N. Korea again sends trash-carrying balloons into S. Korea: JCS

North Korea again launched balloons presumed to be carrying trash toward South Korea, the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said Wednesday. The JCS said the balloons appeared to be traveling toward the northern part of Gyeonggi Province that surrounds Seoul, and advised the public to not touch fallen balloons and report them to the military or police. North Korea has launched more than 3,000 trash-carrying balloons since late May, including some 500 such balloons Sunday, in a tit-for-tat move against

North KoreaJuly 24, 2024

Yoon to visit Czech Republic in September to discuss nuclear power project

President Yoon Suk Yeol spoke by phone with Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala on Tuesday to discuss bilateral cooperation in nuclear energy and other areas, his office said. During their talks, Yoon agreed to visit Prague in September at the request of Fiala to discuss the successful implementation of a major nuclear power plant project following the Czech Republic's selection of a South Korean consortium as the preferred bidder. Yoon said the project will serve as an opportunity for both c

PoliticsJuly 23, 2024

US-Korean dual national elected to PPP Supreme Council

South Korea's ruling People Power Party on Tuesday elected Rep. Ihn Yohan, Korea’s first American Korean lawmaker, to its five-member Supreme Council, the party's highest decision-making body led by newly elected Chair Han Dong-hoon. Ihn, whose English name is John Linton, served as chair of the party's innovation committee last year. Elected to parliament this year through proportional representation, the dual US-Korean national was running mate to chair candidate Won Hee-r

PoliticsJuly 23, 2024

Eyes turn back to Yoon-Han tensions

A series of conflicts between President Yoon Suk Yeol and his political lieutenant Han Dong-hoon have come under renewed focus as Han was elected as the new chair of the ruling People Power Party in a resounding victory at the party's National Convention on Tuesday. Han was constantly at odds with Yoon's office in Seoul as he led the campaign for the April 10 general election as the ruling party's interim leader. On the latest occasion, earlier in July, Han zeroed in on the presidential office b

PoliticsJuly 23, 2024

Education ministry intensifies scrutiny of advanced tutoring programs

The South Korean Education Ministry announced Tuesday a comprehensive crackdown on advanced learning programs across the country’s private academies, particularly those offering high-school level curricula to young children. The initiative, running from July 3 to Aug. 30, aims to clamp down on "pre-curriculum learning" in these tutoring institutions known locally as hagwons. Many hagwons offer intensive college-prep courses for elementary students, exposing them to advanced sub

Social AffairsJuly 23, 2024

Han Dong-hoon back at helm of People Power Party

The ruling People Power Party wrapped up its 2024 national convention on Tuesday with Han Dong-hoon back at its helm. At the finale of the convention in Ilsan, Gyeonggi Province, Han emerged victorious in the contentious four-way race to be the party’s chair. He won more than 62 percent of the ballots from the 408,272 registered voters who participated, according to the party’s final count. In his victory speech, the former justice minister said he wanted to transform his party into

PoliticsJuly 23, 2024

Landmark ruling boosts same-sex couples' confidence in S. Korea

Same-sex couples in South Korea are expressing hope for the improvement of LGBTQ+ rights here, on the coattails of last week's Supreme Court ruling that recognized the legal rights of a same-sex couple for the first time ever. In the landmark ruling, the country's top court ruled that the plaintiff, So Sung-wook, should be eligible for spousal coverage under the National Health Insurance Service subscription of his male partner, Kim Yong-min. The court stated in its ruling that same-se

Social AffairsJuly 23, 2024

[Herald Interview] Malaysia's carbon capture project will benefit Korean companies: new envoy

Malaysia’s newly appointed ambassador to Korea, Mohd Zamruni Khalid, suggested Korean companies jointly operate with Malaysia on carbon capture and storage (CCS) projects in a recent interview with The Korea Herald. Urging his country's potential for hydrogen energy exports, the ambassador said that Korea should take advantage of a legal framework on CCS which is likely to be ready by the end of this year. He said that hydrogen energy exports to Korea will positively impact other gree

Foreign AffairsJuly 23, 2024

Korea to roll out blueprint for medical reform

The government said Tuesday that it would roll out a blueprint for medical reform in late August, renewing its commitment to overhauling health care despite strong resistance from the medical circle. Health Minister Cho Kyoo-hong made the remarks during a government response meeting, highlighting that the medical reform committee launched in April has made tangible progress in tackling the problems of the country's medical system that have remained unsolved after 31 committee meetings with

Social AffairsJuly 23, 2024

N. Korea denies Trump's boasts on bond with Kim

North Korea on Tuesday dismissed former US President Donald Trump's repeated boasts about his close relationship with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un as a "lingering desire," stating that their personal bond did not bring about "any substantial positive change." The statement, delivered through the state-run Korean Central News Agency, which is tailored more to external audiences than domestic ones, marked Pyongyang's first official reaction to Trump's campaign

North KoreaJuly 23, 2024

Supreme Court nominee faces criticism over daughter's stock gains

Supreme Court justice nominee Lee Suk-yeon’s daughter was found to have made a profit 63 times higher than her original stock investment by selling her shares to her father, according to data released Tuesday. According to official documents Lee submitted to Rep. Huh Young of the Democratic Party, Lee’s daughter, identified by her last name Cho, sold 400 stock shares of a cosmetics R&D firm to her father for 385 million won ($277,636) in May 2023. The 400 shares were part of a to

Social AffairsJuly 23, 2024

New special counsel bill zeroes in on both Yoon, first lady

Lawmakers of the minor liberal opposition Rebuilding Korea Party proposed a bill Tuesday to launch a special counsel probe into both President Yoon Suk Yeol and first lady Kim Keon Hee. This is the latest development following disputes and the prosecution's internal strife concerning the legal enforcement institution's decision to interrogate Kim outside of its office, in what Yoon's political enemies have depicted as preferential treatment for the president's wife. Led by Rep. Park Eun-jung, a

PoliticsJuly 23, 2024

What are the charges faced by Kakao founder?

The founder of South Korean tech giant Kakao Corp. was detained Tuesday on charges of stock price manipulation related to the firm's takeover of K-pop powerhouse SM Entertainment last year, prosecutors said. The Seoul Southern District Court granted the prosecution’s request for a pretrial detention warrant for Kim Beom-su, also known as Brian Kim, on charges of violating the Financial Investment Services and Capital Markets Act, citing concerns about evidence destruction and flight r

Social AffairsJuly 23, 2024

YouTuber apologizes over her actions related to 'housing fraud'

YouTuber Darcie on Tuesday apologized for her actions on what she had initially described as "housing fraud incident," which many people perceived as her trying to shift her own losses from a scam onto another victim. "I'm ashamed to admit that I failed to recognize the severity of the housing fraud issue, and made the mistake of referring to my personal experience as one. I apologize for the inaccurate depiction of my experience," she said in an apology posted via her

Social AffairsJuly 23, 2024

Colombia highlights rural reforms cooperation with Korea

Colombia highlighted recent cooperation in rural reforms with South Korea, marking the 214th Independence Day in Seoul on Monday. Colombia’s Independence Day, which falls on July 20, commemorates the country’s declaration of independence in 1810. Colombia was a colony of Spain from 1549 to 1810. In his remarks, Colombian Ambassador to Korea Alejandro Pelaez Rodriguez thanked Korea for expanding bilateral exchange and supporting the agricultural reform model of land acquisition for re

Foreign AffairsJuly 23, 2024

Unification minister asks US support to free S. Korean detainees in NK

South Korea's Unification Minister Kim Yung-ho on Monday asked for the United States' support to repatriate South Korean nationals forcibly detained in North Korea and called for enhanced cooperation between the allies in addressing human rights abuses in North Korea. Kim conveyed his appeal during a meeting with US Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell in Washington, as part of his six-day visit that began Sunday, the Unification Ministry in Seoul said Tuesday. Kim's visit mark

North KoreaJuly 23, 2024

Bodies of two men wash ashore on west coast beach

The bodies of two men were found at a beach in Boryeong, South Chungcheong Province, the Boryeong Coast Guard said Tuesday. The two men, both identified to be 49-year-old residents of Boryeong, were found dead at around 10:57 p.m. Monday at Doksan Beach in the small coastal city. Officials suspect that they died due to an accident that occurred while they were doing "haerujil," or traditional barehanded fishing. Haerujil refers to shining a light at nighttime and catching the fish that

Social AffairsJuly 23, 2024

Yoon to send special envoys to Czech Republic to discuss follow-up measures for nuclear power project

President Yoon Suk Yeol will send special envoys to the Czech Republic to discuss follow-up measures on the European country's selection of a South Korean consortium as a preferred bidder for a nuclear power plant project, his office said Tuesday. Sung Tae-yoon, the presidential chief of staff for policy, and Industry Minister Ahn Duk-geun were to leave Tuesday on a three-day trip to meet Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala and Minister of Industry and Trade Jozef Sikela, according to the offic

Foreign AffairsJuly 23, 2024

Jamsu Bridge closed due to rising river levels

Jamsu Bridge over the Han River and sections of the Olympic Expressway across southern Seoul were closed Tuesday due to rising river levels caused by heavy rain, city officials said. Torrential rain of up to 30 millimeters per hour, beginning early Tuesday morning, increased water discharge from the Paldang Dam on the eastern upstream side of the Han River, according to the officials. Due to rising water levels in the Han River, both vehicle and pedestrian traffic were prohibited on the submersi

Social AffairsJuly 23, 2024

Ruling party set to hold national convention to pick new leader

The ruling People Power Party was set to hold a national convention Tuesday to elect a new party leader to head the embattled party following the party's crushing defeat in April's parliamentary elections. The party convention comes nearly three months after former interim leader Han Dong-hoon resigned after the general elections to take responsibility for the defeat. Han, running again to become the new PPP chief, is leading the race by a relatively significant margin, according to op

PoliticsJuly 23, 2024