President Moon Jae-in on Sunday met with the bereaved families of a female Air Force officer, sexually assaulted by a male colleague, and apologized to them for failing to protect her. Moon headed to her funeral home shortly after attending a national ceremony to mark the 66th Memorial Day. The annual event was held at Seoul National Cemetery. Speaking to the victim's parents at Armed Forces Capital Hospital in Seongnam, just south of the capital, the president said he was sorry that the count

Unification Minister Lee In-young called Sunday for "maximum flexibility" in deciding what to do with joint military exercises with the United States set for August, saying such drills should never serve as a chance to cause additional tensions on the Korean Peninsula. Lee said on KBS TV's "Sunday Diagnosis Live" that additional consideration should be given to how to deal with the upcoming combined military exercises at a time when the new US policy on Pyongyang has shaped

Big-name bidders are believed to be carefully weighing how much to offer on the eve of bidding for eBay Korea, South Korea's no. 3 retail behemoth, as the deal is expected to bring a seismic change to the local retail industry, industry sources said Sunday. Most of the preliminary bidders are expected to attend the bidding Monday, including South Korea's No. 1 mobile carrier, SK Telecom Co.; retail giant Lotte Group, discount store franchise E-Mart; and MBK Partners, private equity firm and la

Apartment prices in Seoul and its adjacent areas grew more than 1 percent for the fifth straight month in May despite the government's efforts to stabilize skyrocketing home prices, data showed Sunday. Housing prices in greater Seoul grew 1.21 percent in May from the previous month, compared with a 1.33 percent gain in April, according to data from the Korea Real Estate Board. Since January, the growth of apartment prices in Seoul, Gyeonggi Province and Incheon, 40 kilometers west of the capit

South Korea may collect around 32 trillion won ($28.6 billion) in excess tax revenue this year, potentially securing ammunition to finance another round of an extra budget under review, government sources said Sunday. Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki said Friday the government is considering creating this year's second extra budget with a larger-than-expected tax revenue in a bid to underpin an economic recovery and support vulnerable groups hit hard by the pandemic. The country is estimated to co

President Moon Jae-in offered a public apology Sunday apparently over the recent death of a female Air Force officer, who had been sexually assaulted by a male colleague. "I am very sorry to the people over such an evil practice in the barracks culture that led to the tragic and unjust death," he said during his Memorial Day speech at the Seoul National Cemetery. The president stopped short of elaborating, but it was clear he was referring to the noncommissioned officer. She was sexu

A former North Korean admiral, who led the country's navy at the time of bloody naval skirmishes with South Korea in 1999 and 2002, has died and his remains have been buried at a national cemetery, the official Korean Central News Agency reported Sunday. Kim Yun-sim, who served as naval chief from 1997-2007, was buried at the Patriotic Martyrs Cemetery in Sinmi-ri on Friday, the KCNA said, praising him for "defending the country, people and revolution remaining boundlessly faithful to the

Kim Ji-woo (alias), a 36-year-old office worker, found herself near the end of the line to get a COVID-19 vaccine, as she is not among the groups that are prioritized in the country's nationwide inoculation plan. But she learned that the newly-launched "leftover" vaccine booking system was a way for her to "cut in line" and get the vaccination that would allow her to gradually return to normal life. Anybody older than 30 who is not yet officially eligible to receive vaccine

A total of 20 doctors lost their medical licenses over the past six years for having unlicensed people practice medicine on their behalf, including plastic surgeries, a report showed Sunday. Two dentists, two doctors of Korean medicine and one nurse had their medial licenses revoked for engaging in such illegal practices over the 2015-2020 period, according to the report compiled by the Ministry of Health and Welfare and submitted to the parliament. Out of the 20 doctors who were stripped of t

South Korea's daily new coronavirus cases fell back to the 500s on Sunday due to less testing over the weekend, while the country's COVID-19 vaccine rollout is gathering pace. The country reported 556 more COVID-19 cases, including 541 local infections, raising the total caseload to 144,152, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said. The tally fell from 744 on Saturday and 695 Friday, but the decline was attributable to fewer tests over the weekend. The number of daily virus

South Korean player Kwon Soon-woo couldn't get past the third round of the French Open against a top-10 opponent. Kwon, world No. 91, dropped a straight-set decision against the ninth-ranked Matteo Berrettini, 7-6 (8-6), 6-3, 6-4, in their men's singles match at Court Simonne-Mathieu inside Roland-Garros in Paris on Saturday (local time). This was Kwon's first appearance at the third round of a Grand Slam tournament. The 23-year-old is expected to crack the top 80 in the next world rankings.

The Tripitaka Koreana, a collection of Buddhist wooden printing blocks, will open to the public every Saturday and Sunday starting later this month. Considered the most comprehensive set of Buddhist scriptures found to date, the Tripitaka Koreana, or "Palmandaejanggyeong" in Korean, comprises 13th-century Buddhist scriptures carved on more than 80,000 wooden printing blocks. They are stored at Janggyeong Panjeon in the Haein Temple, in Hapcheon, 354 kilometers south of Seoul. The sto

St. Louis Cardinals' South Korean pitcher Kim Kwang-hyun is on the injured list (IL) for the second time this season, with the same condition that kept him sidelined in spring. The Cardinals placed Kim on the 10-day IL on Saturday (local time) with right back tightness, a day after the left-hander exited his start against the Cincinnati Reds before the start of the fourth inning. Kim also missed time during spring training and at the start of the regular season with the back problem. In Frida

That's more like it. That South Korea defeated Turkmenistan 5-0 in their World Cup qualifying match on Saturday wasn't a surprise in itself. The biggest takeaway is that South Korea, in addition to beating the team they were supposed to beat, looked good doing it. And that hadn't always been the case with the underachieving national team in recent matches. The win at Goyang Stadium in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province, kept South Korea at the top of Group H in the second round of the Asian qualificat

The head of the ruling Democratic Party said Saturday that he would seek a visit to the United States in the near future to explore a "clue" for the resumption of the now-shuttered inter-Korean industrial complex in North Korea's border city of Kaesong. Song Young-gil made the remarks during a meeting with an association of businesses that used to run operations at the complex closed in February 2016 following the North's nuclear and missile tests. The business owners have called fo