President Yoon Suk Yeol said Wednesday that South Korea should conform its labor and regulatory policies to global standards in order to survive in the competitive global market. “Unless we align our system with global standards (in regard to) regulation and labor, (global companies) will not invest in our country and it will be difficult for Korean companies to compete in the global market,” Yoon told his ministers at the meeting on Wednesday. The remark came at the meeting held aft

Vice Unification Minister Kim Ki-woong called on North Korea on Sunday to halt provocations and return to dialogue, saying Seoul stands by its offers for talks. Kim made the remark during a memorial service in Imjingak, Paju, just south of the inter-Korean border, held by people whose ancestors are in North Korea, to mark the Lunar New Year. "The North Korean authorities must immediately halt provocations that threaten the survival of our people and respond to our government's offers f

President Yoon Suk Yeol and first lady Kim Keon Hee on Saturday offered Lunar New Year greetings to the people, renewing his commitment to vitalize people's livelihoods and take care of vulnerable people. In a video message, Yoon said the government "will take care of our needy neighbors more warmly and meticulously in the new year." Despite grim economic outlooks at home and abroad, Yoon said the government will make utmost efforts for a "new leap" this year. Yoon also

President Yoon Suk Yeol returned home Saturday from a weeklong visit to the United Arab Emirates and Switzerland. Yoon, who was accompanied on the trip by first lady Kim Keon Hee, arrived at Seoul Air Base following a four-day state visit to the UAE and a four-day visit to the European country. In Abu Dhabi, the president secured a $30 billion investment pledge from the UAE and visited a nuclear power plant built by South Korea. In Switzerland, he attended the annual meeting of the World Econo

Former top intelligence and security officials of the previous Moon Jae-in administration denied at the first hearing held Friday that they tried to cover up North Korean troops killing a South Korean government official at sea in 2020. Appearing at court, the lawyer representing former National Intelligence Service Director Park Jie-won said he “denies all that is written in the indictment.” According to the indictment Seoul prosecutors submitted to the National Assembly, Park order

Giving police powers to investigate spies ‘intelligence reform,’ Park Jie-won says

President Yoon Suk Yeol stressed global cooperation and solidarity to overcome multiple global crises, and reaffirmed his willingness to return to nuclear power policies that his predecessor sought to scrap during his speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Thursday. This year’s Davos forum, under the theme of “Cooperation in a Fragmented World,” was marked by the absence of leaders of major economies, including US President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi

Rep. Tae Yong-ho, who was a North Korean diplomat before he defected in 2016, on Thursday announced his bid to run for the Supreme Council member of the ruling People Power Party. Speaking at a press conference, he said as someone who has known the North Korean regime from the inside, he believes he has a “historical responsibility” to put his experience to greater use. “Sooner or later, North Korea’s regime will find itself in an existential crisis. If we are prepared, w

National Assembly Speaker Kim Jin-pyo met with Indonesian President Joko Widodo Thursday and discussed improving bilateral cooperation in various areas, Kim's office said. During the meeting in Jakarta, Kim touted the 50th anniversary of diplomatic ties between South Korea and Indonesia and called for strengthening economic and security cooperation under a "special strategic partnership." The two countries established the special partnership in 2017 during then-South Korean Presid

DAVOS, Switzerland -- On the second day of President Yoon Suk Yeol's visit to Switzerland, a day before attending the World Economic Forum, he had a lunch meeting with CEOs from global companies to discuss Korea’s competitiveness and investment environment. The Wednesday luncheon was attended by the heads of six major Korean companies -- Samsung, SK, Hyundai, LG, Lotte and Hanwha. Fifteen CEOs from foreign companies, including Intel, IBM, Qualcomm, Shell, JP Morgan, Mubadala Investmen

US nuclear weapons were in the South until 1991; Seoul once pursued own atomic bombs in '70s

Union blasts raid as regression to dictatorship-era suppression

Na Kyung-won, one of the leading contenders in the ruling party's leadership race, decided not to attend a local party event Wednesday, her aide said, an indication she is contemplating deeply whether to officially declare her leadership bid despite opposition from the presidential office. Na had previously planned to attend a New Year's event that the Daejeon branch of the People Power Party will hold in the central city in the afternoon but decided not to do so, the aide said without

First lady Kim meets with Dubai princess, continues cultural promotion

Father who lost his son to the Itaewon crowd crush in October of last year collapsed Tuesday as the last day of the National Assembly probe turned into a row between the ruling and opposition parties. The father of late Lee Ji-han, who died at age 24 on the night of the disaster in central Seoul, was taken to a nearby hospital by an ambulance after collapsing near the end of the final plenary session of the parliamentary probe. He had to be escorted out of Tuesday’s session, after crying u