State pension payouts increased by about 18 percent over the last 10 years. According to the National Pension Service, this is because the consumer price index was used to calculate the amounts to be paid out in each successive year. Korea has seen positive inflation rates of 0.8 percent in 1999, 3.6 percent in 2003, 4.7 percent in 2008, 1.3 percent in 2013, 1.3 percent in 2014, 0.7 percent in 2015, 1 percent in 2016, 1.9 percent in 2017 and 1.5 percent in 2018.The NPS will increase this year&rs

North Korea’s official newspaper warned Friday that any act infringing on the country’s dignity and survival will be met with an “immediate and powerful strike.”The Rodong Sinmun, the mouthpiece of the North Korean Workers’ Party, followed up on North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s remarks late last month that Pyongyang would soon show off a “new strategic weapon.” Accusing the US of dragging its feet in denuclearization talks for its own political in

The main opposition Liberty Korea Party on Tuesday ratcheted up tension with the ruling camp over Monday’s passage of a bill on a new agency to investigate corruption by senior public officials. It said all 108 lawmakers of the party would resign from the National Assembly in protest of the “unilateral” handling of the motion. “All the (Liberty Korea Party) lawmakers cannot hold their anger at the latest railroading of the bill following two bills that were rammed through

The North Korean state media stressed discipline among senior officials as the country commemorated Constitution Day on Friday.The Rodong Sinmun, official newspaper of the North’s Workers’ Party, said in its editorial that preferential treatment and double standards by ranking officials must not be permitted. “There may be units or workers with important missions in our society, but they cannot be outside the law. … (Senior officials) should set an example for the people

The United States flew two surveillance aircraft over the Korean Peninsula on Tuesday amid growing concerns that North Korea could test a long-range missile as a “Christmas gift.”The US Air Force RC-135W Rivet Joint was spotted above the peninsula every day since last weekend, according to aviation tracker Aircraft Spots.The RC-135W flew at an altitude of 9.4 kilometers. The aircraft is fitted with equipment that can detect signals before a missile is launched, and analyze its ballis

North Korea and China stressed their friendship and cooperation while Beijing and Moscow have requested from the UN partial sanctions relief for Pyongyang.According to Yonhap News Agency, China’s Ministry of Culture and Tourism and the North Korean Embassy in China held an exhibit at the National Library of China in Beijing on Tuesday in commemoration of the 70th anniversary of the two countries’ diplomatic ties.  About 100 people, including North Korean ambassador to China Ji J

The South Korean government is likely to send military forces to join a US-led multinational coalition to defend the Strait of Hormuz early next year.According to military sources, the 4,400-ton destroyer Wang Geon of the Cheonghae anti-piracy unit is scheduled to leave Busan late this month to relieve the destroyer Kang Gam-chan which is currently operating in the Gulf of Aden.The Wang Geon is expected to arrive in the Gulf of Aden in mid-January, and start anti-piracy operations and escorting

Preliminary candidate registration for the parliamentary elections in April began Tuesday, while a fast-track bill on electoral reform remains pending at the National Assembly amid continued partisan strife.The National Election Commission said preliminary candidacy registration is open from Tuesday through March 25 for the April 15 general elections for the 21st National Assembly.Those who register as preliminary candidates can begin certain campaign activities such as opening campaign offices,

The South Korean government plans to help control the African swine fever outbreak in North Korea by providing support through international nongovernmental organizations.The Unification Ministry is taking steps to donate money from the Inter-Korean Cooperation Fund to international NGOs seeking to control and prevent the disease in North Korea, government sources said Friday.The Inter-Korean Exchange and Cooperation Promotion Council under the ministry is expected to deliberate and vote on the

Japan’s Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi is seeking to meet with his South Korean counterpart Kang Kyung-wha to discuss the issue of wartime forced labor, Japanese broadcaster NHK reported on Thursday.Arrangements are being made for talks between the two on the sidelines of the Asia and Europe (ASEM) Foreign Ministers’ Meeting on Sunday and Monday in Madrid, NHK said.At the possible meeting, Motegi plans to call on Seoul to “rectify its violation of the international law in r

North Korea’s exports plummeted last year amid the continued international sanctions, according to the latest data of a UN agency for trade and investment.The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development’s Handbook of Statistics 2019 issued on Monday shows that North Korea’s exports plunged 83.8 percent in 2018 from a year ago to $300 million last year. Its imports dropped 34.1 percent from the previous year to $2.59 billion.The latest UNCTAD handbook did not disclose the

North Korea’s official newspaper on Tuesday lauded this year’s “achievements” by the country’s leader, Kim Jong-un, in military affairs and diplomacy in an apparent bid to consolidate internal unity amid rising tensions with the US. The Rodong Sinmun, the official newspaper of the country’s Workers’ Party, said in a commentary titled “Our party’s record of revolution in 2019 will be long remembered in history” that hostile forces maneuv

The International Criminal Court said Thursday that it has no jurisdiction over North Korea’s leader Kim Jong-un.In 2016, leaders of nongovernmental organizations NK Watch and Lawyers for Human Rights and Unification of Korea filed a complaint against Kim with the ICC, holding him responsible for human rights violations in the North. ICC prosecutor Fatou Bensouda said in its annual Report on Preliminary Examination Activities issued Thursday that the alleged crimes referred to the ICC were

Jehovah’s Witnesses refusing mandatory military service have regularly been found guilty or not guilty of evading conscription based on whether they had “true faith.”A 24-year-old Jehovah’s Witness received a notice of enlistment from the Daejeon-South Chungcheong Regional Military Manpower Administration in September 2017, and refused conscription citing religious grounds.He submitted to the authorities papers stating that he belongs to the religious group and that he re

South Korea’s chief negotiator in defense cost-sharing talks with the United States said Monday that the two sides should share the burdens in a fair and reasonable manner within the current framework.“Ultimately, the most important principle is that the negotiations must contribute towards the Korea-US alliance and joint defense posture,” Jeong Eun-bo, the top envoy to the Special Measures Agreement negotiations, told reporters as he arrived at Washington’s Dulles Intern