President Moon Jae-in, in his final days in office, is set to hold his last Cabinet meeting Tuesday, in a bid to promulgate two controversial bills on prosecution reform. The Cabinet meeting will be held at 4 p.m., hours after the ruling Democratic Party (DP) railroaded the last-remaining bill on prosecution reform through the National Assembly amid opposition protest, completing its push to reduce and ultimately remove the prosecution's investigative powers. One of the laws is aimed at limiting

The ruling Democratic Party railroaded the last-remaining bill on prosecution reform through the National Assembly amid opposition protest Tuesday, completing its push to reduce and ultimately remove the prosecution's investigative powers. The revision to the Criminal Procedure Act, the remaining half of the ruling DP's prosecution reform legislation, was passed in a 164-3 vote, with seven abstentions in just three minutes after the opening of a parliamentary plenary session. The revision calls

　Phishing scams involving instant messages in South Korea spiked in 2021 due to increased not-in-person activities amid the coronavirus pandemic, data showed. 　The amount in damages from messenger phishing came to 99.1 billion won ($80.3 million) last year, up 166 percent from the previous year, according to the data from the Financial Supervisory Service. 　The figure accounted for nearly 59 percent of last year‘s total damages of 168.2 billion won resulting from phishing. 　Phishing is

South Korea's new COVID-19 cases rose to over 50,000 on Tuesday from a nearly three-month low the previous day, as the country has sought to regain normalcy amid a recent gradual decrease in infections. The country reported 51,131 new COVID-19 infections, including 45 from overseas, bringing the total caseload to 17,346,753, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said. Tuesday's count more than doubled from the previous day's 20,084. But it was still a marked drop from a week ear

South Korea and the United States plan to kick off regular combined air force drills next week, informed sources said Tuesday, in yet another move to highlight their defense posture especially against North Korea's evolving missile threats. The allies are set to begin the two-week Korea Flying Training on Monday, the eve of the inauguration of President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol, who has vowed to bolster the Seoul-Washington security alliance under his slogan of "peace through strength."

The chief nuclear envoys of South Korea and China met in Seoul on Tuesday to discuss security situations on the Korean Peninsula amid concerns about North Korea's growing nuclear and missile threats. Liu Xiaoming, Beijing's special representative on Korean Peninsula affairs, was on his first visit to Seoul since assuming the post in April 2021 at a time of heightened tensions over Pyongyang's recent spate of missile launches and reported signs of preparations for another nuclear test. In his fir

WASHINGTON -- The US-South Korea alliance is an incredibly important relationship that is vital to many issues in the region and around the world, a White House spokesperson said Monday of reasons for President Joe Biden's planned trip to Seoul. Jen Psaki also noted North Korea will be a "prominent part" of the agenda for Biden's upcoming trip that will also take him to Japan. "I would note that we have an incredibly important, vital relationship with South Korea. We work on a ran

WASHINGTON -- The United States is continuing to closely monitor North Korea for signs of additional provocations while sharing such intelligence with South Korea, a US Department of Defense spokesperson said Monday. John Kirby said the US is also always looking for ways to get better information about the reclusive country. US Indo-Pacific Command was ordered to intensify its intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) collection activities in waters near the Korean Peninsula in early M

South Korea and Ecuador are complimentary economies with potential for wider cooperation, Ecuadorian Ambassador Adrian Kao said in a recent interview with The Korea Herald. “There is a natural fit for deeper engagement between Ecuador and Korea,” Kao said, inviting Korean companies and institutions to consider Ecuador as a partner and to invest in Ecuador. Kao said that more than 20 Korean companies operated in Ecuador in infrastructure construction, consulting, natural resources,

Police raided the headquarters of Woori Bank, one of South Korea's largest commercial banks, on Monday as one of the bank's employees is suspected of embezzling more than 60 billion won ($47 million).    Police confiscated computers and documents of the employee during the four-hour raid, officials said.    According to the bank, the employee, who has worked at Woori Bank for more than 10 years, took out a total of 61.45 billion won through three withdrawals, in 2012, 201

The transition team of President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol denied allegations Monday that Yoon's wife ordered the foreign minister's wife to leave her residence while she took a look inside to determine whether it was fit for a presidential residence.    Rep. Woo Sang-ho of the ruling Democratic Party made the claim on TBS radio Monday, saying the wife of Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong had to stand outside in the garden while Yoon's wife, Kim Keon-hee, toured the top diplomat's official r

More than 70 percent of Earth’s surface is covered by oceans, which play a vital role in sustaining life for all on this planet. In the face of climate change, the ocean is the center of many life-threatening challenges such as rising sea levels, water scarcity and changes in sea temperature. This year, Herald Corp. will host the second edition of H.eco Forum, an annual event focused on environmental issues, on Nodeul Island on May 26, under the theme of “The Climate Crisis and

President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol’s transition committee on Monday met with family of a Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries official who was shot dead by North Korean troops near the western sea border on Sept. 21, 2020. Ahn Cheol-soo, the chief of the presidential transition committee, spoke with the official’s older brother Lee Rae-jin and an attorney representing his family at around 12: p.m. at the committee’s office in Jongno, central Seoul. In a letter delivered to Ahn on Mo

President Moon Jae-in says he believes Korea’s experience in forest restoration and international forest cooperation can contribute to sustainable forest management around the world, in a message to mark Seoul’s hosting of the 15th World Forestry Congress, He suggested three ways in which Korea would contribute to the international community. “First, we will actively participate in the international community’s efforts to restore tropical and subtropical forests and

UN secretary-general, heads of various international organizations to attend meeting