Workers at Samsung's Sriperumbudur plant in Chennai strike for higher wages on Sept. 12.
Work

Indian police detain 104 Samsung workers after weeklong strike

Staff at key Chennai site demand higher wages, better hours, union recognition

16 September 2024
Samsung Electronics union members shout slogans during a strike. South Korea is developing legislation to provide targeted support for workers who do not belong to labor unions.
Work

South Korea crafts legislation to support unorganized workers

Despite urgency, road to passage appears rocky amid political party divisions

13 September 2024
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, left, and South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol shake hands during a meeting at the Presidential Office in Seoul on Sept. 6.
Japan-South Korea ties

Japan's Kishida, South Korea's Yoon call for deeper ties in final summit

Countries seek further ways to cooperate as Japanese prime minister nears exit

6 September 2024
Emergency personnel carry the body of a person killed in a fire at a lithium battery factory owned by South Korean battery maker Aricell, in Hwaseong, Jun. 24. The disaster was the latest in a long-running string of fatal business-related accidents in the country.
Business Spotlight

South Korea Inc. faces reckoning as company CEO awaits trial over factory fire

After battery plant disaster kills 23, campaigners seek justice, safety in workplace

6 September 2024
Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un shake hands during a meeting at the demilitarized zone (DMZ) separating the two Koreas, in Panmunjom, South Korea, in June 2019.
Opinion

How North Korea will seek to play the next U.S. president

Pyongyang has tried and trusted method for buying time to develop weapons

5 September 2024
A South Korean military unit prepares to leave for Israel in October 2023 on an evacuation mission. (South Korea Ministry of National Defense)
Japan-South Korea ties

Japan, South Korea to agree on mutual expat evacuations from abroad

Deeper cooperation in emergencies lets Kishida highlight improving bilateral ties

4 September 2024
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, right, and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida participate in a joint press conference in Seoul on May 27.
International relations

Japan PM Kishida starts 2-day visit to South Korea on Friday

Summit with President Yoon Suk Yeol scheduled during the stay

3 September 2024
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol discussed reworking the national pension system in a news conference on Aug. 29.
Politics

South Korea's Yoon vows to reform pension plan set to run dry in 2055

Facing aging population, government eyes benefit adjustments and higher premiums

30 August 2024
Children wait for a school bus in Seoul's Gangnam district. Parents with means are flocking to areas with strong educational opportunities, driving up property prices there. (Photo by Kotaro Hosokawa)
Education

South Korea birth rate squeezed by entrance exam pressures: central bank

Bank of Korea urges reform of college admissions to ease burden on families

28 August 2024
Soldiers instruct employees on how to use gas masks in the basement of a government building in Seoul, during an air raid drill on Aug. 22. (Photo by Ahn Seong-bok)
Defense

South Korea preps for nuclear, chemical attacks with nationwide drill

Civilians move underground during air raid exercise as tension with North mounts

23 August 2024
National flags flutter at the border dividing the Korean Peninsula.
North Korea tensions

South Korea calls out North's silence on Yoon's unification vision

Seoul has offered working-level talks as part of potential new dialogue channel

22 August 2024
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, left, and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un are expected to closely watch the outcome of the U.S. presidential election. (Source photos by Yonhap and Kyodo)
North Korea tensions

South and North Korea brace for Harris or Trump as next U.S. leader

Yoon and Kim deepen their own alliances while keeping door open to dialogue

20 August 2024
U.S. President Joe Biden, Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and South Korea’s President Yoon Suk Yeol attend a photo op on the day of trilateral engagement during the G7 Summit at the Grand Prince Hotel in Hiroshima, Japan, May 21, 2023.
International relations

South Korea, Japan, U.S. leaders renew ties on regional challenges

Yoon's office issues joint statement a year after trilateral summit at Camp David

18 August 2024
A policeman stands guard in front of  the headquarters of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party in Tokyo. The LDP will select a new leader next month.
Japan's leadership race

Japan's ruling LDP to vote on Kishida successor: 5 things to know

With prime minister stepping down, how will party select his replacement?

15 August 2024
President Yoon Suk Yeol speaks at the South Korean government's Liberation Day ceremony in Seoul on Aug. 15. 
Politics

South Korea's Yoon offers new dialogue channel with North Korea

President calls for 'unification through freedom' of divided peninsula

15 August 2024
Amid surging labor demand in an AI boom, Vietnam aims to train at least 50,000 chip engineers and designers by 2030 as industry giants look to offset severe staff shortages in their home markets. (Illustration by Yoshiko Kawano)
The Big Story

Vietnam turns chip sector magnet with affordable, quality talent pool

US, Taiwan, South Korean players beat path to Vietnam though boom strains resources

14 August 2024
Around 1,500 people from the Korean Peninsula worked at the Sado mines during World War II, according to the exhibit. (Photo by Junnosuke Kobara)
Japan-South Korea ties

Japan sheds light on Korean wartime labor at World Heritage Sado mines

New exhibit details brutal conditions but stops short of saying workers were 'forced'

13 August 2024
U.S. Korea Forces spokesperson Col. Ryan Donald, right, and Col. Lee Sung-jun, spokesperson of South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff, attend a press briefing on the Ulchi Freedom Shield exercises in Seoul. 
Defense

U.S. and South Korea start joint military exercises next week

Seoul also will conduct first-ever civil defense drill for nuclear attack

13 August 2024
A rescuer stands by trucks equipped with cranes conveyed by the Japan International Cooperation Agency to the State Emergency Service of Ukraine in the Kyiv region of northern Ukraine, on April 25, 2023.
Opinion

Japan and South Korea must put 'Asia First' over Ukraine support

Focusing on aid to Kyiv risks compromising the two nations' regional security needs

8 August 2024
North Korea held a ceremony Aug. 4 to mark the handover of missile launchers to forces stationed near the South Korean border. (KCNA via Reuters)
North Korea tensions

North Korea sends 250 missile launchers to border with South

Kim claims improved effectiveness of tactical nuclear weapons as tensions rise

6 August 2024
JD Vance speaks at a rally in St. Cloud, Minnesota, U.S. on July 27.
Opinion

Childless cat ladies of the world must unite against JD Vance's misogyny

Remarks by Trump's running mate reverberate through Japan and South Korea

1 August 2024
The nomination of Kim Moon-soo as South Korea's labor minister comes with the country experiencing high-profile strikes. (Source photos by Reuters and EPA/Jiji)
Economy

South Korea's Yoon nominates trade union opponent as labor minister

Kim Moon-soo has shed his student activist past to become staunchly conservative

1 August 2024
IPEF nations have established a network that will take action whenever supply chains are disrupted.
Supply Chain

South Korea, Japan to help crisis-proof Indo-Pacific supply chain

14 IPEF members to share chips and medical supplies in emergencies

31 July 2024
From left, U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Japanese Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa and Defense Minister Minoru Kihara attend a press conference in Tokyo on July 28.
Defense

Japan, U.S. unveil 'most significant' defense upgrade amid 'global threats'

U.S. to 'reconstitute' Japan-based forces to enhance contingency coordination

28 July 2024