President Yoon Suk-yeol on Thursday condemned recent findings that 261.6 billion won ($187.5 million) of government money was misappropriated under a power project pursued under the previous Moon administration. Speaking to reporters as he arrived for work, Yoon called the findings by the Office of Government Policy Coordination under the prime minister "deplorable" and suggested the need for legal consequences. "It's truly deplorable that taxpayers' precious money, whic

Prime Minister Han Duck-soo will visit Japan later this month to attend the state funeral of former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, the Prime Minister's Office said Thursday. Han and Chung Jin-suk, the interim leader of the ruling People Power Party who doubles as the deputy speaker of the National Assembly, will lead the South Korean delegation for Abe's funeral on Sept. 27, the office said. During the visit, Han plans to meet Japan's political and business leaders, as well a

The Constitutional Court was to hold an open hearing Thursday on whether the National Security Act is constitutional, the first public hearing on the law enacted during the Cold War in response to threats from communist North Korea. The case follows a total of 11 petitions filed by individuals and district courts challenging the anti-communist law that was enacted in late 1948 in the height of ideological rivalries between the democratic South Korea and the communist North Korea. The law aims to

China's top legislator, Li Zhanshu, was set to arrive in Seoul on Thursday for meetings with President Yoon Suk-yeol and National Assembly Speaker Kim Jin-pyo amid speculation he could discuss the possibility of President Xi Jinping visiting South Korea. Li, China's third-highest-ranking official and chief of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, will lead a large delegation to Seoul for the three-day trip at the invitation of Kim. After arrival in the afternoo

　South Korea’s total fertility rate hit a record low last year as the number of childbirths continued to fall, data showed, underscoring the country’s gloomy demographic situation. 　The country’s birthrate - the average number of children a woman bears in her lifetime - came to 0.81 child in 2021, down from 0.84 the previous year, according to data from Statistics Korea. 　It was the lowest since the statistics agency began compiling related data in 1970. Last year also marke

From May 20-24, international attention shifted to the Indo-Pacific region from Ukraine, where a power struggle between the US and NATO against Russia has been taking place since mid-February. US President Joe Biden attended the “Quad” summit in Japan after visiting Korea in May. It was only 10 days after the inauguration of Korea’s new government headed by President Yoon Suk-yeol. As Biden selected South Korea for his first destination in Asia, he certainly attracted Korea

New polls have shown a strong lead for main opposition Democratic Party of Korea chair Rep. Lee Jae-myung among voters on the left, while voters on the right did not have a clear favorite. In a Sept. 8-9 poll of 1,004 South Koreans aged 18 and older, conducted by polling company Next Research, 69.7 percent of liberal voters said they wanted Lee to run in the next presidential election. Lee enjoyed overwhelming support in the poll, ahead by a far margin over former Prime Minister Lee Nak-yon u

Now is the time for Korea and China to look back on the past, face the present and talk about the future. Over the past 30 years, Korea-China relations have developed explosively. This week, as we continue the series on the New Korea-China relations, the second topic covers economy and trade, following the social and cultural dimensions. This week’s discussion invites two experts from home and abroad. Senior research fellow Yang Pyoung-seob at Korea Institute for International Economic Pol

Boksun was once hailed as a hero for helping save her owner while he was experiencing a stroke three years ago. Last month, she was found bleeding heavily at her home in Jeongeup, North Jeolla Province, having been brutally injured by an abuser. Her owner took her to a vet, but after learning about the hefty medical costs, gave up on saving her. She was later found dead inside a refrigerator of a dog meat restaurant. The tragic story of Boksun, made public by a local animal rights group, raise

South Korea and US firmly restate will to push ahead denuclearization, sanctions amid intense provocation

PRS for Music, a British music copyright collective, has submitted a petition to police here denouncing Korean streaming media services' inappropriate use of music. PRS for Music is a collective founded in 1914 that oversees copyright issues for pop stars such as the Beatles, Elton John, Adele and more. Local media reports said PRS submitted a petition to the Seoul Yeongdeungpo Police Station on Sept. 5 calling for authorities to penalize local streaming platforms for using music without proper

The Ministry of Environment plans to push for the use of multiuse parcel boxes from 2024 to protect the environment amid a rise in the number of delivery services. The ministry ran a pilot project on multiuse parcel boxes from October 2021 to August this year, joining hands with local retailers and courier service providers. The companies employed multiuse parcel boxes for deliveries, retrieving them from customers to clean and use them again. According to the ministry, the project showed multi

The 17th Jeju Forum for Peace and Prosperity kicked off in Jeju on Wednesday to address and explore ways to tackle major global challenges such as the intensifying US-China rivalry, the Ukraine crisis, the COVID-19 pandemic and climate change. Under the theme, “Beyond Conflict, Towards Peace: Coexistence and Cooperation,” the three-day forum has invited world-class leaders, government officials and experts of various sectors to the International Convention Center Jeju to share insig

The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights appointed an Australian labor expert as the new head of the Seoul office, filling in the post that has been vacant for the past two years, according to a media report Wednesday. The office of the spokesperson for the UN Secretary-General confirmed that James Heenan, the head of the OHCHR Office in Palestine, has been tapped as the new chief of the Seoul office, the Voice of America reported. “The head of the office is Jam

US nuclear-powered supercarrier will stage military drills with South Korean warships for first time since 2017