One month into office, South Korean President Moon Jae-in has wasted no time in tackling diplomatic and security challenges from the controversial US missile defense deployment to a row with Japan over a sex slavery settlement. His hope to reset ties with North Korea faces a major test as Pyongyang has continued to be provocative with more frequent missile firings than before his inauguration."The Moon Jae-in administration was launched under the worst-ever external circumstances in the history

In his first 30 days in office, President Moon Jae-in apparently confirmed the people's willingness and desire for a change as seen in their support for what many of his critics have called the sensational or even radical changes he has initiated.However, his first month in office may have also forced him to recognize certain limitations, partly created by the opposition-led parliament.The new president came into office on May 10, one day after the country held a rare presidential by-election ca

South Korean President Moon Jae-in has convened a meeting of the National Security Council on Thursday to discuss possible measures against North Korea's repeated rocket and missile launches, the presidential office said.The first NSC meeting to be chaired by the president will be held at 2 p.m., according to the presidential office Cheong Wa Dae. South Korean President Moon Jae-in (Yonhap)The meeting follows North Korea's launch of what appeared to be short-range surface-to-ship cruise missiles

South Korea's major opposition parties urged the government to allow immediate and complete deployment of the THAAD missile defense system Thursday, one day after the presidential office Cheong Wa Dae said the deployment will have to be suspended at least for months.The opposition calls came after North Korea fired a series of what appeared to be surface-to-ship cruise missiles from its east coast earlier in the day. (Yonhap)Seoul's defense ministry said the missiles had a short range of around

South Korea's Constitution leaves no room for pro-North Korea ideologies, the nominee for Constitutional Court chief said Thursday, amid controversy over his ideological orientation.Kim Yi-su, who was tapped by President Moon Jae-in last month, made the remark during the last session of his two-day confirmation hearing at the National Assembly.Constitutional Court chief nominee Kim Yi-su attends a parliamentary confirmation hearing at the National Assembly in Seoul on June 8, 2017. (Yonhap)"The

South Korea's defense ministry said Thursday it has requested a record budget of 43.7 trillion won ($38.7 billion) for next year, citing growing threats from North Korea and the need for reforming the South's military under President Moon Jae-in's campaign pledge.It represents an 8.4 percent increase from 2017.Much of the budget will be used to raise wages for rank-and-file soldiers, according to the ministry.During his presidential campaign, Moon, a liberal leader, vowed to lift the payment up

President Moon Jae-in on Wednesday held a phone talk with Mohammed bin Zayed bin Sultan Al-Nahyan, the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, to discuss North Korea's nuclear issue and ways to strengthen their countries' ties, the presidential office said.Moon expressed his thanks to the prince for the United Arab Emirates' consistent support of Seoul's move to seek North Korea's denuclearization, according to Cheong Wa Dae.President Moon Jae-in (Yonhap)"Our government will push for North Korea's denucleari

WASHINGTON -- The US Missile Defense Agency chief expressed serious concern Wednesday about the progress North Korea has made in its missile development, saying the US should assume Pyongyang can strike the US with a nuclear missile."I would not say we're comfortably ahead of the threat. I would say we're addressing the threat that we know today. And the advancements in the last six months have caused great concern to me and others," Vice Adm. James Syring told a House Armed Services Committee h

WASHINGTON -- The United States believes South Korean won't reverse the decision to host the THAAD missile defense system, the Pentagon said Wednesday after Seoul suspended the deployment pending an environmental assessment.Seoul's presidential office, Cheong Wa Dae, said earlier in the day that deployment of four launchers for the THAAD battery should wait until the environmental study is over, though two, already-deployed launchers won't be withdrawn.The US could see the suspension as a setbac

Bernard Arnault, chairman of the French luxury goods conglomerate LVMH, visited South Korea for a two-day trip on Wednesday to take part in an exhibition set up by its Louis Vuitton brand here, industry sources said. The 68-year-old business tycoon showed up at Dongdaemun Design Plaza in Seoul to check the exhibition titled "Volez, Voguez, Voyagez - Louis Vuitton," which will open Thursday and run through Aug. 27.  This photo, taken on June 7, 2017, shows the exhibition Volez, Voguez, Voyagez -

South Korea's professional football players will organize a union to defend their rights and enhance working conditions, a lawyer helping the establishment of the union said Wednesday.Park Ji-hoon, a lawyer who also works for local research group Center for Sports Culture, said South Korea's professional players union will get an approval from FIFPro, the international pro footballers' union, on Thursday at its Asia-Oceania Congress in Seoul. (Yonhap)FIFPro represents more than 65,000 players wo

WASHINGTON (AFP) -- The US capital will grind to a halt Thursday, glued to computer and television screens as sacked FBI chief James Comey testifies about whether President Donald Trump pressured him to halt a probe into an adviser’s links to Russia.Trump, a ratings-obsessed former reality television star, may not appreciate the worldwide attention paid to Comey’s public testimony, which is being touted as the Super Bowl of high political drama.Comey is the star witness in the Senate Intelligenc

The government said Wednesday that it will set up overseas institutes that offer foreigners Korean language courses and Korean culture activities at six universities in six additional countries.The six universities, designated as the new operators of the King Sejong Institute, are Yancheng Teachers University in China's Jiangsu Province, Astrakhan State University in Russia, Indiana University in the U.S. state of Indiana, the University of Barcelona in Spain, National University in Indonesia an

South Korean quarantine officials culled nearly 700 birds Wednesday on the country's southern resort island of Jeju in the latest attempt to contain the spread of avian influenza.Quarantine workers gassed a total of 695 chickens and ducks from three poultry farms and packed them in plastic bags with carbon dioxide before burying them in fields near the chicken and duck farms, Kim Ik-chan, an official handling the issue at the Jeju Special Self-Governing Province, spoke by phone from Jeju.(Yonhap

MUAN -- A group of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's special envoys will visit South Korea's southwestern province of South Jeolla as part of a four-day trip to South Korea, officials at the provincial government said Wednesday.The group, led by Toshihiro Nikai, secretary general of Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party, will make a stopover in Mokpo, a coastal city in the province, on Saturday-Sunday before departing for Seoul to hold talks with South Korean President Moon Jae-in to convey

WASHINGTON (AFP) - US intelligence officials believe Russian hackers planted a false news story that led Saudi Arabia and several allies to sever relations with Qatar, prompting a diplomatic crisis, CNN reported Tuesday.FBI experts visited Qatar in late May to analyze an alleged cyber breach that saw the hackers place the fake story with Qatar's state news agency, the US broadcaster said.Saudi Arabia then cited the false item as part of its reason for instituting a diplomatic and economic blocka

LONDON (AFP) -- Britain braces for the final day of general election campaigning Wednesday, after a turbulent few weeks that have shifted the political ground and been marred by terror attacks. Prime Minister Theresa May was riding high when she called a snap election on April 18, having kicked off Brexit proceedings and boasting a double-digit lead over the rival Labour party.But in recent weeks, the Conservative leader has seen her popularity wane as the political debate shifted from EU member

PARIS (AFP) -- French police shot and injured a man who attacked an officer with a hammer outside Paris‘s Notre Dame cathedral Tuesday, as he shouted “this is for Syria.”Police sources said the officer sustained minor neck injuries in the assault, which comes with France on high alert after jihadists killed seven people in London on Saturday.Documents found on the attacker identified him as a 40-year-old Algerian who was a doctoral student in information science at a university in the east of Fr

The new state program for dementia patients proposed by President Moon Jae-in is expected to affect some hundreds of thousands of patients suffering from memory loss and their families in the country, experts said Wednesday. During the presidential campaign, Moon had stressed that the government should take more responsibility for the treatment of dementia and proposed launching a state program to handle the issue. President Moon Jae-in holds up a pot of flowers that he made with senior citizens

United Nations human rights chief Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein has called on North Korea to cooperate with the UN point man on the North Korean human rights situation, Voice of America reported Wednesday.VOA's Korea Service said Zeid, the high commissioner for human rights, made the remarks at the opening of the UN Human Rights Council's session in Geneva on Tuesday, adding many countries are not cooperating with his office. In this June 2015 file photo, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra`ad