Behind doors closed to the press, the Korean Methodist Church’s court heard an appeals case brought by one pastor to reverse the church's decision to suspend him from his duty for two years at its headquarters in Seoul on Thursday. His sin? Blessing gay people at the Incheon Queer Culture Festival in 2019. “From September 2019 until now, (my action) has been reviewed for three years and we are now finally waiting for the ruling. What I wanted to do from the very beginning was to

On Sept. 18, a teenager’s cartoon satirizing President Yoon Suk-yeol won a top prize at a local cartoon contest. No major news outlets gave it major coverage. The work was displayed for three days until Monday at the Bucheon International Comics Festival. It drew some attention, and mixed comments, on social media. Then on Tuesday, a day after the exhibition’s end, the work was thrust into the national spotlight when the Culture Ministry issued a “strong warning” against

The South Korean government will push for the lifting of a ban on public access to North Korean television and media channels, a top official on inter-Korean relations told lawmakers Friday. The government will seek to "gradually" open the door for North Korean broadcasts, media and publications in an effort to promote mutual understanding between the two Koreas, Unification Minister Kwon Young-se said in a report for a parliamentary audit session on his ministry's affairs. "

Senior defense officials of South Korea, the United States and Japan had a conference call Friday to discuss joint responses against North Korea's evolving missile threats, Seoul's defense ministry said. The phone talks among Deputy Defense Minister for Policy Heo Tae-keun and his US and Japanese counterparts, Ely Ratner and Kazuo Masuda, respectively, came after a spate of the North's missile provocations, including Tuesday's intermediate-range one that overflew Japan. They

  President Yoon Suk-yeol said Friday he agreed with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in a phone call that relations between the two nations should be restored as early as possible and agreed to firmly respond to North Korean provocations. “We agreed that if Korea-Japan relations go back to the good times as early as possible and smooth corporate and public exchanges return, it will be beneficial to the economies of both countries,” Yoon told reporters when asked about the

South Korea's new COVID-19 cases were below 30,000 for the second straight day Friday, as the virus wave continued to show signs of slowing down. The country reported 22,298 new COVID-19 infections, including 54 from overseas, bringing the total caseload to 24,933,756, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said. Friday's count is down from 28,648 cases a day earlier and lower than the weekly average of 23,538, showing that the virus wave has subsided since it peaked at

President Yoon Suk-yeol on Friday defended his plan to abolish the gender ministry, saying it is aimed at better protecting women and other vulnerable groups. Yoon had pledged to abolish the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family during the presidential campaign, sparking fierce opposition from politicians and activists who feared it would undermine women's rights. The government finalized the abolition plan Thursday, under which most of the ministry's responsibilities will be transfer

South Korea and the United States began another joint naval exercise, involving a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, in waters east of the Korean Peninsula on Friday in order to reinforce the allies' operational capabilities against North Korean provocations, Seoul's military said. The allies' navies kicked off the two-day maritime maneuvering drills in the international waters of the East Sea with a plan to stage operations later to escort the USS Ronald Reagan down to waters sout

The number of teenage drug offenders has almost doubled over the past three years, but drug education has been given to less than 4 percent of students during the same period, a lawmaker said Friday. Teenagers accused of using drugs totaled 309 last year, up from 164 in 2019, said Rep. Kang Hoon-sik of the main opposition Democratic Party, citing data from the Korean Association Against Drug Abuse. Between January and August this year alone, 227 have been apprehended on drug charges. Despite the

The ruling People Power Party (PPP) suspended the membership of former leader Lee Jun-seok for another year Friday in addition to a six-month suspension imposed earlier, effectively thwarting his run in the 2024 general elections. The PPP's ethics committee made the decision, holding Lee accountable for criticizing President Yoon Suk-yeol and the party with excessive expressions and filing a series of injunction suits against the party's decision to form an emergency leadership committ

North Korea has come up with new guidelines on how to cope with the country's emergency health crisis and natural disasters at a key parliamentary meeting, its state media said Friday, amid efforts to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and frequent flood damage. The plenary meeting of the Standing Committee of the Supreme People's Assembly (SPA), held in Pyongyang the previous day, adopted the law on emergency response, according to the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). The law p

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un sent a letter to Russian President Vladimir Putin on his 70th birthday praising his leadership against "challenges and threats" from the United States, Pyongyang's state media said Friday. In the letter, Kim also lauded Putin's "signal achievements in attaining the grand strategic target for building powerful Russia" through his "energetic activities," according to the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). "Today,

WASHINGTON -- The United States has a range of ways to hold North Korea accountable for its provocative actions, a state department spokesperson said Thursday, one day after China and Russia blocked a US-led move to put UN Security Council sanctions on Pyongyang. Vedant Patel, principal deputy spokesperson for the state department, also said the US continues to closely monitor North Korea and will take additional action if necessary. "We continue to have a number of tools in our tool belt -

WASHINGTON -- Appointing a US special envoy for North Korean human rights will send a clear message to the reclusive regime that human rights matter while also helping to revitalize global discussions on the dire issue, South Korean envoy for North Korean human rights said Thursday. Amb. Lee Shin-hwa, special envoy for international cooperation on North Korean human rights, argued appointing a US envoy will also encourage the European Union to take the issue more seriously. "Number one, by

    Prosecutors on Thursday indicted Jeon Joo-hwan, the suspect in the shocking murder of a female subway worker inside a ladies' restroom at a subway station in Seoul last month, on charges of revenge killing.    Jeon, a 31-year-old former employee of Seoul Metro, is accused of stabbing a female colleague in her 20s to death in a ladies' room at Sindang Station on Sept. 14.    The case shocked the nation, as it was revealed the killing took place one day before