The ruling and main opposition parties agreed Saturday to cancel the National Assembly plenary session initially expected to be held later in the day to deal with an extra budget bill.    The ruling People Power Party and the main opposition Democratic Party tentatively agreed to hold the session at 7:30 p.m. Sunday instead.    The PPP and the DP have been at loggerheads for weeks over the size of the supplementary budget for compensating small businesses hit by the COV

   North Korea's daily new suspected COVID-19 cases dropped below 100,000, according to its state media Saturday.    More than 88,520 people showed symptoms of fever over a 24-hour period until 6 p.m. the previous day, the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said, citing data from the state emergency epidemic prevention headquarters.    It marks a 20,560 decrease from a day earlier, it added without giving information on whether additional deaths were co

South Korea reported fewer than 20,000 COVID-19 cases for the third consecutive day Saturday, with critical cases dropping to a 10-month low, amid the receding omicron wave.    The country added 14,398 new infections, including 45 cases from overseas, bringing the total caseload to 18,067,669, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said.    The number of critically ill patients stood at 196, dropping below 200 for the first time in around 10 months.  

　South Korea's imports of home furnishing products hit an all-time high last year on the back of demand by stay-at-home consumers amid the COVID-19 pandemic, data showed. 　The imports of eight kinds of home furnishing goods, including sofas and lamps, came to $3.5 billion last year, up 15.6 percent from a year earlier, according to data from the Korea Customs Service. 　It rose 26.1 percent from the pre-pandemic year of 2019. 　By country, inbound shipments from China were the largest with $2.

Uzbekistan has announced that it will host the International Week of Ziyorat Tourism every autumn, the Uzbek Embassy in Seoul said in a press statement Thursday. The embassy said Uzbekistan cabinet ministers adopted a resolution focusing on measures to hold a Ziyorat Tourism week with the aim to make the annual event an easily reachable pilgrimage tour to showcase features that make Uzbekistan one of the most important centers of world civilization. According to the statement, Uzbekistan will

South Korea’s political circle is yet to reach a compromise over the Yoon Suk-yeol administration’s supplementary budget proposal made earlier this month, with prospects remaining unclear whether the proposal will pass the final vote at the National Assembly this month. Floor leaders of the ruling People Power Party and the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea announced Friday that the two failed to reach a deal on the budget proposal despite holding a two-hour discussion over

The outlook of the election for Seoul’s education superintendent remains blurry for the conservative bloc, as candidates have failed to form a merger while continuing to attack each other. With less than a week left to the local elections, Cho Hee-yeon, the current superintendent of education for Seoul, and Kang Shin-man, who are considered liberal-leaning candidates, announced they have formed a merger Thursday. “Seeing some candidates demonize and assault certain groups for t

US says China poses ‘serious, long-term threat’ to global order in policy speech

Heavyweights head to polling stations across the country to rally support for their flagbearers

President Yoon Suk-yeol appointed Kim Kyou-hyun, a former deputy national security adviser and career diplomat, as his first spy chief Friday. Yoon presented Kim with a letter of appointment a day after the National Assembly approved him as director of the National Intelligence Service. Kim takes over at a time when tensions run high in the wake of a series of weapons tests by North Korea. During his confirmation hearing Wednesday, the director vowed to reinforce the country's intelligence

China exported around 2,838 tons of refined oil to North Korea in March and April this year, according to data that the country provided to the UN Security Council (UNSC). Beijing supplied Pyongyang with 15,947 barrels, equivalent to 1,914 tons, in March and exported another 7,695 barrels, or 923.8 tons, last month, showed a related update posted on the UNSC's sanctions committee on North Korea. The total figure represents about 5 percent of the volume of refined oil it can supply to the No

South Korea reported fewer than 20,000 COVID-19 cases for the second consecutive day Friday as the pandemic's grip on the country appears to be loosening. The country added 16,584 new infections, including 49 cases from overseas, bringing the total caseload to 18,053,287, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said. The daily tally fell to a 17-week low for a Friday and declined around 34 percent from a week earlier, as the virus curve has turned downward since mid-March. So