and SRT, hit a record high during the first quarter this year, the trains’ operators said. From January to March, the number of KTX users jumped to 19.26 million from 17.91 million during the same period last year, according to Korea Railroad Corp. SR Inc. said the number of SRT users rose to 6.43 million from 6.3 million during the same period. The operators said pent-up travel demand after years of the COVID-19 pand

Second Vice Foreign Minister Kang In-sun held talks with the chief of a United Nations agency on international civil aviation to discuss ways to strengthen their partnership, the foreign ministry said Tuesday. Kang met with Juan Carlos Salazar, secretary-general of the International Civil Aviation Organization, to share concerns over North Korea's missile launches and explore ways to enhance cooperation. During the meeting, Kang said North Korea's missile and spy satellite launches pos

Despite ongoing efforts to find a breakthrough regarding the prolonged walkout by doctors, the government and doctors differ widely on how to discuss medical reform plans, as doctors have demanded one-on-one talks rather than discussions within a consultative body for public consensus. More than 90 percent of South Korea's 13,000 trainee doctors have walked off the job in protest since Feb. 20 in protest of the government's push to increase the number of medical school seats by 2,000 s

Senior diplomats of South Korea and Australia held talks in Seoul on Tuesday to discuss joint efforts to boost bilateral cooperation in their Indo-Pacific strategies and a wide range of issues, the foreign ministry said. Deputy Foreign Minister Chung Byung-won met with his Australian counterpart, Elly Lawson, deputy secretary of the Strategic Planning and Coordination Group at the Australian foreign ministry, Seoul's ministry said. The two sides shared the view that their bilateral ties a

In DMZ, Thomas-Greenfield urges N. Korea to 'say yes' to dialogue

A series of memorial events were held across the country Tuesday, the 10th anniversary of the Sewol ferry tragedy, in remembrance of the 304 lives lost in Korea's worst maritime disaster. At a ceremony held at the Hwarang Public Garden in Ansan, Gyeonggi Province, Gyeonggi Province Gov. Kim Dong-yeon vowed to remember the 304 victims forever. Kim also lamented that no senior officials were held accountable for the failed disaster response. "Another tragedy followed this tragedy. It is

Foreigners who are ordered to leave South Korea because they have been in the country illegally or have committed a crime will have to be deported within 36 months starting next year. The Justice Ministry has proposed an amendment to the Immigration Act that would limit the maximum period of accommodating foreigners ordered with compulsory evacuation to 36 months. This follows the Constitutional Court's decision in March of last year that the indefinite detention of foreigners subject to de

Several members of the conservative bloc have exchanged blows among themselves in recent days, locking horns over whether the ruling party’s former interim leader is to blame for the devastating defeat in last week’s general election. Daegu Mayor and five-term conservative lawmaker Hong Joon-pyo kicked off a round of intense debate Friday by blaming Han for the People Power Party’s latest loss through a Facebook post. “(The People Power Party), which has survived the rive

Yoon's office says president 'open' to meet DP leader, but time needed for new Assembly

An online row has erupted after viewers interpreted "0" in a job posting made by a South Korean comic YouTube channel as offering literally zero openings, when it was meant to signify an unspecified number of positions. The sketch comedy channel “Nerdult," with approximately 1.85 million subscribers, posted a recruitment notice on their YouTube community page on Friday, seeking an undisclosed number of new actors. In the post, they left the number of available positions as

A recent revision of ordinances related to hiring police officers will allow anyone who is not completely colorblind to join the police, the National Police Agency said Tuesday. The Korean National Police Commission on Monday passed the law revision that would allow those with color vision deficiency to apply to become police officers. The revision will go through the deliberation process at the Ministry of Government Legislation, after which it will be finalized and become effective as early as

Japan refers to South Korea as 'partner' in 2024 Diplomatic Bluebook, first since 2010

With a thick blanket of yellow dust over South Korea on Tuesday, fine dust concentrations are expected to spike to "very bad" levels across the country, the Korea Meteorological Administration said. The national weather agency had forecast the yellow dust from the Inner Mongolia region and Gobi Desert to flow into the country early Tuesday, leading to murky skies. Fine dust levels will rise to "bad" across Greater Seoul, Gangwon, the Chungcheong Provinces and North Gyeongsang

The Seoul Metropolitan Government said it would deal sternly with a festival planned for this weekend featuring Japanese adult film stars, including cutting off electricity to the venue. The warning message came after the city formally issued a ban Sunday on the adult industry exposition advertised as “2024 KXF The Fashion,” organized by Play Joker and to be held on the Han River. The city government also sent a formal letter to the operator of the venue, Us Cruise, located at Jamwon