South Korea will weigh whether to lift the remaining COVID-19 policies based on the World Health Organization decision on the status of the disease, the country’s public health chief said Tuesday. Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency Commissioner Jee Young-mee said in a press conference that while the discussions around the future course of COVID-19 policies have begun within the government, the decision on any change would likely come after the WHO withdraws its official emergency

Minister of Justice Han Dong-hoon said Monday Democratic Party of Korea chair Rep. Lee Jae-myung’s alleged interaction with North Korea in 2019 would be “a clear violation of the law.” “These are still allegations under investigation. But unauthorized contact with North Korea is a clear violation of the law,” said the justice minister in response to a lawmaker's question at the plenary session held on the day. Lee faces allegations that he got in touch with Nor

South Korea’s opposition parties on Monday tabled a motion to impeach Minister of Interior and Safety Lee Sang-min over the deadly crowd crush in Itaewon, a neighborhood in central Seoul, on Oct. 29 last year. The impeachment motion was submitted on the grounds that Lee failed to implement measures to prevent crowd congestion and work with concerned government agencies in the event of mass disasters. The safety minister also failed to respond in time as the crowd surge turned into a mass-c

In Seoul’s central Gwanghwamun, a memorial event was held over the weekend to mark 100 days since the Halloween crowd crush in Itaewon on Oct. 29 last year. Saturday’s event, meant to be a time for remembering victims of the disaster, was quickly marred by altercations with police and politicians using the occasion to push their own agenda. At least one family member of a victim was rushed to the hospital at around 2 p.m. after collapsing during a standoff with police. Squads of poli

North Korea is already prepared to conduct another nuclear test, but is biding its time to gain leverage in negotiations with China and other powers, according to Rep. Tae Yong-ho, a former North Korean diplomat who was elected into the South Korean parliament after defecting in 2016. At a press conference on Thursday, Tae said that whether North Korea decides to test its nuclear weapons for the seventh time was “between Kim Jong-un and Xi Jinping.” “The question of the next nu

The push by the administration of previous President Moon Jae-in to take away investigative powers from the National Intelligence Service is being rolled back under President Yoon Suk Yeol, Democratic Party of Korea lawmakers claimed Wednesday. Opposition party Reps. Youn Kun-young and Kim Eui-kyeom of the National Assembly’s intelligence committee reiterated in a conference that the top spy service should not be allowed to continue investigations of North Korean espionage and meddling. Yo

An arrest warrant is being sought after four individuals accused of operating a spy ring for North Korea, according to a Seoul court on Tuesday. The Seoul central district court opened a hearing at 3 p.m. to determine whether to issue an arrest warrant requested by prosecutors for the four accused spies for North Korea. The court may take longer than a day to make a decision on the prosecutors’ request for a warrant of arrest, which was filed Monday. The request for their arrest comes more

Lee Shin-wha, South Korean ambassador for international cooperation on North Korean human rights, said the situation of women and girls in North Korea “deserves a special focus” ahead of a Seoul conference on Monday. “The state of human rights is alarming in North Korea, and especially so for women,” she told The Korea Herald. “More North Korean women now contribute to the household economy as breadwinners and yet they are still expected to meet patriarchal demands

South Korea’s Ministry of Gender Equality and Family has come under fire for withdrawing plans to expand the legal definition of rape to non-consensual sex on the same day it was announced. The move would have ended the requirement in South Korea for the threat or use of force to be in evidence in order for an act to count as rape. Park Ji-hyun, who was briefly interim chair of the opposition Democratic Party, said in a Facebook statement Friday, “If nonconsensual sex isn’t rap

President Yoon Suk Yeol is rethinking the new law that will let police handle espionage cases, according to the ruling People Power Party spokesperson Yang Kum-hee. In December 2020, the laws on the National Intelligence Service were amended to forfeit the intelligence agency of the authority to investigate crimes related to North Korean espionage and other foreign meddling. The controversial amendment was unilaterally passed by the Democratic Party of Korea. Yang said there was “shared un

The opposition Democratic Party of Korea went after the Yoon Suk Yeol administration’s national security strategy on Thursday in a bid to keep the ruling People Power Party on the defense. Democratic Party floor leader Rep. Park Hong-keun convened an emergency meeting, in which he said that the “incompetence of the administration was threatening the security of the country.” “North Korean drones intruded into our airspace and revealed critical security gaps, and yet the r

China’s strict “zero-COVID” policy ended last month, but the movement of defiance against Chinese President Xi Jinping continues. On Lunar New Year’s Eve on Saturday, a small group of Chinese people gathered near the Embassy of China in Seoul for the fourth “white-paper” protest to take place here. The movement against COVID-19 restrictions came to be known as white-paper protests after people in China held up blank sheets of papers to express discontent and d

Former top intelligence and security officials of the previous Moon Jae-in administration denied at the first hearing held Friday that they tried to cover up North Korean troops killing a South Korean government official at sea in 2020. Appearing at court, the lawyer representing former National Intelligence Service Director Park Jie-won said he “denies all that is written in the indictment.” According to the indictment Seoul prosecutors submitted to the National Assembly, Park order

Park Jie-won, former head of the National Intelligence Service, on Friday denied criticism that the intelligence agency was lax on counterespionage investigations under the previous Moon Jae-in administration. People Power Party Rep. Sung Il-jong claimed in Friday’s meeting of the ruling party leadership that the Moon administration “let spy activities slide” and “tried to debilitate the NIS by stripping the intelligence agency of the authority to investigate North Korean

Starting Jan. 30, wearing face masks will no longer be required indoors in Korea -- a move that comes three years after the mandate was introduced. Prime Minister Han Duk-soo told a government meeting Friday that with the exception of some high-risk places including hospitals, pharmacies and public transit, face masks will cease being mandatory. “COVID-19 cases have been on the decline for three weeks in a row, and the situation has remained stable in Korea,” he said, adding that he