The National Human Rights Commission of Korea decided Thursday to investigate sexual harassment allegations against the late Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon and the city government’s suspected abetting or connivance of his acts. The standing committee of the commission unanimously voted to look into the case, two days after the purported victim asked them to investigate. The commission’s investigations have no legal force, and judging from its past probes, will take some time before the

Torrential rain flooded more than 100 homes, dozens of vehicles and railroads in Daejeon, killing at least two people in the country’s fifth-largest city. The heavy monsoon downpour in Daejeon and South Chungcheong and North Jeolla provinces on Thursday morning prompted authorities to bar access to parks, riverside parking lots and underpasses. Heavy rain warnings have been issued in Daejeon and the surrounding towns, and the monsoon rain will continue in the Chungcheong region on Frida

SINGAPORE -- A Singaporean defense expert who has regularly interacted with North Korean diplomats here until last year said he expects Pyongyang to conduct a seventh nuclear test or a nuclear warhead reentry test, which is its next crucial step in achieving recognition as a nuclear power, around the US presidential election in November. “My assessment, with high level of confidence, is that the Kim Jong-un regime will resume testing strategic nuclear weapons,” Graham Ong-Webb

Over 1,100 North Koreans were tested for COVID-19 by early July, and all of them turned out negative, an official of the World Health Organization said Monday. A total of 1,117 people got tested for the novel coronavirus as of July 9, Edwin Salvador, WHO representative to North Korea, said in an interview with Radio Free Asia. As of now, 610 North Korean nationals are in quarantine, and all of them are laborers working at the seaport in Nampo or along the land border between the North’s

Multiple senior White House aides said Washington is now considering new proposals that they hope will be a “breakthrough” in stalled denuclearization talks with North Korea, a US magazine reported Thursday. If a deal can be struck, the hope is that the agreement will be signed at a potential third summit between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un this fall, according to an article by Harry Kazianis, a senior director of Korean studies at the Center for t

President Moon Jae-in’s approval ratings fell to their lowest point in nine months, a poll suggested. The latest dip in ratings comes days after the mayor of Seoul killed himself amid allegations of sexual misconduct. At the same time, property tax hikes and a policy to grant permanent job status to irregular workers at state-funded companies drew backlash from homeowners and from those studying for tests in hopes of landing stable public sector jobs. The ruling Democratic Party’

At least 133 medical workers got infected with the new coronavirus while treating patients, but received no government support for their own treatment, a ruling party lawmaker said Wednesday. By occupation, 77 of them were nurses, according to data from the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention disclosed by Rep. Shin Hyun-young of the Democratic Party. Thirty-three were nursing assistants, and 10 were doctors. By region, Daegu, which was the site of mass infections in February, had

Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is spreading at a record rate in South Korea, with homosexual contact accounting for a growing share of new infections, the Korea Centers for Disease Control reported Tuesday. Among the HIV cases confirmed to have originated from sexual contact last year, more than half of the cases were attributed to homosexual contact. A total of 1,222 cases HIV or acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) patients in the country – 1,005 South Koreans and 217 non-Ko

North Korea took a positive tone in reports about South Korean Unification Minister nominee Lee In-young and about the country’s new special adviser to the president on foreign affairs and national security, Im Jong-seok. “There is much anticipation towards Lee In-young and Im Jong-seok,” the North’s propaganda outlet Uriminzokkiri wrote Tuesday, citing a commentary in the South’s online outlet Jaju Sibo. “Attention is drawn to their future moves as both h

Sexual misconduct allegations against the recently deceased Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon mark the third such case involving a local government chief affiliated with the ruling Democratic Party of Korea. The apparent suicide and alleged sexual misconduct by Korea’s second most powerful official and a potential presidential candidate sent shockwaves through the country, especially as he had been a strong advocate of women’s rights and human rights. A former secretary to Park filed char

New satellite images show recent activity at a previously undeclared facility near Pyongyang that US researchers suspect is being used to build nuclear warheads, CNN reported Wednesday. The US news network said the imagery it obtained shows the facility in the village of Wollo-ri near Pyongyang “has not been previously disclosed to the public and is believed to be linked to North Korea’s nuclear program and remains active.” The facility shown in the satellite images, capture

A septuagenarian former North Korean Air Force general credited for the country’s rapid missile development in recent years has risen to the regime’s No. 5 status, showed a photo released by Pyongyang’s state media on Wednesday. The rise of Ri Pyong-chol’s status indicates that Pyongyang will push ahead with strategic weapons development, including testing of submarine-launched ballistic missiles later this year, according to North Korea experts. The photo of North Kor

President Moon Jae-in on Tuesday stressed the need for a thorough investigation and proper punishment of the perpetrators in the case of a triathlete who was found dead after claiming she had been abused by her coaches and team staff. Choi Suk-hyeon, 22, jumped to her death from her dormitory in Busan on June 26, leaving a Kakaotalk message to her mother asking her to “reveal the sins” of her abusers. Choi, a junior bronze medalist at the 2015 Triathlon Asian Championships, had so

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un convened a Workers’ Party Politburo meeting on COVID-19 for the first time in three months, and called for strengthened efforts to contain the epidemic, the North’s state news agency said on Friday. Pyongyang has claimed so far that there have been no confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus in the country. Nevertheless, Kim presided over the extended Politburo meeting on Friday during which the party’s top brass checked on how the government

North Korea was named the 39th most dangerous country in the world, according to a risk management report published by the European Commission on Thursday. In the Index for Risk Management 2020 report, North Korea received 5.2 out of 10 points in the Inform global risk index, 39th highest among the 191 countries reviewed. The Inform global risk index is calculated based on the country’s hazard and exposure; vulnerability; and lack of coping capacity. The higher the index, the greater t