The government plans to spend 5.2 billion won ($3.8 million) to set up an automated security screening system next year to expedite the embarking and disembarking process for foreign cruise ship passengers at sea ports on South Korea's southern Jeju Island. According to Bae Sang-up, commissioner of the Korea Immigration Service under the Ministry of Justice, the automated security checkpoints will be set up by October next year at two ports -- Jeju International Passenger Terminal and Seogw

Politics Oct. 15, 2024

South Korea's southern Jeju Island could have its first tertiary hospital in 2027. President Yoon Suk Yeol said Tuesday that the government is considering easing policy hurdles for the self-governing province to have an accredited general hospital, which currently requires a population of 1 million in the region. The island is home to nearly 700,000, remaining far short of the requirement, but Yoon said such a "policy hurdle" needed to be addressed as part of a medical reform driv

Politics Oct. 15, 2024

Kim Dae-ki, who was President Yoon Suk Yeol's chief of staff during the first two years of Yoon's term, has been named the ambassador to China. Kim, a 68-year-old career bureaucrat, will replace the incumbent Chung Jae-ho, who served in the position since August 2022. Kim has expertise in handling trade-related affairs countering China and has a good command of Chinese, Chief of Staff Chung Jin-suk told reporters Monday. Seoul is awaiting China's approval of Kim's nomination,

Politics Oct. 14, 2024

President Yoon Suk Yeol's office said Monday that a meeting between Yoon and ruling People Power Party Chair Han Dong-hoon will be held next week. According to Yoon's office, the meeting of the conservative ruling bloc's two prominent leaders will take place sometime early next week, following Wednesday's by-elections this week. The office also said it was coordinating with the ruling party. The meeting is drawing keen attention over whether Yoon and Han are able to fully mend fences. Han, Yoon'

Politics Oct. 14, 2024

South Korea, the United States and Japan are accelerating efforts to convene a trilateral summit by the end of this year to bolster deterrence against North Korean threats and enhance regional security in light of rising Sino-US tensions. President Yoon Suk Yeol's National Security Adviser Shin Won-sik said in an interview with KBS Sunday that the three parties are "moderately building a consensus" for a standalone three-way summit "as soon as possible after" multilatera

Politics Oct. 13, 2024

VIENTIANE, Laos -- President Yoon Suk Yeol on Friday expressed South Korean companies' appetite for Australia's frigate replacement project known as Project Sea 3000 to upgrade its maritime defense capability, during his talks with Australia's Prime Minister Anthony Albanese. At the bilateral meeting on the margins of the ASEAN Summit, Yoon "highlighted South Korean firms' willingness" to participate in Australia's program to acquire 11 general-purpose frigates

Politics Oct. 11, 2024

VIENTIANE, Laos -- President Yoon Suk Yeol on Friday unveiled plans to provide $23 million to Myanmar in humanitarian aid this year, as he attended the East Asia Summit before ending his Southeast Asia trip. According to Yoon's office, the president said in the closed-door multilateral meeting that Myanmar could provide a proving ground for East Asia Summit members from across the Indo-Pacific region, saying their collaborative efforts and dialogue could contribute to tackling the humanitar

Politics Oct. 11, 2024

VIENTIANE, Laos -- President Yoon Suk Yeol and Japan's newly elected Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba discussed a new bilateral travel agreement that would allow their citizens' free movement between the two countries through a streamlined immigration process, according to Yoon's office on Thursday Kim Tae-hyo, first deputy director of the presidential National Security Office, said in a briefing in Vientiane, Laos that Yoon and Ishiba pledged to accelerate discussions for the new tr

Politics Oct. 10, 2024

President Yoon Suk Yeol and ruling People Power Party Chair Han Dong-hoon might hold talks after the Oct. 16 by-election next week, according to the presidential office on Thursday. The Yoon administration and the ruling party "are communicating with each other over the matter," a source at the presidential office said on condition of anonymity. Also, the presidential office is reportedly open to a one-on-one meeting with Han, a format Yoon has long disapproved of. The meeting would oc

Politics Oct. 10, 2024

VIENTIANE, Laos -- South Korea and ASEAN inked the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership Thursday, with ASEAN placing South Korea alongside superpowers such as the United States and China in the organization's hierarchy of diplomatic relationships. South Korea has become the sixth country that ASEAN is in dialogue partnership with, after the United States, China, Japan, India and Australia. ASEAN, or the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, is comprised of 10 countries: Brunei, Cambodia, Indone

Politics Oct. 10, 2024

VIENTIANE, Laos -- President Yoon Suk Yeol is to hold bilateral talks with the leaders of six countries attending the Association of Southeast Asian Nations Summit and related events on Thursday and Friday, after having arrived in Vientiane, Laos, Wednesday evening. According to the presidential office, Yoon will meet leaders representing Japan, Canada and Australia. At 10 p.m. Wednesday Laos time, Seoul announced that Yoon would sit down for talks with Japan's newly elected Prime Minister

Politics Oct. 9, 2024

VIENTIANE. Laos -- International and regional security concerns will take center stage at the Association of Southeast Asian Nation Summit this week, as leaders will likely apply pressure on China and Russia over ongoing geopolitical conflicts. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Japan's newly elected Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba both confirmed their trip to Vientiane, Laos, Tuesday. Beijing also confirmed that Chinese Premier Li Qiang will attend the multilateral meetings. President Yoon

Politics Oct. 9, 2024

SINGAPORE -- President Yoon Suk Yeol said Wednesday that a unified Korean Peninsula that is free and at peace would unlock massive economic opportunities in the Indo-Pacific region. "A unified Korean Peninsula that is free and open will also create a strong impetus for economic development and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific," Yoon said at the 47th Singapore Lecture, organized by the ISEAS Yusof Ishak Institute that was formerly known as the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies. "A

Politics Oct. 9, 2024

SINGAPORE -- A new orchid hybrid in Singapore was named after President Yoon Suk Yeol and his wife Kim Keon Hee while Yoon was on a state visit to the Southeast Asian country, according to the presidential office on Wednesday. The orchid was named "Dendrobium Yoon Suk Yeol Kim Keon Hee" on the occasion of their visit to the Singapore Botanic Gardens on Tuesday. Dendrobium refers to one of the genera of the Orchidaceae family, according to Yoon's office. According to Singapore�

Politics Oct. 9, 2024

SINGAPORE -- President Yoon Suk Yeol on Tuesday visited the highly automated Hyundai Motor Group Innovation Center Singapore, a car manufacturing facility powered by artificial intelligence and robots, on the sidelines of his state visit to the city-state. Yoon inspected the automated car manufacturing line that uses the "cell production" system in which a small team of human employees and robots is responsible for a specific assembly process. The factory operates 27 such cells. Accord

Industry Oct. 8, 2024