North Korea has convened a key parliamentary session to discuss and adopt laws on rural development and landscaping, state media reported Thursday. The Supreme People's Assembly (SPA) meeting was held in Pyongyang the previous day, according to the North's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). The country's leader Kim Jong-un did not attend the gathering. "The session adopted with unanimous approval the ordinance of the SPA of the DPRK 'On Adopting Law of the DPRK

President Yoon Suk-yeol will meet with US Vice President Kamala Harris in Seoul on Sept. 29 and discuss the bilateral alliance, North Korea and other issues of mutual interest, his office said Thursday. Harris's visit comes four months after US President Joe Biden visited Seoul for a summit with Yoon shortly after the South Korean president took office. Yoon and Harris plan to discuss ways to strengthen South Korea-US relations, North Korea, economic security, and key regional and internati

　South Korea’s rice paddy area inched down 0.7 percent in 2022 from last year, as farmers opted to grow other crops due to falling prices of the staple grain, data showed. 　The country’s rice cultivation area came to 727,158 hectares - slightly more than half the size of the US state of Connecticut - this year, compared to 732,477 hectares a year earlier, according to the data compiled by Statistics Korea. 　The government has been prodding farmers to convert their rice paddies int

WASHINGTON -- South Korea and the United States have agreed to quickly launch ministerial level talks on ways to minimize damage from the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) on South Korean carmakers, South Korean Trade Minister Ahn Duk-geun said Wednesday. Ahn made the remarks after meeting with US Trade Representative (USTR) Katherine Tai. "We will discuss specific dates and other details (of the launch) as quickly as possible, but I plan to meet USTR Tai every week, including next week and wee

President Yoon Suk-yeol Wednesday designated the southeastern cities of Pohang and Gyeongju as a special disaster zone after they were hit by Typhoon Hinnamnor. Yoon said he would carry out all procedures necessary for the designation as soon as possible and provide emergency funds to people in Pohang, about 270 kilometers southeast of Seoul. As a special disaster zone, Pohang and Gyeongju will be eligible for financial support from the government for recovery work, relief funds for victims an

Yoon government will abide by inter-Korean agreement except in case of unacceptable provocations, S. Korean vice defense minister says

Anticipation is growing here for top-level negotiations on the US Inflation Reduction Act that Korean electric-vehicle makers say would hurt their business, following news of a possible visit to the country by US Vice President Kamala Harris. Harris is reportedly coordinating a visit to Seoul to meet with Korean authorities after going to Japan to attend the state funeral of assassinated former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Sept. 27, according to local government authorities. If her Seo

The top nuclear envoys of South Korea, Japan and the United States reaffirmed the countries' commitment to their shared goal of complete denuclearization of North Korea, and joint efforts to deter the regime's nuclear provocations, at a meeting held Wednesday on Tokyo. The three officials, Kim Gunn, Seoul's special representative for Korean Peninsula peace and security affairs, Sung Kim, Washington's special representative for North Korea, and Takehiro Funakoshi, director general for Asian and

When there is a risk of flash flooding, avoid underground areas. This is the lesson that a series of recent floods have highlighted after they caused multiple casualties. As powerful Typhoon Hinnamnor hit the southern city of Pohang, North Gyeongsang Province, early Tuesday morning, several people went missing in a flooded underground parking lot of an apartment complex. Two were found alive while seven were pronounced dead on Wednesday. Residents said there were several announcements from th

Kang In-sun, a spokesperson for the presidential office, will become the administration's overseas public relations secretary and also serve as a spokesperson for foreign media, chief of staff said Wednesday. Kim Dae-ki, President Yoon Suk-yeol’s Chief of Staff, said at a press briefing on Wednesday that an overseas public relations secretary has been re-established under the senior public relations office, and the current presidential spokesperson Kang In-sun will be assigned at the

Seoul Mapo Police Station has printed out a leaflet to help foreigners who experience crimes in Korea. The leaflet under the title "Promoting the Protection and Support System for Crime Victims" was created to help foreign residents and visitors here. According to the station, many foreign citizens are unaware about the state support they can receive when they are victims of crimes. The leaflet is in English, French and Vietnamese, based on the population of foreign students and visit

Government plans to inject 50 billion won in recovery work, designate Pohang special disaster zone

One of the two survivors from a flooded underground parking lot in Pohang, North Gyeongsang Province, early Wednesday morning, was a woman in her 50s who lives at the apartment complex with her family. She had not gone down to the parking lot alone in the middle of the stormy night. Her teenage son had tagged along with her. After the mom’s rescue, the son was found dead as one of the seven bodies recovered from the flooded garage. As of Wednesday afternoon, the search and rescue opera

The Democratic Party of Korea is seeking a special counsel to investigate first lady Kim Keon-hee while its leader, Rep. Lee Jae-myung, faces a growing risk of criminal charges. The party’s Floor Leader Rep. Park Hong-keun said Wednesday the party would propose a bill to appoint a special counsel to lead the investigation into the first lady’s criminal allegations, the two highest-profile of which include her involvement in the Deutsch Motors stock price manipulation scandal and he

A Buddhist temple site in the historic city of Gyeonggju, North Gyeongsang Province, has been struck by a mudslide triggered by heavy rains of Typhoon Hinnamnor, according to the Cultural Heritage Administration on Wednesday. The hillside Gulbulsa Temple site, not to be confused with the city’s more famous Bulguksa Temple, had its wooden structures and trees knocked down, but its most precious treasure – the Stone Buddhas in Four Directions – appears mostly intact, the agency