Over 70,000 under quarantine in Korea, hitting record high

South Korea on Wednesday denounced the assassination of a leading Iranian nuclear scientist as a criminal act that does not help bring stability and peace in the region. The foreign ministry's comment came after Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, a nuclear weapons expert, was killed in a bomb and gun attack on a road outside Tehran last week, amplifying tensions between Iran and neighboring nations. "We stress that this kind of violent criminal act is not conducive to stability and peace in the Middle E

The fallout from troubles between the justice minister and the prosecutor general is engulfing the political arena and generating speculation about President Moon Jae-in’s next move. On Tuesday, Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl gained higher ground in the battle with Minister of Justice Choo Mi-ae, with both the courts and a Justice Ministry committee putting out conclusions favorable to Yoon. The Seoul Administrative Court approved an injunction against Yoon’s suspension from du

The government on Wednesday announced a set of countermeasures to deal with flooding and other natural disasters anticipated due to global climate change, vowing to drastically strengthen anti-flood design standards for dams and rivers. Under the new measures, local dams and rivers will be designed to withstand the heaviest daily rainfall over a span of 500 years in anticipation of steady increases in precipitation caused by climate change, according to the Ministry of the Interior and Safety.

Getting North Korea to give up its nuclear arsenals is “mission impossible,” former US Defense Secretary William Perry said, underlining that any future negotiators should enter talks with the reclusive regime on this premise. 　 “I truly believe getting North Korea to denuclearize is ‘mission impossible’ and any negotiator given that task is going to fail,” Perry said during a video-linked forum organized by the state-run think tank the Institute for Nationa

Rolls-Royce said Wednesday it has won a deal to supply marine gas turbines to South Korea's new 3,500-ton frigates to be built by Hyundai Heavy Industries Co. by 2024. The MT30, tapped for the Ulsan-class FFX Batch III frigates, has already been in service with several navies around the world, including in South Korea's Daegu-class FFX Batch II frigates, according to the company. "The use of the MT30 across the Batch II and Batch III frigates will deliver commonality benefits to the custo

The unification ministry on Wednesday welcomed a parliamentary committee's passage of a proposal to ban the flying of propaganda leaflets into North Korea, saying the measure will help protect residents in border regions and ease cross-border tensions. The government and the ruling Democratic Party have been seeking to legislate a ban on the sending of anti-Pyongyang leaflets after North Korea bristled at such activity and even blew up an inter-Korean liaison office in June in anger. Pyongyang

Police were investigating Wednesday the cause behind a fire at an apartment in Gunpo, Gyeonggi Province, that left four people dead and seven injured a day earlier. Forensic officials conducted an on-site inspection of the apartment unit on the eighth floor of a 12-story building. It was under renovation and workers were replacing window frames when the blaze began, the Gunpo Police Station said. Authorities suspect flammable materials, such as urethane foam, may have caught fire and started

Tens of thousands of college hopefuls in South Korea will take the annual national college entrance exam Thursday, so important that many here describe it as one of the most pivotal moments in life. The College Scholastic Aptitude Test, or the Suneung, will begin at 8:40 a.m. at over 1,300 testing sites across the country, and will last until 5:40 p.m. Some 493,433 college hopefuls are to sit the marathon test. Coming amid a fresh wave of COVID-19 infections, this year’s Suneung is argu

President Moon Jae-in sent a special "warm" message Wednesday to nearly half a million people in South Korea gearing up for the nationwide college entrance exam this week in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. "It's hard to prepare for the CSAT itself, and it will be even more difficult and worrisome to take the exam in the coronavirus situation," he wrote on his social messaging accounts. "I feel sorry (as the president). I'd like to put warm scarves around your necks.

An American soldier stationed at Camp Casey, north of Seoul, tested positive for the new coronavirus on Wednesday, after another service member at the base was confirmed to have contracted the virus over the weekend, the U.S. military said.    The soldier has been transferred to an isolation facility designated for confirmed COVID-19 patients at Camp Humphreys in Pyeongtaek, south of Seoul, according to the U.S. Forces Korea (USFK).    "Contact tracing is ongoing, an

President Moon Jae-in has tapped a judge-turned-lawyer as new vice justice minister, Cheong Wa Dae announced Wednesday, amid a simmering controversy over the ministry's move to punish South Korea's prosecution chief over alleged ethical lapses and other misdeeds. The nomination of Lee Yong-gu, who served as a judge for more than 20 years, came just a day after Vice Justice Minister Koh Kee-young tendered his resignation in apparent protest against Justice Minister Choo Mi-ae's push for discipli