The probe into alleged wrongdoings of the National Intelligence Service continues to expand, once again bringing the integrity and role of the spy agency into question. In the early hours of Tuesday, Lee Byung-kee was taken into custody, becoming the first former NIS director to be detained in the latest investigation into the spy agency.  Former National Intelligence Service chief Lee Byung-kee is surrounded by reporters at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office on Monday. (Yonhap)Later

President Moon Jae-in called for stepped-up efforts Tuesday to form a regional community among Southeast Asian countries and three Northeast Asian nations including China and Japan. Moon’s suggestion of forming a regional community came at an annual summit with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, known as the ASEAN Plus Three. The regional forum involves the leaders of all 10 ASEAN countries, plus the leaders of South Korea, Japan and China. (Yonhap)On the sidelines of the event in Manil

The leaders of South Korea and China on Saturday reaffirmed joint efforts to peacefully resolve North Korea’s nuclear threat, highlighting the recent normalization of bilateral ties estranged by the deployment of a US missile defense system in South Korea. South Korean President Moon Jae-in (left) shakes hands with Chinese President Xi Jinping prior to their talks in the central Vietnamese city of Danang on Saturday. (Yonhap)At a summit, the leaders “shared the view on the need to stably manage

President Moon Jae-in on Thursday held a summit meeting with Indonesian President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo, taking the first step in his plans to strengthen relations with Southeast Asian nations. Moon began his eight-day tour of Southeast Asia on Wednesday with a state visit to Indonesia. In addition to holding one-on-one and expanded summit talks, Moon met with Indonesia-based Koreans, and with the two countries’ business leaders. South Korea’s President Moon Jae-in (left) and Indonesian President

US President Donald Trump was prevented by fog from visiting the Demilitarized Zone on Wednesday, ruining the surprise that he may have planned for some weeks. US President Donald Trump waits next to helicopters at US Army Garrison Yongsan in Seoul, Wednesday, waiting for bad weather to clear so they can try and make a second attempt to fly to the Demilitarized Zone. AFP-YonhapSpeaking to reporters at the White House on Oct. 25, Trump declined to elaborate on whether he planned a visit to the DM

In South Korea, US President Donald Trump sent a direct message to North Korean leader Kim Jong-un on Tuesday, warning him not to “try” the US, while rallying the international community to raise the pressure against the “twisted” regime. In his address to South Korea’s National Assembly, Trump highlighted the need to end Pyongyang’s nuclear program, saying “the time for excuses is over” and that he sought “peace through strength.”Rather than laying direct threats against North Korea as he did a

US President Donald Trump’s surprise plans to visit the Demilitarized Zone that divides the two Koreas were canceled Wednesday due to the weather.Trump, who wraps up his two-day state visit to South Korea on Wednesday, attempted to fly to the DMZ early Wednesday, but the trip was canceled due to weather conditions, Cheong Wa Dae said.According to Seoul’s presidential office, President Moon Jae-in had flown by helicopter to a location near the border and was waiting for Trump when the plans were

South Korea and the US will cooperate on “an unprecedented level” to strengthen Seoul’s military capabilities, President Moon Jae-in on Tuesday.Speaking after a summit meeting with US President Donald Trump in Seoul, Moon said that the two countries will immediately begin talks regarding Seoul’s plans to purchase or develop cutting-edge military assets. “We agreed to resolve North Korean nuclear issue peacefully, and to establish permanent peace on the Korean Peninsula,” Moon said at a joint pre

South Korea and the US agreed to lift all restrictions on South Korean ballistic missile payload, President Moon Jae-in said Tuesday, saying that the allies see eye-to-eye on maintaining overwhelming military capabilities over North Korea. “President Trump reaffirmed (the US’s) ironclad defense policy (for South Korea) and we agreed to further strengthen the allies’ solid defense posture,” Moon said.“President Trump and I reached the final agreement on completely lifting the limitation on South

US President Donald Trump touched down in South Korea at 12:18 p.m. on Tuesday, beginning his two-day state visit. Trump was welcomed by South Korean Minister of Foreign Affairs Kang Kyung-wha and Cho Yoon-je, the recently appointed ambassador to the US at the Osan Air Base in Gyeonggi Province. Trump is on the second leg of his tour of Asian nations, and arrived here from Japan after a three-day visit to the country.    (Yonhap)Trump’s state visit, the first by a US leader since 1992, comes at

President Moon Jae-in will hold summit talks with US President Donald Trump in Seoul on Tuesday, with the focus again on North Korea and bilateral trade issues. This will be their third bilateral summit. The first was held in June in Washington and the second on the sidelines of the G-20 Summit in Germany in July. On a tight schedule, about 24 hours spread from Tuesday to Wednesday, Trump’s state visit will follow a tight itinerary with two summit meetings -- a one-on-one and another expanded --

US President Donald Trump will arrive in Seoul on Tuesday, his second stop of his five-nation Asian tour, where the issues of North Korea and trade will be front and center throughout his two-day stay. Trump’ state visit to South Korea comes at a time of heightened tension on the Korean Peninsula.North Korea, which has desisted from provocative military actions in the recent weeks for reasons unknown, on Thursday ratcheted up its anti-US rhetoric, justifying its nuclear program and accusing the

South Korea may announce unilateral sanctions before US President Donald Trump’s visit on Tuesday, a high-level government official revealed Friday.“The government has seen a need to introduce our own sanctions in line with the UN Security Council sanctions. We have been negotiating with the US on the matter, and the National Security Council has been reviewing the matter,” the official said on condition of anonymity.  This file photo released by Cheong Wa Dae on July 29, 2017, shows President M

US President Donald Trump‘s state visit to South Korea is to be his shortest among the three East Asian nations, lasting about 24 hours, according to an itinerary revealed by Cheong Wa Dae on Friday. Trump, who will kick off his tour in Japan on Sunday, is to arrive to South Korea on Tuesday, and leave the following day to meet with Chinese leaders. Trump will stay in China from Wednesday to Nov. 10, when he then leaves for Danang, Vietnam. While Seoul highlights the fact that South Korea is the

South Korea will neither develop nor possess nuclear weapons, President Moon Jae-in said Wednesday, effectively shooting down calls from conservative quarters to bring back US tactical nuclear weapons. Addressing the National Assembly on Wednesday, Moon said his administration has clear principles in issues regarding security on the Korean Peninsula, the priorities of which are peace and complete denuclearization. “Under the denuclearization declaration, jointly made by the South and the North,

The South Korean and Chinese presidents will hold a bilateral summit on the sidelines of Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in Da Nang, Vietnam next week, Seoul announced Tuesday. Nam Gwan-pyo, a deputy chief of the National Security Council, said that the two sides agreed to the summit meeting, which could be the first step in normalizing the two countries’ fraught relations. South Korean President Moon Jae-in is scheduled to attend the forum on Nov. 10 and 11. “This agreement is the first

The South Korean government has compiled a list of North Koreans responsible for human rights violations, the Center for North Korean Human Rights Records’ data showed Monday. According to Rep. Yoon Sang-jick of the main opposition Liberty Korea Party, the center -- an agency under the Ministry of Justice -- has a list of 245 North Koreans guilty of human rights violations.  This file image shows aerial view of a North Korean labor camp. (Yonhap)The list includes details of human rights violatio

President Moon Jae-in’s latest choice to head the Ministry of SMEs and Startups is coming under increasing fire, bringing ruling and opposition parties to once again butt heads. Hong Jong-haak, a former lawmaker and economics professor, was tapped to lead the newly established ministry on Oct. 23.  Minister of SMEs and Startups nominee Hong Jong-haak (center) speaks to reporters in Seoul on Oct. 25. YonhapThe presidential office claimed that Hong was “the right man to create a healthy economic e

The armed forces of South Korea and the US agreed Friday to deal resolutely with North Korea‘s additional provocations on the basis of their “ironclad” alliance.In their Military Committee Meeting in Seoul, Gen. Jeong Kyeong-doo, chairman of South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff, and his American counterpart Gen. Joseph Dunford agreed to “continuously develop effective response measures in order to deter, and if necessary, firmly respond to additional provocation,” according to their joint press s

President Moon Jae-in on Friday tapped Lee Jin-sung, an incumbent justice of the court, to head the Constitutional Court. Lee is his second nomination for the head of the top court since taking office on May 10. The nomination comes over a month after Moon’s first choice, Constitutional Court Justice Kim Yi-su was rejected by the opposition-led National Assembly.  Lee Jin-sung. YonhapKim currently serves as acting chief of the Constitutional Court. The post has been vacant since former Chief Jus