The US and North Korea may hold high-level talks early next month in Bangkok after the countries’ leaders agreed to resume denuclearization negotiations Sunday at Panmunjom.Following working-level talks scheduled for mid-July, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong-ho are expected to attend the foreign ministers’ meeting at the ASEAN Regional Forum on Aug. 2 in Bangkok.The ARF foreign ministers’ meeting is the only ministerial-level conferen

A ruling party lawmaker said Tuesday that the next summit between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is likely to be held early next year in Singapore.Rep. Lee Seok-hyun of the Democratic Party had predicted the surprise Trump-Kim meeting in Panmunjom on Sunday in a tweet the day before that said “a DMZ flash meeting will take place tomorrow afternoon.” The six-term lawmaker who sits on the parliamentary foreign affairs and unification committee wrote on Fa

The Australian government said it is working with the Swedish government to confirm reports that an Australian man has been detained in North Korea. The family of Alek Sigley, a 29-year-old student who has lived in North Korea for the past year and is pursuing a master’s degree in Korean literature at Kim Il-sung University, said they had not heard from him since Tuesday. Citing unnamed sources, South Korean and Australian media reported that Sigley had been arrested by North Korean author

A North Korean businessman in his 50s has been arrested in Malaysia on charges of money laundering involving luxury goods, and faces possible extradition to the US, according to news reports.The man named Mun Chol-myong who has lived in Malaysia for about 10 years and has had business dealings in China was detained by Malaysian authorities on May 14 and was denied bail by a local magistrate Monday, Malaysian government news agency Bernama said. Washington requested Kuala Lumpur to extradite Mun

The presidential office has begun taking steps to appoint Cho Kuk, senior presidential secretary for civil affairs, as the next justice minister.Cheong Wa Dae is carrying out the basic vetting process, such as looking into Cho’s reputation. It considers him one of the strongest candidates for justice minister in the Cabinet reshuffle expected to take place as early as late July.Cheong Wa Dae has begun gathering basic data on Cho, such as his tax payment and immigration records, while Justi

The traditional notion of appropriate gender roles -- the idea that husbands should work outside the home and their wives should stay home to look after the family -- is weakening among South Koreans, a survey showed.In a poll conducted through telephone interviews with 2,000 adults -- 990 men and 1,010 women -- between June 25 and July 6 last year, 68.8 percent of the respondents said they did not agree that it was the husband’s job to make money and the wife’s job to take care of t

A well-known Korean travel columnist was found shot to death near Manila on Sunday morning, according to the Korean Embassy in the Philippines and the Korean police.A passerby made a local police report after finding Joo Young-wook, 58, dead in a forest by a road in Antipolo, a city east of Manila, at around 7:15 a.m. June 16. Joo had a bullet wound on his forehead; his mouth was covered, and his hands were tied behind him with duct tape. Local police found his hotel room key and confirmed it wa

Japan has outright rejected the South Korean government’s proposal that companies from the two countries create a joint fund to compensate victims of Tokyo’s wartime forced labor.The Japanese government turned down the offer less than an hour after Seoul’s Foreign Ministry announced the proposal Wednesday without prior consultation with the companies.  Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono said the government could not accept it, as it would violate international law.The Jap

As the parliament remains deadlocked over disagreement on an opposition party’s demand to hold a hearing on the economy, National Assembly Speaker Moon Hee-sang has proposed a roundtable instead.At a meeting with floor leaders on Tuesday, Moon suggested that lawmakers and nongovernment experts discuss the country’s economic situation and seek ways to improve it during a roundtable, an attendee of the meeting said Wednesday.The main opposition Liberty Korea Party insists that a parlia

Rival parties are expected to fiercely debate the appointment of Prosecutor-General nominee Yoon Seok-youl at his confirmation hearing.Some of the issues at stake are the alleged involvement of Yoon’s mother-in-law in a fraud case, how he managed to amass a fortune of 6.59 billion won ($5.56 million), and the envisioned reform of the prosecution.Claims by victims of fraud allegedly committed by Yoon’s mother-in-law were made public by an opposition lawmaker last year.“The mothe

Private kindergartens filed a petition with the Constitutional Court last month, challenging an Education Ministry ordinance that requires them to use a state-managed online accounting system.Some 340 chiefs of private kindergartens with over 200 students each filed the petition May 24, accusing the ministry of infringing on their rights and saying the regulation has no basis in law. The signatories represent about 60 percent of all private kindergartens with more than 200 children. On the same

US intelligence authorities say North Korea carried out cybercrimes such as cryptocurrency mining and bank theft to get around sanctions, according to US broadcaster Voice of America. Tonya Ugoretz, deputy assistant director of the FBI’s cyber readiness, outreach and intelligence branch, said Wednesday at a conference hosted by private US think tank the Aspen Institute that sanctions had motivated North Korea to carry out the hacking of Sony Pictures Entertainment in 2014, the Bangladesh B

The main opposition Liberty Korea Party held open auditions Tuesday to recruit a young vice spokesperson in a bid to woo young people ahead of next year’s parliamentary elections.Some 70 people applied for the position, and of those who passed the document screening, around 10 were to be selected through the auditions at the party headquarters in Yeongdeungpo, Seoul.The party had previously recruited spokespersons through recommendations and document screening. Formally dressed applicants

A Korean four-star general is expected to lead joint military drills with the US in August to test Seoul’s readiness to take over wartime operational control of its troops.The first joint exercise for assessment of initial operational capability (IOC), to be held during the combined command-post exercise in August, is likely to be led by a Korean general, according to the ROK-US Combined Forces Command (CFC) and the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The wartime OPCON transfer to Korea will proceed as

Controversy is growing after the government revealed that a diplomat had leaked to an opposition lawmaker details of the May 7 telephone conversation between President Moon Jae-in and US President Donald Trump. During a press conference on May 9, Rep. Khang Hyo-shang of the main opposition Liberty Korea Party disclosed what the two leaders had said on the phone, including Moon’s invitation to Trump to visit Korea.The presidential office and the Foreign Ministry here said Thursday that a 54