Lawmakers from the ruling Democratic Party (DP) and the minor opposition Justice Party boycotted the confirmation hearing for Prime Minister nominee Han Duck-soo for the second day Tuesday, citing Han's failure to submit requested information. Although a legal deadline for the National Assembly to complete Han's confirmation hearing passed without a decision, the DP and the Justice Party asked the Assembly to reschedule a date for the hearing. Tuesday's hearing was adjourned about 30 minutes aft

TOKYO -- A South Korean delegation sent by President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol had a meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Tuesday, during which it appears to have delivered the incoming president's personal letter. The meeting was held at the prime minister's official residence in Tokyo, two days after the seven-member team, led by Rep. Chung Jin-suk of Yoon's conservative People Power Party, arrived here for "policy consultations" with Japanese officials ahead of the launch

DAEGU -- Ten current and former employees of the U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) are under investigation on charges of accepting bribes in exchange for jobs at an unidentified US Army base, with two of them in custody, police said Tuesday. The suspects, who were recruitment officers, were accused of receiving 175 million won ($140,000) from five South Koreans in return for hiring them between April 2018 and December 2020, according to the Daegu Metropolitan Police. They allegedly had the applicants' ca

The Cabinet on Tuesday approved the remaining 13.6 billion won ($10.9 million) in reserve government funds for President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol's plan to relocate the presidential office. The spending was approved about three weeks after the first 36 billion won was approved following the orders of outgoing President Moon Jae-in, who endorsed the plan after initially opposing it over concerns a hurried relocation could leave a "security vacuum." The new presidential office will be set up

Nationwide strikes by unionized city bus drivers were withdrawn or postponed in last-minute negotiations held just hours before and after the deadline on Tuesday. In Seoul, Busan and three other regions, unions of bus drivers and their employers reached deals on wage hikes at the last minute prior to the suspension of city bus services. Unionized drivers in Gyeonggi Province, which surrounds Seoul, and the southeastern city of Daegu decided to postpone strikes slated to begin Tuesday or Wednesda

South Korea's daily new coronavirus cases jumped to over 80,000 on Tuesday as most of the country's virus restrictions are lifted amid the slowdown of the omicron wave. The country added 80,361 new COVID-19 infections, including 16 cases from overseas, bringing the total caseload to 17,009,865, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA). Tuesday's tally is sharply up from 34,370 cases reported on Monday as the daily counts tend to fall on Mondays due to fewer tests on th

South Korea and the United States have signed their first bilateral document on joint space policy research, Seoul's defense ministry said Tuesday, in the allies' latest push to reinforce cooperation in the increasingly crucial security domain. Cho Yong-geun, the ministry's director of North Korea policy, and John D. Hill, US deputy assistant secretary of defense for space and missile defense, inked the document during a session of the Space Cooperation Working Group (SCWG) in Was

President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol has said he will "positively review" South Korea's joining of Quad, a US-led anti-China security partnership, if invited, according to a report. Yoon made the remark in a recent interview with The Wall Street Journal on Monday (US time), saying he does not expect South Korea to receive an invitation any time soon, but if approached, "will positively review joining." The Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (Quad) is made up of the United States, Austr

WASHINGTON -- Two individuals have been indicted for teaching North Koreans how to evade US sanctions using cryptocurrency, the US justice department revealed Monday. The department said one Spaniard and one British national have been charged in the Southern District of New York with "conspiring to violate US sanctions on the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK)," referring to North Korea by its official name. It said the two are suspected of having worked with a US citizen, Vi

WASHINGTON -- Religious freedom conditions in North Korea remain among the worst in the world, a US government commission said Monday, recommending the US government to designate North Korea as a country of particular concern. The US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) also called on the state department to bring up human rights issues when negotiating security issues with North Korea. "In 2021, religious freedom conditions in North Korea remained among the worst in the w

Foreign Minister nominee Park Jin ‘welcomes’ Japanese prime minister to attend inauguration

With the world slowly phasing into a post-COVID-19 pandemic era, Sollute Study Abroad Business Group is to arrange educational camps in Canada and New Zealand for teenagers this summer. Sollute Study Abroad Business Group is an education company that arranges camps for youths in English-speaking countries in partnership with local education offices and schools since 2014. Some 1,050 teenagers participated in camps arranged by the company until January 2020, before the pandemic hit the world.

Ahead of summer festival season, revelers welcome return of concerts as they were pre-pandemic

Young environmental activists across Asia discuss climate change in commemoration of Earth Day

Parties wrangle over review materials