Yoon’s office ‘listens attentively’ to demands for Cabinet reshuffle

Another ruling party lawmaker quit the party's Supreme Council on Sunday amid speculation it could lead to the party switching to a collective leadership system from the one-man leadership of acting chairman Kweon Seong-dong. Rep. Cho Su-jin of the People Power Party (PPP) told reporters that she stepped down as a council member, two days after the resignation of Rep. Bae Hyun-jin from the council. "I am stepping down as Supreme Council member to take responsibility for the stern warni

South Korea's Navy chief is set to depart for the United States to discuss military cooperation and exchanges, the Navy said Sunday. Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Lee Jong-ho will make a weeklong visit to Hawaii and Washington, D.C., during which he is scheduled to meet with Carlos del Toro, secretary of the US Navy, and John Aquilino, commander of the US Indo-Pacific Command, as well as other senior military officials, it said. The two sides plan to discuss how to bolster military coopera

South Korea's new COVID-19 cases fell below 80,000 for the first time in about a week, but the number of seriously ill patients hit a two-month high amid a virus wave driven by a highly contagious omicron subvariant, according to the nation's health authorities Sunday. The country added 73,589 new COVID-19 infections, including 341 from overseas, bringing the total caseload to 19,776,050, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said. Sunday's figure is down from the previous day's

North Korea had no additional suspected COVID-19 cases for the second consecutive day, according to its state media Sunday, as the country is redoubling efforts to "completely end" its virus crisis. "No new fever cases were reported" over a 24-hour period until 6 p.m. the previous day, the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said, citing data from the state emergency epidemic headquarters. It did not provide information on whether additional deaths have been reported.

Kwon Min-kyung, 37 and working at a chemicals firm, always feels tired. The legal team manager works hard on weekdays, which causes her tension. At the weekend, fatigue sets in when her tension is relieved. Feeling fatigued, she spends all day lying down, looking at her smartphone, although this does not make her feel refreshed. She often tries to make her days feel productive by attending exhibitions, exploring new sports activities and meeting new people in social clubs. She feels more tired

AFP -- North Korea reported zero fever cases on Saturday for the first time in more than two months since it confirmed its first Covid-19 infections in May. "There were no new fever patients reported" over a 24-hour period from Thursday evening, the state-run Korean Central News Agency said, marking the first time the isolated country had reported no new cases since it began tallying numbers in May. While it has maintained a rigid coronavirus blockade since the start of the pandemic,

South Korea's new COVID-19 cases stayed below 90,000 for the third straight day Saturday but were steeply up from a week ago, amid a spike in omicron subvariant infections. The country added 82,002 new COVID-19 infections, including 397 from overseas, bringing the total caseload to 19,702,461, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said.  Saturday's tally is slightly down from the previous day's 85,320, but it marks a 19.6 percent increase from a week earlier.  Da

Lee and Austin warn that alliance will get stronger corresponding to North Korea’s provocative actions

With August just around the corner, a multitude of footsteps and the sound of luggage wheels marked the start of peak vacation season at Gimpo International Airport on Friday. The peak season in Korea begins in late June to mid-August, culminating to a peak at the first two weeks of August. Passengers at airports have quadrupled within a few weeks, after a two-year freeze in air travel due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Even with the recent resurgence of COVID-19 patients, people in masks are waiting

The Ministry of Education proposed a reform of the school system to send children to elementary school 1 year earlier. The Education Ministry got the green light to work on a reform of the current school system that would lower the age of entry to elementary school by one year on Friday afternoon. Education Minister Park Soon-ae directly briefed President Yoon Suk-yeol on the ministry’s agenda at the presidential office in Yongsan-gu, central Seoul, to which Yoon ordered Park to push fo

A police officer who is not a graduate of the National Police University has been appointed as the head of the new police bureau, which will be launched under the Interior Ministry on Tuesday. Senior Superintendent-General Kim Sun-ho, the head of the National Security Investigation Bureau under the National Office of Investigation at the National Police Agency, will take office as the chief of the newly launched bureau. Kim graduated in political science from Sungkyunkwan University. He ear

Starting as early as 2025, all children in South Korea will likely be allowed to enter elementary school one year earlier, according to an education ministry report Friday. Reporting this year's key policy plans to President Yoon Suk-yeol, the ministry said it will soon begin full-fledged discussions on lowering the school starting age from six to five. Yoon told Education Minister Park Soon-ae during the policy report to "quickly come up with measures to lower the school starting age

Yoon says no returning to social distancing

WASHINGTON — The Biden administration likes to say Russia has become isolated internationally because of its invasion of Ukraine. Yet Moscow’s top officials have hardly been cloistered in the Kremlin. And now, even the US wants to talk. President Vladimir Putin has been meeting with world leaders, including Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, whose country is a NATO member. Meanwhile, his top diplomat, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, is jetting around the world, smiling, shaking