South Korea's first mass-produced KF-21 Boramae fighter jet was delivered to the Air Force on Tuesday, marking a major milestone in the country's decades-long effort to develop and field a homegrown fighter aircraft. The KF-21 took off from Korea Aerospace Industries' manufacturing facility in Sacheon, South Gyeongsang Province, following its handover to the Air Force and flew to its first operational base in Yecheon, North Gyeongsang Province, according to the Air Force and the Defense Acquisit

South Korean fencing star Song Se-ra captured her first individual Asian Games gold medal Tuesday, defeating Singapore’s Kiria Tikanah in the women’s epee final at the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games. Song, ranked No. 3 in the world, beat Tikanah 15-8 at Aichi Sky Expo in Tokoname, Aichi prefecture, giving South Korea its sixth gold medal of the Games. The 33-year-old entered the competition as a two-time individual world champion, having won the women’s epee title at the 2022 and 2026 World Champ

South Korean fencing star Song Se-ra advanced to the women’s individual epee final at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games on Tuesday after pulling off a dramatic 15-14 comeback victory over Japan’s Tamaki Terayama. Song, ranked No. 3 in the world, came from behind in the closing stages of the semifinal at Aichi Sky Expo in Tokoname, Aichi prefecture, to move within one victory of her first individual Asian Games gold medal. The 33-year-old took a 3-2 lead in the opening period before Terayama fought ba

The top diplomats of South Korea, the United States and Japan reaffirmed the three countries' commitment to the complete denuclearization of North Korea, calling on Pyongyang to return to dialogue during trilateral talks in New York on Monday. South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Hyun, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi met on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly High-Level Week, where they discussed North Korea as well as security and economic cha

North Korea appears to have tested an upgraded hypersonic ballistic missile capable of evading interception and conducting precision strikes across the Korean Peninsula, experts said Tuesday. North Korean state media Korean Central News Agency reported Tuesday that the country's Missile Administration had successfully tested a “new-type weapon” Sunday under the supervision of leader Kim Jong-un, calling it a significant step in the technological development of its weapons systems. While Pyongyan

North Korea's most recent missile launches likely seek to increase pressure on the US ahead of major international developments and as speculation about US-North Korea dialogue rises. Pyongyang fired two short-range ballistic missiles on Sunday from Wonsan toward the East Sea. The first missile, launched at around 3 p.m., flew about 450 kilometers, while the second, fired at around 5:50 p.m., traveled more than 600 km, according to Seoul's Joint Chiefs of Staff. The timing has drawn particular a

Three South Korean military personnel members were injured Monday after an unidentified explosion occurred during an operation in the western section of the Demilitarized Zone, the Joint Chiefs of Staff said. The blast took place in an area south of the Military Demarcation Line, which divides the two Koreas, earlier in the day, according to the JCS. Two of the injured were transported by emergency helicopter to the Armed Forces Capital Hospital, where they are receiving treatment, the JCS said

President Lee Jae Myung's approval rating rose to 34.8 percent, snapping a nine-week run of consecutive declines, a poll showed Monday. In the Sept. 14-18 survey of 2,507 voters aged 18 and older, 34.8 percent gave a positive assessment of Lee's job performance, up 1 percentage point from the previous week. Lee's approval rating had fallen for nine straight weeks after reaching 48.9 percent in the third week of July before reversing course in the latest survey. His disapproval rating also edged

Foreign Minister Cho Hyun is set to meet US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Washington on Friday for talks expected to focus on Seoul's $350 billion investment commitment and its potential contribution to security in the Strait of Hormuz, after President Lee Jae Myung laid out clear parameters on both issues. Hours ahead of the meeting, Lee stressed during a press conference in Seoul that South Korea's national interests must be protected in negotiations over its US investment package and drew

President Lee Jae Myung said Friday that South Korea and the United States are renegotiating parts of a $350 billion investment package over details in the agreement reached in working-level negotiations. The remarks shed light on the last-minute postponement of plans to unveil South Korea's first project under its $350 billion strategic investment commitment to the US. "I was told we were close to an agreement, but from what I saw in the details, there were some parts that were difficult to agr

President Lee Jae Myung on Friday categorically ruled out seeking reelection, rejecting speculation that his push to revise South Korea’s Constitution to allow presidents to serve consecutive terms was intended to extend his own time in office. “I have absolutely no intention of seeking reelection,” Lee said during a special press conference at Cheong Wa Dae in Seoul, reiterating the point as he sought to address political controversies and public discontent that surfaced following the recent lo

Three people were rescued and one remained missing after a small auxiliary vessel belonging to a North Korean merchant ship sank in international waters about 200 kilometers southeast of Homigot in Pohang, North Gyeongsang Province, authorities said Thursday. According to the East Regional Headquarters of the Korea Coast Guard, it received a report from the South Korean Navy at around 10:52 a.m. that an auxiliary vessel of a North Korean merchant ship had sunk, initially leaving four people miss

Sexual misconduct accounted for more than half of dismissals from South Korea’s state-run international development aid agency's overseas programs over the past five years, data showed Thursday. According to data the Korea International Cooperation Agency submitted to Democratic Party of Korea Rep. Lee Ki-heon, 15 volunteers were stripped of their status for violations of service rules between January 2022 and August this year. Eight of them were dismissed for sexual misconduct. Of the eight vol

Kim Yo-jong, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's sister and a ranking ruling party member, on Thursday declared Pyongyang's nuclear status "absolute" and irreversible, rejecting calls for denuclearization at an international nuclear gathering. Analysts say the unusually high-level response may also have been calibrated to avoid directly antagonizing Washington amid renewed prospects for US-North Korea dialogue. Kim Yo-jong, a director of the General Affairs Department of the Central Committee of t

North Korea has between 35,600 and 101,280 workers deployed overseas, generating as much as $800 million annually despite UN sanctions banning the practice, a report by a multinational sanctions monitoring body showed Wednesday. According to the Multilateral Sanctions Monitoring Team's latest report, North Korean workers remained in at least 17 countries in 2025, generating an estimated $450 million to $800 million. The majority are believed to be in China and Russia, with China hosting an estim