The incoming administration of President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol will maintain the current government structure, including the gender ministry, as it seeks to focus on addressing pending state affairs, transition team Chairman Ahn Cheol-soo said Thursday. Ahn said the transition team will announce a nominee for gender minister when it unveils a list of candidates for ministers. "It was judged that it would be better to focus on current state affairs rather than making an early decision and push

South Korea's new coronavirus cases remained in the 200,000s for the third consecutive day on Thursday as the government is considering lifting social distancing rules in a step toward people's return to normalcy. The country reported 224,820 new COVID-19 infections, including 40 cases from overseas, bringing the total caseload to 14,778,405, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said. The public health agency reported 348 new COVID-19 deaths, raising the total death toll to 1

South Korea's top diplomat had one-on-one talks with his Swedish and Finnish counterparts in Brussels on bilateral ties, the war in Ukraine and Korean Peninsula affairs, Seoul's foreign ministry said Thursday. Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong is on a visit there to attend a meeting of North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) foreign ministers. He is the first South Korean foreign minister to join such a high-profile NATO session, as the country has been invited as an Asia-Pacific partner of the

Brunei on Thursday expressed support for South Korea's push to join a mega free trade deal in the Asia-Pacific region, Seoul's trade ministry said. Brunei's second finance minister, Mohd Amin Liew Abdullah, voiced the support during a virtual meeting with South Korea's Trade Minister Yeo Han-koo. The meeting came as South Korea is working to submit an application this month for membership to the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), according to the Minis

　The global pandemic has deepened social isolation to an all-time high in South Korea, according to a “2021 National Quality of Life Report” released by Statistics Korea.  　The social isolation level last year was 34.1 percent, up 6.4 percentage points from 2019 (27.7 percent) before the spread of the coronavirus. This is the highest level since statistics began being compiled in 2009. 　Attendance at cultural and arts events decreased from 8.4 times in 2019 to 4.5 in 2020. L

WASHINGTON -- The United States is in constant consultation with South Korea to ensure the allies have adequate capabilities to counter any aggression from North Korea and will continue to do so, Department of Defense spokesperson John Kirby said Wednesday. The Pentagon press secretary, however, declined to comment on whether the US may consider deploying strategic military assets to South Korea to help prevent further provocations by the North. "We are going to continue to work with our So

WASHINGTON -- The United States and its allies are prepared to deal with any further provocations by North Korea, US special envoy for North Korea said Wednesday, noting the recalcitrant state may conduct a nuclear test in the future. Sung Kim also urged the North to return to dialogue, saying the US is prepared to discuss "any concerns" it may have. "I don't want to speculate too much, but I think it could be another missile launch. It could be a nuclear test," Kim said when

WASHINGTON -- The United States seeks to ensure peace and security in the Indo-Pacific region partly by reinvigorating its trilateral cooperation with South Korea and Japan, US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman said Wednesday. Sherman also highlighted the importance of the Indo-Pacific region, noting it is home to more than half of the global population and over 60 percent of the global economy. "The United States is a proud Indo-Pacific nation. Our future is entwined more closely wit

A performance by K-pop sensation BTS is not being planned for President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol’s inauguration ceremony next month, the presidential transition committee said Wednesday, denying an earlier remark by an ex-lawmaker involved in the ceremony preparation. “We have made no proposal or contact with BTS’ agency in relation to the inaugural ceremony,” the public relations office of the transition committee said in a message to the media. It added the remarks from

Transition team Chairman Ahn Cheol-soo on Wednesday called for China‘s cooperation for stability on the Korean Peninsula, as he met with Beijing’s top envoy to Seoul. Ahn and Ambassador Xing Haiming met at the transition team‘s office and discussed bilateral relations at a time of heightened tension surrounding North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs. “One of my concerns is that North Korea (recently) test-launched an intercontinental ballistic missile and sig

Han Dong-hoon, a senior prosecutor considered a close associate of President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol, was cleared Wednesday of attempted coercion charges in a highly-watched blackmail case involving a liberal television commentator, officials said. The Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office cleared the charges for Han, vice head of the Judicial Research & Training Institute, on the grounds of insufficient evidence, about two years after the probe was launched. Han was accused of b

Seoul sees accidental conflict with North Korea as prone to happen in foreseeable future

President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol’s delegation discussed the possible deployment of US strategic assets on the Korean Peninsula with US national security adviser Jake Sullivan, as they agreed on the need for extended deterrence against Pyongyang’s nuclear threats, the chief delegate said Tuesday. In their 40-minute meeting in Washington, the delegation and the US side recognized North Korea’s development of nuclear weapons as threats, and agreed on strengthening the bilateral all

Marathon TV viewing may help relieve stress of quarantine, but there are dangers

The Education Ministry’s decision to maintain a ban on students with COVID-19 from taking midterm exams has drawn backlash, with students and parents voicing concerns that missing out on the exams could put them at a disadvantage. “It is rather fortunate that our whole family already had COVID-19,” a high school student who attends a school in northern Seoul said. “It would be frustrating to miss the midterms as I had messed up on the previous one,” said the hig