A half-naked elderly man stood precariously on a balcony of a high-rise building in Jongno-gu, central Seoul, hoisting a banner with an anti-Japan message. A few meters away, a group of elderly women shouted insults at two dozen people taking part in a rally, locally referred to as "the Wednesday protests," demanding an official apology by Japan for the sexual enslavement of Korean women during World War II. A few others standing nearby claimed the whole thing as a fraud. The women w

South Korea established its first diplomatic mission to NATO in Brussels, Belgium, after it received an official acceptance from the North Atlantic Council. The North Atlantic Council said Tuesday that the allies agreed to accept Seoul’s request to designate its embassy to Belgium as the country’s diplomatic mission to NATO. According to the council, the NATO allies agreed to "strengthen dialogue and cooperation with new and existing partners in the Indo-Pacific to tackle cross

President Yoon Suk-yeol has been considering appointing Lee Ju-ho, the former science and education minister under the Lee Myung-bak administration, as the second education minister in his administration. The post of education minister has been vacant for some 50 days since the former minister Park Soon-ae’s resignation. Park offered to resign 35 days after taking office following controversies related to her proposal of lowering the school entry age to five. Lee was the head of the defu

About two-thirds of foreign students who dropped out of school have been staying in Korea without a valid visa, according to a report. The report released by independent lawmaker Rep. Min Hyung-bae on Wednesday said that 67.2 percent of students who dropped out of school in Korea were staying without a valid visa as of last year, while a total of 10,335 foreign students dropped out of school in 2021. Min received the data from the Ministry of Education and Ministry of Justice. More students are

Office sends letter to verify reports; ruling party visits broadcaster in protest

South Korean Prime Minister Han Duck-soo and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida met in Tokyo on Wednesday, agreeing to seek further dialogue on outstanding issues. At the meeting, Han called on Korea and Japan to work toward better relations, saying it serves their common interests, and Han and Kishida agreed to continue discussions on issues involving forced labor victims and sexual slavery, Seoul's Prime Minister's Office said. Han talked with Kishida for around 20 minutes on Wednesday m

World Wide Web Consortium Director Tim Berners-Lee won this year’s Seoul Peace Prize for his work promoting data sovereignty and leading the movement to “decentralize” the web dominated by tech giants. The Seoul Peace Prize Cultural Foundation, headed by Yeom Jae-ho, made the announcement on Wednesday. According to the foundation, a selection committee consisting of eight members conducted a rigorous, objective and in-depth selection among many leader figures around the world

As South Korea struggles to reverse a falling fertility rate, Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon has come up with a new idea: Open up the border to foreign nannies to relieve the child care burden of working parents. “Parenting should be socially respected, and measures are needed to enable mothers and fathers to raise their children together,” he said via Facebook on Tuesday. “The introduction of foreign babysitters is a policy focused on parenting, and it would be good news for those

The ruling People Power Party (PPP) will hold an ethics committee meeting Wednesday amid speculation it may impose an additional penalty on former Chairman Lee Jun-seok over his sharply worded criticism of President Yoon Suk-yeol and the party. The meeting is set for 7 p.m. but whether to discuss Lee's case has not been decided, party officials said. But observers say the committee may decide to expel Lee from the party at worst. In July, the PPP suspended Lee's party membership for si

The new executive chief of the Jogye Order, South Korea's biggest Buddhist sect, took office Wednesday and started his four-year term. Ven. Jinwoo arrived at the compound of Jogye Temple in downtown Seoul and paid tribute at the main Daeungjeon Hall before entering his office. He did not give any comments. He was elected unopposed as the 37th president of the Jogye Order last month, replacing the predecessor Ven. Wonhaeng. The order adopted the new system to pick its chief through a single-

South Korea's new COVID-19 cases fell to around 36,000 on Wednesday, hitting the lowest for a Wednesday count in 12 weeks, as the virus wave has been gradually slowing down. The country reported 36,159 new COVID-19 infections, including 379 from overseas, bringing the total caseload to 24,709,789, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said. It marked a slight fall from the previous day's 39,425, and the lowest tally for any Wednesday since July 6 when the figure came t

SUWON -- Prosecutors on Wednesday arrested former Vice Gyeonggi Province Gov. Lee Hwa-young on charges of taking bribes from an underwear company in return for business favors, officials said. Lee, currently the head of the convention and exhibition center KINTEX, was accused of pocketing some 250 million won ($175,315) worth of bribes from Ssangbangwool in the forms of a corporate credit card and luxury vehicles between 2018 and early 2022 while he was serving as vice Gyeonggi governor for peac

WASHINGTON -- US Vice President Kamala Harris' visit to the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) will underscore the US' commitment to the defense of South Korea, a senior US official said Tuesday. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, also said the trip had been planned for weeks, despite the sudden announcement of plans this week. "The key messaging that she's talking about on this trip is how our defense commitments are ironclad," the administration official said of

WASHINGTON -- South Korea and the United States are undertaking a joint naval exercise that is aimed at improving their interoperability and joint defense capabilities, a Pentagon spokesperson said Tuesday. The remarks come after North Korea lashed out at the US for conducting a joint military exercise that it claims is aimed at toppling its regime in Pyongyang. "The Ronald Reagan Carrier Strike Group began a series of exercises in the East Sea with the Republic of Korea Navy (on) September

South Korean music producer Don Spike was arrested on Monday for illegal drug use and is currently under investigation on charges of violating the Narcos Control Act, according to Nowon police. Don Spike was arrested at a hotel in Gangnam, southern Seoul, around 8 p.m. on Monday, where police seized 30 grams of methamphetamine. Don Spike tested positive for the drug. The amount of drugs that was found is equivalent to approximately 1,000 doses, considering the average dose of methamphetamine is