A former human rights lawyer convicted of violating an anti-communist law more than four decades ago was exonerated by a Seoul court on Thursday. The Seoul Central District Court cleared Hahn Seung-hun, chair professor of Chunbok National University, of charges that he wrote a piece in a magazine in the early 70s that sympathized with the North Korean regime and its propaganda.  Hahn Seung-hun, former human rights lawyer and current chair professor at Chunbok National University, makes a speech

South Korea on Thursday repatriated the remains of an apparent American soldier killed in the Korean War, a show of the allies' commitment to never forget the wartime sacrifice of their troops.The remains were discovered in Yeongdong, a small village in North Chungcheong Province, at the end of March.Based on an initial analysis, the Ministry of Defense Agency for KIA Recovery & ID identified the remains belonging to a US service member. The area was a fierce battlefield in the early month of th

A state-run research institute will reconstruct a life-size version of a ship used by emissaries of the 1392-1910 Joseon Dynasty to sail to Japan by September next year to use it as a museum of traditional Korean ships, government officials said Thursday.The National Research Institute of Maritime Cultural Heritage said it will hold a ceremony later in the day to launch the reconstruction of the "Joseon Tongsinsa" ship at a shipyard in Yeongam on South Korea's southwestern coast. This three-dime

South Korea on Thursday cast caution over reading too much into a North Korean envoy's remarks proposing a conditional moratorium on the North's nuclear and missile tests.North Korea's top envoy to India Kye Chun-yong said Wednesday that North Korea can place a moratorium on its nuclear and missile tests if the US suspends its annual joint military drills with South Korea. (Yonhap)It marked the first time that the North raised the possibility of the conditional suspension of its nuclear and miss

South Korea will mark the 67th anniversary of the Korean War's outbreak this week with several commemorative events, bringing together war veterans at home and abroad.The war broke out at dawn on June 25, 1950, when North Korean forces crossed the 38th parallel, which was then the demarcation line between the two Koreas drawn by the United States and the Soviet Union following World War II.The war lasted three years resulting in huge casualties before the 1953 Armistice Agreement suspended the c

Red ginseng helps reduce fatigue in cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy, a local report showed Thursday.The report based on a survey on 438 colorectal cancer patients by professor Kim Yeol-hong of Korea University Medical Center in Seoul revealed the group of 219 patients who took 1 gram of red ginseng every day for 16 weeks registered 81.07 on the overall Brief Fatigue Inventory index. An image of red ginseng (Yonhap)The comparable figure for another group of 219 patients who took a placebo

The number of long-term unemployed people in South Korea reached a 13-year high in May, data showed Thursday, as companies were unwilling to hire amid uncertainties over their future and other reasons.The country's long-term unemployed numbered 120,000 in May, accounting for 11.9 percent of total jobless and marking the highest figure for the month since 2004, according to the data from Statistics Korea. Long-term unemployed refers to individuals who have been looking for work for six months or

North Korea on Thursday rebuked President Moon Jae-in for suggesting that Seoul is open to unconditional talks if Pyongyang stops provocative acts, urging him to show a proper attitude toward inter-Korean ties.The South Korean leader's move to take issue with North Korea's nuclear program is aimed at shifting responsibility for the frayed inter-Korean relations to North Korea, according to the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification, the North's agency in charge of inter-Korean affairs.(Yonhap)

WASHINGTON -- The office of the House Foreign Affairs Committee called Wednesday for the Senate to pass Chairman Ed Royce's legislation tightening sanctions on North Korea, saying it's a "myth" to believe that sanctions don't work against Pyongyang.Royce's Korea Interdiction and Modernization of Sanctions Act (H.R. 1644), which overwhelmingly passed the House last month, is aimed largely at restricting the North's trade and drying up key revenue sources, such as labor exports, which the regime i

South Korea's vice unification minister on Wednesday met Japan's top envoy to Seoul to discuss the security situation on the Korean Peninsula and ways to strengthen cooperation, government officials said.Chun Hae-sung and Amb. Yasumasa Nagamine exchanged views over North Korea's nuclear issue and bilateral matters, according to the Ministry of Unification. Vice Unification Minister Chun Hae-sung (left) and Japanese Ambassador to Seoul Yasumasa Nagamine (right) on June 21, 2017. (Ministry of Unif

South Korean President Moon Jae-in said Wednesday that he plans to further enhance his country's cooperation with its biggest ally, the United States, calling the Korea-US alliance the backbone of Seoul's security and foreign policies.Moon's remarks came in a meeting with Richard Haass, head of US think tank Council on Foreign Relations. The meeting was held at Seoul's presidential office Cheong Wa Dae.South Korean President Moon Jae-in (right) shakes hands with Richard Haass, president of US th

President Moon Jae-in vowed to work with both laborers and their employers Wednesday, noting the creation of new, quality jobs requires the support and cooperation of both sides."The policy on creating new jobs is a task that can only be achieved through dialogue and compromise, as well as cooperation and solidarity based on mutual trust of the labor, management and government," the president said while speaking in the inaugural meeting of the new Presidential Committee on Job Creation. Presiden

The United States will do its best to help South Korea win the release of its citizens detained in North Korea, the acting US ambassador to Seoul said Wednesday in a meeting with the host country's new foreign minister. "We will do our best to facilitate the return of South Korean prisoners as well," Charge d'Affaires Marc Kannper told Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha during their first official talks since she took office earlier this week. The chief commander of United States Forces Korea Gen.

A parliamentary committee on Wednesday adopted a report on the outcome of a confirmation hearing for Land and Transport Minister-nominee Kim Hyun-mee, paving the way for her official appointment.  Land and Transport Minister-nominee Kim Hyun-mee speaks during a parliamentary confirmation hearing at the National Assembly in Seoul on June 15, 2017. (Yonhap)The adoption of the report is a key part of the parliamentary confirmation process before President Moon Jae-in formally appoints Kim, a lawmak

More than 90 percent of South Koreans in their 20s and 30s are open to remarriage, a poll showed Wednesday, amid the fast-spreading trend of people remaining single or getting married late. According to the survey by local matchmaking firm Duo, 96 percent of men and women answered positively when asked about their perception of people getting remarried after separating from their spouse. The survey was conducted this month based on 249 people.  (Yonhap)The company said 45 percent of the responde

A pro-North Korean newspaper in Japan on Wednesday condemned President Moon Jae-in for suggesting that Seoul is willing to hold unconditional talks if the North stops its provocative acts.The Chosun Sinbo described Moon as a "spokesman" for US President Donald Trump, claiming that the South is joining the bandwagon of Washington's hostile policy toward Pyongyang. (Yonhap)Moon made an offer for talks in his speech to mark the 17th anniversary of an inter-Korean summit held on June 15, 2000."(Nort

LOS ANGELES -- The South Korean Consulate General in Los Angeles on Tuesday asked the local police authorities to arrest suspects who robbed two South Korean women as soon as possible, the consulate general said.Consul General Lee Key-cheol visited the Best Western Hotel in Placentia, California, where the two women -- a mother and daughter -- were robbed and the mother was beaten and left unconscious on Friday, before meeting with Placentia Police Chief Darin Lenyi to convey the South Korean go

Jeju Air Co., a South Korean budget carrier, said Wednesday it will open a route to Taiwan's Kaohsiung next month, the first such service offered by a local airline. The move is part of local budget carriers' efforts to expand routes to Southeast Asia and Japan not only to absorb growing low-budget travel demand but also to offset sharp declines in travel demand from China amid a diplomatic row over the deployment of a US anti-missile system in Korea. (Yonhap)Beijing banned the sale of travel pa

A third of South Korean people are obese, causing Asia's fourth-largest economy to shoulder nearly 7 trillion won ($6.12 billion) in social costs every year, the government said Wednesday.Also, some 25 percent of boys aged between 5 and 14 in South Korea suffer from obesity, compared with an average 23 percent for the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development member countries, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. (123RF)The percentage marked the highest n

The vice chief of a presidential job creation panel renewed his appeal for the parliamentary passage of an extra budget bill Wednesday amid a continued political standoff over its legality.During a meeting with senior officials of the ruling Democratic Party, Lee Yong-sup of the Presidential Committee on Job Creation reiterated that if the 11.2 trillion won ($9.9 billion) supplementary budget is not drawn up, the country could face an "unemployment crisis." Lee Yong-sup (right), the vice chief o