● Updated Law: Special Act on Prevention of Losses Caused by Telecommunications Financial Fraud and Refund for Losses What it does: Expands financial fraud victim protection to virtual asset exchanges, allowing payment suspensions and refunds involving virtual assets Took effect: Oct. 1 South Korea will expand protections for victims of voice phishing and other telecommunications financial fraud involving virtual assets, making it easier for victims to recover their losses. Under the revised law

South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Hyun will meet US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi in Atlanta on Friday, as Seoul seeks to manage a series of sensitive issues in its alliance with Washington. The three-way meeting, to be held on the sidelines of the Group of 20 foreign ministers’ gathering, comes a little more than a month after the ministers met during the UN General Assembly in New York. They are expected to discuss North Korea’s recent ballistic

Swiss Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis arrived in Pyongyang on Thursday for talks with North Korean officials and the formal reopening of Switzerland’s diplomatic office there. North Korea’s state-run Korean Central News Agency confirmed Cassis’ arrival Friday, saying he and his delegation were greeted at Pyongyang International Airport by Foreign Ministry officials, North Korea’s ambassador to Switzerland and the head of Switzerland’s diplomatic office in the North. KCNA did not elaborate on the

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un urged the country’s scientists to accelerate development of military artificial intelligence and unmanned aircraft technology, as Pyongyang showcased drones and held demonstrations involving cruise missiles and a 600-millimeter multiple rocket launcher, the North's state media reported Friday. The exhibition, titled “Unmanned Aeronautical Technology Development-2026,” was held Thursday, according to the Korean Central News Agency. It featured strategic, operationa

National Intelligence Service Director Lee Jong-seok said Thursday that two North Korean fishermen accused of killing 16 fellow crew members should have been returned to North Korea, offering his personal assessment of the 2019 forced-repatriation case that remains politically and legally contentious. Lee made the remarks during a parliamentary audit of the National Assembly’s Intelligence Committee at the NIS headquarters in Seoul, according to Reps. Yoon Kun-young of the Democratic Party of Ko

Jeju police on Thursday publicly identified a 61-year-old man accused of fatally stabbing his former partner after an investigation found he had allegedly stalked and threatened her over an extended period. The Jeju Provincial Police Agency released the name and photograph of Kang Seong-eun on its website. The disclosure will remain posted until Nov. 30. Kang was referred to prosecutors in detention this week on charges including retaliatory murder, aggravated attempted abduction and confinement

South Korea’s National Intelligence Service said Thursday that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s daughter, Ju-ae, is further consolidating her status as his designated successor, with Pyongyang increasingly portraying her as a future military leader, including through appearances suggesting her involvement in nuclear and missile-related affairs. Thursday's assessment marks a rare official South Korean confirmation that Kim’s daughter is named Kim Ju-ae, a name North Korean state media have never

South Korea and the United States are making progress in discussions of wartime operational control, National Security Adviser Wi Sung-lac said Thursday, amid concerns the postponement of a bilateral defense meeting and revised US military requirements could delay the transition. Speaking during a parliamentary audit of the presidential office by the National Assembly Steering Committee, Wi said Seoul had been consulting with Washington with the goal of completing the OPCON transfer within Presi

Rival parties clashed Thursday over the decadelong delay in establishing a foundation tasked with addressing North Korean human rights abuses. During a parliamentary audit of the National Human Rights Commission of Korea, lawmakers from the main opposition People Power Party criticized the Democratic Party of Korea for failing to nominate board members to the North Korean Human Rights Foundation, and thus preventing its launch. The foundation mandated under the North Korean Human Rights Act, whi

South Korean and US watchers are diverging on the possibility of Beijing playing a role in reviving US-North Korea talks, as speculation rises following North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's surprise visit to China. Kim made an unannounced, one-day visit to the Chinese border city of Dandong on Saturday, meeting Wang Huning, chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, and touring the New Yalu River Bridge and a local automobile factory. Although Kim did not meet Xi, the unusu

CHANGWON — At a sprawling manufacturing complex in South Korea's southeastern industrial heartland, the future of arms exports takes shape in a place built for technologies of the past. Once developed to manufacture conventional military hardware under South Korea's push for self-reliance in the 1970s, Changwon now sits at the center of Hanwha Aerospace's ambitions to build a new defense ecosystem powered by artificial intelligence, robotic production lines and unmanned combat vehicles. The comp

South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Hyun said Tuesday that North Korea and China may have discussed the possibility of US-North Korea dialogue during the North Korean leader's visit to the Chinese border city of Dandong last week. Speaking at a parliamentary audit of the National Assembly's Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee, Cho acknowledged the possibility that the two countries had exchanged views on the potential talks, particularly given the presence of a senior Chinese diplomat respon

A fictional North Korean invasion of Seoul is becoming the fodder for a real political battle in South Korea, with the latest installment of the blockbuster "Call of Duty" franchise drawing politicians into a debate over national security, inter-Korean relations and freedom of expression. "Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4," which depicts a devastating second Korean War triggered by a surprise North Korean attack, has become an unlikely political talking point in Seoul, with opposition politicians

South Korea is moving to sell a sprawling state-owned farm in Argentina, after almost five decades of failed development efforts, according to parliamentary documents released Monday. The Llajta Mauca Farm, purchased in 1978 under the Park Chung-hee administration to support Korean agricultural emigrants, covers 20,882 hectares, over one-thrid of the area of Seoul. But it has remained largely unused for nearly half a century despite costing taxpayers approximately 4.95 billion won ($3.74 million

South Korea said Thursday it will formally raise North Korea's alleged violation of the Korean War Armistice Agreement with the United Nations Security Council, as Pyongyang stepped up its threats against Seoul over escalating military tensions along the inter-Korean border. Seoul's Foreign Ministry said South Korea's ambassador to the United Nations would send a letter to the Security Council president later Thursday in New York concerning two land mine explosions on Sept. 21 inside the Demilit