TAEAN -- A fire broke out at a coal power plant in the southwestern city of Taean on Sunday, with no casualties reported, fire authorities said. They received a 119 emergency call at 8:46 a.m., reporting that flames had risen from the 380-megawatt thermal plant in Taean, 109 kilometers south of Seoul, and there was the sound of an explosion. Firefighters were soon dispatched to the site and put out the fire at 11:32 a.m., according to the authorities. No deaths or injuries have been reported, as

South Korea's military is considering the purchase of an Israeli "electric eye" as part of efforts to bolster its capabilities to detect small North Korean drones, a defense source in Seoul said Sunday. The move comes as the South's defense authorities have come under fierce criticism for the failure to counter the penetration of five North Korean drones into its airspace late last month. It was belatedly revealed that one of them even intruded into the no-fly zone, called P-

South Korea's new COVID-19 cases fell for the fifth consecutive day Sunday amid the government's efforts to prevent the inflow of the virus from China. A total of 46,766 new coronavirus infections, including 132 from overseas, have been confirmed, bringing the total to 29,520,600, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency. The number of daily infections surged to over 80,000 on Tuesday but has since been on a steady decline. Compared with a week earlier, Sunday'

South Korean Catholics held a Mass on Saturday in memory of late former Pope Benedict XVI, remembering and praising, in particular, his past keen interest in establishing peace on the Korean Peninsula. The Mass, organized by the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Korea and Catholic priests in the country, was held at Myeongdong Cathedral in central Seoul and was attended by Archbishop Peter Chung Soon-taick, the archbishop of Seoul, and Alfred Xuereb, the Apostolic Nuncio to South Korea, among

Close cooperation between South Korea, Japan and the United States is crucial in dealing with a range of challenges facing the allies in the Indo-Pacific, including the security threat posed by North Korea, a state department spokesperson said Friday. Ned Price said ways to enhance the trilateral cooperation will also be a major topic for US-Japan discussions next week. US President Joe Biden is set to hold a bilateral summit with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida at the White House, after

South Korea's new COVID-19 cases fell for the fourth consecutive day Saturday amid the government's efforts to prevent the inflow of the virus from China. South Korea confirmed 53,807 new coronavirus infections, including 219 from overseas, bringing the total to 29,473,834, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency said. The daily caseload surged to over 80,000 earlier this week but has since been on a steady decline. Compared with a week earlier, Saturday's figure is down b

South Korea had its worst air quality this winter on Saturday, with fine dust and yellow dust covering most of the country. The weather authorities issued an ultrafine dust advisory for all regions except for the southernmost island of Jeju. The daily average concentration of ultrafine dust particles was measured at 86 micrograms per cubic meter, far exceeding 2021’s yearly average of 18.

South Korea's air quality reached the worst level this winter Saturday due to high levels of fine dust and yellow dust, according to weather authorities. As of 10 a.m., the daily average concentration of ultrafine dust particles smaller than 2.5 micrometers in diameter, known as PM2.5, was 86 micrograms per cubic meter, while that of fine dust known as PM10 was 143 micrograms per cubic meter across the country, according to Air Korea run by the environment ministry. The figures were much hi

Prosecutors on Friday demanded a five-year prison term for independent Rep. Youn Mee-hyang on charges of embezzling funds donated to help support women who were forced into wartime sexual slavery by Japan during World War II. Youn was accused of collecting hundreds of millions of won in donations to her private bank accounts and spent some of them for personal use, including living expenses, while heading a major civic group for wartime sexual slavery victims, the Korean Council for Justice and

Prime Minister Han Duck-soo on Friday instructed relevant authorities to take emergency measures to cope with ultrafine dust plaguing the nation. "With the environment minister taking the lead, ministries and local governments should thoroughly implement emergency reduction measures in accordance with the current high-concentration ultrafine dust measures," Han said in a statement. Han also ordered relevant ministries to reduce emissions by coal-fired power plants and other facilities,

Rival parties continue finger-pointing over cross-border offensive

Lee Jae-myung, leader of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea, will comply with the prosecution's summons as part of an investigation into alleged bribery on Tuesday. This will be the first time for Lee to comply with the prosecution's summons since he became the party leader last year. “It was agreed that Lee will appear at the Seongnam branch of the Suwon District Prosecutors' Office at 10:30 a.m. next Tuesday,” said Ahn Ho-young, the Democratic Party's

Police said Friday they were unable to tell whether Lee Ki-young, suspected of the murders of a taxi driver and an ex-girlfriend in Paju, Gyeonggi Province, is a psychopath or not. "We've concluded that we are lacking materials with regards to some evaluation methods to assess (Lee's) psychopathy," said an official of Ilsan Dongbu Police Station. According to police, they will not further conduct another psychopathy test, while prosecutors are likely to continue with such testing, as t

Police investigating a deadly fire at the soundproof tunnel on the second Gyeongin Expressway in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi Province, which killed five people on Dec. 29 last year, have raided a road management company. Gyeonggi Nambu Provincial Police Agency said Friday that it raided the offices of the 2nd Seoul-Incheon Linking Highway Co. as well as the Seoul office of a company entrusted with road management work on Thursday. The search and seizure operation, which involved 22 investigators, lasted

South Korea vowed Friday to take stern actions against a Chinese tourist who was arrested in central Seoul after fleeing COVID-19 isolation for two days. The 41-year-old tested positive for COVID-19 immediately after arriving in Korea with his wife. He was sent to a quarantine facility near Incheon Airport, but escaped the facility on Tuesday. "The escapee, who tested positive upon arrival in Korea and was arrested Thursday, will face serious punishment under the law and according to princi