North Korea's state media Korean Central News Agency reported on Friday it had conducted a test of its underwater nuclear weapon system in the sea off the Korean Peninsula's east coast. The test of "Haeil 5-23," a system of underwater drones capable of covert nuclear attacks on naval forces and ports, was carried out in a show of protest against a joint maritime military drill of South Korea, Japan and the United States held earlier this week, the KCNA reported. The trilatera

North Korea Jan. 19, 2024

The United Nations should break its silence over the growing North Korean provocations, including the latest test-firing of long-range missiles, said Hwang Joon-kook, permanent representative of South Korea to the UN, on Thursday. Hwang was quoted as saying by news reports that "the UN Security Council needs to break the silence over the way it (reacts)" to North Korean issues, adding it has become a "big question" for the UN Security Council to answer. The remarks came after

North Korea Jan. 19, 2024

Commotion erupted Thursday as minor progressive Jinbo Party lawmaker Rep. Kang Sung-hee was dragged out of a venue in Jeonju, Jeonbuk State, after telling President Yoon Suk Yeol to change his policies. He was physically removed during a ceremony at Moak Hall at Sori Arts Center in Jeonju by the president's four bodyguards after he "did not let go of the handshake with Yoon and shouted at him," according to a source at the presidential office who declined to be named. Kang was forced o

Politics Jan. 18, 2024

A new law to elevate North Jeolla Province to Jeonbuk State came into effect on Thursday, giving the region the autonomy to foster new industries in the field of agricultural biotechnology, the silver economy and the K-pop industry, as well as burgeoning technologies related to batteries and autonomous mobility. President Yoon Suk Yeol hailed Jeonbuk State's elevation by a special law promulgated in December as the momentum needed for rebalancing national growth -- one of his policy focal points

Politics Jan. 18, 2024

President Yoon Suk Yeol on Wednesday said the excessive taxation on corporations trading on the stock market here could be outdated, hinting at easing the tax burden. Yoon claimed that easing tax burden on corporations was a prerequisite to boosting stock market value. More than a quarter of Korea's 50 million population trade shares -- more than double compared to five years before. "We need to find a new angle at which the inheritance tax and other types of extra taxes (on corporations) a

Politics Jan. 17, 2024

President Yoon Suk Yeol on Tuesday urged the National Assembly to pass a revision bill aimed at deferring the enforcement of a workplace safety act that would hold executives of a company criminally liable for a deadly incident at work. Yoon stressed that time is running out for the National Assembly to delay the implementation of the controversial Serious Disasters Punishments Act. The revision bill seeks to defer the implementation of the act by two years until 2026 for businesses with 49 empl

Politics Jan. 16, 2024

President Yoon Suk Yeol said on Monday that the semiconductor chip cluster in southern Gyeonggi Province will draw combined investments of 622 trillion won ($471.4 billion) for facilities and create 3 million jobs. With the investments, South Korea plans to double the number of chip-producing plants across southern Gyeonggi Province to 37. The investments came along with South Korea‘s plan to consolidate chip plants -- including 16 new ones to be built by 2047 -- into a large chip cluster

Politics Jan. 15, 2024

The victory of Lai Ching-te of Taiwan's Democratic Progressive Party in the presidential election on Saturday will put the relationship between South Korea and China to the test, given Seoul's unique geopolitical position and the need to strike a balance between Beijing and Washington, according to experts in Seoul on Sunday. As China effectively refused to accept the result of the high-stakes election, concerns are mounting as South Korea's Yoon Suk Yeol administration has been

Foreign Affairs Jan. 14, 2024

Interim leader of the ruling People Power Party Han Dong-hoon on Sunday called for "groundbreaking" policy measures to help students alleviate the burden of college tuition costs. At a meeting of government representatives, the ruling party and President Yoon Suk Yeol's office, Han asked meeting participants to devise more policies to tackle tuition costs for tertiary education. South Korea's annual average tuition fees are estimated to be the eighth-highest among the 27 memb

Politics Jan. 14, 2024

The ball is in President Yoon Suk Yeol's court after the passage of a special bill to give the National Assembly the power to launch a new probe into the Itaewon crowd crush incident in October 2022 that killed 159 people. Opposition lawmakers called for a renewed investigation so that a wider range of decision-makers would face consequences for the failure to put in place measures to deal with overcrowding as people flocked to the nightlife district for Halloween. The presidential office, howev

Politics Jan. 12, 2024

President Yoon Suk Yeol tapped his secretary dedicated to economic security as the new deputy of the presidential National Security Office on Wednesday. Wang Yun-jong, secretary for economic security, was promoted to third deputy director of the NSO. Ahn Se-hyun, an international affairs professor at the University of Seoul, will take Wang's post. The 62-year-old Wang and 52-year-old Ahn will both begin in their positions on Thursday, according to Yoon's office. Wang has shaped the direction for

Politics Jan. 10, 2024

President Yoon Suk Yeol said Wednesday that his administration would push to ease regulations concerning the redevelopment of apartment buildings aged 30 years or older, by allowing projects to go ahead even if the existing buildings are safe for habitation. Any residential complex built before 1994 may apply for reconstruction. Previously, owners of the apartment units had to get a municipality's approval that the buildings in the complex were dangerous to live in, no matter how old they w

Politics Jan. 10, 2024

A legal revision approved by South Korea's Cabinet on Tuesday would allow the presidential National Security Office to create a new deputy director position to be tasked with economic security and technological supremacy in the face of frequent industrial supply chain disruptions. As a result of the reorganization, the newly appointed deputy director of the NSO will be dedicated to stabilizing the supply chain, handling matters related to nuclear power plant exports and minimizing impacts f

Politics Jan. 9, 2024

President Yoon Suk Yeol reiterated his policy focus on Tuesday, saying that the new year should be a year to achieve a "recovery of ordinary people's livelihoods," during the first Cabinet meeting of the year he presided. According to Yoon, measures are being undertaken to help ordinary people refinance their mortgages via mobile apps, effective Tuesday, aimed potentially at offering a new term with a lower interest rate. In addition, a greater portion of the vulnerable will recei

Politics Jan. 9, 2024

South Korea is considering removing late payments from the credit history of individuals or vendors who fell victim to the COVID-19 pandemic's economic fallout, possibly before the Lunar New Year's holiday in mid-February. President Yoon Suk Yeol's office "is in talks with the financial authorities to map out the timing of (the removal of delinquency on the credit reports) and the scope of its beneficiaries," said a source from the presidential office on Monday. In Korea, individuals f

Politics Jan. 8, 2024