The presidential office said Friday it has filed a complaint against a former spokesperson for the Defense Ministry for libel, accusing him of making a false claim that its decision to relocate President Yoon Suk Yeol's residence to Yongsan, central Seoul, was linked to a fortune teller whom the opposition party suspects the president of having ties with. The office also sued for libel two other reporters -- from News Tomato and Hankook Ilbo -- for writing about the ex-spokesman's clai

South Korea and the United States are in talks over a possible state visit to Washington by President Yoon Suk Yeol in the first half of the year, a diplomatic source said Friday. If it materializes, it would be the first state visit to the United States by a South Korean president in 12 years. President Lee Myung-bak was the last president to pay such a visit to Washington in 2011. The source said the allies are keeping other options open, such as an official visit or a working visit. April is

A lawmaker of the main opposition Democratic Party on Friday countersued the office of President Yoon Suk Yeol for accusing him of libel after he raised stock manipulation allegations involving the first lady. Rep. Kim Eui-kyeom, the Democratic Party spokesperson, filed a complaint against the presidential chief of staff Kim Dae-ki with the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency on charges of making false accusation. Earlier this week, Yoon's office sued the Democratic Party spokesperson on charg

North Korea is already prepared to conduct another nuclear test, but is biding its time to gain leverage in negotiations with China and other powers, according to Rep. Tae Yong-ho, a former North Korean diplomat who was elected into the South Korean parliament after defecting in 2016. At a press conference on Thursday, Tae said that whether North Korea decides to test its nuclear weapons for the seventh time was “between Kim Jong-un and Xi Jinping.” “The question of the next nu

Candidate registration opened Thursday for the ruling People Power Party's leadership election, with two main contenders, Reps. Kim Gi-hyeon and Ahn Cheol-soo, running neck and neck in the race to head the party through next year's general elections. The office of President Yoon Suk Yeol is watching the race closely as it wants a Yoon loyalist to lead the party through the parliamentary elections that will determine whether Yoon would be able to push his agenda in the National Assembly

The push by the administration of previous President Moon Jae-in to take away investigative powers from the National Intelligence Service is being rolled back under President Yoon Suk Yeol, Democratic Party of Korea lawmakers claimed Wednesday. Opposition party Reps. Youn Kun-young and Kim Eui-kyeom of the National Assembly’s intelligence committee reiterated in a conference that the top spy service should not be allowed to continue investigations of North Korean espionage and meddling. Yo

The government announced a set of measures Wednesday to help the country's vulnerable people to cope with a spike in heating and energy bills. The move came amid a mounting public outcry over higher heating bills caused by a global surge in gas and energy prices. The measures, among other things, call for doubling the value of energy vouchers for vulnerable people and the amount of heating bill discounts for them. Nearly 1.7 million underprivileged households and some 400,000 lower-income f

President Yoon Suk Yeol and first lady Kim Keon Hee invited 14-year-old Aok Rotha from Cambodia, who underwent heart surgery in Korea, to the presidential office on Tuesday. “President Yoon met with Aok Rotha, who was preparing to return home after successfully completing heart surgery, at the presidential office this afternoon,” said Yoon’s chief of public relations Kim Eun-hye in a press briefing on the day. Yoon gave Rotha a soccer ball after learning that he had never playe

Growing calls for South Korea’s independent nuclear buildup, a discussion that had left the country more divided than united, now offer policymakers latitude to widen the nuclear debate, experts said Tuesday as South Korea steps up efforts for a more powerful military to contain North Korea. President Yoon Suk Yeol and Defense Minister Lee Jong-sup met with US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin in Seoul on Tuesday while Foreign Minister Park Jin and his US counterpart, Antony Blinken, will mee

An arrest warrant is being sought after four individuals accused of operating a spy ring for North Korea, according to a Seoul court on Tuesday. The Seoul central district court opened a hearing at 3 p.m. to determine whether to issue an arrest warrant requested by prosecutors for the four accused spies for North Korea. The court may take longer than a day to make a decision on the prosecutors’ request for a warrant of arrest, which was filed Monday. The request for their arrest comes more

Rep. Yoo Seong-min of the ruling People Power Party said Tuesday he will not run for party leader. Yoo, a former four-term lawmaker considered a key critic of President Yoon Suk Yeol in the People Power Party, made the announcement in a Facebook post, saying there is no point in running and he will wait patiently for a better time. Surveys have shown Yoo is trailing way behind the main contenders, with less than 10 percent support. The race has become largely a two-way contest between Reps. Kim

Lee Shin-wha, South Korean ambassador for international cooperation on North Korean human rights, said the situation of women and girls in North Korea “deserves a special focus” ahead of a Seoul conference on Monday. “The state of human rights is alarming in North Korea, and especially so for women,” she told The Korea Herald. “More North Korean women now contribute to the household economy as breadwinners and yet they are still expected to meet patriarchal demands

The presidential office has sued the main opposition Democratic Party spokesperson for defaming first lady Kim Keon Hee over her alleged involvement in stock manipulation. Spokesperson Kim Eui-kyeom earlier claimed that the first lady was involved in a so-called "pump and dump" scam involving Woori Technology shares listed on Kosdaq, South Korea's tech-heavy secondary bourse, in addition to her alleged involvement in stock manipulation of Deutsche Motors. "Pump-and-dump&quo

President Yoon Suk Yeol's approval rating fell for the third straight week in the wake of a spike in heating bills, a poll showed Monday. In the poll of 1,504 adults conducted by Realmeter from Monday to Wednesday of last week, the positive assessment of Yoon's performance dipped 1.7 percentage points from the previous week to 37 percent. Yoon's disapproval rating was 59.8 percent, adding 1 percentage point in the same period. Realmeter said the fall could be attributable to a sur

South Korea's main opposition party leader Lee Jae-myung called the Yoon Suk Yeol administration a “dictatorial regime” controlled by prosecutors as he appeared at a district prosecutors' office in Seoul on Saturday as a suspect to a high-profile land corruption scandal. Lee, defeated by former prosecutor Yoon in the 2022 presidential election in a narrow margin, has since been facing a number of corruption allegations that were raised even before he became a candidate. A