Sections of expressways nationwide remained clogged with traffic Saturday as South Koreans traveled across the country on the second day of the four-day Chuseok holiday, officials said. This year's Chuseok holiday, or the Korean fall harvest celebration, started Friday and will run through Monday. Koreans normally head back to their hometowns to spend time with their families. As of 9 a.m., it took 7 hours to drive from Seoul to Busan, 325 km southeast of the capital, about three hours long

South Korea's daily new COVID-19 cases fell below 50,000 on Saturday, data showed, due largely to fewer tests carried out over the Chuseok holiday. The country reported 42,747 new COVID-19 infections, including 237 cases from overseas, bringing the total caseload to 23,976,673, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said. Saturday's tally is sharply down from 69,410 the previous day. Daily infections have slowed after peaking at around 180,000 in mid-August in the lat

President Yoon Suk-yeol on Friday expressed condolences over the passing of Britain's Queen Elizabeth II, saying, "Her kind heart and good deed will remain in our memories." "Deepest condolences to the people of the United Kingdom for the passing of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. She had a strong belief in the cause of human freedom and left great legacies of dignity," Yoon said in a message posted in English on Twitter. He posted another message in Korean on Facebook appl

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un publicly expressed his determination not to give up the country's nuclear weapons, accusing the United States of seeking the collapse of his regime, not just denuclearization. He made clear that Pyongyang has no intention of resuming negotiations for denuclearization, as the North's rubber-stamp parliament approved a new nuclear force policy during a key session earlier this week, according to the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on Friday. "The a

London -- Buckingham Palace says Queen Elizabeth II is under medical supervision as doctors are “concerned for Her Majesty‘s health.” 　The announcement on Thursday comes a day after the 96-year-old monarch canceled a meeting of her Privy Council and was told to rest. 　The palace says the queen is “comfortable” and remains at Balmoral Castle in Scotland, where she has spent the summer. 　Prime Minister Liz Truss said “the whole country will be deeply concer

Suwon prosecutors on Thursday indicted Democratic Party of Korea Chair Rep. Lee Jae-myung in an investigation into the controversial city development project he pursued as mayor of Seongnam in 2015. The indictment comes less than two weeks after police referred Lee’s case over to the Suwon prosecutors’ office on Aug. 29. Police said they found no evidence to support his claims that the Ministry of Land was behind the change in the Seongnam project that allowed private investors to

Sections of expressways nationwide became clogged with traffic Thursday as South Koreans headed to their hometowns for family reunions one day ahead of the four-day Chuseok holiday. This year's Chuseok holiday, or the Korean fall harvest celebration, runs from Friday to Monday. Traditionally, Koreans head back to their hometowns to spend time with their families and bow at their ancestors' altars and graves. As the holiday exodus began, sections of highways across the country became co

Ex-chair responds by filing another injunction with court

The International Association of Prosecutors (IAP) and the European Union's Criminal Justice Cooperation Organization (EUROJUST) will seek closer cooperation in a range of issues including "enhancing global cooperation on crimes against humanity,” the IAP said Thursday. The agreement was reached following a meeting between IAP president Hwang Cheol-kyu and EUROJUST President Ladislav Hamran. Hwang is a senior South Korean prosecutor and Hamran is a high-ranking prosecutor of Slov

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 to the point that we may call it explosive in respective fields. The establishment of Korea-China diplomatic relations was an important turning point in advancing the new era of prosperity in Northeast Asia. And now both Korea and China have grown into the core countries in the international community. China, along with the United

  Mostly pleasant weather conditions are forecast for the upcoming four-day Chuseok holidays, which kicks off Friday, the Korea Meteorological Administration said Thursday. On Chuseok, which falls on Saturday, skies will likely be cloudy, but it will be possible to see the full moon through the clouds in most parts of the country, it added. According to the state's weather authorities, the central region will be mostly sunny on Friday with some clouds expected over the southern region and J

More than 600 people remain displaced due to Typhoon Hinnamnor, as authorities struggle to deal with the aftermath of the typhoon in the southern regions of the country. According to the Central Disaster Safety Relief Headquarters, 5,242 people have been displaced with 613 yet to return home as of Thursday. A total of 8,370 houses were flooded, most of them concentrated in North Gyeongsang Province, an area hit hard by the tropical storm. Some 1,566 cases of public infrastructure damage were r

Unification Minister openly makes surprise proposal as N.Korea ratchets up bellicose rhetoric against S.Korea

President Yoon Suk-yeol said Thursday he is not in a situation to pay attention to the main opposition party's push to launch a special investigation into alleged irregularities involving first lady Kim Keon-hee. Yoon's comment came a day after the main opposition Democratic Party (DP) introduced a bill mandating a special counsel probe into the first lady's alleged involvement in stock manipulation and falsification of academic records. "I have no particular stance," Yo

South Korea's unification minister on Thursday proposed talks with North Korea to discuss the issue of families separated by the 1950-53 Korean War. Kwon Young-se issued a statement offering inter-Korean dialogue on the eve of the Chuseok holiday, which is one of the biggest annual celebrations for both South and North Koreans. (Yonhap)