TOKYO/SEOUL -- South Korea's National Intelligence Service Director Park Jie-won met with Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga in Tokyo on Tuesday, a senior Japanese official said, amid strained relations between the two countries over wartime history and trade. Tokyo's Chief Cabinet Secretary Katsunobu Kato told a regular press briefing that Park paid a courtesy call on Suga, in the first high-level meeting between the two countries since Suga took office in September after his predecessor,

Mid-sized shipyard STX Offshore & Shipbuilding Co. said Tuesday that its creditors led by the Korea Development Bank (KDB) have invited preliminary bidders to sell their stake in the shipbuilder. On Monday, the company made public its plan on its website to woo investors. Ernst & Young Han Young, the sale manager for the deal, will finalize the bidding by Nov. 23. The KDB-led creditors wholly own the shipyard after debt-for-equity swaps and a debt rescheduling program. STX Offshore

US cosmetic giant Estee Lauder posted an apology on Instagram Tuesday after shipping the wrong color foundation to an online customer with a note saying that the product she ordered "does not suit Asians." Estee Lauder was accused of racism after an anonymous customer posted a review on the Korean e-commerce site 11st on Sunday, claiming a Seoul department state selling its products online arbitrarily switched the color of the foundation she ordered. The photo posted by the customer

A public notice by a court went into effect on Tuesday to proceed with a stalled legal process to liquidate the assets of a Japanese firm and compensate wartime forced laborers. The Daejeon District Court in central South Korea has served the notice to Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd (MHI) to institute the compensation process, as the Japanese company failed to respond to a ruling by South Korea's Supreme Court to compensate five forced laborers and their families who suffered during World War

South Korea is considering arranging phone talks between President Moon Jae-in and US President-elect Joe Biden at an "appropriate" time, the foreign ministry said Tuesday. Lee Jae-woong, the ministry's deputy spokesman, made the remarks as speculation has grown over when Moon will hold his first phone conversation with Biden as President Donald Trump has refused to concede defeat in last week's election. "We are considering holding diplomatic events with the US president-elect,

CHUNCHEON -- Civic activists in Chuncheon on Tuesday called on authorities to conduct a sweeping environmental survey on the site of a former United States Forces Korea (USFK) base in the center of the Gangwon Province capital, after about 30 vacant drum cans were found buried there last month. The activists said the recent discovery of massive drum cans on the former site of Camp Page in Chuncheon, about 90 kilometers east of Seoul, came after soil contamination more than six times the permiss

The South Korean stock market extended its winning streak to a seventh session on Tuesday, as investor appetite for risk strengthened over better-than-expected efficacy of a COVID-19 vaccine by US pharmaceutical giant Pfizer. The Korean won fell against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 5.63 points, or 0.23 percent, to close at 2,452.83. Trading volume was moderate at about 1.4 billion shares worth some 17.7 trillion won (US$15.9 billion), with gainer

South Korea's health agency said Tuesday that a total of 101 people, most of whom were elderly, died after receiving seasonal flu vaccines. The deaths had stoked public anxiety over the safety of such vaccines, but the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said 97 of those deaths have very limited relation with the flu shots. Another four cases are under investigation. Of the total, 84 people were aged over 70, followed by eight under 60 and nine in their 60s, the KDCA said. The

CHUNCHEON -- South Korea has made its first formal proposal to North Korea to co-host an upcoming international youth sports competition. The province of Gangwon on the east coast of South Korea said Tuesday it sent a letter to Pyongyang in August, with the help of civic organizations that provide aid to the North, seeking an opportunity to stage the 2024 Winter Youth Olympics together. Gangwon was named the host of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) event in January this year. Though t

Military prosecutors indicted an Air Force major Tuesday on charges of giving preferential treatment to an enlisted airman under his supervision, such as granting him frequent off-base trips, in return for expensive meals from his father, the Air Force said. Military investigators looked into the "emperor-like" military service case after allegations surfaced earlier this year that the staff sergeant enjoyed a variety of privileges, including having a noncommissioned officer do errand

South Korea will continue close consultations with Japan over the long-simmering issue of Tokyo's wartime forced labor, the foreign ministry said Tuesday, as a legal process to compensate victims took a step forward with no diplomatic solution in sight. A district court in the central city of Daejeon has served Mitsubishi Heavy Industries a public notice related to the victims' request to sell off local assets of the Japanese firm. The notice took effect at the start of Tuesday. The public not

The state human rights watchdog on Tuesday called for the mandatory training of nursing home workers against human rights abuses of elderly patients. The National Human Rights Commission of Korea said it has advised the health minister to come up with legal provisions on human rights training for the workers, and also to require such training for the certification of nursing homes. "Caregivers at nursing homes are not included in the official nursing and long-term care system and therefor

American music publication Rolling Stone is set to roll out a Korean edition starting this month in the latest addition to its international edition series. Rolling Stone Korea, the 12th international edition by Rolling Stone, will be produced in partnership with e.L.e Media, under a license agreement with Penske Media Corp., according to the publication. The Korean edition, which the magazine said will be a mix of local content and syndicated articles, will be available in a bi-monthly print

SEJONG -- South Korea's antitrust regulator plans to decide next month whether to approve a $4 billion deal by Germany's Delivery Hero to acquire the nation's top food delivery app operator, Woowa Brothers, officials said Tuesday. The Korea Fair Trade Commission (KFTC) said it has sent documents about an antitrust review to the German food delivery company. If Delivery Hero submits its opinion on the documents to the KFTC, the Korean regulator will make a decision on the deal on Dec. 9, KFTC

Eleven seasoned legal professionals have been nominated to lead an envisioned organization tasked with investigating corruption among high-ranking government officials, as doubts remain over whether the organization will be launched anytime soon amid a drawn-out partisan strife. The nominations were filed earlier this week by a seven-member panel of government officials and outside experts, entrusted to designate two final candidates for the top post of the Corruption Investigation Office for H

The nation's civil rights watchdog on Tuesday urged police to refrain from handcuffing suspects behind their backs to help reduce the possibility of human rights infringements. The Anti-Corruption & Civil Rights Commission said it has sent a recommendation on amending law enforcement guidance related to the use of handcuffs to the National Police Agency (NPA). In the recommendation, the commission asked that police officers always put on wearable cameras before arresting criminal suspects

The military will take steps to improve the border security system after a North Korean man crossed the heavily guarded border into the South unhindered last week, the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said Tuesday. The man, whose identity was withheld, was captured Wednesday, 14 hours after he crossed the border in a suspected defection attempt. The military came under heavy fire in the wake of the security failure. JCS spokesperson Col. Kim Jun-rak said during a press briefing Tuesday that the mil

President Moon Jae-in plans to participate in a series of ASEAN-related summits this week, via video links, with a focus on Seoul's cooperation with Southeast Asian nations and the greater Asia-Pacific region, Cheong Wa Dae said Tuesday. Moon will hold an online group summit with leaders of ASEAN, a regional intergovernmental organization comprised of 10 Southeast Asian nations, on Thursday to discuss Seoul's cooperation with member nations in various fields. During the summit, Moon plans to a

North Korea's urban population increased this year compared with five years ago, with more than 60 percent of the total population living in urban areas, though the figure is still one of the lowest in the region, a UN report showed Tuesday. According to the "World Cities Report" by UN-Habitat, the number of North Koreans living in urban areas, including the capital city of Pyongyang, came to 16.12 million as of mid-year, accounting for 62.4 percent of the total population, up from 15

South Korean shipbuilders ranked first in new global shipbuilding orders in October for a fourth straight month, far outpacing their Chinese rivals, industry data showed Tuesday. According to the data provided by global market researcher Clarkson Research Service, Korean shipyards clinched new orders totaling 720,000 compensated gross tons (CGTs), taking up 69 percent of the 1.04 million CGTs ordered globally in October. The South Korean shipbuilders were followed by Chinese shipbuilders wit