Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha on Tuesday vowed to strengthen the alliance with US under the incoming Joe Biden administration to achieve denuclearization and peace on the Korean Peninsula.  She made the remark during an opening address of a meeting of related offices and academia to discuss policy direction and ways to strengthen US-South Korea alliance under the new Biden administration, a day before Biden is set to be inaugurated as the next US President on Wednesday.  “We

The defense ministry on Tuesday launched an inspection into allegations the Navy chief failed to show up at an emergency meeting convened to discuss an officer who went missing earlier this month after having drinks that night, officials said. On Jan. 9, a Navy officer was found dead after going missing near the western border island of Baengnyeong while on guard operations the previous day. His body was found in the Yellow Sea hours later. The Navy convened an emergency meeting to monitor the

Last week's acquittals of 13 corporate executives in a deadly humidifier sterilizer case were caused by the court's wrong interpretation of the causal relations between chemicals contained in sterilizer products and victims' lung-related illnesses, a group of scholars argued Tuesday. The Seoul Central District Court ruled last Tuesday that Hong Ji-ho, former CEO of SK Chemical; Ahn Yong-chan, former CEO of Aekyung Industrial; and 11 other corporate executives are not guilty of professional negl

President Moon Jae-in has picked Lee Keun, an economics professor, as vice chairman of the presidential advisory panel on the economy, Cheong Wa Dae announced Tuesday. Lee is an expert on the innovation economy, having won the Schumpeter Prize in 2014, according to Cheong Wa Dae spokesman Kang Min-seok. He is expected to contribute to efforts for a quick and strong economic recovery from the COVID-19 crisis and the move toward a pacesetting economy, Kang said. The National Economic Advisory Co

The leader of the Jogye Order, South Korea's largest Buddhist sect, said Tuesday that he will strive to promote inter-Korean religious exchanges this year by helping the North's battle against the novel coronavirus. "We will closely confer with our North Korean counterpart on projects to facilitate exchanges and cooperation between the Buddhist communities of the two Koreas," Ven. Wonhaeng, president of the Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism, said in an online press conference. "I'll

Twenty-six American service members and five civilians affiliated with the US Forces Korea (USFK) have tested positive for the new coronavirus upon their arrival here over the past few weeks, the US military said Tuesday. Of them, 13 service members and three family members arrived at Osan Air Base in Pyeongtaek, 70 kilometers south of Seoul, on government-chartered flights, while 13 other service members, one civilian worker and one dependent came here on commercial flights via Incheon Interna

A special investigation unit tasked with reinvestigating the 2014 Sewol ferry disaster announced Tuesday that it had put most of the allegations to rest without additional indictments, ending its 14-month investigation. The team said, “A total of 20 people were indicted after confirming that the Coast Guard command had violated its duty of care and that government officials such as Cheong Wa Dae and the Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries interfered with the special investigation

South Korea's health authorities said Tuesday that the ban on flights from Britain will be extended by one week again and arrivals from Brazil will have to prove that they are virus-free as the country stepped up measures against new coronavirus variants that are known to be more transmissible. A total of 18 COVID-19 variant cases have been reported in the country, including 15 from Britain, two from South Africa and one from Brazil, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency

President Moon Jae-in is expected to carry out a Cabinet reshuffle as early as this week to affect Park Young-sun, minister of SMEs and Startups, and a few others, an informed source said Tuesday. Park, a former reporter and ruling Democratic Party (DP) lawmaker, is apparently seeking to run in the April 7 by-election for the Seoul mayorship. She plans to quit the job Wednesday in consideration of the schedule for the ruling party's race to pick its candidate for the all-important election, ac

The inaugural chief nominee for a high-profile corruption investigative body vowed Tuesday to sternly investigate any high-ranking officials in accordance to the law without being politically influenced. The remark was made during a confirmation hearing at the National Assembly for Kim Jin-wook, a former judge picked by President Moon Jae-in to serve as the inaugural chief of the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials. “The establishment of the CIO is a historic event

Cheong Wa Dae on Tuesday was busy correcting President Moon Jae-in’s recent comments about adoption as civic groups and opposition lawmakers called for an official apology. On Monday, the president was hosting a New Year’s press conference when a reporter asked him what the government was doing to prevent child abuse, in light of the recent death of a 16-month-old toddler who allegedly suffered months of abuse at the hands of her adoptive parents. After unveiling a new set of gui

The government has provided as much information about its ongoing probe as possible to the family of a South Korean fisheries official killed by North Korea's military in the sea last year, a report to a UN body showed Tuesday. South Korea made the case in the report submitted last week to the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) in response to concerns that the authorities have not fully disclosed to the family the information related to the incident that took place in S