Former President Park Geun-hye openly endorsed a key aide for mayor of her hometown of Daegu in June's local elections Friday, in her first political move since returning to her hometown last month following a presidential pardon. Park, who was pardoned in December after spending four years and nine months in prison on a 22-year sentence for corruption, appeared in a YouTube video to declare her support to lawyer Yoo Yeong-ha of the People Power Party (PPP), who is considered her closest aide. &

INCHEON/JEJU -- A Coast Guard helicopter crashed in waters off South Korea's southernmost island of Mara on Friday, leaving two crewmen dead and another missing, officials said. Four people were aboard the Sikorsky S-92 helicopter when it went down in waters 370 kilometers southwest of Mara Island at 1:32 a.m., officials said. Of them, a co-pilot, identified by his surname Chung, 51, and a vessel radar operator, surnamed Hwang, 28, were killed, and a mechanic, surnamed Cha, 42, went missing. Its

WASHINGTON -- North Korea's recent missile provocations and statement from leader Kim Jong-un's sister about the possible use of nuclear weapons are highly "choreographed" tactics to create an acquiescent South Korea, a US intelligence official said Thursday. Sydney Seiler, national intelligence officer for North Korea at the National Intelligence Council, also said the North uses US-South Korea joint military drills as a pretext for its provocations while it continues to conduct much

WASHINGTON -- The United States and its allies must resolutely pursue a complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearization (CVID) of North Korea, the nominee for US ambassador to South Korea said Thursday. Philip Goldberg also said North Korea may stage additional provocations amid suspicions that Pyongyang may be preparing to conduct a nuclear test. "Comprehensive, verifiable, irreversible denuclearization -- those are difficult goals, but they fit very well with our non-proliferation

South Korea and China can overcome their differences over the former's hosting of a US THAAD anti-missile system, Beijing's top envoy here said Thursday, noting the thorny issue has hurt public sentiment in both countries. Amb. Xing Haiming made the remarks during a forum amid concerns the THAAD issue could resurface as a thorn in bilateral ties, as South Korean President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol advocated for the deployment of additional THAAD units during his campaign. "As bilateral ties hav

US investor Jim Rogers is in the city of Paju, Gyeonggi Province, which includes a portion of the Demilitarized Zone that divides North and South Korea, where he was previously tapped to become an inter-Korean project cooperation adviser. Rogers arrived in South Korea on Tuesday and was scheduled to sign the related agreement the following day. In an email interview Wednesday, Rogers expressed hopes for possible peace and exchanges despite the ongoing tug-of-war between the two countries, in

South Korean left’s claims of news media colluding with prosecutors go long way back

As South Koreans push to break free of the pandemic’s long grip, Incheon Airport, the country’s main international gateway, is gearing up for the long-awaited return of air travelers. Although not quite to pre-pandemic levels yet, passengers were seen forming lines in front of certain airline counters on Wednesday, including South Korean flag carrier Asiana Airlines. However, many were unattended, with no flights scheduled. On Wednesday, usually one of the quietest days of th

Request for prime minister nominee hearing submitted Thursday

1 in 2 children under 10 have had a COVID infection

New floor leader to work with Yoon government and pursue merger before local elections

Yoon’s transition committee reviews inviting BTS at inauguration ceremony

Police have referred about 30 employees of the battery maker SK Innovation Co. to the prosecution on charges of stealing electric vehicle technology secrets from rival firm LG Energy Solution Ltd., officials said Thursday. They were among about 100 former LG employees, who moved to SK between 2017 and 2019 and sparked a trade secrets dispute between the two companies. LG claimed SK scouted its employees to gain trade secrets on EV batteries after coming late to the market. LG took the case to th

President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol was en route to the US military base Camp Humphreys in Pyeongtaek on Thursday, his spokesperson said, as tensions have been running high over North Korea's nuclear and missile programs. The base, located some 70 kilometers south of Seoul, serves as the headquarters of the 28,500-strong US Forces Korea. His visit comes as North Korea has ratcheted up tensions by conducting an intercontinental ballistic missile test last month. (Yonhap)

South Korea's state intelligence agency said Thursday it has started providing real-time information on hacking attempts to the country's major cryptocurrency exchanges amid growing cyberthreats. The country's major crypto exchanges -- Upbit, Bithumb, Korbit and Coinone -- now have access to the agency's information on online security threats, such as the Internet Protocol (IP) addresses of the hacking attempts, according to the National Intelligence Service. It stressed the importance of tackli