Former US President Donald Trump said Thursday in his Republican National Convention speech to accept the conservative party's nomination as its presidential candidate that he "got along with" North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. His remarks came as he touted himself as the right person allegedly to stop the wars and deal with the geopolitical complexities involving Russia and North Korea, given his experience holding in-person meetings with both North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and Ru

The recent indictment in the US of Sue Mi Terry, a North Korea expert who formerly worked for the US Central Intelligence Agency, is feeding the political blame game between the ruling bloc and opposition here over which administration is responsible for what is perceived as South Korea's spying blunder. A South Korean liberal lawmaker who formerly served as the chief of South Korea's National Intelligence Service slammed President Yoon Suk Yeol's office for "creating an inte

Over 40 balloons carrying trash flew across the border from the North and fell in northern Gyeonggi Province overnight, South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff announced Friday. The JCS detected at least 200 balloons flying from North Korea from 5 p.m. Thursday until 5 a.m. Friday, and one-fifth of them dropped in South Korea. Residents of Seoul received an alert at around 5:50 p.m. Thursday that a North Korean balloon had entered South Korea's territorial airspace. The balloons mostly carried paper

Behind South Korea's win of a 24 trillion won ($17.4 billion) nuclear power plant deal in the Czech Republic was President Yoon Suk Yeol's diplomatic effort, according to local reports quoting his aides in Seoul. Yoon who calls himself "Korea Inc.'s No. 1 salesman" has helped the South Korean consortium inching closer to signing what would be the central European country's largest energy project to build at least two 1,000 megawatts of nuclear units in Dukovany, a city located 170 kilo

President Yoon Suk Yeol on Thursday nominated Yoo Sang-im as the new science minister and North Korean defector-turned-lawmaker Tae Yong-ho as the secretary-general of the presidential Peaceful Unification Advisory Council's Secretariat, a vice-ministerial post. Presidential chief of staff Chung Jin-suk told reporters Thursday that Yoo, a materials science and engineering professor at Seoul National University, is the right fit for the position tasked with the conservative administration's scien

A South Korean consortium led by the state-run Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power was selected as the preferred bidder for the construction of up to four nuclear power plant units in the Czech Republic, beating out a French team that competed for the central European country's largest investment project. The consortium, comprising six South Korean companies, including KHNP, Doosan Enerbility and Daewoo Engineering & Construction, as well as affiliates of the state-owned Korea Electric Powe

Tae Yong-ho, a former high-ranking North Korean official who defected to South Korea and later became a lawmaker for the conservative ruling People Power Party, could potentially become the first North Korean diplomat-turned-defector to ascend to a vice-ministerial post in South Korea's history, according to a report in local daily Dong-a Ilbo. Tae, 62, is reportedly being considered as one of the candidates for the position of secretary-general of the presidential Peaceful Unification Advi

President Yoon Suk Yeol will reportedly name a new chief for South Korea's National Police Agency as well as nominate new and replace some ministers later this week. According to news reports, Jo Ji-ho, the incumbent chief of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency, will likely be nominated as chief of the Korean National Police Agency. A KNPA chief nominee -- a vice-minister-level official in South Korea -- is required to go through a parliamentary hearing at the National Assembly. Yoon will

President Yoon Suk Yeol on Tuesday hailed the signing of guidelines for extended deterrence cooperation by Seoul and Washington as enhancing the bilateral alliance to one that he said is "nuclear-based," meant to counter North Korea's nuclear missile threats. The "US-ROK Guidelines for Nuclear Deterrence and Nuclear Operations on the Korean Peninsula" document, signed between Yoon and his US counterpart Joe Biden on Thursday during Yoon's visit to Washington, "sets the s

Kim Soo-kyung, spokesperson of President Yoon Suk Yeol's office was named as the new Vice Minister of Unification, according to Yoon's office Monday. Kim, 48, has served as Yoon's spokesperson since December. Before joining the presidential office, she was formerly a journalist at the Dong-A Ilbo newspaper, a researcher at the Korea Institute for National Unification, a social welfare professor at Hanshin University and a secretary for unification in the presidential office. Kim w

South Korea's first lady Kim Keon Hee is likely to refuse to testify before the opposition-controlled Legislation and Judiciary Committee of the National Assembly as they plan to hold a parliamentary hearing to seek an impeachment motion against President Yoon Suk Yeol. This will be in line with the presidential office's move to decline to receive the committee's written request urging five presidential secretaries to attend the first round of hearings scheduled on Friday. A senio

South Korea President Yoon Suk Yeol on Sunday expressed best wishes to former US President Donald Trump, denouncing the shooting attack during his presidential election campaign rally in Pennsylvania that left him wounded Saturday. "I am appalled by the hideous act of political violence," Yoon noted on his X account. "I wish former President Trump a speedy recovery. The people of Korea stand in solidarity with the people of America." Yoon's spokesperson Kim Soo-kyung sai

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization's joint declaration issued Wednesday in Washington signaled a change from the Western military alliance's traditional focus on Russia with its rare open rebuke of China, calling it a "decisive enabler" of Russia's war in Ukraine. The rhetoric comes at a time when NATO declared its bid to bolster cooperation with its so-called "Indo-Pacific 4" partners -- namely South Korea, Japan, Australia and New Zealand -- in their late

President Yoon Suk Yeol pledged Sunday to provide financial incentives to South Korean companies hiring North Korean defectors, as the conservative leader commemorated North Korean Defectors' Day designated for the first time. In its inaugural ceremony in Cheong Wa Dae in Seoul, formerly used as the presidential office, Yoon promised to tackle the problem of unemployment among North Korean defectors who often struggle to land a proper job here. Tax credits or government subsidies could be p

Members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization on Wednesday expressed "great concern" about the deepening ties between North Korea and Russia, shown in the pact signed in June, and condemned North Korea's weapons exports to Russia, as President Yoon Suk Yeol, who traveled to the United States to attend the NATO summit, moves to bolster security cooperation with NATO member states and other allies. In a communique released Wednesday, the Washington Summit Declaration, the 32 NAT

President Yoon Suk Yeol stressed the United States Indo-Pacific Command's role in taking the alliance between Seoul and Washington to a new level, amid growing geopolitical tensions beyond the Korean Peninsula. Yoon on Tuesday local time visited the headquarters of the Indo-Pacific Command at Camp H. M. Smith in Halawa, Hawaii, near Honolulu. The last time a South Korean head of state visited the base was then-President Kim Young-sam 29 years ago. "Among many other important missions,

The Legislation and Judiciary Committee at the National Assembly approved a plan to hold two rounds of hearings later this month on the online petition on the parliament's website calling for the impeachment of President Yoon Suk Yeol. The committee, controlled by the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea, also decided to summon Yoon's wife, Kim Keon Hee, to testify before the National Assembly on July 26. This is the first time in modern Korean history that the parliament has summoned a fir

President Yoon Suk Yeol on Tuesday again vetoed the Democratic Party of Korea-led bill to launch a special counsel to investigate allegations that the Yoon administration, including the president himself, exerted external pressure on an internal military probe into the death of young Marine Cpl. Chae Su-geun in July 2023. Yoon's veto is his 15th since his inauguration in May 2022, as he has exercised his constitutional power to block the passage of bills pushed by the opposition parties who

President Yoon Suk Yeol is poised to address military cooperation between North Korea and Russia that the West believes is aggravating the war situation in Ukraine, as he departed for the United States to visit the US Indo-Pacific Command and attend the North Atlantic Treaty Organization Summit during his five-day trip. South Korea's approval of weapons for Ukraine will be determined at "the level and substance of military cooperation between Russia and North Korea," Yoon was quot

President Yoon Suk Yeol will attend the North Atlantic Treaty Organization summit in Washington next week and visit the US Indo-Pacific Command in Hawaii, the presidential office announced Friday. Principal deputy national security adviser Kim Tae-hyo informed reporters that President Yoon would arrive in Washington on Wednesday to meet leaders of NATO member countries and the NATO leadership. The discussions will focus on the war in Ukraine and the cooperation between the transatlantic secu