UN High Commissioner calls for relaxing sanctions on Pyongyang for pandemic support

The government will push for a speedy influx of immigrant workers to help alleviate labor shortages in farming, fishing and other industries in the wake of COVID-19, officials said Tuesday. Farms, fisheries and small-size firms, often reliant on immigrant workers, have been experiencing labor shortages in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, as heightened border controls curbed the inflow of immigrant laborers. The Ministry of Labor and Employment said that it will bring in some 26,000 immigrant w

Prime Minister Han Duck-soo on Tuesday called for truck drivers to end their strike causing widespread disruptions in the country's logistics networks, saying their "illegal" actions cannot be supported by people. Han made the remarks at a Cabinet meeting, as the nationwide walkout of truckers entered its eighth day, paralyzing operations at auto, steel, petrochemical and other sectors. "Please keep in mind that illegal actions, such as obstruction of transportation by the Ca

President Yoon Suk-yeol tapped a cybersecurity expert to be the third deputy director of the National Intelligence Service (NIS) on Tuesday, his office said. Baek Jong-wook, a professor of computer engineering at Gachon University, was nominated after previously serving as chief of the NIS national cybersecurity center, it said. The position of third deputy director is responsible for science and cyber intelligence operations. Baek's nomination completes the lineup of NIS leadership positio

About 6,500 workers with disabilities legally earned less than the minimum wage last year, a report said Tuesday. The report from the Korea Labor and Society Institute found a total of 6,547 workers were excluded from the minimum wage rule as of August 2021. Their average monthly wage was 363,441 won ($282), or 19.9 percent of the minimum wage at that time, the report said. By law, the minimum wage does not apply to employees "with a very limited working capacity due to a mental or physical

The presidential office is likely to get a new name Tuesday, an official said. Five names are currently in the running, after they were chosen from among 30,000 entries in a public contest. The five are The People's House, Itaewon-ro 22, The People's Government Office, Mineum Government Office and Bareunnuri. "I believe (the naming committee) will make a final decision today on which name to use," the presidential official told reporters, saying the committee will meet in the

The government will set up a new regular meeting to be presided over by President Yoon Suk-yeol to speed up regulatory reforms, Prime Minister Han Duck-soo said Tuesday. The Regulatory Innovation Strategy Meeting is aimed at swiftly cutting red tape and preventing promising projects from becoming bogged down in bureaucracy, Han told reporters. The meeting will serve as the "top decision maker of government regulatory innovation," Han said. Yoon will serve as a chairperson of the new me

South Korean shippers urged striking truckers Tuesday to end their protest and resume negotiations over the disputed freight rate system, stressing that smaller export and import traders could take the brunt of the prolonged cargo disruptions. An industry group representing some 70,000 shippers made the emphatic call as thousands of truckers have walked off the job in protest of a planned expiry of a freight rate system guaranteeing the minimum pay and other subsidies. The strike, now in its eig

President Yoon Suk-yeol declined to comment Tuesday on whether a North Korean nuclear test was imminent, as his top diplomat was in Washington to discuss the allies' response should the test occur. Officials in Seoul and Washington have prepared for weeks against the possibility that Pyongyang will stage its first nuclear test since 2017 despite repeated warnings it would be met by a firm response from the allies. Yoon was asked by a reporter as he arrived for work whether the test appeared

South Korea's new coronavirus cases bounced back to nearly 10,000 on Tuesday, while the number of deaths came down to a nine-month low. The country added 9,778 COVID-19 infections, including 41 cases from overseas, bringing the total caseload to 18,239,056, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said. Tuesday's case count rose after it dropped to 3,828 on Monday, the lowest since the 3,094 reported on Jan. 11. The increase in the caseload was attributed to the growth in

South Korea, the United States and Japan plan to conduct a combined missile search and tracking exercise in waters off Hawaii in August to bolster their readiness to counter North Korea's evolving missile threats, informed sources said Tuesday. The biennial Pacific Dragon exercise is scheduled to take place from Aug. 1-14 as the three countries are seeking to step up security cooperation amid tensions caused by the North's recent missile launches and speculation that it could conduct a

North Korea's new suspected COVID-19 cases stayed below 40,000 for the second consecutive day, its state media said Tuesday. More than 32,810 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 death toll stood at just 72 as of June 11. The total number

WASHINGTON -- South Korean Foreign Minister Park Jin and his US counterpart Antony Blinken on Monday urged North Korea to refrain from staging additional provocations including a nuclear test, saying that they will only further isolate the impoverished country. The top diplomats also said North Korean provocations will be met with a strong response. "We affirm that any North Korean provocations, including a nuclear test, will be met with a united and firm response from our alliance and the

The inclusion of Guatemala in a free trade agreement between Korea and other Central American nations cannot be delayed so as to strengthen bilateral relations, Guatemala Ambassador to Korea Marco Tulio Chicas Sosa said in an email interview with The Korea Herald Friday. Work is underway to include Guatemala in the trade pact with five Central American nations -- Costa Rica, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua and Panama – that was fully implemented last year. “Such instrument would

Iranian Embassy suggests ways to strengthen people-to-people contact, revitalize economic relations