South Korean President Moon Jae-in held talks with Saudi Arabia's de facto ruler Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Tuesday and agreed to work together in areas related to the hydrogen economy. After holding the talks at the Al-Yamamah palace in Riyadh, the two nations signed preliminary deals to jointly develop green hydrogen, which is produced from renewable energy sources, especially solar and wind, and jointly build a hydrogen ecosystem, Moon's office said in a statement. Under the deals,

Ruling party presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung on Tuesday argued for a shift to a four-year presidential term, renewable once, from the current single five-year term, saying he is willing to opt for a shorter term if elected. "For responsible politics, (South Korea) needs a double, four-year term under which power is decentralized," Lee of the Democratic Party said during an interview with cable channel MBN. "Five years is not a span (sufficient for a president) to plan, ena

The government will convene an extra Cabinet meeting this week to finalize a supplementary budget plan aimed at helping small businesses hit by the pandemic, the prime minister's secretariat said Tuesday. Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum will preside over the meeting Friday, a week after he announced the government's plan to draw up an extra budget to assist small businesses and self-employed people. The government is reported to be considering a request for 14 trillion won ($11.8 billion) to be su

DUBAI --  President Moon Jae-in has held telephone talks with Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan and expressed condolences to victims of a suspected drone attack claimed by Yemen's Houthi rebels, Moon's office said. The 25-minute telephone talks Monday evening came after the scheduled summit between Moon, who is on a weeklong trip to the Middle East, and the UAE's de facto ruler was canceled due to an "unforeseen and urgent matter of state" by the UAE side, accor

Main opposition presidential candidate Yoon Suk-yeol on Monday vowed to secure a preemptive strike capability after North Korea conducted its fourth missile test this year. Yoon of the conservative People Power Party previously mentioned the need to carry out a preemptive strike in the event North Korea appears ready to fire a nuclear-tipped missile at the South. In a Facebook post Monday, hours after North Korea launched two suspected short-range ballistic missiles into the East Sea, Yoon dou

Ruling party presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung has called for simultaneously pursuing North Korea's denuclearization and sanctions relief, while his main opposition rival Yoon Suk-yeol has vowed to strengthen the extended deterrence provided by the United States. Lee of the liberal ruling Democratic Party and Yoon of the conservative People Power Party detailed their plans for dealing with North Korea's nuclear weapons program in written interviews with the Korean-American Club, a group of f

Jailed former President Lee Myung-bak was admitted to a hospital on Monday for an unspecified chronic illness, the justice ministry said. The 81-year-old was transferred to the Seoul National University Hospital in central Seoul from the Anyang Correctional Institution where he is serving a 17-year sentence for embezzlement and bribery convictions, according to the ministry. Lee will undergo medical examinations for his chronic illness, and when he will be discharged from the hospital will not

President Moon Jae-in on Monday named a new senior secretary for civil affairs after the previous secretary resigned over ethical issues related to his son. Kim Young-sik, a former secretary for legal affairs under the Moon administration, was appointed to succeed Kim Jin-kook, who stepped down last month after his son was found to have leveraged the father's position on job applications. "(Kim) has a high level of understanding of the Moon Jae-in government's administrative philosophy an

Main opposition presidential candidate Yoon Suk-yeol is leading his ruling party rival Lee Jae-myung with 40.6 percent public support against Lee's 36.7 percent, a survey showed Monday. Yoon of the People Power Party (PPP) gained 6.5 percentage points from the previous week, while Lee of the Democratic Party lost 3.4 points, according to the Realmeter survey conducted on 3,031 adults from Jan. 9 to 14. Yoon led Lee by 3.9 percentage points, which was outside the margin of error of plus or minu

The scheduled talks between South Korean President Moon Jae-in and Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan were canceled due to an "unforeseen matter of state" of the de facto ruler of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), a senior Seoul official has said. Moon, who is in Dubai for a three-day visit as part of his weeklong trip to the Middle East, had been scheduled to hold talks with the Abu Dhabi crown prince Monday, but the talks were called off as the UAE side "politely

Cheong Wa Dae said Tuesday it will continue to lease a presidential jet, called Air Force One, an official said Tuesday in response to a news report that it is considering buying a new one. The presidential office has leased a modified Boeing 747-400 airliner from Korean Air under a 10-year contract. It's slated to expire this year. Cheong Wa Dae is planning for another long-term lease, and a related budget has already been allocated, the official told reporters on the customary condition of a

Ruling party presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung is leading his main opposition rival Yoon Suk-yeol by 37 percent public support to 31 percent, a survey showed Friday. Lee's support rose 1 percentage point from last week, while Yoon's rose 5 points, according to the Gallup Korea survey conducted on 1,001 adults from Tuesday to Thursday. In third place was Ahn Cheol-soo, the presidential candidate of the minor opposition People's Party, at a record high 17 percent, up 2 percentage points from

A court is expected to make its ruling Friday on an injunction seeking to stop a TV station from broadcasting the recordings of phone calls between the wife of opposition presidential candidate Yoon Suk-yeol and a reporter. The injunction was filed by Kim Keon-hee, Yoon's wife, to stop MBC from airing recordings of her phone conversations with a staff member of the YouTube channel Voice of Seoul last year. The broadcasting was set for Sunday. The recordings, running some seven hours, reportedl

Ahn raises suspicion about Lee Jae-myung could be behind recent deaths of key figures in corruption scandals

Main opposition presidential candidate Yoon Suk-yeol pledged Thursday to scrap the government's planned electricity rate hike if elected in March. Electricity prices are set to increase in April and October under a government scheme announced last month, leading to a 5.6 percent annual average increase in households' electricity bills. Yoon said the decision to raise the rate after the March 9 election was "political" and vowed to reverse the plan if elected. "It's an irrespons