Public prosecutor Son Jun-sung was summoned for questioning Tuesday in the probe into alleged political meddling involving presidential hopeful Yoon Seok-youl, two months into the investigation. Son, the former chief of investigative information policy at the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office, is accused of ordering subordinate prosecutors and Rep. Kim Woong of the main opposition People Power Party to write complaints and collect evidence against ruling party figures and some journalists ahea

Ahn Cheol-soo, head of the minor opposition People’s Party, officially declared his third bid for presidency on Monday, vowing to transform South Korea into a science and technology-oriented state. Whether Ahn will unify with the main opposition People Power Party candidate will be a major variable in the upcoming election. Announcing his candidacy at the National Assembly in Seoul, Ahn said, “I will become a president who pursues national growth engines with the power of advance

Jaraseom is a well-known place for music lovers, drawing more than 100,000 visitors every October for its annual Jazz Festival.  But Jaraseom, which consists of four islands, has recently become a beautiful park for visitors to enjoy various flowers from spring to autumn.  Since 2019, Gapyeong County has transformed Jaraseom into a “flower island” by establishing flower fields, landscape lighting installations and tourist facilities on 100,000 square meters of the souther

South Korean schools will implement measures to live with the pandemic late next month, schools beginning a full transition to in-person classes from Nov. 22. The Ministry of Education announced Friday that for kindergartens, elementary, middle and high schools, a return to regular classes will be implemented step by step from Nov. 22 after a three-week preparation period. Social distancing rules will be lifted from the day, and full school attendance will be allowed in all regions. For ki

Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum said Friday that up to 10 people in the wider Seoul area and 12 people in the non-metropolitan area are free to meet regardless of vaccination as part of daily recovery to be carried out step by step in three stages. The first step will be implemented for four weeks and the quarantine situation will be comprehensively evaluated to decide whether to switch to the next step. “It is urgent to recover small business owners and self-employed people who have endure

Leading legislative experts from the Asian region gathered Wednesday to discuss the present and future of legislative administration at a symposium held in Seoul. The 9th Asian Legislative Experts Symposium, organized by the Ministry of Government Legislation and Korea Legislation Research Institute, was held under the theme of “Legislative Administration of Each Asian Country and Cooperation Measures,” in a hybrid in-person and online conference. The event comprised two main ses

Former President Roh Tae-woo will be given a state funeral, the prime minister said Wednesday, citing his achievements as president. Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum said at a Cabinet meeting Wednesday, “While serving as the 13th president, the deceased made many achievements in the country’s development. The government will honor his achievements with the people through a state funeral.” Kim told the Ministry of Public Administration and Security and related ministries to thorou

Former President Roh Tae-woo, who served as the 13th president of South Korea, died at the age of 88 on Tuesday. Roh, who had been ailing for a long time with chronic conditions, had recently been hospitalized at Seoul National University Hospital due to worsening health and was in an intensive care unit. Leaving a mixed legacy, he was the first president to be elected after the June 1987 democratization movement and was also a leading force behind the military coup in 1979 along with his

GYEONGJU, North Gyeongsang Province -- Until a few weeks ago, they were eating food waste in small, dirty cages, helplessly watching their friends die. The 65 Jindo dogs were destined to die as Boknal approached. Those are the three hottest days of summer, during which South Koreans typically eat ginseng chicken soup or dog soup, although the latter is becoming rarer. But the dogs survived because nearby residents of Jindo County, South Jeolla Province, reported the situation to the authoritie

South Korean pianist Paik Kun-Woo filed a claim for damages on Monday against the MBC investigative journalism program "PD Note," which raised suspicions that he had neglected his wife, actress Yoon Jeong-hee. In a statement released by Paik, he said the contents of the“PD Note” episode titled “The missing actress, two faces of adult guardian,” which aired last month were false. He claimed the reputations of both him and his daughter Paik Jin-hee were significa

On the occasion of Dokdo Day, local civic group Voluntary Agency Network of Korea has developed an online campaign in collaboration with advertising guru Yi Je-seok to encourage the public to check and report errors of names of Dokdo and East Sea in maps on overseas sites.  The models for this campaign are independence activists, Ahn Jung-geun, Yun Bong-gil and Ryu Gwan-sun, who are portrayed as discovering and correcting errors on overseas sites using cellphones and computers. The c

About four months before the upcoming presidential election, voters increasingly disapprove of three key candidates from both the ruling and opposition parties amid constant scandals, doubts and slip-ups. According to a survey of 1,000 adults nationwide conducted Oct. 19-21 by Gallup Korea, Lee Jae-myung, the ruling Democratic Party of Korea’s sole presidential candidate, marked a 32 percent approval rating. Two opposition party candidates, Hong Joon-pyo and Yoon Seok-youl, received 31 p

One of nine crew members of a fishing boat that capsized in the East Sea on Wednesday has been found dead, and two have been rescued, police said Thursday. From 6:30 a.m. Thursday, the Coast Guard dispatched 14 divers to search the overturned ship. In the process, one of the crew was found dead in the wheelhouse. By collating the scene photo with his driver‘s license, the deceased found in the wheelhouse was identified as the captain, surnamed Park, 62, police said in the afternoon bri

A fishing boat carrying nine crew members capsized in waters off the nation’s easternmost islets of Dokdo on Wednesday, according to the Coast Guard, with rescue workers struggling due to high waves of up to 3 to 4 meters. As of 6 p.m., no survivors had been found. The Coast Guard said it received a report from Japan at around 2:24 p.m that a 72-ton ship carrying nine crew members had overturned in the sea about 168 kilometers from Dokdo. The overturned ship was a fishing vessel built

Yoon Seok-youl, a leading presidential contender for the main opposition People Power Party, on Wednesday hastened to provide an explanation for his remarks that seemed to defend former President Chun Doo-hwan, after rebukes from both within and outside his party. A day earlier, Yoon visited a party member council in Busan and said there were many people who say Chun “did well in politics” except for the “military coups” and what he did on May 18, referring to the Gwang

Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum on Tuesday urged the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions to call off the general strike planned for Wednesday, warning that the organizer will be punished if the rally violates quarantine rules. Despite concerns over the spread of COVID-19, the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, the more militant of the country’s two umbrella labor organizations, has decided to go ahead with a rally involving 550,000 people. Less than two months have passed since the orga

In Gwanak Dream Town, an apartment complex in Gwanak-gu, southern Seoul, the area that is home to middle-class residents is fenced off with barbed wire to prevent their poorer neighbors from coming in. The fence was installed in 2003 after residents of buildings numbered 101 to 144 demanded separation from the public housing section -- buildings numbered 145 to 149, where the government subsidizes the rent. Now, they live side by side with little interaction. “In the very beginning,

Plastic waste and disposable packaging are overflowing as coronavirus concerns prompt more South Koreans to shop online and order delivery food or takeout coffee. According to the Ministry of Environment, the amount of plastic waste generated last year increased by 20 percent compared with the previous year. Paper waste increased by 25 percent on-year. Korea introduced a garbage volume-rate system in 1995, meaning people have to pay for garbage bags as an incentive to minimize trash. The cou

National Assembly Speaker Park Byeong-seug returned home Friday after attending the seventh G-20 Parliamentary Speakers’ Summit in Rome following an official visit to Egypt. During the 11-day trip, he focused on “sales diplomacy” to expand summit talks at the parliamentary level and allow South Korean companies to enter the regions, his office said. Park met all 18 representatives of 16 countries who attended the two-day speakers’ meeting in Rome, which ran Oct. 7-8,

President Moon Jae-in and first lady Kim Jung-sook received COVID-19 booster shots Friday, 168 days after receiving their second vaccinations. Moon received the AstraZeneca vaccine March 23 and April 30, and his booster shot was from Pfizer. Starting Tuesday, the government began additional vaccinations for workers at COVID-19 treatment hospitals, who were vaccinated six months ago. They will get boosters from Pfizer through Oct. 30. Alongside medical workers, older adults and those who lea