A court in Seoul arraigned two retired officials of the state intelligence agency Thursday as it considers whether to approve the arrest warrants for them on charges of interference in the 2012 presidential election.Prosecutors sought the warrant for one of the former National Intelligence Service officials, identified only by his surname Roh, on charges of leading other members of an NIS retirees' association to write Internet comments favorable to then ruling party candidate Park Geun-hye.The

VLADIVOSTOK-- President Moon Jae-in on Thursday proposed expanding economic cooperation between South Korea and Russia in a wide range of areas, including energy, infrastructure and agriculture, noting those projects might set an example of co-prosperity for isolated North Korea. In his address to the third Eastern Economic Forum (EEF) in Vladivostok, Moon also called for talks to build a Northeast Asia super grid to enhance regionwide energy cooperation, which would help meet growing power dema

A senior South Korean foreign ministry official said Thursday that now is not the right time for talks with North Korea but is instead the time to intensify sanctions and pressure to force Pyongyang to give up its pursuit of nuclear weapons. "As you know, our government, since its inauguration in May, has embraced a policy of denuclearization by pursuing sanctions and pressure on the one hand and at the same time seeking dialogue on the other hand," Vice Foreign Minister Lim Sung-nam said at a s

The 10-day holiday starting late September will likely have mixed effects on South Korea's economy struggling to cope with trade sanctions imposed by China over a missile row, growing protectionism from the United States and geopolitical risks caused by North Korea.The Moon Jae-in government earlier designated Oct. 2 as a one-off holiday to bridge the Sept. 30 weekend with the Chuseok holiday, National Foundation Day and Hangeul Day, which commemorates the invention of the Korean alphabet that f

International Monetary Fund (IMF) chief Christine Lagarde called Thursday for boosting the proportion of women in the workforce to fuel economic growth amid rapid population aging in South Korea and some other Asian countries."Korea and Japan, for example, could further increase their focus on reforming secondary earner taxation and boosting child care benefits and tax incentives for part-time work," Lagarde said in a speech at a conference on challenges facing Asian economies in Seoul. She said

The total amount of money that South Koreans deposited in overseas financial accounts increased in 2017 from a year ago as the authorities push forward efforts to identify hidden assets abroad, the tax office said Thursday.A total of 1,133 people reported overseas accounts this year, up 7.6 percent from a year earlier, with the amount in the accounts also rising 8.9 percent on-year to 61.1 trillion won ($54.1 billion), according to the National Tax Service. Individuals reported a combined 5.1 tr

South Korea's public firms will jointly recruit new workers in the second half of this year as part of the government's efforts to give more fair opportunities to young jobseekers, the finance ministry said Thursday.A total of 46 state-funded corporations, including the Korea Power Corp. and the Korea Tourism Organization (KTO), will be categorized into seven large groups so they can conduct admission tests at the same time, according to the Ministry of Strategy and Finance. Another 230 public c

South Korean indie rock sensation Hyukoh will embark on an eight-city North American tour, according to its management agency Thursday.The band will kick off the tour at The Opera House in Toronto on Friday (local time) and later travel to six US cities, including New York, Boston, San Francisco and Los Angeles, according to DRDRamc. Hyukoh will finish the tour in Vancouver on Sept. 23.The band will also participate in Vancouver's Albatross Music Festival and the Modern Sky Festival 2017 in Arca

The main opposition Liberty Korea Party said Thursday that it will send a delegation to the United States to drum up support for its drive for the redeployment of US tactical nuclear weapons to the Korean Peninsula.Rep. Kim Gwang-lim, the party's policy chief, said that the delegation will meet US politicians and journalists who share the need for the redeployment to counter escalating North Korean nuclear threats. Rep. Kim Gwang-lim (Yonhap)"The redeployment of the tactical nukes and the deploy

The possibility of any outright military conflicts on the Korean Peninsula remains low, but it has risen from "very low levels" after North Korea's latest nuclear test, global credit appraiser Moody's Investors Services said Thursday. Defying international warnings, North Korea conducted its sixth and most powerful nuclear test Sunday, claiming it was a hydrogen bomb that can be loaded onto a long-range missile. South Korea, the US and Japan are reportedly seeking tougher UN sanctions against No

A high ranking official at the national football association said Thursday that former men's national team head coach Guus Hiddink will not be returning to the helm, saying such a claim is "ridiculous." Kim Ho-gon, the Korea Football Association (KFA) Vice President who leads the technical committee, said he feels uncomfortable by a media report that Hiddink could coach the national team again for the 2018 FIFA World Cup. Citing a source close to Hiddink, a South Korean news channel reported on

North Korea has held a public event to celebrate its latest detonation of what it calls a hydrogen bomb that can fit on a long-range missile, calling the test an "auspicious" national event, its state media said Thursday.Citizens and servicemen were gathered Wednesday at a plaza named after late founder Kim Il-sung in Pyongyang to mark Sunday's nuclear test, according to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).North Korea claimed a successful test of an H-bomb that can be mounted on an intercontin

The British Council has stopped its long-running English Language Teacher Training Program (ELT program) in North Korea due to mounting instability on the Korean Peninsula, a US broadcaster reported Thursday. The council recently made the decision to follow the British foreign ministry's latest travel advisory that warned its people not to visit the North, Voice of America said, citing an email from Chloe Kembery, head of media at the council. North Koreans celebrate the 'succesful' H-bomb test

South Korean President Moon Jae-in and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe agreed Thursday to push for a new UN Security Council resolution with the "strongest" sanctions against North Korea, including cutting off all oil supplies to the impoverished country."Regarding the North's nuclear test and missile launches, the leaders of the two countries noted it was time to increase pressure on the North rather than engage the country in dialogue under the current conditions where the international com

President Moon Jae-in's approval rating dropped below the 70-percent range for the first time this week amid security concerns heightened by North Korea's recent nuclear test, a survey showed Thursday.In the Realmeter survey conducted from Monday through Wednesday, Moon's public support was tallied at 69 percent, down 4.1 percentage points from last week's poll carried out on Thursday and Friday.Those who disapproved of his job performance made up 24.1 percent, up 2.4 percentage points, while 6.