Cheong Wa Dae on Tuesday was busy correcting President Moon Jae-in’s recent comments about adoption as civic groups and opposition lawmakers called for an official apology. On Monday, the president was hosting a New Year’s press conference when a reporter asked him what the government was doing to prevent child abuse, in light of the recent death of a 16-month-old toddler who allegedly suffered months of abuse at the hands of her adoptive parents. After unveiling a new set of gui

WASHINGTON -- Joe Biden is set to be inaugurated as the next US president this week in probably a never-before-seen ceremony that will highlight the dangers from the worst pandemic and a political divide facing the United States. Biden will be sworn in as the 46th president of the US on Wednesday. As is customary, the inauguration ceremony will be held at around noon on the steps of the US Capitol, administered by the chief justice of the US Supreme Court. The ceremony, however, will be diffe

South Korea’s largest conglomerate, Samsung Group, is facing another watershed as chief Lee Jae-yong was once again taken into custody Monday after receiving a jail term for bribery and embezzlement. The departure of Lee from the helm of the group comes at a time when the IT giant is seeking to make progress on its long-pending management succession and to press forward amid the post-coronavirus economic recovery. “Lee should be held responsible for the suggested bribery and embez

A parent of an autistic child filed a presidential petition Friday after having received numerous complaints by neighbors in their apartment building. According to the presidential office’s petition website, a petition titled “Please save our family of autistic children” was posted under the category of “child-rearing/education.” The petitioner noted that he lives with a 9-year-old son who has autism in an apartment in Seo-gu, Incheon. He said, “Some residen

The second episode of “Youn’s Stay” -- a spinoff from reality TV show “Youn’s Restaurant” -- marked a viewership rating of 10.2 percent, according to Nielsen Korea on Saturday. During the show that aired Friday night, the cast served traditional Korean drink makgeolli, as well as Korean foods they had learned to make in the previous episode, including bugak (seaweed chips), tteokgalbi (beef patties), jeon (savory pancakes) and vegan gungjung tteokbokki (roy

United States Forces Korea (USFK) on Sunday issued a "shelter in place" directive, ordering part of its service members to remain at home after additional COVID-19 outbreaks were reported inside its barracks. According to USFK's Twitter account, the directive dated Saturday requires service members based at Yongsan Garrison in central Seoul and Camp Humphreys in Pyeongtaek, south of Seoul, to stay at home except for necessary activities. It said the directive will expire Tuesday. The

A local court acknowledged that former Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon, who was found dead in July in an apparent suicide, had sexually harassed his former secretary in a separate trial involving the victim and a former city employee. The Seoul Central District Court said the victim suffered considerable mental distress due to Park’s unwanted sexual advances while handing down a ruling in a case where another employee of the Seoul city government was accused of sexually assaulting the same vic

North Korea held a military parade Thursday evening in central Pyongyang to celebrate the recently concluded party congress, showing off its state-of-the-art weapons, including a submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM), state media reported Friday. The parade held in Kim Il-sung square came after Pyongyang wrapped up its eight-day congress of the ruling Workers' Party on Tuesday, at which leader Kim Jong-un pledged to bolster the nuclear arsenal of the country. North Korea appears to aim a

Samsung Galaxy S21, unveiled Thursday at midnight, boasts a new, striking design and is equipped with the most powerful processor yet. Plus, it comes with a lowered price tag. Samsung streamed the Galaxy S21 Unpacked show through various online channels to introduce its flagship smartphones for 2021 -- Galaxy S21, Galaxy S21+ and Galaxy S21 Ultra -- one month earlier than previous years. The Ultra model supports the S Pen stylus for the first time. Samsung also introduced Galaxy Buds Pro

Samsung’s first mobile phones of 2021 will likely be cheaper than their predecessors 　

First Vice Foreign Minister Choi Jong-kun called for Qatar's support for the swift release of a South Korean ship and its crew detained by Iran during his meetings with top Doha officials this week, Seoul's foreign ministry said Thursday. Choi made the appeal when he met separately with Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani, deputy prime minister and foreign minister, and Soltan bin Saad Al-Muraikhi, minister of state for foreign affairs, to discuss bilateral issues in Doha on Wednesday

Anger and sadness have swept across South Korea for the past week following the death of Jeong-in, a 16-month-old toddler whose death from months of child abuse in October caused a huge public outrage and controversy. After the toddler’s case came to light through an SBS investigative reporting show earlier this month, a number of civic groups and members of the general public have called for better protection of adoptees and stronger penalties against child abuse offenders. President Mo

WASHINGTON -- The new US administration of Joe Biden must act quickly to prevent North Korea from setting the stage by creating a crisis, a US think tank said Tuesday. The Korea Economic Institute of America (KEIA) also advised the incoming US administration to see if US-North Korea denuclearization talks could be picked up from where they were left off by the outgoing Donald Trump administration. "The Biden Administration should act quickly on North Korea to prevent Pyongyang from settin

Public outrage is growing in South Korea over a group of people shown brutally killing and torturing stray cats in videos and then encouraging such acts in a mobile chat room, leading the police to launch an investigation into the case Monday. In an open online chat room named “Gore Professionals” on the country’s top messenger app, KakaoTalk, anonymous users reportedly shared pictures and videos that showed stray cats being brutally killed and tortured. They also reportedly

South Korea's agricultural ministry said Tuesday it is investigating three suspected cases of highly pathogenic bird flu from poultry farms. The latest suspected case of the malign H5N8 strain of avian influenza was reported from a duck farm in Goseong, 466 kilometers south of Seoul, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. There were also suspected cases from Muju, 241 kilometers south of Seoul, and Namyangju, just north of the capital city. South Korea has confirmed