Japanese FM expected to bring his prime minister’s personal letter to Yoon

Upcoming administration is expected make adjustments to the country’s return to normal scheme

Outgoing president proud of pandemic measures, industrial competitiveness but has regrets on NK

The two walk similar, yet different paths after losing big elections

First Cabinet meeting scheduled for Thursday as hearings remain unfinished

South Korean Industry Minister nominee Lee Chang-yang vowed Monday to utilize nuclear power as a tool for the country's energy security and zero-emission goals and to actively support its exports. During a parliamentary confirmation hearing, Lee, a professor at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, stressed his vision of seeking balanced energy use for the best interest of the people and nurturing such key industry fields as chips and batteries by easing regulations and support

The incoming Yoon Suk-yeol government is likely to hold its first Cabinet session this week to approve an extra budget proposal aimed at compensating pandemic-hit small merchants, officials said Monday. The meeting will likely be held at the new presidential office in Yongsan in Seoul with the participation of a mix of outgoing and incoming Cabinet members due to delays in the parliamentary confirmation process. "We're working to make a Cabinet meeting possible on Thursday in order to pass

South Korea's new coronavirus cases fell Monday, a week after the government lifted the outdoor mask mandate in the latest attempt to return to pre-pandemic normalcy amid a downward trend in COVID-19 cases. The country added 20,601 new COVID-19 infections, including 19 cases from overseas, bringing the total caseload to 17,564,999, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA). The tally is down from 40,064 on Sunday and 39,600 on Saturday. The daily count tends to fal

The National Assembly on Monday adopted a confirmation hearing report on Defense Minister nominee Lee Jong-sup, a day before President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol takes office. The parliamentary defense committee unanimously approved Lee's nomination following last week's hearing, saying he has leadership and plenty of experience and expertise on national defense policies and military operations. Lee, a former three-star Army general, graduated from the Korea Military Academy and served as the Joint Chi

North Korea again called Monday for stepped-up efforts to prevent the spread of COVID-19 amid growing cases of fever patients there, while the secretive nation has claimed to be coronavirus free. South Korea's spy agency said earlier that a temporary lockdown imposed in the North last Wednesday is suspected to have been related to COVID-19, though it also raised the possibility of an outbreak of waterborne diseases, such as typhoid. The Rodong Sinmun, an organ of the ruling Workers' Party, urged

Incoming President Yoon Suk-yeol will hold meetings Monday with foreign delegates visiting South Korea to attend his inauguration this week, his office said. Yoon will meet separately with British Minister of State for Asia and the Middle East Amanda Milling; Sodiq Safoyev, first deputy chairperson of Uzbekistan's Senate; and former Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama. The meetings will come a day before Yoon is set to be sworn in as South Korea's new president. Other high-level guests attend

More than half of single 20-somethings in South Korea do not want to have babies after marriage due apparently to concerns over high child-rearing costs in the country, a poll showed Monday. According to a survey reported in a monthly economic journal by the state-run Korea Development Institute, 52.4 percent of unmarried Koreans in their 20s think it is OK not to have children after tying the knot. The percentage is sharply up from 23.3 percent in the same survey conducted five years earlier. I

Incoming President Yoon Suk-yeol will begin his term at midnight Monday at an underground bunker set up at his office building by receiving a briefing from the Joint Chiefs of Staff as the commander-in-chief, an official said. Yoon will be briefed by phone in the underground bunker of the new presidential office in Yongsan, which will serve as the situation room of the national crisis management center. "He will receive his first phone briefing from the JCS command and control center upon t

South Korea’s daily COVID-19 cases for Saturday rebounded week-on-week for the first time in around six weeks, government data showed Sunday. According to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, the country added 40,064 new COVID-19 infections during the 24 hours of Saturday. The total caseload came to 17,544,398. The daily figure on Saturday was up from 37,771 cases on Saturday a week ago. It was the first time in 46 days that the daily COVID-19 infections increased week-on-we

Cecile Ndjebet, an international women’s rights advocate from Cameroon, has won the 2022 Wangari Maathai Forest Champions Award, the Korea Forest Service said Sunday. The award ceremony was held on Thursday, as part of the 15th World Forestry Congress in Seoul. This year’s award was given to Ndjebet in recognition of her decadeslong efforts in promoting women’s participation in forest preservation, as well as their rights to land and forests, said Maria Helena Semedo, the Foo