Concerns sharply escalated Friday over the safety of South Korean residents living in the frontline and adjacent areas as Pyongyang threatened to take military actions unless Seoul withdrew its propaganda loudspeaker installed across the border.The South Korean military has evacuated and moved hundreds of residents from towns along the border to shelters nearby since Thursday to secure their safety amid growing fear about additional provocations from North Korea.  The list includes about 200 res

Concerns sharply escalated Friday over the safety of South Korean residents living in the frontline and adjacent areas as Pyongyang threatened to take military actions unless Seoul withdrew its propaganda loudspeaker installed across the border.　The South Korean military has evacuated and moved hundreds of residents from towns along the border to shelters nearby since Thursday to secure their safety amid growing fear about additional provocations from North Korea. 　The list includes about 200 re

South Korea's rival parties denounced North Korea Thursday for firing artillery shells across the inter-Korean border, voicing the need to beef up security posture to deter further provocations from the North.Kim Moo-sung, chairman of the ruling Saenuri Party, called on the military to raise its combat readiness as North Korea fired artillery shells targeted at loudspeakers at a South Korean front-line military unit on the western area.“As North Korea is unpredictable and bizarre, the South's mi

Egon Bahr, one of the key architects of “Ostpolitik”, credited with easing tensions during the Cold War and smoothing the path to German reunification, has died aged 93, his party said Thursday.Bahr, who died late Wednesday, served as a close advisor to former West German chancellor and Nobel peace laureate Willy Brandt and spearheaded his drive to establish ties with the Soviet Union and communist East Germany.Sigmar Gabriel, head of the Social Democratic Party (SPD), the junior partner in Germ

 North Korea’s rocket provocation Thursday sharply raised cross-border tensions and further dimmed the prospects of bilateral reconciliation, posing a tougher challenge to Seoul’s hitherto unfruitful efforts to build trust with the communist regime.Pyongyang’s firing of a rocket toward Seoul’s propaganda loudspeakers appeared intended to stop the South Korean military from expanding its anti-Pyongyang broadcasts along the tense border, which could potentially awaken North Koreans to the dictator

A number of lawmakers are facing increasing pressure on allegations that they influenced sought-after workplaces to hire their children.Rep. Kim Tae-won of the ruling Saenuri Party and Rep. Yoon Hu-duk of the main opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy came under fire for allegedly using their parliamentary clout to give their kids job opportunities at Korean Government Legal Service and the nation’s top display-maker LG Display, respectively　Despite their plea of innocence and attempt t

The National Assembly on Thursday approved a motion seeking the arrest of a former opposition lawmaker suspected of taking illegal political funds worth 350 million won. 　Of the 298 attending lawmakers, 139 voted in favor of Rep. Park Ki-choon’s arrest while 89 disapproved and five abstained in the secret vote. Five votes were counted as invalid.　The lawmaker was under investigation for allegedly receiving designer bags and luxury watches from a local businessman in exchange for business favors.

The percentage of people who say they feel safe living in Korea has fallen again after the outbreak of Middle East respiratory syndrome in June, government data showed Wednesday.According to the survey conducted and released by the Ministry of Public Safety and Security, about 22 percent of respondents said they felt secure between April and June this year, a 2.4 percentage-point decrease from the previous three months. The MERS crisis appears to have inflicted a decline in Koreans’ perceptions

The nominated head of the nation’s top human rights watchdog faced a barrage of criticism at his confirmation hearing Tuesday, as opposition lawmakers accused him of lacking experience and slammed the “shady” selection process.　The opposition contended that Lee Sung-ho,  former judge at Seoul Central District Court, was not fit to improve the stature of the National Human Rights Commission that has already deteriorated under his predecessor Hyun Byung-chul. 　During Hyun’s six-year tenure, ridicu

Lawmakers are gearing up for a spotlight-filled audit session next month by calling in a number of high-flying figures to the stand, including the beleaguered Lotte Group leadership on the retail giant’s mysterious management structure. Bipartisan panel members from the National Assembly’s National Policy Committee said Monday they would seek to subpoena the nation’s fifth-largest conglomerate’s founder Shin Kyuk-ho and his two sons ― Shin Dong-joo and Shin Dong-bin ― during the annual audit ses

British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond expressed hope Monday that the recent nuclear deal involving Iran and six world powers will have a positive impact on stalled denuclearization talks with North Korea.  Hammond, who arrived in Seoul earlier in the day, told reporters after a meeting with South Korean Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se that the situation in North Korea was one of their topics of discussion.   "Britain remains crucially interested in peace and stability in Asia and the situation

Shin Dong-bin, the head of the country's No. 5 conglomerate Lotte Group, is set to offer an official apology over a succession feud that has drawn flak for its murky governance structure, the group said Monday.  "(Dong-bin) will convey a message in which he, as the person in charge of management, will voice regret over the recent crisis and apologize to the people of Korea, the shareholders and company employees," a group official said.   The message is also expected to include his will to swift

North Korea's denuclearization remains a top priority for the United States despite Pyongyang's unwillingness to give up its nuclear weapons program, a senior U.S.official said Monday.   "Denuclearization remains our top priority," Rose Gottemoeller, U.S. under secretary of state for arms control and international security, told reporters in a conference call from Tokyo. "We remain in close contact with other five party partners on our shared goal of the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula

 South Korean political parties on Sunday lambasted Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Sunday on reports that the draft of his speech marking the end of World War II this week would not include any words of apology.　The Asahi Shimbun reported that the draft of Abe’s statement does not include the word “apology” to Asian countries, which was included in two past landmark statements, according to the draft that he showed the executives of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party and junior coalition

Korea’s rival parties are expected to face off in the opening parliamentary session this week over the passage of economic, medical and tourism bills aimed to boost the economy.　The parties are slated to sit in for the plenary session this Wednesday to vote on the bills that were delayed in the previous session due to partisan differences.　The bills include ways to expand the scope of the service industry to education and medical fields to alleviate regulations and expand tax support, and to eas

President Park Geun-hye is likely to finalize her plan for special pardons in a Cabinet meeting next Thursday to mark the 70th anniversary of Liberation Day, Cheong Wa Dae said, as speculation spread that jailed business moguls are most likely to be included on the list.“I understand that (the president) is moving in that direction,” said presidential spokesman Min Kyung-wook on Thursday. Park had said last month that the pardon would serve as an opportunity to “bring people together in the spir

 Political tit-for-tat on election rules entered a new phase Wednesday as the main opposition leader dared the rival Saenuri Party to concede to proportional representation system overhaul, in return for accepting the ruling party’s suggestion on open primaries.　New Politics Alliance for Democracy chairman Rep. Moon Jae-in said Wednesday that he is willing to take the Saenuri Party’s proposal to hold open primaries to select candidates for the next general election on the condition that the ruli

The ruling Saenuri Party senior lawmaker’s decision to forgo his reelection bid sparked debate on Tuesday among the rival party’s lawmakers, who are struggling to keep afloat its fizzling party reform measures.　Following Rep. Kim Tae-ho’s surprise announcement Monday to withdraw his bid for the 2016 general election, lawmakers from the New Politics Alliance for Democracy took a veiled swipe at “privileged” NPAD lawmakers who have served multiple terms in the National Assembly. 　“We are already l

Ruling Saenuri Party chief Rep. Kim Moo-sung, appeared to be having a heyday in his stay in the U.S. over the past week, making comments that would have immediately caused backlash back home, but that nonetheless galvanized his conservative support base. 　The height of such remarks was his announcement Saturday when he said his party would push for reinstating a system of all schools using government-published textbooks to address what they consider to be a “biased view” imposed by some private

As smartwatches make headlines with their futuristic features, traditional watchmaking powerhouses such as TAG Heuer, Swatch and other Swiss-based watchmakers are jumping on to the digital bandwagon to attract customers. But Piaget, the 145-year-old Swiss watchmaker, is not intimidated by the hype over smartwatches. Piaget Korea general manager Sarah Jung said in an interview with The Korea Herald that the watchmakers’ prestige and prowess dating over a century goes beyond functionality.“We are