The ladies' figure skating singles final was the hottest ticket for next year's Winter Olympics to be held in South Korea, organizers said Monday.The organizing committee for the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Games announced the winners of the online ticket lottery on Monday. It said the winners will be informed by e-mail and they have until May 21 to complete their payments.PyeongChang added it took applications for 384,000 tickets, and 162,000 tickets have been allocated for the first phase. Soohora

South Korean football chief Chung Mong-gyu has won a seat on FIFA's main decision-making body.Chung, who leads the Korea Football Association, was elected by acclamation to a FIFA Council membership along with Mariano Araneta of the Philippines and Zhang Jian of China at the Asian Football Confederation Congress in Manama, Bahrain, on Monday. They were each given a two-year term that ends in 2019. Korea Football Association President Chung Mong-gyu speaks during a draw ceremony for the FIFA U-20

SEONGJU -- Hundreds of residents near the deployment site of a US missile defense system here filed a petition with the Constitutional Court on Monday to obtain an injunction against its construction and operation.A total of 527 residents from Seongju County and neighboring Gimcheon, about 300 kilometers southeast of Seoul, asked the court to prohibit the shipment of additional components of a US Terminal High Altitude Area Defense battery into the site, as well as the construction of the batter

A total of 851 people have so far been investigated for suspected election law violations related to this week's presidential polls, police said Monday.South Korean voters will go to the polls Tuesday to pick a successor for ousted President Park Geun-hye.Among the suspected violators booked in 790 cases, those accused of damaging banners or other campaign-related facilities was the largest at 597 persons, followed by 82 persons accused of spreading false propaganda, according to the National Po

A total of 250 medical personnel in South Korea either had confirmed tuberculosis or acquired inactive TB via exposure to patients in 2015, a report showed Monday.The report was based on an epidemiological survey on 2,765 hospital personnel in 153 medical institutions which had at least one TB patient, the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said. The report showed that eight were confirmed TB cases and the remaining 242 were inactive TB cases. (Yonhap)Inactive TB means that bacteri

SAMCHEOK -- A crew member died after a fire-fighting helicopter made an emergency landing in eastern South Korea on Monday, officials said.The 47-year-old maintenance worker on board the helicopter, identified only by his last name Cho, fell unconscious and later died after being taken to a nearby hospital in Samcheok, about 290 kilometers east of Seoul.A fire-fighting helicopter that made an emergency landing in Samcheok, 290 kilometers east of Seoul, on the day. A maintenance worker who was on

South Korea's defense authorities said Monday they are maintaining a heightened state of alert against a possible provocation by North Korea on the eve of the presidential election here.In recent months, there have been increased military tensions on the peninsula amid a series of the North's ballistic missile launches and speculation that it may conduct another nuclear test or fire a long-range rocket. Moon Sang-gyun, a spokesman for the Ministry of National Defense (Yonhap)"We are maintaining

South Korea's Marine Corps commander inspected front-line troops near the tense maritime border Thursday and stressed any provocations by North Korea will be met with bold retaliations."Commander, Lt. Gen. Jun Jin-goo made an unannounced visit to the Yeonpyeong unit of the front-line Udo Island and carried out an operation inspection," the Marine Corps said. Lt. Gen. Jun Jin-goo (Yonhap)The set of forefront islands lie just below the Northern Limit Line, the de facto sea border with North Korea,

A special policy committee of the Democratic Party on Thursday promised to form a national unity government if it wins the upcoming presidential election, pledging to hire and promote people based on ability instead of party affiliation.Rep. Park Young-sun, a co-chair of the committee on a unified government, said the next administration will also employ people from other political parties if necessary."The Republic of Korea is facing serious security and economic crises amid the world's highest

With the presidential election five days away, South Koreans are yearning for an upright, competent and responsive leader capable of navigating the country through daunting economic and security challenges and restoring its rattled justice and democratic system.The May 9 poll comes on the heels of a massive corruption scandal involving former President Park Geun-hye that laid bare the country's flawed politics and deep-rooted corruption in the top echelons.Disenchantment with status quo politics

Kim Won-soo, a South Korean career diplomat and former under-secretary general at the United Nations, is running for the top position of a global body against chemical weapons, officials said Thursday.Kim has joined the race to become the next director-general of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons with a four-year term, according to the officials. Kim Won-soo, a South Korean career diplomat and former under-secretary general at the United Nations (Yonhap)Voting among the 41

South Korea's unification ministry said Thursday that it was rare for North Korea to directly criticize China, one day after Pyongyang claimed that Beijing is undermining their ties by implementing sanctions.North Korea's state media said in a commentary issued in the name of Kim Chol on Wednesday that China has crossed the red line of their bilateral ties by pushing for tougher sanctions, saying that Pyongyang will never beg for Beijing's friendship.(Yonhap)The Ministry of Unification said that

Centrist presidential candidate Ahn Cheol-soo Thursday promised to open his administration to two rival contenders if elected next week.In a Facebook post, Ahn of the center-left People's Party declared he would seek the participation of Yoo Seong-min from the conservative Bareun Party and Sim Sang-jeung of the progressive Justice Party in his "joint reformist government."Ahn Cheol-soo, presidential candidate of the People's Party, raises his arms during a campaign rally in Namwon, North Jeolla

South Korea's Acting President and Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn on Thursday instructed top military and diplomatic officials to maintain a thorough defense posture during the election period.During a regular meeting of ministers on pending state affairs, Hwang stressed that amid North Korea's unceasing provocations, the country must not slacken its efforts to ensure national security around the presidential vote next Tuesday.Acting President and Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn speaks during a meeti

Sim Sang-jeung, the presidential candidate of the progressive Justice Party, pledged Thursday to overhaul the bilateral alliance with the United States if elected in the poll next week.Sim made the remark during a forum at the National Assembly, saying the defense alliance has been "wandering" without a vision. Sim Sang-jeung, presidential candidate of the Justice Party, speaks during a forum at the National Assembly in Seoul on May 4, 2017. (Yonhap)"I will reset the South Korea-US alliance in a

Cuban leader Raul Castro Ruz has voiced solidarity with North Korea in their joint front against the United States, Pyongyang's state media said Thursday.The president of the Council of State of Cuba made the remark Monday when he met with Ju Yong-gil, the head of a group of North Korean unions, who visited Cuba for a meeting of the world's federation on trade unions, according to the Korean Central News Agency. This photo carried by North Korea's state news agency on Sept. 20, 2016, shows North

Hundreds of thousands of South Koreans cast their ballots Thursday in advance voting for the presidential election set to be held next week, the election watchdog said.Over 1 million voters have voted as of 10:30 a.m., according to the National Election Commission, with many more expected to follow before the two-day voting period ends at 6 p.m. Friday.There is a 12-hour overnight break starting from 6 p.m. Thursday. National Assembly Speaker Chung Sye-kyun takes a "selfie" after casting his bal

WASHINGTON -- US President Donald Trump shouldn't be talking to North Korean leader Kim Jong-un until the autocratic leader meets the country's obligations and promises to give up its nuclear program, Senator Cory Gardner said Wednesday.Gardner made the point in an interview with MSNBC, calling Kim a "whack job," after Trump said earlier this week that he would "absolutely" be willing and "honored" to meet with the North's leader if the meeting takes place under the right circumstances. Senator

WASHINGTON -- The US Special Operations Command is training actively to ensure readiness for contingency operations in North Korea, where its capabilities to counter weapons of mass destruction could play a critical role, its commander said.Gen. Raymond Thomas made the remark during a House Armed Services Committee hearing, saying the threat of "an increasingly rogue North Korea" is of growing concern to him, and the North's threat is no longer a regional one, but has "global implications.""In r

WASHINGTON -- Recent satellite imagery showed continued activity at North Korea's nuclear test site, such as water pumping from a test tunnel and personnel playing volleyball games, a website monitoring the North said.It is unclear, however, if such activity indicates that a nuclear test has been cancelled, the facility is in stand-by mode or that a test is imminent, the website 38 North said in a report published Tuesday. (Yonhap)"The presence of a large number of people dispersed throughout th