Prosecutors on Wednesday questioned former presidential chief of staff Noh Young-min as part of an investigation into the previous Moon Jae-in government's repatriation of two North Korean fishermen in 2019. Prosecutors are looking into the case on suspicions that the Moon government deported the two North Korean fishermen back home despite their wishes to defect to South Korea. Noh who served as the presidential chief of staff at that time presided over a meeting at Cheong Wa Dae where the

Seoul's Foreign Ministry says it is unaware of athlete's whereabouts

President Yoon Suk-yeol expressed concerns about the service failures of the nation's most popular message app KakaoTalk in an emergency such as war, according to local media outlets Tuesday. During a meeting of the president's chief secretaries on Monday, Yoon expressed concerns, asking what would happen KakaoTalk becomes unavailable in an emergency such as war as the majority of members of the public and public organizations use the service, according to Yonhap News agency, citing a

President Yoon Suk-yeol is likely to move into the new presidential residence in Hannam-dong, Yongsan-gu, Seoul, within this month after a monthslong delay. Yoon has been commuting to work from his home in Seocho-gu, southern Seoul since his inauguration in May. An official from the presidential office said at a briefing on Monday, "We are currently conducting a final inspection of the security and safety (for the relocation)." Most of the construction at his official residence in Hann

President Yoon Suk-yeol on Tuesday attended the groundbreaking ceremony for the construction of an express railway connecting the northern cities of Chuncheon and Sokcho. The ceremony was held in Sokcho, a coastal city 158 kilometers northeast of Seoul, with the participation of some 400 government and railway officials and local residents. Construction is expected to cost around 2.4 trillion won ($1.7 billion) over six years. Once the railway is completed in late 2027, the segment will extend t

Prime Minister Han Duck-soo on Tuesday instructed Cabinet ministers to come up with measures to prevent a recurrence of a service outage of Kakao Corp, the operator of the nation's dominant messaging app. Most online services provided by Kakao, including KakaoTalk, suffered a massive malfunction over the weekend due to a fire at a data center near Seoul. "If a problem happens in networks, it could paralyze people's daily lives and be fatal to national security," Han told a Ca

The state anti-corruption commission said Tuesday it has toughened disciplinary measures for public institution officials caught drunk driving to allow for their dismissal. Under the move, public institution officials can be fired if they are arrested on suspicion of drunk driving with a blood alcohol level above 0.2 percent, even if they are first-time offenders, according to the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission. The tougher penalty came as the commission reviewed the internal regula

Yoon views Kakao system as national infrastructure; Assembly plans bills to stop recurrence

Prosecutors raided Ssangbangwool Group on Monday over allegations the underwear maker smuggled a huge sum of foreign currency out of the country about three years ago. The Suwon District Prosecutors Office sent prosecutors and investigators to the Ssangbangwool headquarters in the central Seoul district of Sindang in the morning to secure documents and materials related to the currency smuggling allegations. Prosecutors have been investigating the allegations that Ssangbangwool secretly sent sev

The office of President Yoon Suk-yeol has been on 24-hour standby as North Korea has been expected to conduct its seventh nuclear test at any time, officials said Sunday. North Korea's recent series of missile launches and other provocations are believed to be part of the regime's preparations for a seventh nuclear test, according to the officials. "As North Korea's provocations have become more frequent, we're putting all of our effort into maintaining a readiness posture with a sense o

Airlines working to extend 16-hour limit for pilots after New York-Incheon flight forced to stop to replace crew

The family of Otto Warmbier has set an important precedent for North Korea victims all over, according to Rep. Ha Tae-keung of the ruling People Power Party. Speaking with The Korea Herald, the ruling People Power Party Rep. Ha Tae-keung said, “The Warmbier family has played a pivotal role in the fight against North Korea human rights abuses, and their efforts have marked a significant turning point in accountability-seeking.” About a month ago, Ha met with Cindy and Fred Warmbier

Bibongi, the last Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphin held in captivity in South Korea, was returned to the wild after 17 years. The government said on Sunday it had released Bibongi, at 9:40 a.m. in the sea after 70 days of training. There were a total of eight in domestic aquariums in 2012, but seven returned to nature from 2013 to 2017.

Boy band BTS is set to hold a concert in Busan on Saturday night to support the city's bid to host the 2030 World Expo. The free show will be the group’s first performance in South Korea since March, when they staged the Permission to Dance on Stage shows in Seoul. It will also be the first BTS concert at a fully packed stadium, where most of the 50,000 seats will be taken by its fans, in three years. The singers are expected to perform their hit singles, such as "Butter,"

A state department spokesperson called on North Korea to cease all provocative actions on Friday, hours after the recalcitrant country fired hundreds of artillery shells into an agreed buffer zone with South Korea. Vedant Patel, principal deputy spokesperson for the department, also urged Pyongyang to engage in dialogue. "We are aware of those reports and we call on the DPRK to cease all these provocations and these threatening actions," the spokesperson said when asked about North Kor