The National Assembly’s Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee on Tuesday passed a resolution on relief efforts for quake-struck Turkey and Syria. The resolution, adopted at the committee’s plenary session convened the same day, urged the South Korean government to provide sufficient emergency relief and recovery support for damages suffered due to the earthquake. The resolution also called on measures to ensure the safety of Korean residents there as well as travelers in the even

Prime Minister Han Duck-soo instructed the Cabinet on Tuesday to swiftly carry out what is necessary to follow up on a plan to delegate some of the central government's powers to local governments. Han issued the instruction, referring to a plan unveiled during a meeting presided over by President Yoon Suk Yeol last week to transfer 57 kinds of administrative authority from the central government to local administrations in order to help provincial regions find their own growth engines. &qu

WASHINGTON -- Vice foreign ministers of South Korea and Japan held rare bilateral talks in Washington on Monday, seeking to mend ties soured by the prolonged issue of Japan's wartime forced labor. South Korean First Vice Foreign Minister Cho Hyun-dong said the sides will continue to hold discussions but that they have yet to reach any conclusion. "We are still trying to find common ground," he told reporters when asked about his bilateral meeting with Japanese Vice Foreign Ministe

South Korea's new COVID-19 cases hit around 14,000 on Tuesday, marking a moderate fall from the previous week amid a declining virus trend. The country reported 14,371 new infection cases, including 26 from overseas, bringing the total caseload to 30,369,744, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency said. Tuesday's count is down by 1,741 from 16,112 reported a week earlier. The KDCA reported 11 deaths from COVID-19, putting the death toll at 33,758. The number of critically ill

China's defense minister has sent a congratulatory message to his North Korean counterpart on the occasion of the North's 75th founding anniversary of its armed forces last week, Pyongyang's state media said Tuesday. In the letter to North Korean Defense Minister Kang Sun-nam, China's defense chief Wei Fenghe pledged efforts to promote the ties of the two nations' armies and defend regional peace, according to the Korean Central News Agency. The message said the two coun

WASHINGTON -- The United States, South Korea and Japan will work together to deter North Korea's nuclear and missile threats and to denuclearize the Korean Peninsula, US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman said Monday. The US diplomat also insisted that trilateral cooperation among the US and its two allies is only getting stronger. "The DPRK continued to threaten the ROK, Japan and its neighbors and the world with the launch of an unprecedented number of ballistic missiles last ye

The death toll from last week’s massive earthquake in Turkey and Syria has now reached more than 28,000. Deadly earthquakes are unusual here, but South Korea is not in a safe zone. Recently, a 2.3 magnitude earthquake struck near Boeun, North Chungcheong Province, Saturday. Fortunately, no damage has been reported. Following is what you should do in the case of an earthquake:

Pro-Yoon vs non-Yoon rivalry simmers in Jeju, a key conservative battleground

South Korea will send a second group of rescuers to quake-hit Turkey on Thursday, as well as a separate group of 29 medical staff within a week. Korea will also establish a separate unit within state ministries to organize relief and fundraising activities to support Turkish people who lost homes and families, the presidential office said Monday. The 29 medical staff are a part of 372 people who signed up for the medical treatment mission to Turkey, presidential spokesperson Lee Do-hoon said, ad

The South Korean government is increasing its efforts to end the long-running historical dispute with Japan over restitution to Koreans forced to work for Japanese companies during World War II, but Japan shows little sign of offering what the victims have long sought: a direct apology and compensation. Cho Hyun-dong, Korea’s first vice foreign minister, was less optimistic of a “quick resolution” to the dispute than before, saying Sunday it was “too early to tell”

The city of Suwon, south of Seoul, is famous for the UNESCO-listed heritage site of Hwaseong Fortress, but over the years, it has fared better by becoming a city with stable governance. Suwon, the capital of Gyeonggi Province and the largest of its 31 cities, responded promptly to the COVID-19 pandemic three years ago, demonstrating its capabilities in handling the crisis and ensuring its citizens’ safety. The local government is now taking steps toward becoming a city of equal citizenship

A taxi driver was found guilty of death by occupational negligence for letting a drunk passenger out at the edge of a motorway in an appellate trial. Busan High Court threw out a lower court's acquittal and sentenced the driver to one year in prison, suspended for two years. The driver has also been ordered to carry out 40 hours of social services. “Taxi drivers are responsible for protecting passengers until they reach the destination, as well as taking safety measures for them,&rdqu

Chatbots to bring major changes in the way Koreans learn English, says Oxford professor Jieun Kiaer

A group of people in their 20s, who were previously sentenced to serve between two to seven years in prison for luring teenagers into sex work, have been given additional prison terms for physically abusing their friends. The Chuncheon District Court on Monday sentenced the three main convicts -- all in their mid-20s -- to between 26 months and 32 months in additional time for breaching the so-called "punishment of violences act." Seven other offenders, who allegedly tracked down and b

In face of myriad diplomatic challenges, NK threat, S. Korea in difficult position to offer lethal aid, experts in Seoul say