South Korea

UBE, Japan — An inflatable raft returned to the beach at Tokonami in Ube City’s Nishikiwa Village at approximately 3:20 p.m. on Feb. 6. Yoshitaka Isaji climbed out with a blue plastic container in his hands, a sign to the waiting crowd that remains had been brought up. Isaji and two fellow divers had descended into the murky, cold waters to continue […]

Prosecutors on Thursday demanded a life sentence for a mother accused of abusing and murdering her four-month-old son last year. The 30-something woman faces charges of indiscriminately beating her baby before leaving him in a bathtub at their home in Yeosu, about 350 kilometers south of Seoul, where he died from multiple fractures and internal bleeding on […]

"Isn't making him stay after school child abuse?” A parent shouted after an elementary school teacher in Gwangju, who asked to be identified only as A, said the child needed extra support because he lacked basic academic ability. The child was in the third grade, and though he was not from a multicultural family, his ability to interpret Hangul was […]

One in every 12 passengers riding the Seoul subway during rush hours is a senior entitled to free rides, Seoul Metro data revealed on Wednesday. The statistics highlight a mounting structural deficit for the urban transit system and the figure comes as President Lee Jae Myung ordered a review of rush-hour restrictions for the decades-old policy. Seoul Metro […]

President Lee Jae Myung is pushing to exclude officials who own multiple homes from participating in housing policymaking, with analysts backing the move on credibility grounds while underscoring the need for clear criteria. Multi-home ownership among high-ranking bureaucrats has long been a source of controversy for housing reform in any administration, as […]

Six executives of Daejeon-based auto parts maker Anjun Industrial, whose factory fire left 14 people dead and 60 others injured last week, have been banned from leaving the country, police said Thursday. The Daejeon Metropolitan Police Agency said it has questioned 53 company officials and was conducting a digital forensic analysis on 256 seized items, […]

Woongjin Foundation has published a medical comic book explaining tic disorders and will distribute it for free, the foundation said Thursday. The 80-page illustrated guide, titled "Understanding Tic Disorders," is the latest in the foundation's ongoing series, "Rare and Incurable Diseases Explained in Comics," which it has produced in partnership with […]

Kookmin University has secured a place in one of Europe’s largest research programs, signaling a deepening of cross-border collaboration in quantum technology and digital security. Kookmin University said Thursday that professor Yoo Il-sun, a faculty member in the information security and cryptography department, had been selected for the European […]

The parliamentary public administration and security committee on Thursday passed a bill to designate Labor Day as an official public holiday. If the bill passes a plenary session and receives Cabinet approval, May 1 will be observed as a national holiday starting this year. Korea had previously marked May 1 as "Labor Day" before it was officially called […]

Police said Thursday they plan to seek an arrest warrant for a notorious drug trafficker repatriated from the Philippines this week to undergo investigation on drug smuggling and distribution charges. Park Wang-yeol, a 48-year-old Korean who has been serving a 60-year prison sentence in the Philippines for the murders of three Koreans in 2016, arrived in […]

Korean defense firm Intellics will export arms components worth some $10 million to Germany's Hensoldt under a defense "offset" arrangement, the state arms procurement agency said Thursday. The Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) and Hensoldt signed the agreement as part of Korea's offset program, which set conditions for foreign companies to […]

The Navy launched maneuvering drills this week to honor service members killed during naval clashes with North Korea in the West Sea and sharpen its combat readiness posture, the armed service said Thursday. As part of the four-day exercise set to conclude Friday, naval troops have been conducting intensive drills aimed at strengthening their anti-submarine […]

A contestant has just three seconds to decide. In “Real DM,” a short-form dating show available on Kyool, participants must rely on first impressions alone before pressing a heart-shaped button to signal interest in the person standing behind a curtain. If there is a match, the pair moves on to a 30-minute speed date to see whether the initial spark can […]

The country's financial regulator said Thursday that it will team up with related agencies to better crack down on new types of online phishing crimes and mule bank accounts. The Financial Services Commission (FSC) said financial institutions will set up systems by the end of September to effectively detect such online crimes and share related information. […]

Senior public officials in central and local governments have more than 2 billion won ($1.3 million) in personal wealth on average, data showed Thursday. A total of 1,903 senior officials declared an average of 2.09 billion won in personal assets as of end-2024, up about 30 million won from the average figure a year earlier, according to the Government […]

Sales of trash bags has tripled while the purchase of food waste bags has doubled as fears spread that naphtha, a key raw material used to make plastic products, could run short due to oil supply disruptions deriving from the more than month-long Iran conflict. According to convenience store chain CU on Wednesday, sales of food waste bags from Sunday […]

"I hardly drink at all — one or two glasses of beer at most." Kim Min-ha, a 21-year-old sophomore at Sookmyung Women’s University, recently headed to a cafe with fellow club members after a meet-up. They each ordered one of the newly released drinks and chatted for a while before parting ways. On the rare occasions that they do go out for beer, only a […]

U.S. Marines based in Okinawa, Japan, have staged combined live-fire exercises at a firing range near the inter-Korean border aimed at enhancing combat effectiveness, the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command said Thursday. The 12th Marine Littoral Regiment of the 3rd Marine Division executed the live-fire drills at the Rodriguez Live Fire Complex in Pocheon, Gyeonggi […]

The Supreme Court has upheld the cancellation of a 2021 ruling by a district court that rejected a collective damages suit launched by Korean victims of wartime forced labor in Japan against Japanese companies, judicial officials said Thursday. The case dates back to June 2021, when the Seoul Central District Court dismissed the damages suit filed by 85 […]

President Lee Jae Myung's approval rating climbed to 69 percent, marking the highest level since he took office, a survey showed Thursday. In a National Barometer Survey (NBS) conducted from Monday to Wednesday, the positive assessment of Lee's performance rose 2 percentage points from a poll conducted two weeks earlier. It marked Lee's highest approval […]

More than one in five senior presidential aides were found to own multiple homes, highlighting a gap between President Lee Jae Myung’s hardline housing policymaking directive and the reality within his own office. According to data released Thursday by the Government Public Ethics Committee, 10 out of 47 senior aides at the presidential office — those […]

President Lee Jae Myung reported total assets of 4.97 billion won ($3.73 million) as of Dec. 31, 2025, marking an increase of 1.88 billion won from the 3.08 billion won he reported a year earlier, according to data released Thursday by the Government Public Officials Ethics Committee. More than 1.5 billion won came from royalties generated by his books, […]

The American Chamber of Commerce in Korea (AMCHAM) raised concerns Thursday over the toll exemption policy of the newly opened Cheongna Sky Bridge in Incheon, which excludes foreign residents. In a statement, the chamber warned that unfair and inconsistent policy measures across several similar cases may weigh on Incheon's ability to maintain a competitive […]

The government will raise its ceiling on oil prices to take effect Friday, as increasing international oil prices are making it difficult to retain the current cap implemented two weeks ago. It announced the scheme to stabilize costs on Thursday, following a cross-ministerial meeting at Cheong Wa Dae to assess the impact of the heightened Middle East […]

South Korea will join a multinational military meeting to discuss the issue of maritime navigation in the Strait of Hormuz at France's request, officials said Thursday. The video conference, expected imminently, will be joined by Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Jin Yong-sung as the key maritime chokepoint remains effectively closed amid the U.S.-Israeli […]

Tens of thousands gathered in Seoul to show that, after a four-year hiatus, they had still kept a place for the band in a very changed worldThe Zubillaga family had come from Veracruz, Mexico. Julio and Miryam had brought their daughters, Renata, 15, and Fernanda, 11, as a gift, across 15 hours of flights to a city none of them had visited before.They had […]

Almost 60 injured in blaze in Daejeon with footage seemingly showing people jumping from burning building to escapeA fire at a car parts factory in South Korea has killed 14 people and injured almost 60 others.Firefighters said all of the missing are now accounted for after a search operation of the wreckage of the three-storey building. Continue reading...

Boyband drops album that speaks to its Korean roots ahead of Seoul comeback concert, with more than a quarter of a million fans expected to attendK-pop stars BTS released a new album on Friday billed as reflecting the maturing boy band’s Korean roots and identity, as buzz built ahead of their open-air comeback concert in the heart of Seoul.The Saturday […]

Thousands of police prepare to deploy to South Korea’s capital ahead of K-pop’s most anticipated comebackSeoul has stepped up security ahead of BTS’s huge comeback concert on Saturday, which more than a quarter of a million fans are expected to attend, with authorities raising the terror alert in the area and preparing to deploy thousands of police to […]

Court orders Krafton’s CEO to reinstate Unknown Worlds’ leadership after they were ousted using an AI-generated planA South Korean gaming publisher who hatched a plan using ChatGPT to remove the heads of one of its own game studios in a bid to avoid paying US$250m has been ordered by a US court to reverse the removal.The dispute stems from South Korean […]