Na Kyung-won, one of the leading contenders in the ruling party's leadership race, decided not to attend a local party event Wednesday, her aide said, an indication she is contemplating deeply whether to officially declare her leadership bid despite opposition from the presidential office. Na had previously planned to attend a New Year's event that the Daejeon branch of the People Power Party will hold in the central city in the afternoon but decided not to do so, the aide said without

South Korea's new COVID-19 cases fell to the lowest Wednesday tally in 13 weeks, showing signs the infection trend may be subsiding, as the country prepares to lift the indoor mask mandate. The country reported 36,908 new COVID-19 infections, including 80 from overseas, bringing the total to 29,898,142, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said. Wednesday's tally is down by some 3,000 from a day earlier and nearly 17,500 from the previous week, KDCA data showed. It�

Military and police personnel resumed a search Wednesday for a presumed civilian drone thought to have crashed after flying near a US THAAD missile defense unit in a southern county the previous day, officials said. The authorities are conducting the search in areas close to the base in Seongju, 217 kilometers south of Seoul, while police are investigating who sent the drone and for what purpose. The Army said chances appear low that the drone was mobilized for espionage. US Forces Korea personn

The government will decide when to lift the indoor mask mandate this week, as the country is past the peak of the latest winter COVID-19 wave, Interior Minister Lee Sang-min said Wednesday. "With this winter's COVID-19 wave past its peak, the overall virus situation is stabilizing," Lee said during a government virus response meeting. Taking the virus situation and other external factors into account, the government will determine when and to what extent the indoor mask mandate wo

South Korea's military has identified the remains of two more soldiers killed during the 1950-53 Korean War, the defense ministry said Wednesday. The ministry's excavation team identified the remains of Choi Bong-keun and Oh Moon-kyo, recovered in 2001 and 2019, respectively, through DNA analysis based on samples provided by their families. Choi was a private first class, while Oh held a rank equivalent to the current sergeant. Choi's remains were found in Chuncheon, 85 kilometers

WASHINGTON -- US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin will visit South Korea in the near future, a Pentagon spokesperson said Tuesday. Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder added the upcoming trip will reaffirm the US' commitment to working with its Asian ally. "Secretary Austin will travel to the Republic of Korea and the Philippines to meet with senior government and military leaders in both countries as the United States and these two critical allies continue to bolster our defense partnerships,"

Last year was the 9th warmest year on record in South Korea, data showed. The Korea Meteorological Administration said the average temperature throughout 2022 was 12.9 degrees Celsius, 0.4 C higher than the average of 12.5 C during the baseline period from 1991 to 2020. It was also the ninth-highest temperature since the country began nationwide weather monitoring in 1973. Adding to evidence that the planet is heating up, all but two of the country’s 10 warmest years have occurred this cen

First lady Kim meets with Dubai princess, continues cultural promotion

Father who lost his son to the Itaewon crowd crush in October of last year collapsed Tuesday as the last day of the National Assembly probe turned into a row between the ruling and opposition parties. The father of late Lee Ji-han, who died at age 24 on the night of the disaster in central Seoul, was taken to a nearby hospital by an ambulance after collapsing near the end of the final plenary session of the parliamentary probe. He had to be escorted out of Tuesday’s session, after crying u

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates -- Touting himself as the “salesman of South Korea,” President Yoon Suk Yeol wrapped up his four-day state visit to the United Arab Emirates on Tuesday, sending home $30 billion of business agreements with the lucrative economy, before heading to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, to talk international affairs. The presidential office viewed Yoon’s visit to the UAE as “the first step toward the first year of the new Middle East bo

KF-21 flies supersonically six months after S. Korea began journey of test flights in July last year

Kim Seong-tae, the fugitive former chairman of underwear maker Ssangbangwool Group, arrived in South Korea on Tuesday morning after he was arrested in Bangkok last week, roughly eight months after fleeing abroad. Kim is facing multiple charges, including a charge involving main opposition Democratic Party of Korea's leader Lee Jae-myung. Immediately after his arrival, Kim was taken to the Suwon District Prosecutors’ Office in Gyeonggi Province. Kim denied a link with the main opposition le

South Korea’s Foreign Ministry on Tuesday downplayed President Yoon Suk Yeol’s remarks made a day earlier during his state visit to the United Arab Emirates, in which he said that Iran was the UAE’s “enemy,” and compared their relationship to inter-Korean hostilities. Yoon was offering a word of encouragement to the soldiers while visiting a Korean special forces unit stationed in Abu Dhabi to train local troops, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lim Soo-suk said at bri

Indonesian ambassador assesses 50 years of Indonesia-Korea bilateral cooperation, discusses future

Expats not eligible for child care subsidies rethink Korea as forever home