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1. South Korea’s Foreign Minister (조태열)Cho Tae-yul spoke by phone with his Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi, on Tuesday to discuss North Korea and bilateral issues. In the first such talks between the two diplomats since Cho’s inauguration, Wang Yi extended an invitation for Cho to visit Beijing. 2. South Korea and Saudi Arabia’s defense ministries announced Tuesday that the two countries have secu...

1. The Ministry of Health and Welfare said Tuesday it plans to increase the number of medical students by 2,000 next year, in a bid to address the chronic shortages of doctors in rural areas and the essential health care field. The plan is expected to draw fierce protests from doctors. 2. President Yoon Suk Yeol on Tuesday granted special pardons to more than 450-thousand people on the occasion of...

1. President Yoon Suk Yeol on Monday reiterated the importance of public education in childcare, while vowing to ensure that the after-school child care program expands to two-thousand elementary schools in the first half of this year, and all elementary schools by 2026. 2. The Seoul Central District Court acquitted Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong on Monday after he was indicted on charg...

1. According to data from Statistics Korea on Friday, South Korea's inflation fell below 3 percent for the first time in six months in January. Consumer prices, a key gauge of inflation, rose 2.8 percent on-year last month, compared with a 3.2 percent increase a month earlier. 2. President Yoon Suk Yeol is expected to hold a pre-recorded interview scheduled two days before the Lunar New Year h...

1. The U.S. Federal Reserve on Wednesday held its benchmark lending rate steady between 5.25 and 5.50 percent for a fourth consecutive time. After the two-day Federal Open Market Committee meeting, Fed Chair Jerome Powell said that a rate cut in March is "probably not the most likely case." 2. The main opposition Democratic Party on Thursday rejected the ruling party’s proposal that woul...

1. President Yoon Suk Yeol said Wednesday that the North Korean regime is an "irrational group" that has legalized the preemptive use of nuclear weapons and will likely carry out multiple provocations to interfere with South Korea's April parliamentary elections. 2. The finance ministry said Tuesday that the International Monetary Fund projected the South Korean economy to grow two-p...

1. President Yoon Suk Yeol on Tuesday vetoed a special bill mandating a new investigation into the 2022 Itaewon crowd crush. President Yoon exercised his veto power by endorsing a motion demanding the National Assembly reconsider the legislation. 2. The Joint Chiefs of Staff said Tuesday that North Korea fired several cruise missiles off the west coast at around 7 a.m., just two days after it test...

1. The Korean Central News Agency said Monday that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has overseen the test-fire of the new submarine-launched Pulhwasal-3-31 strategic cruise missile and reviewed a project to build a nuclear-powered submarine. 2. Former Democratic Party leader Lee Nak-yon and a group of ex-DP lawmakers declared Sunday that they would merge into a new single party, tentatively named t...

1. The ruling and main opposition parties on Friday condemned the attack against People Power Party lawmaker Bae Hyun-jin. Bae was hit in the head by a teenager in Seoul's southern district of Gangnam Thursday afternoon, and was transferred to a hospital and is in stable condition. 2. The Korean Central News Agency said Friday that a delegation of Chinese diplomats, led by Chinese Vice Foreign...

1. North Korea said Thursday it test-fired a new strategic cruise missile, named {불화살}“Pulhwasal-3-31," for the first time on Wednesday in what was seen as an effort to strengthen capabilities to fire nuclear weapons. 2. President Yoon Suk Yeol vowed Thursday to make sweeping improvements to commuter transport in the Seoul metropolitan area by extending express rail networks and adding new...

1. South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said Wednesday that North Korea fired several cruise missiles toward the West Sea around 7 a.m., the latest provocations amid heightened tensions on the Korean Peninsula. 2. South Korean ambassador to the U.N. office in Geneva on Tuesday called on Beijing to provide North Korean defectors with the required protections and humanitarian support at China&#39...

1. President Yoon Suk Yeol and ruling party chief Han Dong-hoon met Tuesday in Seocheon to inspect a market destroyed by a fire the previous night. Their meeting came after the two reportedly clashed over allegations involving the first lady and party nominations for the upcoming general elections. 2. South Korea's Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said Tuesday it has launched talks with...

1. According to the Korea Meteorological Administration on Monday, the cold snap that has gripped the nation will likely persist throughout this week. Most areas nationwide are forecast to witness a further decline in morning temperatures on Tuesday. 2. North Korea's Korean Central News Agency reported Sunday that Russian President Vladimir Putin has expressed his willingness to visit Pyongyan...

1. The U.N. Security Council held closed-door consultations on North Korea-related issues on Thursday in New York, amid tensions heightened by Pyongyang's recent claim of launching a hypersonic missile and its hardening rhetoric against Seoul. 2. The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency said Friday that it will implement an emergency quarantine system ahead of next month's Lunar New...

1. The ruling People Power Party and main opposition Democratic Party on Thursday each announced a set of measures aimed at resolving the country's critically low birthrate, as they gear up for April’s parliamentary elections. 2. South Korea's Foreign Ministry said Thursday the top nuclear envoys of South Korea and the United States held talks in Seoul and condemned North Korea's conti...

1. South Korea's Foreign Ministry said Wednesday that the government has imposed independent sanctions on 11 vessels and five individuals and entities engaged in illegal ship-to-ship transfers of oil and other products to North Korea, tightening the sanctions against the North's maritime activities. 2. President Yoon Suk Yeol said Wednesday the government will expand eligibility for indivi...

1. President Yoon Suk Yeol on Tuesday said North Korea’s recent definition of South-North relations as those between “hostile” nations amounted to an acknowledgement of the regime’s nature as an “anti-national and anti-historical group.” 2. North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui arrived in Russia on Monday at the invitation of Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, as the Kremlin said it aims...

1. North Korea said Monday it successfully test-fired a solid-fuel intermediate-range ballistic missile. The Korean Central News Agency said the missile loaded with a hypersonic maneuverable controlled warhead was launched Sunday afternoon as part of regular activities to develop powerful weapons systems. 2. South Korea on Monday unveiled plans to establish a "semiconductor mega cluster"...

1. South Korea’s new Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul, who assumed office this week, and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken held their first phone conversation on Thursday. The two agreed to work together to address North Korean threats and support peace in the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea. 2. The Supreme Court on Thursday upheld another appellate court ruling that ordered Nippon Steel to...

1. In a widely expected decision, the monetary policy board of the Bank of Korea on Thursday kept its policy rate unchanged at 3.5 % for the eighth straight session, amid woes over a still weak economic recovery and slower-than-expected inflation moderation. 2. Lee Nak-yon, former leader of the Democratic Party, announced his departure from the party Thursday. Lee delivered his plans to join force...

1. North Korea’s state media reported Wednesday that Kim Jong-un called South Korea the country’s “principal enemy” and said he has “no intention of avoiding war.” 2. The Busan Metropolitan Police Agency announced Wednesday that the assailant who stabbed opposition leader Lee Jae-myung in the neck last week committed the crime out of “subjective political beliefs.” Lee Jae-myung left the hospital...

1. A heavy snow advisory was issued across the greater Seoul area on Tuesday morning, with up to 10 cm of snow expected to accumulate in the region. The Korea Meteorological Agency said up to 3 cm of snow per hour is forecast to hit Seoul during the evening rush hour. 2. President Yoon Suk Yeol on Tuesday called for prioritizing the improvement of people’s livelihoods in the new year during a Cabi...

1. The JCS said Monday the zone designated for the cessation of hostile actions effectively no longer exists with North Korea breaching the September 19th military agreement. Military sources said Sunday that some artillery shells fired by Pyongyang last Friday fell as close as 7 kilometers above the Northern Limit Line. 2. The parliamentary science committee passed a set of bills Monday aimed at...

1. President Yoon Suk Yeol on Friday vetoed two opposition-led special investigation proposals, one of which involves allegations against first lady Kim Keon Hee. The Presidential Office called the opposition party's unilateral passage of the two special counsel bills "evil laws meant for the general elections." 2. South Korea's finance ministry said Thursday it expects the count...

1. President Yoon Suk Yeol on Thursday received the first government policy report of the year and said the ban on stock short selling will remain in place until measures are devised to resolve short selling's harmful effects on retail investors. 2. The South Korean Army said Thursday that South Korea and the United States held their first joint training of the year by staging a live-fire exer...