Two men riding an e-scooter together without helmets were hit by an SUV in southern Seoul and died Thursday, police said. The SUV, driven by a man in his 40s, allegedly rammed into the two men on a road in a business area of the southern Gangnam district at 2:20 a.m., according to an initial police investigation. The victims, in their 20s, were rushed to a hospital but died soon after. The SUV driver was not under the influence of alcohol, police said. The Gangnam Police Station booked the SUV d

South Korea's military plans to revive the reference to North Korean ballistic missile tests as "provocations," informed sources said Thursday in an apparent reflection of the Yoon Suk-yeol administration's hard-line stance on the recalcitrant regime's military threats. The Joint Chiefs of Staff has decided to use the expression in its public announcements of future North Korean missile launches in line with new Defense Minister Lee Jong-sup's directive, according to the sources. The p

President Yoon Suk-yeol appointed Foreign Minister Park Jin and Interior Minister Lee Sang-min on Thursday, a presidential official said, amid a delay in their parliamentary confirmation process. The appointments will help meet the quorum for Yoon's first Cabinet meeting set for later in the day. Park is a lawmaker of the ruling People Power Party, and Lee is a former vice chief of the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission. (Yonhap)

The daily number of riders on the Seoul subway system breached the 7 million mark for the first time in 1 1/2 years, data showed Thursday, partly on the back of rollbacks of COVID-19 restrictions. According to the data from Seoul subway operator Seoul Metro, 7,210,000 people rode subway trains in the capital city on April 29, marking the most single-day riders since Oct. 30, 2020. An average of 7,320,000 riders used the Seoul subway system in a 24-hour period in 2019, the data showed. The averag

President Yoon Suk-yeol is likely to tap Hwang Joon-kook, a former ambassador to Britain, as his first ambassador to the United Nations, sources said Thursday. Hwang is a former career member of the foreign service with years of experience handling the North Korean nuclear issue. He served as head of a supporters' association for Yoon during the presidential campaign. Under the Park Geun-hye administration, Hwang served as chief negotiator for defense cost-sharing negotiations with the United St

Candidate registration began Thursday for the June 1 local elections and parliamentary by-elections amid expectations that the results could serve as an early bellwether for the new government of President Yoon Suk-yeol. The National Election Commission (NEC) will receive candidacy registration on Thursday and Friday before the official 13-day campaign period kicks off May 19. Up for grabs in the local elections are mayoral and gubernatorial posts, local council seats and education board chiefs

Police have launched an investigation into allegations that former Culture Minister Hwang Hee took political funds from a state utility agency in return for facilitating business favors, officials said Thursday. Hwang, a two-term lawmaker of the main opposition Democratic Party, allegedly received a total of 10 million won ($7,818) in political funds from an executive of Korea Water Resources Corp. (K-water) between 2019 and 2020 after a legislative bill proposed by him was approved a year earli

WASHINGTON -- The UN Security Council (UNSC) convened an emergency meeting Wednesday to discuss North Korea's recent missile provocations but failed to produce a tangible outcome due to opposition from China and Russia. The special session of the 15-member council came at the request of the US, which condemned North Korea's recent missile tests as "a blatant violation of multiple Security Council resolutions." "Let's be clear. The DPRK is not undertaking its activities defensively

WASHINGTON -- The United States stands prepared to engage in any kind of diplomacy or dialogue with North Korea, White House policy coordinator for Asia Kurt Campbell said Wednesday. He also said the new South Korean government of Yoon Suk-yeol is determined to work closely with the US. "I will also just note that we have a new partner, a new president in South Korea that is determined, working with the United States, to be very clearly engaged in deterring and sending a strong message of p

WASHINGTON -- The sole US intent toward North Korea is to see its complete denuclearization, a state department spokesperson said Wednesday, again dismissing Pyongyang's accusation of hostile US intent toward the impoverished country. Ned Price also reiterated that the US and its allies, including South Korea, only seek to denuclearize the Korean Peninsula through peaceful dialogue. "We have made very clear that we are willing to engage in good faith diplomacy with the DPRK. We do so, of co

Tuesday did not just mark the start of a new government led by President Yoon Suk-yeol. It also marked the first official debut -- at least in the eyes of the public -- of first lady Kim Keon-hee, who has been ostensibly missing on the campaign trail. Kim, 49, has been keeping a low profile for months after being embroiled in various controversies surrounding her past, including an allegation that she falsified credentials to take a part-time lecturer seat at a local university. She delivered

World-renowned marine biologist calls for stopping overfishing, recognizing true cost and value of ocean wildlife

JENIN, Palestinian Territories -- Veteran Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Aqleh was shot dead Wednesday as she covered an Israeli army raid on Jenin refugee camp in the occupied West Bank. The Qatar-based TV channel said Israeli forces shot Abu Aqleh, 51, deliberately and "in cold blood" while Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said it was "likely" that Palestinian gunfire killed her. Abu Aqleh, a Palestinian Christian who also held US citizenship, was a prominent fig

Seoul should make clear priorities and pursue balance between the two powers, experts say

The Korea Herald and the Embassy of Bangladesh in South Korea have signed a memorandum of understanding agreeing to increase people-to-people exchanges through media cooperation. The signing ceremony was held at The Korea Herald office in Yongsan-gu, Seoul, on Wednesday with Bangladesh Ambassador to Korea Delwar Hossain and The Korea Herald CEO Choi Jin-young in attendance. Bangladesh is committed to strengthening bilateral relations, particularly economic relations with Korea, and explore eme