President Yoon Suk Yeol met with East Timor President Jose Ramos-Horta on Friday and agreed to upgrade the bilateral ties between the two nations in the fields of development, labor, education and forestry. Yoon was quoted by his office as saying that he had explained the Korea International Cooperation Agency’s projects in the health, medical and educational field and environmental projects in East Timor. The presidential office added that Yoon has also sought aid and support from the Eas

South Korea's Defense Minister Lee Jong-sup arrived in Singapore on Friday to attend an annual security forum, where North Korea's evolving military threats, the war in Ukraine and an intensifying Sino-U.S. rivalry are expected to feature prominently. The three-day Shangri-La Dialogue got under way in the city-state earlier in the day, bringing together senior security officials from more than 40 countries, including the United States, China, Britain, Australia and Japan, according to

South Korean police are mulling deployment vehicles equipped with decibel meters at protests in order to determine whether or not the rallies exceed the legally permitted noise level, local media reported Friday. According to local newspaper Chosun Ilbo, the National Police Agency's plan is to convert one of its trucks to fit a noise-measuring device to be used at protests this year, and to acquire another one of these vehicles by next year. The NPA is currently requesting an extra budget t

An appellate court on Friday ordered prosecutors to obtain a psychological test for a defendant accused of committing animal cruelty, in order to consider the appropriate sentence. The Daejeon District Court stated, “While there already exists a series of tests for sexual crimes, there are none for animal cruelty.” “The prosecutors should submit the results of a psychological test to evaluate the possibility of repetition of the crime,” the court added. In response, the p

South Korea and the United States signed an arrangement Friday on the creation of their first joint cybersecurity guidance aimed at ensuring smooth combined military operations, Seoul's defense ministry said. The signing came as they are stepping up security coordination against persistent threats from North Korea that further ratcheted up tensions this week with its failed yet defiant launch of a space rocket. Brig. Gen. Ryu Seung-ha of South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff and Col. Eri

The approval ratings of President Yoon Suk Yeol and the ruling People Power Party inched down slightly this week, amid continued opposition attacks on the government's diplomacy with Japan, a poll showed Friday. In the poll of 1,002 adults aged 18 and over conducted by Gallup Korea from Tuesday to Thursday, the positive assessment of Yoon's performance inched down 1 percentage point from the previous week to 35 percent. Yoon's disapproval rating was 57 percent, up 2 percentage poi

A drunk driver was caught after he drove into a police station during his attempt to evade arrest. Incheon Police shared on Thursday a video showing a drunk driver in Gyeyang-gu, Incheon, on March 25, saying they were investigating the driver in his 20s for breaching traffic rules and obstructing justice. The footage shows an SUV driving away from police in a business area after being ordered to stop by police investigating a report of suspected drunk driving. While police tried to block the fug

The South Korean military has concluded three-day drills for the defense of western border islands, the Marine Corps said Friday, amid tensions caused by North Korea's botched launch of a space rocket earlier this week. The drills took place on the border islands in the Yellow Sea, including Baengnyeong Island, led by the North West Islands Defense Command and joined by troops from the Army, the Navy, the Air Force and the Marine Corps. In the exercise that began Tuesday, the armed services mobi

Organizers of the Seoul Queer Culture Festival said late Thursday that they are still looking for places in Seoul to hold this year’s event, after the Seoul city government refused its initial request to use its usual venue, Seoul Plaza at City Hall. The organizing committee said that it submitted applications with the Seoul Police Station, Seoul Namdaemun Police Station and Jongno Police Station in Seoul to hold the 17-day annual festival for the LGBT community from July 1 in the nation&r

23-year-old suspect: 'I was out of my mind'

A police officer was arrested and charged with nonconsensual video recording during sex of partners he had met through a dating app. The Suwon District Prosecutors’ Office said Friday that it had indicted the officer at the Gyeonggi Nambu Provincial Police for breaching the Act on Special Cases Concerning the Punishment of Sexual Crimes and for tampering with evidence. The police officer, whose identity has been withheld, is accused of filming 26 women without consent during sex using his

President Yoon Suk Yeol has named Lee Key-cheol, former Korean ambassador to the Netherlands, to head a new government body overseeing the interests of 7.5 million overseas Koreans launched Friday. Lee also previously served as consul general in Los Angeles and is currently secretary-general of UNICEF Korea. The new agency is intended to offer streamlined services from visas to taxes and pensions to overseas Koreans, which includes citizens living abroad as well as noncitizens with Korean famili