President Yoon Suk Yeol on Wednesday named the chief of a state diplomatic academy as the new ambassador to Japan and a former Navy chief as the ambassador to Australia, his office said. Park Cheol-hee, an expert on Japan and the current head of the Korea National Diplomatic Academy, was nominated as the top envoy to Tokyo, while retired Navy Adm. Sim Seung-seob, a former chief of naval operations, was nominated as the top envoy to Canberra. Yoon also named Kim Moon-soo, head of the presidential

Politics July 31, 2024

Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon has called for restoring cooperation among the capital cities of South Korea, China and Japan during a meeting with Beijing's mayor, officials said Wednesday. The meeting with Beijing Mayor Yin Yong took place Tuesday as Oh was in the Chinese capital as part of a nine-day trip that also took him to France. It marked the first senior-level meeting between the capital cities since 2018. "Exchanges between local governments are very important," Oh said during t

Foreign Affairs July 31, 2024

An attempt by victims of Japan's wartime sexual slavery to collect court-ordered compensation from the Japanese government has fallen through as Tokyo refused to submit a list of its assets in South Korea. The case involves several Korean victims of Japan's sexual enslavement during World War II, who won a damages suit against the Japanese government in early 2021, securing a claim of 100 million won ($72,364) in compensation per person. However, Japan refused to pay the ordered compen

Foreign Affairs July 31, 2024

Lee Jin-sook, the nominee to head South Korea's broadcasting watchdog, was appointed by President Yoon Suk Yeol on Wednesday despite protest from opposition parties over her alleged misuse of corporate funds in the past. Lee, a former journalist at public television network MBC, reported to work at the Korea Communications Commission (KCC) at the government complex in Gwacheon, south of Seoul, after being officially appointed. The newly appointed KCC chief underwent a rare three-day confirm

Politics July 31, 2024

Seoul shares opened higher Wednesday, following a mixed close on Wall Street, as investors expect the Federal Reserve may begin a rate cutting cycle later this year. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index added 5.20 points, or 0.19 percent, to 2,743.39 in the first 15 minutes of trading. Overnight, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.5 percent to 40,743.33 points, but the tech-heavy Nasdaq fell 1.3 percent to 17,147.42. This week, all eyes are on the Fed's policy decision on We

Market July 31, 2024

NANTERRE, France -- South Korea finished sixth in its first-ever final of an Olympic swimming relay race on Tuesday, unable to overcome an early gap. The team of Yang Jae-hoon, Lee Ho-joon, Kim Woo-min and Hwang Sun-woo posted a time of 7:07.26 in the men's 4x200-meter freestyle relay final at Paris La Defense Arena in Nanterre, just west of the French capital. This was South Korea's first appearance in any Olympic swimming relay final. The four swimmers hoped to make even more histo

More Sports July 31, 2024

PARIS -- South Korea extended its medal-winning streak to four days at the Paris Olympics on Tuesday, picking up a bronze medal each in table tennis and judo. The first medal of the day was a drought buster, as Lim Jong-hoon and Shin Yu-bin captured the bronze medal in the mixed doubles table tennis event for South Korea's first ping pong medal in 12 years. They defeated Wong Chun Ting and Doo Hoi Kem of Hong Kong 4-0 (11-5, 11-7, 11-7, 14-12) in the third-place contest. The South Koreans

More Sports July 31, 2024

PARIS-- Since making his senior international debut in 2022, South Korean judoka Lee Joon-hwan has picked up two bronze medals at world championships and a silver medal at the Asian Games. Falling short of a gold medal, however, is not something Lee wants to get accustomed to. The 22-year-old captured a bronze medal in the men's -81 kilograms at the Paris Olympics on Tuesday. The third-ranked Lee defeated world No. 1 from Belgium, Matthias Casse, in one of two bronze medal contests at Cha

More Sports July 31, 2024

PARIS -- Lee Joon-hwan claimed a bronze medal in the men's -81-kilogram judo at the Paris Olympics on Tuesday for South Korea's second medal in the sport here. Lee, world No. 3, defeated the top-ranked Matthias Casse of Belgium in one of the two bronze medal contests at Champ-de-Mars Arena in Paris. Lee scored the decisive "waza-ari," or a half point, 48 seconds into the sudden-death extra period. Lee ran into his old nemesis from Georgia, world No. 2 Tato Grigalashvili, in

More Sports July 31, 2024

Lim Jong-hoon and Shin Yu-bin captured the bronze medal in the mixed doubles table tennis event at the Paris Olympics on Tuesday, giving South Korea its first table tennis medal in 12 years. Lim and Shin defeated Wong Chun Ting and Doo Hoi Kem of Hong Kong 4-0 (11-5, 11-7, 11-7, 14-12) at South Paris Arena 4 in Paris. Both players earned their first career Olympic medals. Lim and Shin had fallen to the bronze medal match after losing to the top-seeded pair from China, Wang Chuqin and Sun Yings

More Sports July 30, 2024

South Korea qualified for the final of the men's 4x200-meter freestyle relay swimming at the Paris Olympics on Tuesday, the country's first-ever appearance in a relay medal race. The quartet of Lee Ho-joon, Lee Yoo-yeon, Kim Yeong-hyeon and Kim Woo-min finished seventh overall in the heats with a time of 7:07.96 at Paris La Defense Arena in Nanterre, west of Paris, to punch their ticket to the final scheduled for Tuesday night. The top eight teams from the heats qualified for the final

More Sports July 30, 2024

The driver in the fatal car crash near Seoul City Hall was arrested Tuesday, about a month after the accident that left nine people dead. The Seoul Central District Court issued an arrest warrant for the driver, known only by his last name, Cha, citing a flight risk. The court held a hearing earlier in the day to determine whether to issue a writ for the 68-year-old. Ahead of the hearing, Cha, who appeared in public for the first time, repeatedly said he was sorry to the victims and their famili

Social Affairs July 30, 2024

South Korea condemns the deadly rocket strike in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights that killed 12 children and calls on all parties to avoid escalating tensions, the foreign ministry said Tuesday. "We condemn the attack on the Druze community village of Majdal Shams in the Golan Heights and extend heartfelt condolences and sympathies to the family members of the 12 children who lost their lives in the attack," the ministry spokesperson said in a commentary. "We urge all parties

Diplomatic Circuit July 30, 2024

A military court has issued a warrant to arrest an official at the military's intelligence command for allegedly leaking information of South Korean espionage agents operating overseas, the defense ministry said Tuesday. The civilian official at the Korea Defense Intelligence Command, whose identity is withheld, is suspected of handing over personal information of so-called black agents to a Chinese national of Korean descent. Black agents refer to intelligence officials conducting undercov

Defense July 30, 2024

South Korea has decided to provide $1 million in humanitarian aid to support relief efforts following a devastating landslide in southern Ethiopia, the foreign ministry said Tuesday. "Our government hopes this aid will assist in the recovery of the affected areas and help the local residents return to their daily lives as quickly as possible," the ministry said in a release. According to recent reports, the death toll from the landslide in the mountainous village of Gopa in southern

Diplomatic Circuit July 30, 2024