The defense ministry initiated the process to normalize a military intelligence-sharing deal with Japan on Friday, following a summit agreement between the leaders of both countries the previous day. The defense ministry said it sent a letter to the foreign ministry requesting measures to normalize the General Security of Military Information Agreement (GSOMIA). The foreign ministry is soon exp...

First lady Kim Keon Hee on Friday met renowned architect Tadao Ando, with whom she had worked before her husband's presidency, in Tokyo. During their meeting, Kim asked the Japanese architect to consider a collaboration with Korean architecture, such as building an art museum in Korea, stressing the need to promote cultural exchanges between the two countries. Responding to her suggestion, Ando...

President Yoon Suk Yeol visited Keio University in Tokyo on Friday, and told a gathering of Japanese and South Korean students they are the two nations' future. Yoon spoke to the students during a two-day visit to Tokyo, where he held a summit with Prime Minister Fumio Kishida the previous day and discussed ways to improve the bilateral relationship badly frayed over historical disputes. "I bel...

Park Kyeong-seok, the leader of the disability rights group that has been staging rush-hour subway protests, was taken into custody on Friday after refusing to turn up for police questioning 18 times. The police took the chief of Solidarity Against Disability Discrimination into custody at 11:50 a.m. outside the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency in central Seoul during his press conference. Park...

President Yoon Suk Yeol on Friday met former Japanese political leaders to discuss ways to promote cooperation and exchanges in various fields between South Korea and Japan, before he wrapped up a two-day working trip to the neighboring country. At the meeting, Yoon said his trip to Japan was intended to normalize bilateral relations, stressing that he and his Japanese counterpart, Fumio Kishida...

The statement came during Oh's Europe visit, which included the United Kingdom. Oh went to Hyde Park and took a ride on the London Eye, an observation wheel near the royal hunting ground-turned-public park earlier this week, according to the Seoul municipal government. Earlier this month, Oh unveiled a plan to build the 180-meter Ferris wheel on the hilltop of World Cup Park by 2027. The capital...

The terrifying return of a mother depicted in Netflix‘s revenge drama “The Glory” can be prevented in real life, as long as the bullied protagonist Moon Dong-eun officially designates her mother as a perpetrator of domestic violence, said South Korea’s Justice Ministry on Friday. Under the revision of the Act on Registration of Family Relations effective in January 2022, a victim of domestic vio...

N. Korean state media confirms launch of Hwasong-17 ICBM on Thursday

Leaders of South Korea and Japan hailed a new era of bilateral ties strained for years over historic disputes on Thursday, with a list of agreements aimed at bolstering cooperation in the fields of security, economy and culture between the two countries. The agreements forged during a summit between President Yoon Suk Yeol and his Japanese counterpart Fumio Kishida held in Tokyo, the first in 12...

During a business roundtable in Tokyo on Friday, President Yoon Suk Yeol affirmed his commitment to provide full support for cooperation between South Korea and Japan, in order to facilitate free exchange and foster innovative business opportunities between the two nations. The meeting was held a day after President Yoon and his counterpart Fumio Kishida agreed to enhance economic cooperation be...

Grandson of the late former President Chun Doo-hwan, Chun Woo-won, who recently made headlines for publicly accusing his family of various felonies, broadcast himself taking what appeared to be drugs early Friday. The 27-year-old started streaming himself on YouTube around 5:40 a.m., Korean time, at his New York home and apologized for what he said were his family’s crimes, with a vow to donate ...

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida toast during an extended dinner session held at a restaurant in Ginza, downtown Tokyo, after their summit on Thursday. While drinking Japanese beer mixed with Korean soju, the Japanese premier has reportedly told his Korean counterpart that the friendship between Korea and Japan "felt tasty," referring to the drink als...

First lady Kim Keon Hee made wagashi, Japanese sweets, with Japanese first lady Yuko Kishida as she visited the prime minister’s residence during President Yoon Suk Yeol's working trip to Tokyo. This was the first meeting between the two in four months since the G-20 summit held in November in Indonesia. Kim learned how to make Japanese sweets under the guidance of a Japanese artisan and drank m...

South Korea's new COVID-19 cases stayed below 10,000 for the second consecutive day Friday, as the virus curve keeps steady with no dramatic upturn in daily numbers. The country reported 9,065 new COVID-19 infections, including 11 cases from overseas, bringing the total caseload to 30,681,228, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency said. The latest count is down from the previous day's...

WASHINGTON-- Joint military exercises between the United States and its allies are working effectively to deter aggression despite continued provocations from North Korea, a US Department of Defense spokesperson said Thursday. Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder made the remarks hours after North Korea fired an intercontinental ballistic missile, marking its second ICBM launch this year. "I think what's impor...