South Korea and China marked the 30th anniversary of diplomatic ties on Wednesday, holding separate celebratory events in their respective capitals. In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, the two countries could not hold a joint celebration, but they ran the events simultaneously, with their respective foreign ministers taking part as principal guests in the events, according to Seoul’s Foreign Ministry. During the events, South Korean Foreign Minister Park Jin and his Chinese counterpa

The Air Force's chief legal affairs officer was questioned Wednesday by an independent counsel team looking into the military's handling of the suicide death last year of a female noncommissioned officer who was sexually assaulted by a male colleague. Brig. Gen. Jeon Ik-soo appeared before the office of special prosecutor Ahn Mi-young in Seoul in the afternoon. The team, launched this June, is probing into suspicions surrounding the death of Lee Ye-ram, including whether military officials att

The award ceremony for the 51st Korea Herald English Speech Contest was held at the Australian Embassy in the Republic of Korea in Gwanghwamun, central Seoul, on Tuesday. The Australian Ambassador to the Republic of Korea Catherine Raper, Vice-Chair of the Australian Chamber of Commerce in Korea Jo Billing, The Korea Herald CEO Choi Jin-young, The Korea Herald Vice President Shin Yong-bae and more were in attendance. “I believe we could have the next generation of Korean leaders right

The Korean government will maintain its ban on in-person visits to nursing homes and long-term care hospitals during the upcoming Chuseok holidays, as the nation marks its first Korean Thanksgiving without social distancing in three years. “The ban on in-person visits to nursing homes and long-term care hospitals will be maintained in a precaution against COVID-19 transmission for the elderly,” Prime Minister Han Duck-soo said at a meeting at the governmental complex in Sejong, We

The government and ruling People Power Party will push to introduce a new subsidy for job seekers and increase support for low-income groups in next year’s budget, the ruling party said Wednesday. The ruling party and the government also agreed to include budget for planning storm drains in urban areas in light of recent rains, to direct more funds into supporting disabled people. The budget plans agreed on by the party and government will be put to a Cabinet meeting and then to the

President Yoon Suk-yeol’s schedule has been leaked through a fan club supporting first lady Kim Keon-hee, raising another security concern. On Tuesday, a user of “Keon-hee Sarang” revealed Yoon’s official schedule set on Friday through her fan club, specifying the date and place. The user said, “We’re announcing (that) President Yoon Suk-yeol is visiting Daegu Seomun Market at 12:00 (noon) on Aug. 26. We ask for your participation and promotion. Please c

S. Korea conducts tabletop exercise simulating N. Korea imminent use of nuclear weapons　

Supermarkets in South Korea engaging in a price war on fried chicken is a welcome development for consumers like Shin Kyung-ja (not her real name) amid the soaring cost of living.  The 64-year-old was among the 40 or so people standing in line outside an E-mart in Eunpyeong-gu, northern Seoul, an hour before its opening on Monday.  They were waiting to buy a bucket of fried chicken offered at a special price of 5,980 won ($4.50). Twice a day at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m., the superstore has

The internal feud within the ruling People Power Party appears to be escalating following a petition submitted to the court by suspended party leader Lee Jun-seok. The petition‘s release comes amid the ruling party’s launch of an emergency committee to seek the party’s normalization and the Yoon administration‘s carrying out of partial reforms to regain public trust. Lee compared President Yoon Suk-yeol to “the new military coup forces” in the petition, and,

A state reconciliation panel on Wednesday confirmed widespread human rights abuses and illegalities at an infamous detention facility in Busan decades ago, saying such illegal acts were brought about by the unjust exercise of public power by the state. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) made the announcement after investigating the now-defunct Brothers Home, a confinement facility run in the southern port city, 450 kilometers southeast of Seoul, in the 1970s and 1980s to isolate sever

SEJONG -- South Korea's total fertility rate hit a record low last year as the number of childbirths continued to fall, data showed Wednesday, underscoring the country's gloomy demographic situation. The country's total fertility rate -- 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 the data from Statistics Korea. It was the lowest since the statistics agency began compiling related data i

North Korea called Wednesday for heightened alert against a new virus detected in China, just weeks after the country claimed victory over the COVID-19 crisis. The Rodong Sinmun, an organ of the North's Workers' Party, carried an article warning that the new zoonotic virus called Langya henipavirus could lead to "another pandemic." "Some experts say the virus could take away lives like the new coronavirus if it is infected among people as the virus can cause severe healt

The United States has extended its travel ban on North Korea for one more year, a US government notice showed Wednesday. The State Department announced the extension of the ban through Aug. 31, 2023, in the Federal Register notice published Tuesday (US time). The restriction -- initially imposed in 2017 and since renewed every year -- was set to expire at the end of this month. "The Department of State has determined there continues to be serious risk to US citizens and nationals of arrest

South Korea's new daily COVID-19 cases stayed above 100,000 for the second straight day Wednesday amid concerns over a resurgence of the omicron subvariant. The country added 139,883 new COVID-19 infections, including 456 from overseas, bringing the total caseload to 22,588,640, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency said. Daily infections jumped to 180,763 cases last Wednesday from 84,099 a day earlier. The daily tally then fell over the past five days, tallying 59,046 on Monday. b

Wednesday marks the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Korea and China. Both Seoul and Beijing opened a new era by establishing a good, neighborly friendship based on the principle of reciprocal equality and peaceful coexistence and by signing a joint statement supporting “One China” and “Peaceful Unification of the Korean Peninsula” in Beijing. The establishment of Korea-China diplomatic relations was meaningful in terms of history an