South Korea's acting President and Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn said Sunday that the security of the country rests on the shoulders of its armed forces.In a video message sent to troops, Hwang emphasized the grave security situation facing the country.There has been growing speculation that North Korea will engage in some form of provocation in 2017 after detonating two nuclear devices in 2016 and firing off scores of ballistic missiles."The people have faith in the strong willpower and military

Police arrested a South Korean man Thursday on charges of violating aviation security laws and assault after allegedly engaging in in-flight violence earlier this month, police said.Earlier on Thursday, the Incheon District Court issued an arrest warrant for him after holding a hearing on the legality of the arrest warrant, citing he may be a flight risk.The warrant was served to 34-year-old Lim Beom-joon, who allegedly hit a passenger in the face and assaulted flight attendants while aboard a K

A woman with a history of mental illness burned herself to death at a Buddhist temple in Seoul on Thursday, with the reasons behind the apparent suicide yet to be known, police said.  The 31-year-old woman, only identified by her family name Kim, poured flammable materials onto her body and set herself on fire with a lighter at the Bongeun Temple in southern Seoul, police officers said. The woman died before an ambulance arrived at the site, they said.She reportedly had megalomania, a mental ill

Pyongyang has recently brought back around 300 North Korean workers employed in Oman, a US-based radio report said Thursday amid international concerns over the North's inhuman treatment of its workers overseas."As many as 300 North Korean workers were predicted to have stayed for construction work in Oman in 2015, but all of the North Korean workers were repatriated to their home country," Radio Free Asia said, quoting a report from South Korea's state-run Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agenc

A tugboat was believed to have sunk off an island near South Korea's southernmost island of Jeju for unknown reasons on Thursday, leaving its two crew members dead, the Coast Guard said.The coast guard in the city of Jeju received a transmission from an Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon, or a distress message suggesting a ship's sinking, from the 29-ton K tugboat sailing in waters 2.4 kilometers west of Biyang Island near the northwestern coast of the southern resort island around 8:51

South Korea's Ambassador to France Mo Chul-min was questioned by investigators Thursday over allegations the presidential office created a "blacklist" of cultural figures considered critical of the conservative government.Mo, who served as senior presidential secretary for education and culture from 2013 to 2014, returned to South Korea on Wednesday, following a summons from the independent counsel team looking into a massive influence-peddling scandal that led to President Park Geun-hye's impea

South Korea's minor People's Party elected a four-term lawmaker as the new floor leader Thursday, with incumbent Park Jie-won stepping down to run for the chairmanship slated for next month.Rep. Joo Seung-yong was elected as the new floor leader by beating his rival, two-term Rep. Kim Song-sik.Joo's running mate Rep. Cho Bae-sook will also become the new policy panel chief.The new floor leader and policy chief will serve until May next year.Joo, hailing from South Jeolla Province, called on the