North Korean leader Kim Jong-un presided over a politburo meeting of the Workers' Party and decided to hold a party congress early next month, state media reported Wednesday. The politburo meeting, held Tuesday, "examined and made confirmation as to the qualifications of the delegates" and "proposals for forming the presidium, members of the platform and secretariat of the 8th Congress of the Party," according to the Korean Central News Agency. It also adopted a decision on

South Korea is expected to get Japan's formal diplomatic consent in the near future for its pick of Kang Chang-il, a former four-term lawmaker, as new ambassador to the neighboring country, an informed source said Tuesday. In late November, President Moon Jae-in picked Kang as Seoul's new top envoy in Tokyo, saying his wide web of Japanese contacts will help improve bilateral relations badly frayed over wartime forced labor and Tokyo's export curbs. But Japanese media reported that some rulin

Unionized workers at Kia Motors have voted to accept a new annual wage deal with management, the company said Tuesday. In a vote by 27,050 members of the labor union, 58.6 percent, or 15,856, agreed to the company's proposals, including 1 1/2 months of merit-based remuneration, 1.2 million won ($1,080) in special COVID-19 allowance and 1.5 million won in gift certificates per person, instead of freezing basic pay, according to a company official. The company also agreed to restore the 25-mi

A US reconnaissance plane flew over central South Korea on Tuesday, an aviation tracker showed, as North Korea appeared to be gearing up for a ruling party congress. The US Air Force's RC-135W Rivet Joint was spotted flying over the southern coast and then the central regions Tuesday morning, according to the tracker, No callsign. The aircraft, which specializes in detecting telemetry signals before missile launches, took off from Kadena Air Base in Okinawa, Japan. The RC-135W Rivet Joint als

South Korea's health authorities said Tuesday the country has not found additional cases of a more transmissible COVID-19 variant after it confirmed its first three cases of the strain in arrivals from the United Kingdom a day earlier. The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said 17 people who were found to have been in close contact with the three confirmed patients all tested negative for COVID-19. British analysis suggests the new strain may be up to 70 percent more transmiss

The government will pardon 3,024 people, mostly convicted of minor crimes related to jobs, ahead of New Year's Day, the justice ministry announced Tuesday. The presidential clemency, effective as of Thursday, will also be granted to some protesters of military facilities and small-scale business owners involved in economic crimes. Politicians, election law violators, business tycoons and convicted felons are excluded from the list. "The subjects of these pardons were selected in a way to

North Korea could test-fire an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) in the early months of the incoming US administration of Joe Biden if nuclear talks between the two countries remain stalled, a local think tank said Tuesday. The North has undertaken military provocations in the past to test Washington's approach or grab its attention when a new US administration took office. President-elect Joe Biden is set to be inaugurated on Jan. 20. Biden has called for "principled diplomacy&qu

Service members will be able to enjoy new menu items and diverse foods, such as hamburgers from famous burger chains and salmon, at barracks next year. According to the defense ministry's new guidelines on military meals for 2021, two dozen new menu items will be added to a list of foods served, which ranges from chicken gangjeong, or sweet and sour fried chicken, and hamburg steaks to mullet fish and celery. Service members can also enjoy a hamburger from burger chains once a month, the minis

Police said Tuesday they have closed a five-month investigation into allegations that late Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon sexually abused a former secretary, failing to reach a conclusion on the high-profile case. In July, a municipal official who had formerly worked as a mayoral secretary filed a complaint with the police, accusing Park of having sexually harassed her over several years. Two days later, Park was found dead in an apparent suicide on the hills of a Seoul mountain. He left a note say

South Korea's new chief nuclear envoy, Noh Kyu-duk, spoke by phone with his Chinese counterpart on Tuesday in their first talks since his appointment last week, the foreign ministry said. His talks with Wu Jianghao came as Seoul seeks to ensure international support for its ongoing efforts to resume dialogue with North Korea that has been stalled amid a deadlock in nuclear negotiations between Washington and Pyongyang. "The two sides shared their assessments of the recent situation on the

South Korean LPGA star Ko Jin-young will finish the year where she started in the women's golf rankings: at the very top. Ko stayed at No. 1 in the final rankings of 2020 released Tuesday. She climbed to No. 1 in July 2019 and was also at the top in the first rankings this year on Jan. 7.Ko, the 2019 LPGA Player of the Year, played only four tournaments this season, which was cut short by the coronavirus pandemic. But the 25-year-old made the most of the opportunity, as she won the season-endin

South Korea's terms of trade gained for the eight consecutive month in November as import prices fell at a faster clip than export prices, central bank data showed Tuesday. The nation's net terms-of-trade index for goods -- a gauge of trade terms -- came to 98.1 in November, up 7.8 percent from a year earlier, according to preliminary data from the Bank of Korea (BOK). It marked the eighth straight month of an on-year rise since April, when the trade terms logged the first on-year hike in over

Nearly 30 human rights groups in South Korea filed a constitutional complaint Tuesday over a recently legislated ban on sending anti-Pyongyang propaganda leaflets into North Korea and requested an injunction against the law. The organizations, including Transitional Justice Working Group and Keunsaem led by North Korean defectors, claimed that the leafleting ban infringes on the human rights of North Koreans and supports the autocratic regime in Pyongyang. "By using the safety of people i

US biotech company Moderna has agreed to supply new coronavirus vaccine doses for 20 million people to South Korea starting in the second quarter of next year, Cheong Wa Dae announced Tuesday. The agreement was reached in a videoconference between President Moon Jae-in and Moderna CEO Stephane Bancel held Monday, according to the South Korean presidential office. The volume is double the amount that the government had initially sought to secure from the American biotech firm through negotiatio

South Korea said Tuesday it plans to invest around 5 trillion won ($4.5 billion) in research and development (R&D) projects in 2021 to foster new growth engines while seeking green growth. The amount marks a 19 percent jump from 4.1 trillion won allocated this year, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. "The policy reflects the government's willingness to expand investment in R&D projects in new areas despite the economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic,"

Business sentiment for January worsened as the COVID-19 pandemic shows no signs of a slowdown despite tougher social distancing rules, a survey showed Tuesday. The business survey index (BSI) of the country's top 600 companies by sales came to 91.7 for January, down from the 98.9 for December, the Korea Economic Research Institute (KERI) said in a statement. A reading below 100 means pessimists outnumber optimists, while a figure above the benchmark means the opposite. "The third wave of

Two Army officers, one soldier and a civilian worker for the Navy tested positive for the new coronavirus, bringing the total number of patients among military members to 500, the defense ministry said Tuesday. One of the two officers in the central city of Gyeryong, where the Army headquarters are located, was confirmed to have been infected, and the other officer at the same unit also tested positive, according to the ministry. Around 160 members of the unit underwent virus tests, and no add

US Forces Korea (USFK) began administering its initial doses of a COVID-19 vaccine Tuesday to health care workers, first responders, and its command team, including Gen. Robert Abrams, officials said.The first shipment of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine arrived in South Korea on Friday and had been in cold storage at Camp Carroll in the southeastern county of Chilgok before being distributed to USFK's three military treatment facilities Monday, according to the US military. The three locations adm

Once the South Korean star infielder Kim Ha-seong completes his reported move to the San Diego Padres, he will have to prove his considerable offensive talent and athleticism on defense will translate against hard-throwing big league arms. MLB.com and other US media reported Monday (local time) that Kim has agreed to a deal with the Padres. Financial terms of the contract, which is pending a physical, weren't immediately available.  Kim was posted for Major League Baseball (MLB) clubs on

The US House Of Representatives on Monday overrode President Donald Trump's recent veto of a defense budget bill for the 2021 fiscal year, which included a provision against reducing the number of American troops in South Korea. In an overwhelming 322-87 vote, the House overturned Trump's exercise last Wednesday of his authority to veto the $740 billion National Defense Authorization Act that passed both houses of the Congress earlier this month, according to media reports. The bill states, &q