South Korea will convene a meeting of key ambassadors this week to discuss security challenges facing the country, the foreign ministry said Sunday.According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Seoul's Ambassador to the United States Ahn Ho-young; Kim Jang-soo, its top envoy to China; and mission chiefs to Japan, Russia and the United Nations will be at the meetings with other senior diplomatic policymakers.It said Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se, as well as senior officials, will be on hand to ho

North Korea is expected to kick off another work-hard campaign in the spring to meet growth targets set by the government in the face of mounting international sanctions, Pyongyang watchers in Seoul said Sunday.The prediction is based on the analysis that the reclusive regime, hit by two tough sanctions for conducting two nuclear tests and firing off ballistic missiles in 2016, will likely feel it has no choice other than to exploit its people to the fullest.The country announced that its 70-day

The United States sold more than 36 trillion won ($30.58 billion) worth of weapons to South Korea over the past decade, government data showed Sunday, the latest sign underscoring Seoul's heavy reliance on its key ally for defense.For 10 years through October 2016, South Korea purchased US weapons valued at 36.04 trillion won -- an amount equal to 95 percent of the country's defense budget last year -- according to data from the defense ministry and the state defense acquisition agency.(Yonhap)"

North Korean mouthpieces on Friday bashed the outgoing US President Barack Obama, claiming he is now leaving the White House as a loser in his confrontation with North Korea.In an article titled "History of (the United States') One-sided Nuclear Blackmailing That Has Come to an End," the Rodong Sinmun, a daily of the North's ruling Workers' Party, insisted the U.S. has raised its nuclear threats against Pyongyang every year during Obama's presidency. The daily justified the North's four nuclear

Naver Corp. said Friday that it will test self-driving cars on roads soon, as South Korea's largest Internet portal taps deeper into the Artificial Intelligence sector which is considered a future engine of growth.Naver's autonomous vehicles have already passed a performance test conducted by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and are awaiting permission for test runs, officials said. (Naver Corp.)Naver's unmanned vehicles will be operated on roads exclusively for such vehicles w

Hyundai Motor Group, South Korea's largest automotive group, plans to freeze the wages of its officials in managerial posts, company officials said Friday.The wage freeze, if taken, will be the first of its kind since 2009."The company is already taking emergency measures to overcome many difficulties, such as an economic downturn, slowing sales and a drop in operating profit, while company executives have voluntarily cut their own wages by 10 percent," the group said in a recent e-mail sent to

South Korean actor Jung Il-woo is riding a wave of popularity in Thailand thanks to a local TV series starring him, the drama's local PR agency said on Friday. "Love and Lies," which marks the first Thai drama starring a Korean actor as the main character, emerged as a local internet sensation in the first two episodes aired on Monday and Tuesday via Thai TV network "true4U," the company Shall We Talk said.Users of the channel's mobile application and website have surged as well, up to 2.6 and 3

South Korea on Friday expressed regrets over North Korea's move to pass the buck to Seoul for the frayed inter-Korean ties, saying that Pyongyang should first give up nuclear weapons if it hopes to improve relations.North Korea's Consultative Council for National Reconciliation said Thursday that South Korea is responsible for the frozen inter-Korean relations as its "confrontation racket and war frenzy" spiked tensions on the divided peninsula."(South Korea) should immediately respond to the No

South Korea's National Assembly Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee said Friday it will send a bipartisan delegation to the inauguration ceremony for US President-elect Donald Trump slated for Jan. 20.The delegation headed by Rep. Sim Jae-kwon of the main opposition Democratic Party will visit the United States from Monday through Sunday. They will also meet with Sen. Bob Corker, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Rep. Ed Royce, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Commit

Acting President and Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn on Friday pledged full support for couples who wish to have babies, as South Korea wrestles with a low birthrate which threatens its future growth.During his visit to the National Medical Center in central Seoul, Hwang instructed government officials to ensure that couples struggling with fertility problems can learn about and capitalize on the government program designed to support them."(The government) will make all efforts to ensure that ther

South Korea's ruling Saenuri Party convened its ethics committee on Friday to speed up steps to clear-out loyalists to President Park Geun-hye, who have been refusing to resign voluntarily.Led by the interim head In Myung-jin, Saenuri has been seeking to remove key loyalists, including eight-term Rep. Suh Chung-won, amid the falling public approval of the party after the impeachment of the president.The committee is expected to take steps to punish Suh as well as Rep. Choi Kyung-hwan. Sources sa

South Korea's defense chief pledged Friday to strengthen the already strong alliance with the United States to ensure peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula amid growing threats from North Korea."The security situation on the Korean Peninsula is grave," Defense Minister Han Min-koo said in a meeting with defense experts, citing North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's New Year's message. Kim said in his address that North Korea will firmly push forward nuclear and missile development programs. He

Former UN chief Ban Ki-moon's homecoming heated up presidential politics in South Korea on Friday as party reactions ranged from ignorance to rebukes and to wholehearted welcome. Ban reiterated his presidential ambitions upon arriving home on Thursday after serving two terms as secretary general. The main opposition Democratic Party assailed Ban over his attempt to ally with conservative forces and corruption allegations surrounding his relatives. "I wonder what Ban is going to do with those who

A gathering of North Korean border guard commanders was recently held to maintain their watertight security posture in a bid to completely block defections, a US broadcaster, monitored here, reported Friday. "The commanders resolved last Wednesday to keep their border impenetrable to prevent the occurrence of any single defection until April, when the North will celebrate the 105th birthday of its late founder Kim Il-sung," the Washington-based Radio Free Asia said, citing a source in the North'

South Korea is preparing a bill to toughen punishment for stalkers and plans to send it to parliament for legislation by the first half of 2017, the women's affairs minister said.In a meeting with reporters on Thursday, Gender Equality Minister Kang Eun-hee said the government "has prepared the basic outline for the legal foundation" of the new "effective bill.""My goal is to send it to parliament in the first half and get it passed, either through a new bill or a revision, by this year," Kang s

 South Korea's electoral body said Friday former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is eligible to run for president regardless of his lengthy residence outside the country. The National Election Commission said under the current law, South Koreans who are 40 years and older and who have lived at least five years in the country before the date of an election can become a candidate. There has been an ongoing debate as to whether Ban meets the residence status for the next presidential election. The

A North Korean radio, monitored here, broadcast coded numbers Friday, in what could be a secret message to North Korean spies operating in South Korea. In the broadcast at 01:15 a.m., a state-run Radio Pyongyang announcer said, "I'll let the members of the No. 27 expedition know of review tasks in chemistry of the distance education university from now on." "No. 51 on Page 428, No. 33 on Page 192, No. 41 on Page 260...," the announcer read.The numbers were repeated once again, which are new comp

Former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, a prominent presidential aspirant, paid homage to late former presidents, both conservative and liberal, at a national cemetery in Seoul on Friday, underscoring his message of unity and integration. A day after his return home, Ban carried out his first official event by visiting the tombs of former Presidents Rhee Syng-man, Park Chung-hee, Kim Young-sam and Kim Dae-jung at the Seoul National Cemetery."I have come home after I, as the UN secretary-general

The floor leader of a conservative splinter party on Friday accused opposition presidential hopefuls of trying to revive an appeasement policy toward North Korea which it deemed a failure. Rep. Joo Ho-young of the Barun (righteous) Party to be launched later this month called for stringent screenings of the liberal politicians' views on the communist country.  "Presidential hopefuls from the opposition parties are suggesting policies similar to the Sunshine Policy which ended in failure," he sai

North Korea's ambassador to Russia reiterated that Pyongyang can test-fire an intercontinental ballistic missile at any time and place when ordered to do so by its leadership, a US-based media said Friday.Ambassador Kim Hyong-jun told Russian news agency RIA Novosti on Wednesday that what's important is that a new US.administration should end Washington's hostile policy toward Pyongyang, the Voice of America report said.His comment is the repetition of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's New Year'