SEOUL, Jan. 30 (Yonhap) -- A confidante of President Park Geun-hye at the center of a high-profile corruption scandal rejected the request by special prosecutors to undergo questioning over her bribery allegations Monday, criticizing what she calls a "coercive" probe.The investigation team, led by
SEOUL, Jan. 30 (Yonhap) -- Former U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon can hold public office in South Korea, as long as his work does not put the international organization or its member states "at a disadvantage," a local report said Monday.The report by the National Assembly Research Service (NAR
SEOUL, Jan. 30 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's Acting President and Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn held telephone talks with U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday morning for the first time since the latter took office earlier this month, officials here said.Hwang and Trump were expected to discuss ways
SEOUL, Jan. 30 (Yonhap) -- North Korea is employing land-based sensors along its border with China to detect people trying to flee the country, sources in Seoul said Monday.Insiders familiar with the reclusive country told Yonhap News Agency that the North's national security agency has set up u
SEOUL, Jan. 30 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's top 10 conglomerates by assets take up over half of the country's stock market capitalization, data showed Monday, pointing to their huge clout in Asia's fourth-largest economy.According to the data by corporate tracker Chaebul.com, listed subsidi
Jan. 301954 -- The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) launches its Korean committee. 1967 -- The Korea Exchange Bank is founded.1974 -- South Korea and Japan sign an agreement on the zoning of their continental shelves.1992 -- North Korea signs the nuclear safe
SEOUL, Jan. 29 (Yonhap) -- The independent probe team that is looking into the influence-peddling and corruption scandal involving President Park Geun-hye and her friend is likely to seek an arrest warrant again for Lee Jae-yong, sources said Sunday.The team, led by Special Counsel Park Young-soo, i
Beijing, Jan. 29 (Yonhap) -- Less Chinese tourists opted for Korea as a travel destination during the long Lunar New Year Holiday this year, Chinese media and travel agencies said Sunday.While as many as six million Chinese have gone or will go overseas during the holiday season from Jan. 27 to Feb.
SEOUL, Jan. 29 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's Acting President and Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn will have a phone conversation with U.S. President Donald Trump on Sunday (Washington time), a news agency reported. Citing the White House statement, Reuters reported President Trump "will
SEOUL, Jan. 29 (Yonhap) -- U.S. President Donald Trump's executive order barring refugees from entering the country also extends to North Koreans fleeing from one of the most repressive regimes in the world, a U.S. media agency said Sunday.The Voice of America said North Korean refugees are not
EUMSEONG, South Korea, Jan. 28 (Yonhap) -- Former U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who is seen as a strong contender in South Korea's presidential race, on Saturday touted national unity as his policy objective in response to calls to clarify his political stance. Ban made the
SEOUL, Jan. 27 (Yonhap) -- Former U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon met with a former opposition leader on Friday, multiple sources familiar with the meeting said, the latest in a series of his efforts to join forces with the opposition bloc for his presidential bid.Ban held a closed-door meeting w
By Chang Jae-soonWASHINGTON, Jan. 27 (Yonhap) -- U.S. President Donald Trump should take extra caution not to arouse anti-American grievances in South Korea at a time when the Asian ally undergoes a leadership change, a former senior U.S. diplomat said. Christopher Hill, former assistant sec
WASHINGTON, Jan. 27 (Yonhap) -- Fresh satellite imagery shows that North Korea has apparently restarted its plutonium-producing nuclear reactor, a U.S. website monitoring the communist nation said Friday."Imagery from January 22 shows a water plume (most probably warm) originating from the cooling
SEOUL, Jan. 28 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's special prosecutors said Saturday that they will send documents requested by Danish authorities concerning the daughter of a woman at the center of a snowballing corruption scandal as soon as possible to speed up her repatriation. Chung Yoo-ra, th
SEOUL, Jan. 27 (Yonhap) -- Former U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon visited police officers and firefighters on Friday, in line with his latest efforts to hint at his presidential ambitions. "The top role of the country is to secure the safety, lives, and assets of the people," Ban
SEOUL, Jan. 27 (Yonhap) -- Three officials from Seoul-based Ewha Womans University appeared before the independent counsel's office on Friday for allegedly providing favors to the daughter of Choi Soon-sil, the woman who is at the center of a South Korean presidential scandal.Four officials from
SEOUL, Jan. 27 (Yonhap) -- North Korea is currently purging the descendants of prominent guerrillas who fought against Japanese colonialists, a former North Korean embassy minister in London who defected to Seoul last year said Friday.During a meeting with officials from the Presidential Committee f
SEOUL, Jan. 27 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's defense ministry said Friday the pledges made by presidential hopefuls to reduce the mandatory service period in the military and abolishing the conscription system lack viability.As South Korea is still technically at war with the North, all able-bodied
DAEJEON/TOKYO, Jan. 26 (Yonhap) -- A local court on Thursday ordered an ancient Buddhist statue, stolen from a Japanese temple in 2012, to be handed over to a temple in Seosan on South Korea's west coast that has claimed ownership.The Daejeon District Court ruled in favor of Buseok Temple, which