North Korean leader Kim Jong-un made an unannounced visit to China on Saturday, crossing the newly opened New Yalu River Bridge into the border city of Dandong, South Korea's Unification Ministry confirmed. The surprise trip comes amid renewed diplomatic attention to the Korean Peninsula, with US President Donald Trump seeking to revive dialogue with North Korea and China preparing to host the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Shenzhen next month. Kim's arrival also comes a day before

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un arrived in Dandong, China, on Saturday via the new Yalu River bridge, South Korea's Unification Ministry said.

South Korea should convert its technological and industrial strengths into greater diplomatic influence while also delivering tangible benefits to its partners, officials and experts said at a meeting in Seoul on Friday. The Jeju Forum Inter-Sessional Meeting, hosted by the Jeju Peace Institute at the Korea Press Center in Jung-gu, central Seoul, examined pragmatic diplomacy, cooperation with the Global South and follow-up measures to the inaugural Korea-Central Asia summit in September. Experts

A senior United Nations official expressed gratitude to South Korea Friday for donating eight military helicopters to Kenya to support UN peacekeeping operations. Jean-Pierre Lacroix, UN under-secretary-general for peace operations, made the remarks in a post on X following a ceremony marking the handover of eight refurbished MD 500 Defender helicopters to Kenya. "Grateful to the Republic of Korea for donating eight helicopters to enhance UN Peacekeeping's air mobility," Lacroix wrote. "Refurbis

The US Treasury Department has proposed expanding restrictions on American investments in sensitive technologies to include North Korea and several other countries, as Washington seeks to prevent adversaries from using US capital to develop advanced military capabilities. The proposed regulations, detailed in a notice scheduled to be published in the Federal Register on Thursday, would expand the existing Outbound Investment Security Program, which currently covers China, including Hong Kong and

At Unhyeongung, where King Gojong and the future Empress Myeongseong held their wedding ceremony in 1866, visitors are gathering this fall for a quieter occasion: tea and conversation. The former residence of Gojong’s father, Heungseon Daewongun, invites visitors to make traditional Korean desserts, sip tea and share stories about their day, accompanied by live gayageum music. One dessert, gotgamdanji — dried persimmons stuffed with sweet fillings — was chosen to symbolize good fortune. “Every t

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz will visit South Korea on Oct. 29-30 for talks with President Lee Jae Myung and to attend the Asia-Pacific Conference of German Business, known as APK, the presidential office said Friday. The trip will be Merz’s first visit to South Korea since taking office and the first bilateral official visit by a German chancellor in three years. Lee and Merz will hold summit talks on the afternoon of Oct. 29, followed by a joint press statement and an official dinner, chie

President Lee Jae Myung on Friday called for closer economic cooperation between South Korea and Japan, stressing the need for the two countries to work together on supply chains for advanced industries. Lee made the remarks during a meeting with a Japanese business delegation led by Yoshinobu Tsutsui, chairman of the Japan Business Federation, at Cheong Wa Dae, according to presidential spokesperson Kim Sung-wan. "South Korea and Japan are important countries for which cooperation is essential

Hungary called for closer investment and technology ties with South Korea at a reception in Seoul on Thursday marking the 70th anniversary of its 1956 uprising against Soviet rule. Anett Szelezsan, chargé d’affaires at the Hungarian Embassy, linked the uprising’s legacy to what she described as the countries’ shared commitment to democracy and human rights. “Our nation was brave enough to stand up for freedom,” she said. Soviet forces crushed the uprising, but it became an enduring symbol of res

South Korea has donated eight decommissioned military helicopters to Kenya after an overhaul, delivering on its pledge to support the U.N. peacekeeping missions in the region, officials said Friday. A ceremony marking the donation of the eight MD 500 Defenders was held at the Kenya Army Corps of Aviation in Nairobi on Friday (local time), according to the defense ministry. The move comes as South Korea pledged to provide choppers to the U.N. peacekeeping operations across Africa during the U.N.

The spy agency on Friday reported to a parliamentary committee that recent unverified rumors circulating social media claiming North Korean leader Kim Jong-un might have died are false, sources said. The National Intelligence Service (NIS) delivered the assessment during a closed-door meeting with ruling and opposition lawmakers on the National Assembly's Intelligence Committee, according to sources who attended the meeting. The rumors, which claimed Kim had suffered a severe brain hemorrhage, f

South Korea renewed its offer Friday to hold military talks with North Korea to discuss their conflicting views on where the inter-Korean border sits, seeking to ease tensions sparked by last month's land mine blast inside the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ). Seoul and Pyongyang have traded sharp rhetoric since South Korea blamed the North for the Sept. 21 mine blast inside the DMZ that injured three South Korean troops. Pyongyang has denied responsibility and vowed to take military actions along the b

Left-leaning politicians on Friday vowed renewed efforts to overhaul the judicial branch following a high court's acquittal of Seoul mayor Oh Se-hoon of his charges of violating the Political Funds Act. "This ruling is difficult to accept, both from a legal perspective and from common sense," Rep. Kim Min-seok, chair of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea, told reporters. "I believe it has fueled significant public suspicion (toward the judicial branch). It is deeply concerning that this should

The government continues to expand support for children with disabilities, but there has not been a corresponding increase in the number of teachers needed to educate them, a lawmaker said Friday. According to Rep. Kang Kyung-sook of the Rebuilding Korea Party, the Ministry of Education provided disability screenings and assessments to 7,097 children aged 0 to 5 last year, under a pilot program to expand special education support to daycare centers. The ministry also provided care and support se