South Korea's new COVID-19 cases on Tuesday bounced back to nearly 40,000 from a two-month low amid concerns over a "twindemic" of coronavirus and seasonal influenza. The country reported 39,425 new COVID-19 infections, including 308 from overseas, bringing the total caseload to 24,673,663, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said. It marked a surge from 14,168 cases reported the previous day, when the daily count fell to a more than two-month low apparently due

Prime Minister Han Duck-soo left for Japan on Tuesday on a two-day visit to attend the state funeral for former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and hold talks with US Vice President Kamala Harris on its sidelines. Shortly after arriving in Tokyo, Han is scheduled to hold a meeting with Harris, who is also in Tokyo to attend the funeral, and discuss ways for closer cooperation between the allies on economic and security issues, according to the Prime Minister's Office. Harris plans to vis

WASHINGTON -- North Korea may conduct its seventh nuclear test without warning but the United States remains committed to engaging with Pyongyang in serious diplomacy, a state department spokesperson said Monday. Ned Price also said the North currently remains in a period of provocations. "We have spoken of North Korea's pattern of provocations in recent months. We have warned repeatedly that North Korea could well conduct another nuclear test, its seven nuclear tests with no warning,&

WASHINGTON -- North Korea lashed out at the United States on Monday, accusing the US of creating confrontation on the Korean Peninsula with the intention of toppling the Pyongyang regime while also trying to unjustly force "Western values" on sovereign states such as North Korea. The latest attack on the US was made by head of the North Korean mission to the United Nations. "The security environment of the Korean Peninsula is now caught in a vicious cycle of tensions and confronta

WASHINGTON -- South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol and US President Joe Biden have reaffirmed their commitment to resolving issues and concerns from the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), Seoul's top diplomat in the US said Monday. Amb. Cho Tae-yong also said the countries are discussing various ways to offset any potential damage caused by the new US law to South Korean carmakers. "President Yoon Suk-yeol and US President Joe Biden met three times during the U.N. General Assembly and discussed

　Nine out of 10 South Koreans are skeptical about the possibility of North Korea abandoning its nuclear program, a survey showed, amid a prolonged impasse in inter-Korean relations and denuclearization talks. 　According to a poll of 1,200 adults by the Institute for Peace and Unification Studies at Seoul National University, 92.5 percent responded with skepticism, the highest percentage since the annual survey began in 2007. 　The number of respondents that supported South Korea’s nuclea

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development on Monday lowered its outlook for South Korea's growth for next year, citing uncertainties in the global economy.  In its interim report on next year's world economy, the Paris-based organization said South Korea's gross domestic product is expected to grow 2.2 percent in 2023, 0.3 percentage point lower than its previous forecast of 2.5 percent.  The estimate is lower than the Seoul government's forecast of 2.5 percent and

Yoon to hold bilateral talks with US vice president, as US aircraft carrier conducts combined maritime exercise with Korean Navy to counter North's military threats

President Yoon Suk-yeol has denied the controversy surrounding his use of vulgar language during his recent US trip, saying the incorrect reports damage South Korea's alliance with the US and put people in danger. On his way to work on Monday morning, Yoon responded to the controversy, “Damaging the alliance with reports that are different from the facts is putting the people at risk." He added, "The rest of the related stories should be clarified more clearly first, such

A hospital's refusal to operate on a human immunodeficiency virus-positive patient was ruled as discrimination, the state human rights watchdog said Monday. The National Human Rights Commission of Korea announced that it had recommended the hospital, which was not named, to provide training sessions for employees about the treatment of patients with HIV and come up with measures to prevent recurrence. Earlier in June last year, the HIV/AIDS patient filed a petition to the NHRC after the hos

Some 150 Iranians and Koreans took to the streets on Sunday, in solidarity with the widespread protests in Iran sparked by the death of a young Kurdish woman while in Iranian police custody. The protesters gathered at Teheran Street in southern Seoul, a road that was named after the Iranian capital to celebrate the two countries’ friendship. Participants chanted the name of Mahsa Amini, the 22-year-old Kurdish woman who died in the custody of Iran's "morality police" for all

A Busan court issues arrest warrants for the suspects