Supreme Court Chief Justice Jo Hee-de on Tuesday rejected Cheong Wa Dae’s request to recommend a new candidate for Korea’s top court, escalating a standoff over the chief justice and the president's respective powers in appointing Supreme Court justices. Cheong Wa Dae immediately expressed “deep regret,” saying Jo’s position reflected the unconstitutional view that his power to recommend a candidate took precedence over the president’s authority. Jo announced his decision 25 days after President

South Korean police received 5,155 missing-person reports during the Chuseok holiday periods over the past three years, equivalent to one report every five minutes, data showed Tuesday. Adults, including those reported missing after leaving home, accounted for 2,994 cases, or 58.1 percent of the total, according to National Police Agency data obtained by Rep. Yang Bu-nam of the Democratic Party of Korea. Children under 18 accounted for 983 reports, or 19.1 percent, followed by people with dement

Senior officials from Seoul and Shanghai met Monday to discuss expanding cooperation in business, tourism and the nighttime economy, marking the first high-level meeting between the two city governments since the COVID-19 pandemic. Jeong Sang-hun, Seoul’s acting vice mayor for administrative affairs, met Shanghai Vice Mayor Lu Shan at Seoul City Hall, the Seoul Metropolitan Government said Tuesday. During the meeting, Jeong expressed particular interest in Shanghai’s efforts to revitalize commer

For more than four months, officials in the southwestern Korean city of Jeongeup held the passport of a seasonal worker from the Philippines. The worker was among 60 foreign nationals whose passports were retained by the city government to prevent them from leaving their assigned workplaces, according to an SBS report Tuesday. Jeongeup, located in North Jeolla Province, participates in a government-run program that brings foreign nationals to Korea for short-term work during peak farming and fis

Nearly half of people living alone in Korea have few confidants and rarely meet others, revealing a significant gap in their social preparation for old age, a report showed Tuesday. Among single-person households, 46.2 percent were classified as having “low-intimacy” relationships, meaning they had few people with whom they could share personal feelings, rarely met others and reported low satisfaction with their social connections. The figure was 18.4 percentage points higher than the 27.8 perce

A comedian has been arrested for allegedly assaulting a designated driver inside a moving vehicle while intoxicated, police said Monday. The Seoul Seocho Police Station booked the man without detention on suspicion of assaulting a driver under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes. He was arrested at the scene at around 1 a.m. Sunday after police received a report. The suspect, identified only by his surname Kim, is a comedian who debuted through broadcaster KBS’ open recruitme

Prime Minister Han Seong-sook said Tuesday that a police reform committee will be established under her office to ensure a responsible and fair policing system as the law enforcement agency is set to take on greater roles according to the government's sweeping prosecution reform. Starting Oct. 2, the police will assume responsibility for all investigations, while the prosecution's role will be limited to indictment without the power to conduct investigations on its own. The reform has raised con

CAPITAL OF PEACE — Commemorating the International Day of Peace on Monday, international relations experts and ambassadors gathered for the Seoul Global City Diplomacy and Peace Forum at Seoul City Hall. The forum discussed what Seoul needs to become a top-three global city and a "capital of peace." From left: Brian Myers, professor of international studies at Dongseo University; Kim Hyung-suk, former vice Minister of Unification; Kim Sook, former Korean ambassador to the United Nations; Lee Sun

The story of a 93-year-old man apologizing to his daughter after asking her to order fried chicken touched hearts online and led to a feast for elderly residents in his neighborhood. The daughter shared the story on Threads on Sept. 10, recalling how her father called and asked her to order him yangnyeom chicken — Korean-style fried chicken coated in a sweet and spicy sauce. "I tried to resist, but I keep thinking about it," he told her, before saying he was sorry for the request. The daughter s

Authorities in Busan said Monday that they were restricting nighttime access to a waterfront park after large crowds continued to flock there to catch sight of a shark that had lingered in the area for a third day. The roughly 3.5-meter shark was first spotted around 9 a.m. on Sept. 18 near Busan North Port. The animal is believed to be a dusky shark, although the National Institute of Fisheries Science has yet to formally confirm the species. After receiving reports of the shark sighting, the B

South Korea is rapidly expanding its overseas Korean-language education network, even as a growing number of local partners pull out of the King Sejong Institute program. A total of 131 institute designations were terminated between 2013 and August this year, according to King Sejong Institute Foundation data submitted to Rep. Cho Eun-hee of the People Power Party. Of those, 82, or 62.6 percent, followed decisions by operating organizations to end their agreements with the foundation, according

Hundreds of minors have been registered as business representatives in South Korea annually, including children too young to attend elementary school, health insurance data showed Monday. An annual average of 382 minors were registered as business representatives from 2021 to 2025, according to National Health Insurance Service data obtained by Rep. Moon Jin-seok of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea. Of them, 21 reported annual pay exceeding 100 million won ($72,200). “The fact that a child b

Michael Blunck, an former actor and wakeboarder, rode a jet ski into the Hangang River to rescue a middle school student after hearing screams near Seoul’s World Cup Bridge. The rescue took place at around 7:40 a.m. on Sept. 14, according to an SBS report aired Sunday. Blunck, who is from the US, said he was walking around his riverside office when he heard screaming outside. “I came out, and I saw just a head in the water. And it looked like he was trying to swim,” he told SBS. Blunck immediate

A sculpture depicting sign language along the waterfront in Incheon’s Songdo International City has drawn mounting complaints, with some residents wrongly identifying its finger positions with offensive gestures, news reports said Monday. Standing 4 to 5 meters tall and about 3 meters wide, the sculpture takes the form of a hand with the middle and ring fingers folded down and the other fingers extended — the American Sign Language gesture for "I love you." The Incheon Free Economic Zone Authori

Traffic crashes occurring between midnight and 6 a.m. during the Chuseok holiday period have produced more than four deaths per 100 crashes, about four times the rate during the busy afternoon hours, data showed Monday. A total of 11,510 traffic accidents occurred during the Chuseok holidays from 2021 to 2025, killing 181 people and injuring 18,903, according to Korea Road Traffic Authority data released by Rep. Hwang Hee of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea. The period from midnight to 6 a.m