White House officials handling Korea affairs plan to visit Seoul this week, as South Korean President Moon Jae-in is seeking an early summit with his American counterpart Donald Trump, diplomatic sources said Sunday.The US delegation, led by Matt Pottinger, senior director for East Asia at the National Security Council, is scheduled to arrive here Monday for a two-day stay. Allison Hooker, director for Korea at the NSC, is also included in the group, according to sources. Matt Pottinger, senior

North Korea launched a ballistic missile Sunday morning from a site north of Pyongyang, South Korea's military said, as President Moon Jae-in immediately convened an emergency meeting of the National Security Council to discuss the issue."North Korea fired an unidentified missile at around 5:27 a.m. today from an area in the vicinity of Kusong, North Pyongan Province," the Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statementNorth Korea fires a medium-range ballistic missile in February in this file photo.

The world’s taekwondo governing body has extended an invitation to a North Korean demonstration team to this year’s world championships to be held south of the border, its officials said Thursday.The World Taekwondo Federation, headed by South Korean Choue Chung-won, sent the invitation on Thursday to the International Taekwondo Federation, with North Korean Ri Yong-son at the helm, according to a WTF official. The move is expected to provide a breakthrough for an exchange program that had stall

More than 80 percent of South Koreans expect new President Moon Jae-in to skillfully manage state affairs, a survey showed Thursday.In the poll conducted Wednesday, 83.8 percent of respondents said they think the new president will be "very good" (35.3 percent) or "quite good" (48.5 percent) at running the government, the Korea Society Opinion Institute said.The survey was conducted on 1,044 adults the day after Moon was elected to replace Park Geun-hye, the former president impeached over a cor

South Korea will allow its citizens to visit some parts of Iraq which had been banned from travel as safety is showing signs of improving, the foreign ministry said Thursday.The ministry has imposed a travel ban on Iraq since August 2007 for safety reasons though allowed exceptional permits for those involved business, government agencies and media.Following the fall of the Iraqi city of Mosul to the ISIL militant group in 2014, however, all of those permits were suspended, except for people alr

Former President Park Geun-hye's official documents have all been transferred to the state archives, officials said Thursday. The transfer of 11.06 million records created at the presidential office Cheong Wa Dae and other agencies was completed as of Tuesday, according to the Presidential Archives under the National Archives of Korea.It said 9.34 million files were electronic and the other 1.72 million were hard copies.  This combined image, provided by the National Archives of Korea on May 11,

Intensive search and rescue efforts for a missing South Korean cargo ship and its crew have come to an end more than a month after they sank in the South Atlantic, a government official said Thursday. The Stella Daisy carrying iron ore with 24 crew members including eight South Koreans on board went missing in waters near Uruguay after sending a distress call saying the ship was sinking on March 31. Two of the Philippine crew members were later found alive.  Stellar Daisy, a South Korean cargo s

Vice Foreign Minister Lim Sung-nam has asked for the Chinese government's assistance in handling the aftermath of a deadly car accident in China which killed 10 Korean children, the foreign ministry here said Thursday.  (Yonhap)A school bus caught fire in a car accident inside the Taojiakuang Tunnel in Weihai, a city in the eastern Chinese province of Shandong on Tuesday, killing 10 South Korean kindergarteners and two Chinese people aboard the vehicle. In a meeting with Amb. Qiu Guohong on Wedn

About 60 South Korean teachers have been sent to Thailand this year to teach Korean to young students there, the Ministry of Education said Thursday, as demand for Korean language learning is rapidly growing in the Southeast Asian country.The ministry said a total of 58 Korean teachers went to Thailand this year to teach Korean at as many middle and high schools across Thailand until March next year.South Korean teachers pose for the camera before leaving for Thailand. (Ministry of Education)Min

North Korea again accused the spy agencies of South Korea and the United States on Thursday of plotting a terrorist attack on its leader Kim Jong-un.North Korean Vice Foreign Minister Han Song-ryol gave a briefing on the situation to foreign envoys and representatives of international bodies stationed in Pyongyang, the North Korean capital, the state-run Korean Central News Agency reported. (Yonhap)"Heinous terrorists were recently detected in the DPRK. The terrorists were infiltrated by the CIA

Seoul Zoo said Thursday it is pushing to introduce Amur leopards in an effort to restore Korean leopards, which died out in the region during Japanese colonial rule in the early 20th century. To that end, the zoo will hold a seminar on the conservation of Amur leopards by inviting renowned zoologist Jo Cook, the head of the London-based Amur Leopard and Tiger Alliance on Friday, Seoul Zoo head Lee Ki-seop said. Cook is also the chief manager of a program to breed and manage Amur leopards at the

A resumption of the now-shuttered South Korean industrial park in North Korea should be closely reviewed due to its possible conflict with UN sanctions resolutions, a government official said Thursday.As liberal President Moon Jae-in took office Wednesday, attention is being drawn to whether Seoul could resume the operation of the Kaesong Industrial Complex, which was shut down last year following Pyongyang's nuclear and missile provocations. This photo taken on Feb. 6, 2017, shows the now-shutt

A group of South Korean scientists developed a solar cell that can take on multiple colors, the state-run science laboratory said Thursday, a discovery that could be used for power-generating windows.The team led by Min Byoung-koun developed the solar cell called CIGS that gives off color, which provides a useful aesthetic value, the Korea Institute of Science and Technology said. (Korea Institute of Science and Technology)"Beautiful violets and blues were created on the cover glass of a black C

South Korean President Moon Jae-in and his Chinese counterpart agreed Thursday to further improve their countries' bilateral relations, while jointly calling for efforts by all concerned parties to help denuclearize North Korea, Seoul's presidential office said.China's Xi Jinping called the new South Korean leader to congratulate him on his election this week, Moon's press secretary Yoon Young-chan said at a press briefing."The two heads of state discussed ways to improve South Korea-China relat

President Moon Jae-in accepted the resignation of Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn, a holdover from the former government, on Thursday as he strives to round out his own administration.Hwang, who took office in June 2015, offered to resign Wednesday after Moon's victory in Tuesday's election. He had served as acting president since December when former President Park Geun-hye was impeached over a corruption scandal.South Korean President Moon Jae-in (left) shakes hand with Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-a

The presidential office plans to set up a de facto transition team to ensure a smooth and effective transition of power to new President Moon Jae-in, a senior presidential official said Thursday.A policy coordination committee working as a de facto transition team will be set up, Im Jong-seok, chief of staff at the presidential office Cheong Wa Dae, told reporters. Presidential Chief of Staff Im Jong-seok holds a briefing at Cheong Wa Dae in Seoul on May 11, 2017. (Yonhap)His remarks came one da

MUAN -- Prime Minister-designate Lee Nak-yon hinted on Thursday that he would play a pivotal role in strengthening the new government's communication with citizens. With his folksy demeanor and wide personal connections, the South Jeolla Province governor said he hopes to become a "premier who is loved by the citizens and always thinks about their well-being.""What I am concerned about now is when I can meet all these (citizens) to drink 'makgeolli' with," he told reporters, referring to the Kor

North Korea urged South Korea's new government Thursday to end what it called confrontational policies, including joint military drills with the United States.The Rodong Sinmun, the official newspaper of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea, made the call after liberal politician Moon Jae-in was sworn in as South Korea's new president on Wednesday."The two Koreas should respect each other and open a new chapter to move toward an improvement of their ties and inter-Korean unification," the newspape

South Korean President Moon Jae-in's much-speculated engagement with North Korea will not go beyond the United States' comfort zone and consultation may precede key decisions toward Pyongyang under the new administration, a key policy adviser to Moon said Thursday."I will fly straight to Washington ... I will go to Beijing and Tokyo and under the right circumstances go to Pyongyang as well," Moon said in his inaugural address on Wednesday. During his campaign, the former leader of the liberal De

After 10 appearances this season, Lotte Giants right-hander Song Seung-jun already has more wins than he did all of last year in the Korea Baseball Organization.But that isn't saying much because he picked up just one victory in 2016.The 36-year-old improved to 3-0 on Wednesday by holding the Hanwha Eagles to a run on five hits across 5 2/3 innings, as the Giants prevailed 8-1.The victory stopped the Giants' losing skid at three. Song, a former US minor leaguer who reached Triple-A, has won each