61 h. ago Can Seoul count on China’s commitment to Korean reunification?

China’s role in any future reunification of the Korean peninsula should not be assumed, a South Korean analyst has warned at a peace forum in Hong Kong after being asked if Bejing is a reliable partner to help advance the goal. Sung Ki-young, chief research fellow at the Institute for National Security Strategy, told the Korean Peninsula Peace Forum on Wednesday that both China and the United States were reluctant to rapidly or radically alter peace and stability on the peninsula, meaning major...

Politics

61 h. ago Can Seoul count on Beijing’s commitment to Korean reunification?

China’s role in any future reunification of the Korean peninsula should not be assumed, a South Korean analyst has warned at a peace forum in Hong Kong after being asked if Bejing is a reliable partner to help advance the goal. Sung Ki-young, chief research fellow at the Institute for National Security Strategy, told the Korean Peninsula Peace Forum on Wednesday that both China and the United States were reluctant to rapidly or radically alter peace and stability on the peninsula, meaning major...

Politics

67 h. ago South Koreans deserve Nobel Peace Prize for stopping martial law, president says

South Korean President Lee Jae-myung on Wednesday praised the citizens who confronted martial law troops a year ago, saying their collective defence of democracy made them worthy of the Nobel Peace Prize. Speaking at a ceremony marking the first anniversary of the attempt by impeached president Yoon Suk-yeol to impose military rule, Lee described the incident as an unprecedented test of South Korea’s democracy that the public overcame peacefully. “I am convinced that we, the people of the...

Politics

3 d. ago South Korean lawmakers push for special court as distrust of judiciary grows

A year after former president Yoon Suk-yeol declared martial law, South Korea’s ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) is pushing ahead with a bill to create a separate court dedicated to handling cases linked to the decree, in response to widespread public distrust of what critics describe as a “biased” judiciary. President Lee Jae-myung warned on social media ahead of the December 3 anniversary of the decree: “If we leave hidden acts of insurrection as they are, insurrection will certainly...

Events

3 d. ago A year on from South Korea’s martial law crisis, some lives are changed forever

When South Korea’s leader declared martial law a year ago, one young woman blocked a tank, a civil servant resigned in protest and a lawmaker switched sides to remove him from office. They are among the many South Koreans whose lives were transformed on December 3, 2024. That wintry night, then president Yoon Suk-yeol interrupted national television broadcasts to suspend civilian rule for the first time in more than four decades. Soldiers and tanks deployed in central Seoul. Troops landed by...

Society

4 d. ago Unification Church leader denies knowing about gifts for Kim Keon

The leader of one of South Korea’s largest cultlike churches stood trial on Monday accused of bribing the country’s former first lady with gifts including a designer handbag and a diamond necklace. The arrest of leader Han Hak-ja in September rocked the Unification Church, which claims to have 10 million followers worldwide and controls a sprawling business empire. The 82-year-old defendant, known to her followers as “holy mother”, also faces corruption charges over cash payments to a lawmaker...

Politics

6 d. ago This 'Beijing Battle' is a great achievement that will go down in history.The South Korean men's bas..

This 'Beijing Battle' is a great achievement that will go down in history.The South Korean men's bas..  매일경제

Events

7 d. ago ‘Kill North Koreans’: posters urging South Koreans to join Ukraine war slammed

An advertisement offering lucrative pay and citizenship to South Koreans willing to join Ukraine’s army has been rejected by Kyiv as a “Russian hoax”, even as Seoul confirmed for the first time the death of a citizen who fought against Moscow in the long-running war. The conflict-stricken nation’s response came after photographs of posters plastered on a lamp post in Seongnam, South Korea’s Gyeonggi province, circulated online, detailing supposed enlistment benefits including high wages and...

Events

9 d. ago South Korea kicks back after Canada’s TSN labels taekwondo clip ‘ninja training’

South Koreans have slammed a major Canadian sports broadcaster for “ignorance” after it labelled a clip featuring high-flying taekwondo martial artists as “ninja training”. Taekwondo is South Korea’s most famous martial art, while ninjas – the black-clad spies and assassins of Japan’s feudal era – are known for secrecy and stealth. The controversy erupted after TSN, which bills itself as Canada’s sports leader, shared a clip of taekwondo practitioners performing acrobatic jump kick routines on...

Politics

1 week ago Former South Korean rock star implicated in US$136 million fraud scheme

A former member of the South Korean rock band Boohwal has been identified as one of 69 people implicated in a Ponzi scheme that collected more than 200 billion won (US$136 million) from illegal investments and stole 19 billion won. Police said singer Kim Jae-hee, 54, who once performed as Boohwal’s fourth vocalist, took part in promotional activities that helped recruit victims. According to the Incheon Metropolitan Police Agency on Sunday, Kim was among those sent to prosecutors on charges...

Economics

1 week ago How South Korea’s nuclear sub deal with US could torpedo inter

South Korea, under President Lee Jae-myung, has repeatedly proclaimed its desire to improve relations and re-engage in diplomacy with North Korea. Yet a landmark agreement with Washington formalised last week reveals a starkly different priority: advancing military capabilities that will almost certainly drive the two Koreas further apart. The United States has officially approved South Korea’s pursuit of nuclear-powered submarines while supporting Seoul’s efforts to secure uranium enrichment...

Events

1 week ago South Korea’s US nuclear sub deal risks roiling East Asia’s waters

South Korea is set to acquire nuclear-powered attack submarines with US approval and assistance, according to a joint fact sheet last week. That approval came following a meeting at the end of October between South Korean President Lee Jae-myung and US President Donald Trump in Gyeongju. The agreement allows South Korea to build its first nuclear-powered attack submarines, which will be conventionally armed and powered by highly enriched uranium the United States will help source. It also...

Events

2 w. ago Helmsman’s phone distraction blamed for South Korean ferry grounding

A South Korean ferry ran aground after the helmsman became distracted by his mobile phone, a member of the coastguard said on Thursday. All 267 passengers and crew were safely brought to a nearby port after the ferry crashed on an uninhabited island off South Korea’s southwestern coast. The passenger vessel was travelling from Jeju Island to the port city of Mokpo when it ran aground after 8pm (local time) on Wednesday, authorities said. A preliminary investigation found that “the officer...

Politics

2 w. ago ‘Don’t trust the pension system’: why young South Koreans back later retirement

Kim Sung-ho, 38, an office worker, said he is increasingly open to the idea of raising the retirement age in South Korea. “A few years ago, I opposed extending the retirement age,” he said. “But now, living costs and housing prices are getting higher. I worry more about my own future. I think I will need a stable source of income until I get older. Extending retirement age isn’t about the older generation any more. It’s about preparing for the future for my generation too.” Similarly, An...

Politics

2 w. ago South Korean ferry runs aground, sparking Sewol ferry disaster memories

A South Korean passenger ferry carrying 267 passengers and crew ran aground on Wednesday off the southwestern tip of the Korean peninsula, triggering a rescue operation and stirring memories of a major ferry disaster in 2014. President Lee Jae-myung, who is currently travelling in the Middle East, ordered a swift rescue of all on board to prevent casualties and for details of the operation to be made public as they occur, the Yonhap News Agency reported. Authorities were deploying all possible...

Events

2 w. ago South Korean teen dies after 8 hospitals refuse to treat him

A South Korean high school student died in an ambulance after eight hospitals refused to treat him over the space of an hour, in a case that has reignited concerns over a growing shortage of doctors and specialists in the country. The 18-year-old was found convulsing near a high school by a teacher at about 6.20am on October 20, The Chosun Daily reported, quoting the Busan Fire and Disaster Headquarters on Tuesday. The teacher called for an ambulance, which arrived about 15 minutes later. The...

Events

2 w. ago ‘Hostile to the end’: North Korea’s shock at US subs approval sinks talk hopes

North Korea is expected to remain largely impervious to Western diplomatic overtures for the foreseeable future as it rails against its rivals’ “hostile” policies. On Tuesday, North Korean state media denounced last month’s summit between US President Donald Trump and South Korean President Lee Jae-myung as proof of the “confrontational will” of its adversaries to “remain hostile to the end”. The North was taken aback by the outcomes of the Trump–Lee summit, according to Professor Cho Han-bum...

Events

2 w. ago ‘Workplaces of death’: South Korean president’s childhood fuels crackdown

South Korean Kim Yong-ho thought he would die within seconds after a 200kg (441lbs) industrial press at a Hyundai Steel plant sprang to life during maintenance and crushed his legs and back. It was 2019, and Kim said he thought the heavy machinery around him had been switched off as he made repairs. “I was flattened like a squashed frog in a roadkill,” he said. “I couldn’t breathe for a few seconds.” A quick-thinking colleague saved his life by alerting the machine’s operator, said Kim, now...

Politics

2 w. ago Samsung, Hyundai announce US$310 billion domestic investment plans

Samsung Electronics, Hyundai Motor and other major South Korean manufacturers on Sunday unveiled domestic investment plans, as a US trade deal raised concerns that investment in the US could weaken manufacturing at home. Samsung Electronics will add a chip production line at its plant in the South Korean city of Pyeongtaek to meet rising demand amid the global boom in artificial intelligence, as part of the parent group’s 450 trillion won (US$310.79 billion) investments at home over the next...

Economics

2 w. ago Singer Nana hospitalised with injuries after overpowering home intruder

K-pop star Nana helped overpower a home intruder and is recovering in hospital after suffering injuries during the tussle, South Korean police said on Sunday. The intruder, a man in his 30s, broke into the K-pop star’s home early on Saturday before being taken down by Nana with the help of her mother and arrested. The 34-year-old celebrity and her mother, who suffered serious injuries and lost consciousness, are being treated in hospital, South Korea’s Yonhap news agency reported. The intruder...

Events