Seoul prosecutors believe onetime presidential hopeful and Democratic Party of Korea head Rep. Lee Jae-myung planned a solo trip to North Korea while he was still the governor of Gyeonggi Province, which neighbors Seoul. According to the indictment the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office submitted to the National Assembly on Thursday, after then-Gyeonggi Gov. Lee was excluded from the 2018 inter-Korea summit, the provincial office planned for him to travel to North Korea separately.

The presidential office announced on Friday that there would not be a joint concert of K-pop girl group Blackpink and American pop star Lady Gaga during President Yoon Suk Yeol's upcoming state visit to the United States. In a written statement, the office clarified that the performance being reported in the media is not included in the president's official schedule for his visit to the United States. The statement did not provide any further explanation for the decision. The announcem

Grandson says Chun Doo-hwan was ‘criminal, murderer’

President Yoon Suk Yeol's approval rating has dropped to its lowest level in about four months, as negative public opinion has continued to emerge after his summit in Japan with Prime Minister Fumio Kishida. Gallup Korea asked 1,000 people between March 28-30 whether they thought President Yoon was doing his job well, and the result was 30 percent positive and 60 percent negative. Compared to a week ago, positive evaluation decreased by 4 percentage points and negative evaluation increased

Four richest Assembly members worth at least W50b each

Prosecutors filed for a warrant Friday to arrest Cho Hyun-chun, a former head of the now-defunct Defense Security Command, over the suspected masterminding of a martial law plan while the then President Park Geun-hye faced an impeachment trial in 2017. The Seoul Western District Prosecutors Office raised abuse of authority and political meddling charges against Cho as it applied for the warrant. The 64-year-old former military commander was apprehended Wednesday upon his arrival at Incheon Inter

Corruption erodes freedom, putting democracy at greater risk, President Yoon Suk Yeol said Thursday, at a meeting South Korea co-hosted to bolster ties among global democracies against authoritarian rule. The speech -- given in person on the second day of the Summit for Democracy, a two-day US-led gathering that started Wednesday with a videoconference of world leaders -- marks South Korea’s latest push to rally behind US efforts to regroup democracies in the Indo-Pacific region against a

Rep. Kim Sang-hee of the main opposition Democratic Party on Thursday proposed a parliamentary resolution denouncing Japan's controversial textbooks and its sovereignty claim of South Korea's easternmost Dokdo islets. The resolution warns that the Japanese government's distorted perception of history could significantly hurt trust between South Korea and Japan and urges Tokyo to apologize over its past wrongdoings. The proposal came after Tokyo's approval of new textbooks tha

Ex-ambassador to US Ahn Ho-young says Seoul must enhance its own defense capabilities, not just rely on the US

South Korea’s main opposition on Wednesday rallied for President Yoon Suk Yeol to fire his foreign policy chiefs over the controversial updates to Japanese textbooks unveiled the day before. The Democratic Party of Korea blamed the “humiliating concessions” the president made in his recent summit in Tokyo for the revisions in Japan’s history education. Japan’s Education Ministry announced Tuesday the new curriculum guidelines that touched on some of the historical d

Rumors say Korean officials scolded for not responding to White House's proposal of Lady Gaga-Blackpink collaboration

Prosecutors arrested Cho Hyun-chun, a former head of the now-defunct Defense Security Command, upon his arrival in South Korea on Wednesday, more than five years after he fled to the United States over suspected masterminding of a martial law plan. Officials from the Seoul Western District Prosecutors Office apprehended the 64-year-old former commander at Incheon International Airport and transferred him to the office for investigation. Cho allegedly instructed a task force he formed in February

The defense chiefs of South Korea and Vietnam agreed Tuesday to establish regular ministerial talks and strengthen defense cooperation in various fields between the two countries. During their meeting in Seoul, South Korean Defense Minister Lee Jong-sup and his Vietnamese counterpart, Phan Van Giang, acknowledged the need to advance defense cooperation in light of the changing security environment and the upgraded bilateral relationship, which was elevated to a comprehensive strategic partners

Four high-level officials of a South Korean umbrella labor union were arrested Tuesday, in the latest development in a widening investigation into suspected North Korean espionage. In a statement Tuesday, investigative and intelligence authorities said they found “substantial evidence” to suspect the labor union officials of working with North Korean spies. In January, police and the intelligence service together searched the homes and offices of the four labor union officials and fo

The parliamentary confirmation hearings of new Constitutional Court Justice nominees kicked off Tuesday to replace two outgoing justices. Conservatives hope that the new nominees -- Judge Kim Hyung-du of Seoul High Court and Jeong Jeong-mi of Daejeon High Court, nominated by Supreme Court Chief Justice Kim Myeong-su earlier in March -- would balance out what they see as the Constitutional Court's progressive tilt. Nominee Kim told the Legislation and Judiciary Committee at the National Asse