SEOUL/TOKYO-- South Korea and Japan held working-level diplomatic consultations Monday on ways to compensate Korean victims of Japan's wartime forced labor under 2018 rulings by Seoul's Supreme Court. Seo Min-jung, director general for Asia and Pacific affairs at South Korea's Foreign Ministry, met with her Japanese counterpart, Takehiro Funakoshi, for discussions at the Japanese foreign ministry in Tokyo. It marked their first face-to-face discussions after Seoul formally float

South Korea's new COVID-19 cases fell to the lowest Monday tally in 12 weeks, as the government continues to make efforts to contain the inflow from China. The country reported 14,144 new COVID-19 infections, including 64 cases from overseas, bringing the total caseload to 29,821,035, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency said. Daily case counts on Mondays tend to be lower than other days of the week due to fewer tests over the weekend. The tally is down by around 5,000 from a wee

The level of ultrafine dust was bad or worse only on 17 days last year, the lowest on record, thanks to lower dust levels in China, the environment ministry said Monday. South Korea categorizes concentrations of ultrafine dust -- particles smaller than 2.5 micrometers in diameter, also known as PM 2.5 -- into four levels. PM 2.5 between 36 and 75 micrograms per cubic meter is categorized as "bad," while density higher than 76 micrograms per cubic meter is "very bad." During 2

The proportion of self-employed people in South Korea touched a record low in 2022 in the wake of the prolonged coronavirus pandemic, data showed Monday. Asia's fourth-largest economy had 5.63 million self-employed people as of end-December, accounting for 20.1 percent of the 28.09 million employed in the country, according to the data from Statistics Korea. The proportion was the lowest since data tracking began in 1963. It was also 17.1 percentage points lower than the all-time high of

President Yoon Suk Yeol's approval rating fell below 40 percent for the first time in five weeks in the wake of hard-line remarks he made on North Korea and a row with a potential candidate to become leader of the ruling People Power Party, a poll showed Monday. In the poll of 2,508 adults conducted by Realmeter from Monday to Friday of last week, 39.3 percent positively assessed Yoon's performance, down 1.6 percentage points from the previous week. Yoon's disapproval rating was 5

ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates — President Yoon Suk Yeol visited Korean troops stationed in the United Arab Emirates to encourage the soldiers, telling them the UAE is “our brother” and that its security was the security of South Korea, the presidential office said Sunday. President Yoon and first lady Kim Keon Hee visited the Akh unit, which has been dispatched by South Korea since 2011 to train UAE special forces at the request of the UAE government. Yoon told the troops the

POCHEON -- One person suffered cardiac arrest and three others were seriously injured after more than 40 cars were involved in a pile-up on an expressway in the northern city of Pocheon Sunday, officials said. The multi-vehicle crash occurred at around 9:15 p.m. on the Guri-Pocheon Expressway in Pocheon, 46 kilometers northeast of Seoul, and the four were taken to nearby hospitals, according to the officials. Around 21 others sustained minor injuries and have received treatment, they added. Th

At least three people were injured in traffic accidents over the weekend as heavy snowfall pounded the eastern mountainous province of Gangwon to cause an estimated 100 traffic accidents and leave vehicles stranded, officials said Sunday. Many parts of Gangwon Province had heavy snow from Saturday to Sunday, including 59.5 centimeters of snow in the Misiryeong mountain ridge and 53.5 cm in the Hyangrobong hill. A car overturned on a snow-covered road in the coastal county of Yangyang Sunday,

From fighter jet air show to taegeuk lighting at palace, Abu Dhabi welcomes S. Korean leader

South Korea's Foreign Ministry said Sunday it has confirmed that two Korean passengers were on board an aircraft that had crashed near an airport in central Nepal. "We have confirmed that two Korean nationals were on the list of passengers in a passenger aircraft that crashed in Nepal," said a Foreign Ministry official. "We are working to check whether the passengers were on board and the damage caused by the crash." The ministry added it has dispatched an official of th

South Jeolla Province announced Sunday that it would expand the distribution of the AI companion robot Hyodol for seniors living alone in the region. South Jeolla Province Public Agency for Social Service plans to deliver Hyodol to 1,360 of those aged 65 and older -- a high risk group for solitary death and suicide -- up from 260 last year. Hyodol, launched by the start-up of the same name in 2018, is an AI robot designed to help manage the emotions, life and safety of the seniors. A total of

Students from immigrant, foreign families take up 2.42% in Seoul schools, and numbers are going up

Experts say domestic issues such as economic policy, state budget will mainly be discussed at meeting

Note found saying her mother died in 2020

Cars stranded, over 100 traffic accidents reported due to heavy snow in Gangwon Province