Defense Minister Suh Wook held phone talks with his US counterpart Lloyd Austin on Friday and reaffirmed their commitment to a strong alliance and a firm combined defense posture, the defense ministry said. The two ministers discussed bilateral defense issues and the security situation on the Korean Peninsula, "reaffirmed an ironclad South Korea-US alliance and stressed the importance of close cooperation between the two countries," according to the ministry. Their annual summertime

  The archery broadcast for the Tokyo Olympics this year has added a new feature, with a small bug at the bottom left corner showing archers' heart rates. South Korean archer An San, who won her third gold medal here with the women's individual title on Friday, mostly sat around the 80s, which is in the perfectly normal range and is shockingly low for an athlete in the heat of an Olympic competition. Her opponents on this day, on the other hand, had their beats per minute reading around

TOKYO -- An San shot herself into the record books on Friday, winning the women's individual archery event in Tokyo to become the first archer ever to claim three gold medals at a single Olympics. An is also the first South Korean triple gold medalist at a Summer Olympics, and the first athlete with three gold medals in Tokyo. She defeated Elena Osipova of the Russian Olympic Committee by the set score of 6-5 in the final at Yumenoshima Park Archery Field in the Japanese capital, completing th

South Korean stocks fell more than 1 percent Friday amid rising uncertainties related to China's clampdown on its tech firms. The Korean won fell against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) slumped 40.33 points, or 1.24 percent, to close at 3,202.32 points. The figure marks the index's largest daily drop since May 13. Trading volume was moderate at about 677 million shares worth some 12.6 trillion won ($11 billion), with losers outnumbering gainers 643 to 213

South Korea's oceans ministry said Friday it has rescued a fishing boat drifting in Russian waters by dispatching a state-owned patrol ship. The 82-ton boat with seven people on board was fishing for squid before reporting a malfunction in its engine to the South Korean authorities, according to the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries. The rescued boat is expected to arrive at the island of Ulleung in the East Sea later in the afternoon. South Korea earlier secured the right to catch 41,260 tons

As the belated Tokyo Olympics were nearly halfway over Friday, South Korean sports stars' world-class performances and their teamwork have been creating a fresh buzz on social media here. On the front lines of the buzz are the men's sabre fencing team of Kim Jung-hwan, Gu Bon-gil, Oh Sang-uk and Kim Jun-ho, who won South Korea's second straight gold in the team event Wednesday. Sports fans call the four-member team "Avengers" for their gold medal for two straight Olympics and overwhe

North Korea's economy is estimated to contract 4.5 percent on-year in 2020, marking the worst contraction since 1997, as Pyongyang closed its borders over the COVID-19 pandemic, South Korea's central bank said Friday. The North's economy, which has been hit by tightened UN sanctions over its nuclear and missile programs, expanded 0.4 percent in 2019, but shrank 4.1 percent in 2018 and 3.5 percent in 2017, the Bank of Korea (BOK) said in a report. Last year, North Korea suffered its biggest eco

Seoul experienced 10 consecutive tropical nights, though the nighttime temperature cooled somewhat in recent days, the state weather agency said Friday. Seoul, other large cities, some coastal areas and Jeju Island saw their temperatures stay above 25 C between Thursday night and Friday morning, according to the Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA). A tropical night occurs when the temperature does not fall below 25 C during the nighttime. The minimum temperature overnight was 25.8 C in

Second Vice Foreign Minister Choi Jong-moon has announced South Korea's plan to offer more than $15 million to a global fund for quality education for children from 2021-25, the foreign ministry said Friday. Choi made the announcement Thursday during his video-linked participation in the Global Education Summit co-hosted by British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta. The summit served as an opportunity for leaders around the world to make five-year pledges to sup

With a searing heat wave scorching South Korea for nearly two weeks, heat damage to agricultural, livestock and fish farmers has been snowballing nationwide, officials said Friday. Seoul and almost all parts of the country have been gripped by a prolonged heat wave that sent daytime highs above 35 C, caused the tropical night phenomenon and affected the vitality of all living things. According to local government officials and farmers, temperature-related agricultural, livestock and fisheries

TOKYO -- Male high jumper Woo Sang-hyeok qualified for the Tokyo Olympic final on Friday, becoming the first South Korean track and field athlete in a quarter century to get that far in the multisport competition. Woo cleared 2.28 meters on his second attempt to make it out of the qualifying stage at Olympic Stadium in Tokyo. He will compete in the final on Sunday. In the men's high jump, the top 12 jumpers out of 33, or those who clear 2.30 meters, advance to the final. The last South Korean

TOKYO -- When the Japanese archer Ren Hayakawa watches her South Korean opponents break records and win medals at the Olympics, she does so with a unique sense of pride. Of course, Japan and South Korea remain sporting rivals across the board. But Hayakawa, who was born in South Korea and became naturalized as Japanese citizen in 2007, still feels a tug when it comes to athletes from her birth country. Hayakawa lost to An San of South Korea by the set score of 6-4 in the round of 16 in the wom

Choe Jae-hyeong, former head of the state audit agency, will declare his bid to run for the presidency next week, opposition party officials said Friday. Choe will make the announcement through an online event Wednesday, about a month after he stepped down as chief of the Board of Audit and Inspection (BAI), hinting at his presidential ambitions. According to opposition party officials, Choe is in the final stages of drawing up his statement announcing the presidential bid. In the statement,

Ex-Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl, a leading conservative presidential hopeful, joined the main opposition party Friday to increase his chance of winning the race. Yoon submitted an application to join the People Power Party (PPP) during his meeting with Rep. Kwon Young-se, the chief of the party's external relations committee, at the party's headquarters in Seoul. The move, coming about a month after Yoon's official declaration to run in the March 9 presidential election, will subject hi

President Moon Jae-in has nominated new Cheong Wa Dae secretaries for civil affairs and anti-corruption, his office announced Friday. Lee Ki-heon, secretary to Moon for civil participation, was tapped as secretary for civil affairs and justice, to replace Lee Gwang-cheol, according to Cheong Wa Dae spokesperson Park Kyung-mee. Lee offered to resign early this month after being indicted on suspicions that he was behind an allegedly illegal travel ban on a former vice justice minister involved i