Prime Minister Han Duck-soo said Wednesday that he would discuss with President Yoon Suk-yeol about granting pardons to business executives, including Samsung’s de-facto chief and heir Lee Jae-yong, on the occasion of Liberation Day on Aug. 15. It was the first time for the prime minister to officially mention that he would take the issue to the president. Han said, “I will propose them (pardons),” in response to Rep. Park Sung-joong’s question at a parliamentary inte

South Korean Foreign Minister Park Jin has called for an unconditional dialogue between the two Koreas during his brief exchange with a North Korean envoy participating in the ASEAN Regional Forum in Phnom Penh, Seoul officials said. During a welcome dinner on Thursday, Park greeted An Kwang-il, the North's ambassador to Indonesia and top delegate to the regional security forum. During their conversation, Park said that inter-Korean talks without conditions were needed and expressed hopes fo

The main opposition Democratic Party (DP) kicked off regional voting Saturday ahead of the Aug. 28 national convention to elect its new leadership. Three candidates are running for the chairmanship, with former presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung far ahead of his rivals, Kang Hoon-sik and Park Yong-jin, in various polls. Eight others are competing in a separate race to join the Supreme Council. The contenders held their first joint speech session in the northeastern city of Wonju, Gangwon

Gwanghwamun Square, a major landmark in central Seoul, opened to the public Saturday after nearly two years of renovation. The square, which has been expanded and partially refurbished into a park, opened to the public at 11 a.m., according to the Seoul city government. Construction began in November 2020 to expand the square with new historical and cultural attractions. The square is now 2.1 times larger than before at 40,300 square meters after an adjacent road that had been located to its

North Korea on Saturday condemned US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's visit to the inter-Korean truce village of Panmunjom. In a statement, Jo Yong-sam, director general of the foreign ministry's press and information department, also criticized Pelosi for talking about "strong and expanded deterrent" against threats from North Korea during her trip to South Korea earlier this week. She made a two-day visit here from Wednesday following a trip to Taiwan. She had talks with National Assem

South Korean Foreign Minister Park Jin said Saturday his talks with China's top diplomat next week will focus on ways for cooperation on North Korea and stability in supply chains. He is scheduled to make a three-day trip to the eastern Chinese port city of Qingdao from Monday, during which he will meet bilaterally with his counterpart Wang Yi. It comes as the neighboring countries mark the 30th anniversary of the establishment of bilateral diplomatic ties on Aug. 24. In the talks, slated for

South Korea's new COVID-19 cases remained over 100,000 for the fifth straight day Saturday as the country battles a new wave of infections fueled by a highly infectious omicron subvariant. The country added 110,666 new COVID-19 infections, including 573 from overseas, bringing the total caseload to 20,383,621, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said. Saturday's figure is slightly down from 112,901 Friday but jumped 1.35 times from a week earlier. Daily infection cases have

South Korea's top diplomat on Friday expressed concerns over rising tensions surrounding Taiwan and made clear Seoul's objection to any attempts to change "the status quo by force" during regional security forums in Phnom Penh. Foreign Minister Park Jin made the remark during his attendance at the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) and the East Asia Summit (EAS), which took place amid heightened military tensions in the region following U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's visit to Taiwan earlie

The top diplomats of South Korea and the United States had discussions on regional and global issues, including relations with China, in Phnom Penh on Friday. The talks between Foreign Minister Park Jin and Secretary of State Antony Blinken were held on the sidelines of ASEAN-hosted annual sessions. "Our alliance is really a linchpin for peace and security in the Indo-Pacific. And, of course, we are working together to confront so many different regional as well as the global challenges,&

South Korean Foreign Minister Park Jin relayed concerns on North Korea’s nuclear ambitions to his Russian counterpart Surgey Lavrov at a multilateral summit on Friday. Attending the East Asian Summit held as part of the series of Association of Southeast Asian Nations-related Foreign Ministers’ Meetings in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Park spoke with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov for some six minutes. At their greeting, Park expressed his concerns over escalating tension on the

South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol’s approval rating fell to the 20 percent range for the first time in the first week of August, continuing to slide rapidly. According to a Gallup Korea poll, Yoon’s approval rating came in at 24 percent in the first week of August, compared to 66 percent of respondents who negatively assessed his performance as president. Gallup Korea data also shows that Yoon’s approval rating fell below that of negative assessment in the first week of

The country’s daily COVID-19 cases stay above 100,000 for the fourth consecutive day

A civic group on Thursday denounced the Japanese government over a pension payment of less than $1 to victims of forced labor during Japan’s occupation of the Korean Peninsula. According to the Japanese Forced Mobilization Civic Group, a number of victims of forced labor during the Japanese colonial era received 931 won ($0.74), from the Japanese government as pension. The victims and civic group deplored the payment, saying it is “a malicious ridicule and an insult.” The gro

South Korea has been reelected to Group B (major investors) of the Council of the International Seabed Authority for the fifth consecutive year, according to South Korea’s Foreign Ministry on Friday. In the election during the 27th session of the ISA Assembly held in Jamaica on Thursday, South Korea was chosen for Group B, in which countries lead the process of drawing up main policies for the agency, along with France, Germany and India. Elections are held once every three years, and S

The minimum hourly wage for next year has been finalized at 9,620 won ($7.38), up 5 percent, or 460 won, from this year, unchanged from the Minimum Wage Commission’s earlier decision, the Labor Ministry said Friday. The ministry officially published the 2023 minimum wage in the government gazette at 9 a.m. The new minimum wage translates to a monthly wage of 2.02 million won, when an individual works 209 hours a month. This will apply equally across all industries. Earlier on June 29,