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

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

By Song Sang-hoSEOUL, Jan. 26 (Yonhap) -- Acting President and Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn on Thursday called for enhanced crackdowns on crimes against women and children as part of efforts to ensure public safety amid a national leadership crisis.Since taking over early last month after President

SEOUL, Jan. 26 (Yonhap) -- Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon, who has been cited as one of the potential candidates for the next presidential election, said Thursday he has decided to withdraw his bid."Although I am withdrawing my candidacy, I will give my all for the change of government to reflect the pe

SEOUL, Jan. 26 (Yonhap) – The legal representative of President Park Geun-hye's confidante, who is at the center of an influence-peddling scandal, said Thursday that investigators violated her human rights in the course of their interrogations.Attorney Lee Kyung-jae said in a statement tha

SEOUL, Jan. 26 (Yonhap) -- Drones will be used to crack down on bad drivers for the first time during the upcoming Lunar New Year holiday, or "Seol," when the nation's major highways will be packed with cars carrying millions of hometown-bound families, the National Police Agency said Thursday

SEOUL, Jan. 26 (Yonhap) -- Rep. Yoo Seong-min of the conservative splinter Bareun Party announced his presidential bid Thursday, pledging to restore justice, and tide the nation over economic and security crises."I am running in the 19th presidential election, keeping the people's anger, frustr

SEOUL, Jan. 26 (Yonhap) -- Acting President and Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn on Thursday called for enhanced crackdowns on crimes against women and children as part of efforts to ensure public safety amid a national leadership crisis.Since taking over early last month after President Park Geun-hye w

SEOUL, Jan. 26 (Yonhap) -- Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon, who has been cited as one of the potential candidates for the next presidential election, decided to withdraw his candidacy, sources said Thursday. Park is expected to deliver an announcement on his decision later in the day.The Seoul may

SEOUL, Jan. 26 (Yonhap) -- North Korea's leader has ordered the completion of a new residential district building project in Pyongyang "at any cost" by the birthday of his late grandfather in April, the North's state media said Thursday.The North's leader conducted an inspection of the

SEOUL, Jan. 23 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's ex-culture minister said Monday a former presidential chief of staff was behind the creation and management of a blacklist of cultural figures deemed critical of the government.Yoo Jin-ryong, who served as the minister from March 2013 to July 2014, made t

SEJONG, Jan. 23 (Yonhap) -- The culture ministry made a public apology and vowed to make efforts to prevent a recurrence of the blacklisting of artists critical of the government that led to the arrest of top policymakers and their deputies."We feel terrible and shameful that the Ministry of Cultur

It has been disclosed that in January 2015 President Park Geun-hye personally called the then Minister of Culture & Sports Kim Jong to the Presidential Mansion of Cheong Wa Dae and gave him the following instructions: “Miss Chung Yu-ra (daughter of controversial Mrs. Choi Soon-sil) is very highly ta

SEOUL, Jan. 23 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's top financial regulator on Monday asked the nation's public financial firms to hire more young job seekers, saying the government's top priority this year is job creation.A dozen state-funded financial organizations here plan to increase the numbe

SEOUL, Jan. 23 (Yonhap) -- Acting President and Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn on Monday vowed to push for seamless policy coordination with the newly launched U.S. administration on a set of key issues, including the nuclear standoff with North Korea.During the New Year's meeting with local repor

SEOUL, Jan. 23 (Yonhap) -- North Korean leader Kim Jong-un visited a funeral altar for the head of the country's aviation agency, expressing condolences over his death, Pyongyang's state media said Monday.On Sunday, the North's leader paid his respects to Kang Ki-sop, director-general of

SEOUL, Jan. 22 (Yonhap) -- U.S. National Security Advisor Mike Flynn on Sunday held a phone conversation with his South Korean counterpart Kim Kwan-jin, expressing hope over the development of the Seoul-Washington alliance.South Korea's presidential office said Flynn suggested that the two count

By Chang Jae-soonWASHINGTON, Jan. 22 (Yonhap) -- The two missiles that North Korea is believed to have readied for possible test-firing could be either part of the KN series intercontinental ballistic missiles or the Rodong medium-range missile, a U.S. expert said.Officials in Seoul said last week t

WASHINGTON, Jan. 22 (Yonhap) -- U.S. President Donald Trump said Sunday he will soon hold bilateral meetings with the Canadian and Mexican leaders to talk about renegotiating the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA)."We're meeting with the prime minister of Canada, and we will be meeting

SEOUL, Jan. 20 (Yonhap) -- The ethics committee of the ruling Saenuri Party on Friday suspended the membership of key loyalists to President Park Geun-hye as part of a sweeping reform drive led by its new chief.Rep. Suh Chung-won and Rep. Choi kyoung-hwan had their memberships put on hold for three