Ruling party’s Heo targets new tourism assets in gubernatorial bid

Gubernatorial candidate emphasizes environment and residents' needs

The floor leader of the ruling People Power Party (PPP) on Monday pressured the widely unpopular health minister nominee, Chung Ho-young, to step down amid concerns that his appointment could hinder the party's chances in the upcoming local elections. "I listened to many lawmakers in the party, and many of them showed objections to Chung's appointment," PPP floor leader Rep. Kweon Seong-dong told reporters after the party's election committee meeting. "He needs to d

South Korea, the United States and five other countries on Monday condemned Russia for its invasion of Ukraine in the latest diplomatic pressure on Moscow to end the unprovoked war of aggression. Russia's war in Ukraine has destabilized the global economy and global supply chains and caused a rise in food insecurity and volatility in energy markets. The seven countries, which included Australia, Canada, Chile, Japan and New Zealand, also urged Russia to immediately cease its use of force an

South Korea will resume an annual field training program for its reserve forces in a scaled-back manner next month after two years of suspension caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the state military recruitment agency said Monday. Starting June 20, some 500,000 reservists will be called upon to complete the program, consisting of field drills and an online session lasting eight hours each, according to the Military Manpower Administration. In the pre-pandemic era, most reservists were required to

South Korea does not seek to alienate any specific country amid an aggressive campaign to bolster the "economy and tech alliance" with the United States under the new Yoon Suk-yeol administration, a senior government official stressed Monday. First Vice Foreign Minister Cho Hyun-dong said the government will make simultaneous efforts to strengthen economic and technology partnerships with China, in particular, amid a view that Beijing may feel antagonized or left out due to the conserv

Prime Minister Han Duck-soo said Monday he will make utmost efforts for national unity, while pledging swift implementation of an extra budget aimed at compensating small merchants hit by losses caused by stricter virus curbs. "I will take the lead in national unity and cooperation of politics to resolve matters of people's livelihood, economic recovery, sustainable growth and materialize the safety of people," Han said in his inauguration speech. Han said the government is prepared to

President Yoon Suk-yeol congratulated Tottenham Hotspur's South Korean attacker Son Heung-min on Monday on becoming the first Asian player to win the scoring title in the Premier League. Son scored twice in Tottenham's 5-0 rout of Norwich City at Carrow Road in Norwich, England, on Sunday (local time), and finished the 2021-2022 season with a career-high 23 goals. The player shared the Golden Boot with Mohamed Salah of Liverpool, who scored late in his team's 3-1 win over Wolverha

South Korea's new COVID-19 cases fell to a 17-week low Monday, as the omicron-driven surge has slowed in recent weeks. The country added 9,975 new infections, including 17 cases from overseas, bringing the total caseload to 17,967,672, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said. Monday's tally dropped by more than 3,300 cases from a week earlier and was the lowest since the 8,570 cases reported on Jan. 25 in a steady downward trend in new infections. South Korea's

　Half of older adults in Seoul have no experience using digital kiosks, a survey showed, despite a rising number of businesses adopting such self-service electronic machines amid the pandemic. 　The poll released by the Seoul Digital Foundation, a digital arm of the city government, showed 45.8 percent of people aged 55 or older living in Seoul said they have used kiosk machines, compared with 94.1 percent of those aged less than 55. 　Noticeably, 29.4 percent of those aged between 65 and 74 ha

Hanwha Systems Co., the defense and ICT unit of South Korean conglomerate Hanwha Group, said Monday it has partnered with an Italian defense company to cooperate on the export of an advanced radar system as it eyes to further expand its overseas foothold. The memorandum of understanding signed with Leonardo S.p.A. commits the two firms to work on developing an integrated solution that combines Hanwha's active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar antenna devices with Leonardo's signal proces

More than 52 percent of South Koreans gave a positive assessment of President Yoon Suk-yeol's handling of state affairs in the first poll on Yoon's approval rating since he took office on May 10, the pollster Realmeter said Monday. In the poll of 2,528 people aged 18 or above nationwide conducted from Monday to Friday of last week, 52.1 percent said Yoon did a good job, while 40.6 percent said he did not. Yoon's approval rating was high among the ruling People Power Party (PPP) su

In meeting with first lady Kim Keon-hee for the first time this past weekend, US President Joe Biden had a few good words to say, according to sources Monday. Biden was greeted by first lady Kim Keon-hee when he arrived at the National Museum of Korea for a state dinner Saturday. He told President Yoon Suk-yeol and Kim the two men had something in common: Both had "married up." Kim said she hoped to see him again soon, and Biden replied that he hoped to meet her when she visited the Un

North Korea said Monday around 167,650 new cases of fever and another death have been confirmed, as the country stages what it calls an anti-epidemic war. More than 167,650 people showed symptoms of fever, with one additional death reported, over a 24-hour period until 6 p.m. the previous day, the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported, citing data from the state emergency epidemic prevention headquarters. The daily number of fever cases has remained below 200,000 for the second con

TOKYO (AFP) -- President Joe Biden arrived Sunday in Japan for the second leg of an Asia trip underlining US commitment to the region but overshadowed by concern that North Korea will test a nuclear weapon after ignoring Washington‘s attempt at outreach. Biden, making his first trip to Asia as president, flew from South Korea into Yokota Air Base outside Tokyo, where he will meet with Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and emperor on Monday, as well as unveiling a US-led multilat