North Korea is taking emergency measures to prevent damage from flooding as it braces for the summer rainy season amid the coronavirus fight, according to its state media Wednesday. The country's "central emergency anti-epidemic sector" took steps to ensure medical supplies in thousands of emergency medical units set up at hospitals across the country and urged disinfection work in evacuation centers to prevent the outbreak of an "enteric illness," the official Korean Ce

The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), the world's largest technical professional organization, said Wednesday it has launched an investigation into a South Korean research paper accused of plagiarizing multiple papers published in the past. The move came just days after a research team led by Yoon Sung-roh, a professor at the department of electrical and computer engineering at Seoul National University, admitted to engaging in plagiarism when producing the paper rec

MADRID -- President Yoon Suk-yeol will seek to promote the export of South Korean nuclear power plants and arms during his bilateral meetings with world leaders in Spain this week, a senior presidential official said Tuesday. Yoon is in Madrid to attend the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) summit on Wednesday and has begun a series of bilateral summits on the sidelines, including with Australia's prime minister earlier Tuesday. On Wednesday, he is scheduled to meet with the preside

North Korea's new suspected COVID-19 cases have remained below 10,000 for the fifth consecutive day, its state media said Wednesday. More than 5,980 people showed symptoms of fever 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 prevention headquarters. It did not provide information on whether additional deaths have been reported. The total number of fever cases since late April came to

MADRID -- First lady Kim Keon-hee visited the Korean Cultural Center in Madrid on Tuesday and praised its staff for helping promote Korean culture. The Korean Cultural Center opened in the Spanish capital in 2011. Around 60 cultural programs are held at the center each year, including exhibitions, concerts, classes and film screenings. Currently, the center is hosting a Korean fashion exhibition, including clothes by designer Kim A-young, which the first lady toured. "I thank you for your h

MADRID -- President Yoon Suk-yeol's scheduled meeting with the secretary-general of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) on Tuesday has been postponed due to the NATO chief's previous meeting running longer than expected, Yoon's office said. Yoon was scheduled to meet with NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg in Madrid, one day ahead of the NATO summit involving the organization's 30 member states and nine global partner nations. The meeting was pushed back, how

MADRID -- President Yoon Suk-yeol and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese met in Madrid on Tuesday and shared their commitment to defending democratic values and expanding cooperation on energy, North Korea and other issues, Yoon's office said. Yoon and Albanese held a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) summit scheduled for Wednesday in the Spanish capital. The two leaders' participation in the NATO summit demonstrates South Kor

The South Korean police on Tuesday found the car of the three-person family who mysteriously went missing almost a month ago on a remote island. Ten-year-old Cho Yu-na and her parents, both in their 30s, went missing on the southwestern island of Wando County, South Jeolla Province, on May 31 after they entered the island in a silver-colored Audi sedan on May 23. An Audi sedan with a matching license plate was discovered off the coast of Sinji Myeon in the region at 05:12 p.m., according to

Yoon meets with NATO secretary-general as NATO seeks to hold China in check

Former President Lee Myung-bak, 81, was granted a stay of sentence due to his health concerns, Suwon prosecutors said Tuesday. The Suwon prosecution service’s deliberation committee said in a press release that Lee was deemed to be “physically unfit” to be in jail, and that he would be granted a three-month break from his time. The deliberation committee decided that the ex-president could face “significant damage” to his health by continuing to serve in jail.

The family of Lee Dae-jun, a South Korean fisheries official who was killed by North Korean troops at sea in 2020, and their lawyer said Tuesday they plan on reaching out to a United Nations expert on extrajudicial killings for help. The official’s older brother, Lee Rae-jin, and his lawyer Kim Ki-yun met with Tomas Ojea Quintana, the UN special rapporteur on the human rights situation in North Korea, on Tuesday morning to discuss challenges facing the family’s pursuit of acco

N. Korea seeks to step up control over people, elites as it faces internal and external challenges, say experts

North Korea on Tuesday slammed Japan for raising the issue of abducted Japanese nationals that it maintains has been resolved and accused Tokyo and Washington of making false charges to apply political pressure on the regime. Pyongyang’s Foreign Ministry issued a document accusing Japan of holding an “anti-North Korea” teleconference with the United States, Australia and the European Union as part of a UN session on June 16. “Japan is conspiring with the US to make t

Only a handful of people living in Seoul have discarded unused or expired medicines at designated drug take-back sites, despite a majority of people saying that they are aware of the environmental issues surrounding pharmaceutical waste. According to a report published by the Seoul Institute, 20.1 percent of respondents answered that they “never use the designated sites,” while 29.7 percent responded that they “seldom use the sites.” To be specific, the figure varied de

The Seoul city government on Tuesday announced that it would offer online Korean classes during a six-month trial period, starting Friday this week. According to the city government, the online language classes will be available on the official website of King Sejong Institute Foundation, a public institution operated by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism. The classes will be available, free of charge, to all foreign residents staying in Seoul as well as those staying in other regions