South Korea said Friday it plans to open temporary settlement lines between local banks and their units in Russia in a bid to help local firms facing difficulties in trade financing due to global sanctions against Russia. The government plans to support swift trade financing-related payments for local companies as Woori Bank and Hana Bank are set to open ad hoc settlement accounts with their affiliates in Russia, according to the Financial Services Commission (FSC). The move is aimed at minimizi

South Korea's Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Park In-ho will meet the chief of the US Space Command here later this week to discuss North Korea's long-range rocket development and other security issues, his office said Friday. Park and Gen. James Dickinson are set to hold talks at the Gyeryongdae military headquarters, 160 kilometers south of Seoul, on Saturday, as the allies are striving to bolster combined defense in the wake of the North's continued missile launches. They are expected to discu

President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol aims to open Cheong Wa Dae to the public "before spring flowers wither," Yoon's spokesperson said Friday, suggesting that the compound would be turned into a public place before Yoon's inauguration in May. Kim Eun-hye, Yoon's spokesperson, made the remarks as Yoon and his transition team is considering relocating the presidential office to either the foreign ministry building in Gwanghwamun or the defense ministry compound in Yongsan. "We will return

A professor and students of Ewha Womans University's College of Music will begin holding lunchtime concerts every weekday in front of the Russian Embassy in central Seoul next week to wish for peace in Ukraine, officials said Friday. The concert series, titled "Small Concert for Peace," will kick off at 12:30 p.m. Monday with 20 to 30 minutes of performances by a cello quartet of professor Bae Il-hwan and three student cellists, officials said. The concerts will take place at the same

The UN special rapporteur on North Korea's human rights has repeated his call for the international community to send enough COVID-19 vaccines to the reclusive country, a report showed Friday. Tomas Ojea Quintana described it as a "new way" to engage with the North in his report on its human rights situation to be submitted to the UN Human Rights Council next week, with his six-year term ending in August. "A new way of thinking needs to take hold," the report read. "This

South Korea's new COVID-19 cases hit above 400,000 on Friday, led by the wave of the highly transmissible omicron variant, amid the government's steps to shift away from rigorous social distancing. The country reported 407,017 new COVID-19 infections, including 39 from overseas, raising the total caseload to 8,657,609, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said. The latest tally is a sharp drop from the all-time high of 621,328 on Thursday, but the Thursday count had included

Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum said the opening of a landmark bridge in Turkey will serve as a good opportunity to display South Korea's technology and financing system as he arrived in the transcontinental country to strengthen diplomatic and economic ties. The 1915 Canakkale Bridge, which straddles the Dardanelles strait in northwestern Turkey, is the world's longest suspension bridge, with a 2,023-meter span between its towers, built by a consortium comprised of South Korea's SK ecoplant and DL

The government will ease the limit on private gatherings to eight people from the current six while maintaining the 11 p.m. business curfew, Health Minister Kwon Deok-cheol said Friday. Kwon made the announcement as South Korea has been weighing the option of further relaxing the virus restrictions amid the fast spread of the highly transmissible omicron variant. The measures will take effect Monday. On Thursday, the country reported 621,328 new COVID-19 cases, the largest daily count since it r

President-elect wants the presidential office moved out of Cheong Wa Dae, but many hurdles are in the way, including attacks from unhappy opponents

ATLANTA -- A year after the fatal shootings at three Georgia massage businesses, crowds gathered at rallies across the country Wednesday to remember the victims and denounce anti-Asian violence that has risen sharply in recent years. Six women of Asian descent were among the eight people killed in and near Atlanta on March 16, 2021. The slayings contributed to fear and anger among Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders and motivated many to join the fight against the rising hostility. At the Atla

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Federal Reserve launched a high-risk effort Wednesday to tame the worst inflation since the early 1980s, raising its benchmark short-term interest rate and signaling up to six additional rate hikes this year. The Fed's quarter-point hike in its key rate, which it had pinned near zero since the pandemic recession struck two years ago, marks the start of its effort to curb the high inflation that followed the recovery from the recession. The rate hikes will eventually mean h

KYIV, Ukraine -- Ukraine accused Russia Thursday of bombing a theatre that was sheltering more than 1,000 civilians in the city of Mariupol, after US President Joe Biden branded Vladimir Putin a "war criminal." The latest assaults on civilians across Ukraine came as President Volodymyr Zelensky made a searing appeal for help to the US, which responded by pledging $1 billion in new weapons to fight Russia's invading army. Officials across Ukraine are struggling to count the civilian dea

Top psychiatrist sparks debate after giving advice to ‘correct’ gender-nonconforming children

Cases shoot past government projections

President Moon Jae-in on Thursday expressed concerns over further disruption of global supply chains, as China's COVID-19 lockdowns sent ripples through the global auto industry. Moon instructed officials to come up with thorough measures to prepare for disruptions of supply chains after being briefed about difficulties facing South Korea's auto-parts industry from lockdowns in some Chinese regions, presidential spokesperson Park Kyung-mee said in a statement. A sharp rise in COVID-19