The head of a cryptocurrency exchange has been indicted for allegedly colluding with a military officer and leaking military secrets, including login information for the military‘s command and control system, to a presumed North Korean agent in exchange for money, officials said Thursday. 　The head of the exchange, surnamed Lee, was charged with allegedly violating the National Security Act after he was found to have made contact with the purported spy in July of last year and later hel

Woori Bank came under scrutiny for an internal control failure Thursday, after an employee confessed to embezzlement of 50 billion won ($39.4 million). The employee is currently in police custody and investigators are looking to probe the lender’s headquarters to verify the suspect’s statement and seize evidence. The Financial Supervisory Service, the nation’s financial watchdog, said it will launch an investigation into the case as well, having received reports about it a

The Supreme Court on Thursday upheld the convictions of adoptive parents who appealed charges of child abuse and neglect that resulted in the death of their 16-month-old daughter, known by the name Jeong-in. The court approved the convictions against the parents from a lower court and confirmed their jail terms. The mother, whose charges include fatally injuring the victim, was sentenced to 35 years. The father was given five years for neglect. Jeong-in died Oct. 13, 2020 from multiple injur

Earliest-ever Korea-US summit to take place after Korean president’s inauguration

Anticipated lifting of outdoor mask mandate up in the air as President-elect Yoon’s transition team says no

Filibuster stopped as Democratic Party uses early closure

Revelation adds support to calls for abolishing Gender Equality Ministry

The inauguration of South Korea’s new government in May will be an opportunity to assess the current state of South Korea-China relations and seek further development in the future. President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol presented his plans to turn South Korea into a global pivotal state during his election campaign. He has also declared that strengthening the US-South Korea alliance and South Korea-China relations are simultaneously achievable goals. Since South Korea and China established

The South Korean government called Thursday on North Korea to refrain from escalating tensions in the region, responding to a threat by its leader Kim Jong-un to strengthen the regime's nuclear capabilities. "Our government and the international community have maintained the stance that North Korea should stop all acts that heighten tensions, including the advancement of its nuclear capabilities, and to return to the negotiating table," a unification ministry official said. South Korea

The Supreme Court on Thursday upheld lower courts' acquittal of a former judge accused of meddling in several politically sensitive trials during the previous administration. The top court confirmed a not guilty verdict by a district court and an appellate court for Lim Seong-geun, a former senior justice of the Seoul High Court who was indicted in 2019 on charges of abuse of power and obstruction of another person's exercise of right for allegedly meddling in several trials between 2015 and 201

The ruling Democratic Party has forcefully ended the main opposition People Power Party's filibuster designed to block a controversial prosecution reform bill, sending the bill to a plenary vote later this week. As soon as a plenary National Assembly session opened Wednesday afternoon, the PPP immediately launched the filibuster to block the passage of the legislation that would reduce and ultimately abolish the prosecution's investigative powers. But the filibuster ended at midnight as the DP,

President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol plans to attend the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, in January next year, his spokesperson said Thursday. Yoon expressed his intention to attend the forum in Davos after receiving an invitation from World Economic Forum Chairman Klaus Schwab during their meeting Wednesday, according to Yoon's spokesperson Bae Hyun-jin. The WEF organizes an annual forum in Davos where the world's political and economic leaders gather to discuss

South Korea plans to send part of its liquefied natural gas (LNG) supplies to Europe to help ease an energy crisis over Russia's invasion of Ukraine, officials said Thursday. Concerns have grown over natural gas supply disruptions in Europe amid the ongoing crisis surrounding Ukraine, as Russia is the biggest provider of gas to Europe. On Wednesday, Russia's state-owned gas producer Gazprom said it had cut off natural gas supplies to Poland and Bulgaria after the nations refused to pay for shipm

GIMPO -- A North Korean defectors' group has sent 20 big balloons carrying propaganda leaflets, including those on the news of Yoon Suk-yeol's election as president, to North Korea across the western inter-Korean border, the group said Thursday. Some 1 million anti-Pyongyang leaflets were sent over to North Korea in the latest leaflet campaign carried out in Gimpo, west of Seoul, on Monday-Tuesday, the Fighters for Free North Korea (FFNK) said in a press release. Some of the leaflets were carr

Discussions have been under way between South Korea and the United States to arrange a meeting between outgoing President Moon Jae-in and US President Joe Biden when Biden visits Seoul next month for summit talks with incoming President Yoon Suk-yeol, an official said Thursday. Yoon, who is set to take office on May 10, and Biden will hold their first summit in Seoul on May 21, Yoon's officials said. Biden plans to visit South Korea from May 20-22. South Korea and the US have been discussing a m