Nearly two million individuals in Korea have formally declined life-extending medical interventions, choosing instead to prioritize their right to die with dignity when suffering from a terminal condition, data showed Sunday. Data from the National Agency for Management of Life-Sustaining Treatment reveals that as of the end of August, 1,941,231 people have filed an advance health care directive to abstain from life-saving medical assistance since the system's inception in February 2018. Wo

The Gangwon Forestry Exhibition 2023 kicked off on Friday around Gangwon Province's Seoraksan National Park, including the areas of Sokcho, Yangyang, Goseong and Yanggu. Under the theme of “Seeking the Future of the World and Mankind in the Forest,” the exposition showcases the strong connections between the forest and humanity. The GFE 2023 is the first forestry exposition in Korea. It includes diverse exhibitions, performances and academic conferences related to forestry. Th

Chinese President Xi Jinping said Saturday he will consider visiting South Korea for a potential summit with President Yoon Suk Yeol, at a meeting with Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, who is visiting the eastern Chinese city of Hangzhou for the opening of the Asian Games. A senior official in Seoul with direct knowledge of the Saturday meeting said Xi brought up the issue of a leader-level visit. “It was the Chinese leader who floated it first, which means he knows well it’s his turn to

Opposition leader Lee Jae-myung, who has been on a hunger strike in protest against what he called a slew of the Yoon government's policy failures, ended his fasting after more than three weeks, a party official said Saturday. "Chairman Lee will end the hunger strike on its 24th day and begin treatment for recovery," Kang Sun-woo, a spokesperson for the main opposition Democratic Party, said in a briefing. "The medical team treating Lee strongly called for Lee to call off the

Prime Minister Han Duck-soo arrived in the eastern Chinese city of Hangzhou on Saturday to attend the opening ceremony of the Asian Games and meet Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the sporting event, his office said. During his two-day visit, Han is set to attend a luncheon hosted by Xi for the leaders of countries competing in the Asian Games and hold talks with Xi ahead of the opening ceremony later in the day. The meeting between Han and Xi will take place at 4:30 p.m., his of

Prime Minister Han Duck-soo departed for the eastern Chinese city of Hangzhou on Saturday to attend the opening ceremony of the Asian Games and meet Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the sporting event, his office said. During his two-day visit, Han is expected to attend a luncheon hosted by Xi for the leaders of countries competing in the Asian Games and hold talks with Xi ahead of the opening ceremony later in the day. The exact time, venue and agenda for their meeting are being

The US Department of Commerce on Friday announced the final rule to restrict semiconductor subsidy recipients from expanding their manufacturing capacity in China, following Seoul's brisk diplomacy to minimize its potential impact on South Korean businesses. The national security "guardrails" of the CHIPS and Science Act prohibit the material expansion of semiconductor manufacturing capacity for advanced facilities in "foreign countries of concern" for 10 years from the

The top diplomats from South Korea, the United States and Japan have agreed to take stern measures against a potential arms deal between Russia and North Korea, Seoul's foreign ministry said Saturday. According to the ministry, Seoul's Foreign Minister Park Jin met with his US counterpart, Antony Blinken, and Japanese counterpart, Yoko Kamikawa, in New York on Friday to discuss Russia-North Korea arms dealings. Earlier this month, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un held a summit with Russ

South Korea's foreign ministry on Friday called on Russia to "transparently explain" its recent dealings with North Korea amid growing speculation of an arms supply deal at last week's bilateral summit. "If it (Moscow) will not engage in such worrisome military cooperation with North Korea, Russia should transparently explain (its dealings with North Korea) so that the international community could find it acceptable," a ministry official said. The comments were m

Hospitals will be required to install surveillance cameras in operating rooms and record surgery procedures at the request of patients starting next week, the health ministry said Friday. The revised Medical Service Act, set to take effect Monday, also calls for storing recorded videos for at least 30 days, according to the Ministry of Health and Welfare. Under the revision, medical clinics must install cameras in all operating rooms that handle surgeries where patients are anesthetized or unc

Democratic Party of Korea leader Rep. Lee Jae-myung on Friday made pleas to "salvage democracy" from the Yoon Suk Yeol administration, a day after the National Assembly passed a motion to let the court decide whether to issue an arrest warrant for him. In a written statement, he called attention to the country’s history of fighting military dictatorships, and the monthslong protests that led to the impeachment of the Park Geun-hye administration. “As history is a guide, it

Leading figures of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea lashed out at party rebels Friday, after the previous day's unexpected approval of a hearing on a warrant to arrest the party's leader, Lee Jae-myung. The hearing has been scheduled for Tuesday. The result of the vote came as a shock, as Lee's party holds 168 out of the 298 seats in the National Assembly. The outcome suggests that dozens of Democratic Party lawmakers cast dissenting votes. At the Supreme Council meet

Seoul and Washington embarked on their inaugural joint underwater search operation, aiming to locate the wreckage of a US fighter jet and the remains of American pilots who lost their lives during the 1950-53 Korean War in the waters of the East Sea on the Korean Peninsula. South Korea's Ministry of National Defense Agency for Killed in Action Recovery Identification (MAKRI) and the US Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) commenced a three-week retrieval operation on Sept. 7 in the wate

More than 1,800 breaches of the country’s Youth Protection Act were found during a nationwide government inspection of downtown areas to examine whether operations met requirements. The Ministry of Gender Equality and Family said Friday it had detected 1,802 violations of the act, and that it had asked the local governments responsible to investigate 65 of those cases and issued corrective orders for the rest. The inspection was conducted from July 17 until Aug. 18 at places such as beache

North Korea held a Politburo meeting on Wednesday to discuss leader Kim Jong-un's recent visit to Russia and subsequent actions required to put the trip's outcomes into effect, state-run media reported Friday. Kim made his first public appearance following his extensive 10-day overseas trip by participating in a Political Bureau meeting at the headquarters of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea in Pyongyang. During the meeting, Kim Song-nam, the director of the In

More Koreans are expressing a preference for offering cash instead of gift sets to their parents during the Chuseok holiday, data showed Thursday. According to a survey conducted by KB Kookmin Card, a subsidiary of South Korea's KB Financial Group, among a total of 420 survey participants, 91 percent are planning to prepare gifts either in monetary or non-monetary form for their parents, with almost 80 percent opting for cash while 43 percent are considering product purchases. In terms

Prime Minister Han Duck-soo will meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the opening ceremony of the Asian Games in Hangzhou, China, later this week, an official said Friday. Han will depart for China on Saturday to attend the opening ceremony, which is set to take place later in the day. The meeting with Xi is most likely to occur before the event. "It has been confirmed that the meeting will take place, and we are currently finalizing the location and timing," the

US President Joe Biden slammed Russia on Thursday for seeking more weapons from Iran and North Korea for use in its war in Ukraine, reiterating such an arms transfer would flout UN Security Council resolutions. Biden made the remarks during a White House summit with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, during which he announced a $325 million military assistance package, including artillery, ammunition, and air defense capabilities. "Russia alone stands in the way of peace. He could end

President Yoon Suk Yeol held another round of back-to-back summits with world leaders in New York on Thursday as he rampped up his push to promote South Korea's bid to host the 2030 World Expo in Busan. Since his arrival in New York on Monday to attend the UN General Assembly, Yoon has held dozens of two-way summits in a last-ditch effort for the Expo bid. In a morning summit, Yoon met with Ecuadorian President Guillermo Lasso and said that bilateral talks on the signing of a strategic econ

The United States is closely monitoring possible arms trade between North Korea and Russia, a senior US official said Thursday, after last week's summit between their leaders raised concerns about military cooperation. During a meeting with a group of reporters in Brussels, the official also said South Korea has expressed its willingness to actively support North Atlantic Treaty Organization member countries that assist Ukraine in its war against Russia. "Obviously Russia is looking fo