The office of President Moon Jae-in stressed the need Monday for the two Koreas to maintain their direct communication channels. It was responding to the warning Sunday by Kim Yo-jong, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's sister who is in charge of inter-Korean affairs as a senior Workers' Party official. She pressed South Korea to cancel its annual joint military exercises with the United States scheduled to kick of next week. Kim stated that the plan for the drills could undermine efforts to re

President Moon Jae-in said Monday that the number of people in South Korea who are either fully or partly vaccinated would soon top 20 million. He was emphasizing that the nation's vaccination campaign is on track despite the unrelenting spread of COVID-19. "By tomorrow, a total of more than 20 million people will have received at least one dose of vaccine," he said during a weekly meeting with senior Cheong Wa Dae secretaries. There is no problem in the government's scheme to give

Former prosecutor general and presidential frontrunner Yoon Seok-youl is under fire for saying during a media interview last month that poor people should be allowed to eat foods that don’t meet legal standards, as long as they don’t kill you. Yoon made the remarks as he spoke about economist Milton Friedman’s book “Free to Choose: A Personal Statement,” in a video clip of the interview released on YouTube. “Poor people should be allowed to choose food below

Public support for the main opposition People Power Party (PPP) has bounced back after declining for six consecutive weeks, a poll showed Monday. The Realmeter survey results came as Yoon Seok-youl, a former top prosecutor who is the front-runner in various polls on presidential hopefuls, joined the conservative party Friday. His decision ended months of uncertainty over whether and when he would become a member of the PPP with hopes of winning the presidential election slated for March next y

Around 560 billion won ($485.8 million) was slashed from this year's defense budget to fund an extra budget in the wake of the pandemic, but the measure will not affect the country's major arms procurement plans, the defense ministry said Monday. Last month, the National Assembly passed a 34.9 trillion-won extra budget bill aimed at propping up the economy battered by the pandemic and to support smaller businesses. For the measure, 562.9 billion won earmarked for 22 defense projects has been s

A controversial media reform bill being pushed by the ruling Democratic Party (DP) is running into fierce resistance from the opposition bloc, putting the rival parties on a possible collision course at the National Assembly. Having unilaterally passed the bill through a subcommittee of the parliamentary Culture, Sports and Tourism Committee last week, the DP aims to advance it through the National Assembly in the upcoming provisional parliamentary session later this month. The bill aims to re

Four South Koreans who were kidnapped in waters off West Africa about two months ago have been freed, following the release of another Korean national in a separate abduction in the same region, the foreign ministry said Monday. The four were released at 10 p.m. Sunday (Korea time) after being abducted by an apparent group of pirates while aboard a fishing boat near the Gulf of Guinea on June 1. They all remain in good shape, the ministry said. "They are under protection at a safe place t

Ex-Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl, a leading opposition presidential contender, is moving toward strengthening connections and support within the main opposition People Power Party (PPP) after becoming a member last week. Yoon, who resigned in March as prosecutor general over an extended feud with the ruling bloc over prosecution reform, signed up with the PPP on Friday after having campaigned as an independent for about a month. The PPP leadership and key members courted Yoon to join the pa

South Korea will deal with the issue of joint military drills with the United States in a "wise and "flexible" manner so as to not heighten tensions on the Korean Peninsula, the unification ministry said Monday after North Korea warned against such exercises. On Sunday night, Kim Yo-jong, the sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, warned that annual summertime military drills between South Korea and the US will cloud inter-Korean relations and that Pyongyang will closely watch

The mayor of Yongsan Ward said he has proposed moving a US military hotel to a location outside the US Army Garrison Yongsan to make way for a new national park. In an interview with Yonhap News Agency last week, Mayor Sung Jang-hyun said he proposed the relocation of Dragon Hill Lodge from its current location inside the garrison to a site outside Yongsan but inside Seoul during a recent meeting with a central government official. The US military is in the process of returning the site of the

Service members affiliated with a naval unit which reported a mass COVID-19 outbreak while on anti-piracy missions in Africa will begin receiving COVID-19 vaccines starting this week, the defense ministry said Monday. A total of 272 sailors of the 301-strong Cheonghae Unit tested positive for COVID-19 last month and all of the unit members returned home weeks ahead of schedule. The government's failure to vaccinate them before their overseas deployment has been blamed for the mass infection. &

Police have reopened an investigation into an alleged fraud case involving a former chairman of the operator of South Korea's largest cryptocurrency exchange Bithumb, informed officials said Monday. The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency has been probing Lee Jung-hoon, former chairman of crypto exchange operator Bithumb Korea, after a group of 14 investors filed their second fraud complaint in mid-July, they said. Kim Byung-gun, chairman of BK Group, an entity specialized in medical and investme

Vice Unification Minister Choi Young-jun plans to visit the United States next month to coordinate North Korea policy as South Korea seeks dialogue and reconciliation with North Korea after Pyongyang's restoration of inter-Korean communication lines, officials said Sunday. Choi has been taking necessary steps for a US trip expected sometime in September, such as receiving a COVID-19 vaccine and filing a request for exemption from coronavirus quarantine, ministry officials said. "A trip to

The number of Koreans who have suffered from mental disorders and eating disorders has risen in the pandemic, data showed Sunday. Last year, the number of people diagnosed with either depression, insomnia, anorexia or bulimia stood at 1,504,181, up by 67,233, or 4.67 percent, from the previous year, according to government data. The data, from the state-run Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service, was disclosed by independent lawmaker Lee Yong-ho. Depression accounted for 55.7 perce

Ruling, opposition floor leaders take part in the bill after Yong made headlines