Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul spoke by phone with his Japanese counterpart, Yoko Kamikawa, on Wednesday and discussed an upcoming trilateral summit also involving China and other issues of mutual interest, Cho's office said. During the 35-minute talks, Cho expressed hope that the three-way summit will serve as momentum for South Korea and Japan to further develop bilateral ties, as they have through the close communications between their leaders, Seoul's foreign ministry said in a relea

South Korean stocks ended nearly flat Wednesday as investors sat on the sidelines ahead of the release of the US Federal Open Market Committee's meeting minutes. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index edged down 0.72 points, or 0.03 percent, to close at 2,723.46. Trade volume was moderate at 476 million shares worth 12.1 trillion won ($8.92 billion), with losers beating winners 474 to 402. Foreigners bought a net 296 billion won worth of local shares, while individuals offloaded a

Shin Kyung-rim, a prominent figure in Korean poetry and author of the works "Nongmu" (Farmers' Dance) and "A Poor Love Song," died Wednesday, sources in the literary community said. He was 88. He passed away at the National Cancer Center in Goyang, in the northwestern suburbs of Seoul, after a battle with cancer. Considering the high status of the deceased and his works in Korean modern poetry and literary circles, his funeral is planned to be organized by major literary

Opposition leader Lee Jae-myung on Wednesday stepped up criticism of President Yoon Suk Yeol for vetoing a bill mandating a special counsel investigation into the military's response to a Marine's death and urged the ruling party's cooperation in repassing the bill. Lee, leader of the main opposition Democratic Party, made the demand during a party Supreme Council meeting, saying the ruling People Power Party should "break away" from what he described as "bad politi

A group of South Korean and global tech companies adopted a joint pledge Wednesday, vowing to responsibly develop and use artificial intelligence and to address social challenges with the technology. The Seoul AI Business Pledge was announced by 14 companies, including Korea's Samsung Electronics Co., Naver Corp., Kakao Corp. and KT Corp., as well as global big tech companies, such as Google, Microsoft, OpenAI and IBM, during the opening ceremony of the AI Global Forum in Seoul. The AI Glob

South Korea's industry ministry said Wednesday it has shared ideas with Indonesia on expanding bilateral cooperation in the development of a stable supply chain for key minerals. Industry Minister Ahn Duk-geun met with Airlangga Hartarto, the coordinating minister for economic affairs of Indonesia, in Seoul to discuss ways to broaden the economic partnership, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. During the meeting, South Korea and Indonesia agreed to expand ties, includi

Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul called Wednesday for concerted efforts for a "coherent" international governance framework to ensure the responsible and inclusive use of artificial intelligence amid complex ethical and economic challenges. Cho made the call during a forum held in the follow-up to Tuesday's AI Summit, pointing out that the emergence of AI has created unique challenges that policymakers are "ill-equipped to tackle alone." "Generative AI transcends nation

South Korean stocks opened lower on Wednesday, mainly due to losses from technology and insurance shares. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index shed 13.59 points, or 0.5 percent, to 2,710.59 in the first 15 minutes of trading. Top tech giant Samsung Electronics slid 1.28 percent, and LG Electronics shed 0.62 percent to 95,900 won. Insurance firms were among major losers as well, with Samsung Life Insurance falling 2.94 percent and Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance decreasing 3.48 per

The United States has not seen China sending actual weapons to Russia for use in Ukraine though North Korea and Iran have engaged in arms transactions with Moscow, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said during a Senate committee hearing Tuesday. Blinken made the distinction, while reiterating concerns over China's "overwhelming" support for Russia's defense industrial base. He vowed to continue to sanction entities engaged in the transfers to Russia of "dual-use" it

Russia has likely given technology assistance to North Korea and Iran in return for their arms transfers to Moscow, a senior Pentagon official said Tuesday, casting it as an apparent move to expand security threats to the United States and others. Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Space and Missile Defense John Hill made the remarks in response to a senator's question over how Washington is handling emerging space security cooperation between Tehran and Moscow as he attended a Senate sub

A global summit hosted by South Korea and Britain adopted a declaration Tuesday on promoting safe, innovative and inclusive artificial intelligence (AI) to address challenges and opportunities associated with the fast-evolving technology. The so-called "Seoul Declaration" was adopted during a virtual leaders' session of the AI Seoul Summit, hosted by President Yoon Suk Yeol and British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. The two-day event follows the inaugural global AI safety summit held in B

South Korea on Tuesday reported its first African swine fever (ASF) case in around nine months. The latest ASF case was found at a farm located in the inter-Korean border county of Cheorwon in Gangwon Province, which raised some 1,200 pigs, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. It marked the first case of the animal disease since September last year when the disease broke out at a local farm in the county of Hwacheon. The government issued a 48-hour standstill order f

South Korea and the United States held a new round of negotiations Tuesday on sharing the costs for stationing American troops here. The three-day talks through Thursday are aimed at determining how much Seoul should shoulder for the upkeep of the 28,500-strong US Forces Korea, starting in 2026. The talks are led by Lee Tae-woo, South Korea's chief negotiator from the foreign ministry, and his US counterpart, Linda Specht from the State Department. Tuesday's negotiations took place at

First Lady Kim Keon Hee attended an exhibition by Ukrainian children Tuesday in her third public appearance after she avoided public view for five months following a luxury bag gift scandal. Kim visited the exhibition held at the former presidential compound of Cheong Wa Dae in Seoul, marking a rare solo appearance by her. The presidential office said Kim played a role in bringing Ukrainian children's drawings to South Korea after her meeting with Ukraine's first lady, Olena Zelenska,

Kakao Corp., the operator of South Korea's dominant mobile messenger app, said Tuesday its service experienced a disruption for about an hour in the morning due to an error in its internal system. KakaoTalk's personal computer version was down from 8:30 a.m. to 9:24 a.m., the company said, noting it immediately responded to the issue. The messenger also experienced brief service outages Monday and last week. In 2022, KakaoTalk suffered a widespread outage due to a fire at a data center

BANGKOK -- A Singapore Airlines flight from London made an emergency landing in Bangkok on Tuesday due to severe turbulence, officials said, with one passenger on board dead and local media reporting multiple injuries. Singapore Airlines did not say at what point the injuries and death took place, but a passenger who spoke to Reuters said turbulence led to those not wearing seatbelts hitting overhead cabins. Thai media reports said there were 30 injuries, while Singapore Airlines did not specify

Only 5 percent of the trainee doctors who have left their worksites for three months have returned to hospitals, a senior official said Tuesday, though the government renewed its appeal for them to resolve the protracted standoff over medical reform through dialogue. Most junior doctors, however, have rather called on the government to accept their resignations swiftly, vowing not to back down and seek career paths as doctors other than becoming specialist doctors at major hospitals. According t

South Korean stocks ended lower Tuesday ahead of a release of the minutes of the US Federal Reserve's latest monetary policy meeting. The local currency fell against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index shed 17.96 points, or 0.65 percent, to close at 2,724.18. Trade volume was moderate at 547.5 million shares worth 10.02 trillion won ($7.3 billion), with losers beating winners 585 to 290. Individual investors purchased a net 501.7 billion won worth of local shares,

The anti-corruption investigation office again questioned Marine Corps Commandant Lt. Gen. Kim Kye-hwan as a power abuse suspect Tuesday over allegations of external pressure placed on the military investigation into last year's death of a young Marine. Kim appeared at the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials in Gwacheon, south of Seoul, at 9:20 a.m., while remaining tight-lipped when asked several questions by reporters. Kim, who was already grilled by the CIO for 15

The Cabinet again passed a motion Tuesday demanding the National Assembly reconsider a bill mandating a special counsel investigation into the military's response to a Marine's death, the second time it did so in less than two months. The bill calls for the appointment of a special counsel to look into allegations the presidential office and the defense ministry inappropriately interfered in the military's investigation into the death of Cpl. Chae Su-geun, who was killed during a