Politics

South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol, center, during his trip to the United Arab Emirates on Jan. 15, with South Korean first lady Kim Keon-hee and UAE President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan. (Courtesy of UAE presidential court/Reuters)
International relations

Yoon pursues commercial diplomacy as South Korea's top salesman

President spearheads drive to export more nuclear power facilities and arms

4 February 2023
American ballistic missile submarines are one part of the nuclear triad along with land-launched missiles and strategic aircraft carrying nuclear bombs and missiles. (Handout photo from the U.S. Navy)
Interview

Japan should discuss nuclear option: ex-Pentagon official

Tokyo not ready to deploy nukes, but ought to explore subject, says Schriver

2 February 2023
2018 South Korean Supreme Court rulings requiring Japanese companies to pay compensation to wartime laborers caused bilateral relations to deteriorate.
Japan-South Korea rift

Japan and South Korea hunt for solution to wartime labor issue

Seoul seeks new apology, while Tokyo wants to affirm past statements

31 January 2023
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg arrived in Seoul on Jan. 29.
29 January 2023
Then-U.S. President Donald Trump poses with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the foreign ministers of Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates after signing the Abraham Accords in Washington on Sept. 15, 2020. 
Comment

Ruthless power battles in Middle East give Asia a golden chance

China and South Korea keen to exploit Israeli-Arab rapprochement

28 January 2023
People walk away from statues of North Korea founder Kim Il Sung, left, and late leader Kim Jong Il in Pyongyang after paying their respects in 2017.
N Korea at crossroads

North Korea passes ban on South Korean slang

Authorities respond to growing ranks of K-drama fans in the North

20 January 2023
Yoon Suk-yeol in Seoul in November 2022: The South Korean president is likely to soon face hard choices with potentially bigger stakes.
Opinion

China will not be the answer to South Korea's economic troubles

Yoon Suk-yeol has been surprisingly soft toward Beijing, but faces new dilemmas

19 January 2023
The resumption of a large-scale, face-to-face congregation, where thousands convene from over 130 countries and regions, in its traditional January slot signals a return to normalcy, after the world was hit by the COVID pandemic.
Davos 2023

Davos returns to normal form for 1st time since COVID

South Korean and Philippine leaders to attend, China to send Liu He

16 January 2023
Kim Jong Un attends a Workers' Party Central Committee meeting in Pyongyang in December: The North Korean leader has repeatedly stated that denuclearization is not in the cards.
Opinion

Cutting off communications with North Korea will only add risk

Seoul should not abandon 2018 agreement despite repeated violations

16 January 2023
U.S.-China trade tensions exacerbated uncertainty for businesses, but Chinese executives do not see relations eroding further.
Business trends

China Inc. more upbeat on geopolitics than Japan, South Korea: poll

Chinese, South Korean execs plan bigger digital outlays than Japanese rivals

12 January 2023
Travelers at a COVID testing station at Incheon airport on Jan. 2: South Korea halted short-term visas for people traveling from China for one month to prevent a resurgence of infections.
International relations

China suspends visa issuance for South Koreans and Japanese

Tokyo protests against China's retaliation; official says move 'out of proportion'

11 January 2023
Lee Jae-myung, chief of South Korea's Democratic Party, speaks with reporters Jan. 10 before meeting prosecutors in Seongnam.
Politics

South Korean prosecutors question opposition leader in graft case

Lee maintains innocence, says probe represents abuse of power

11 January 2023
The South Korean Defense Ministry displays a North Korean drone in 2017. The incursion of a drone into the South in December 2022 has revealed a new threat.
N Korea at crossroads

North Korean drone may have imaged South's presidential office

Aerial incursions by unmanned aircraft raises threat level for Seoul

7 January 2023
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un observes a tactical weapons test in April 2022. He listed the mass-production of tactical nuclear weapons as one of the country's goals for 2023. (KCNA via Reuters)
N Korea at crossroads

U.S., South Korea eye tabletop drills on North Korean nuclear attack

Official stresses importance of deterrence, alliance with Seoul amid rift fears

4 January 2023
A supersonic strategic bomber B-1B Lancer undergoes pre-flight maintenance at Andersen Air Force Base in Guam.
Indo-Pacific

South Korea, U.S. discussing drills with nuclear assets: Yoon

President seeks to display extended deterrence as tensions flare with North

2 January 2023
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, accompanied by his daughter, inspects an ICBM. (KCNA via Reuters) 
N Korea at crossroads

North and South Korea race to develop reconnaissance abilities

Rivals launch solid-fuel rockets and deploy drones in tit-for-tat measures

1 January 2023
Japanese ruling coalition lawmaker Natsuo Yamaguchi, left, meets with South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol on Dec. 29.
International relations

South Korea's Yoon shows support for defense cooperation with Japan

President discusses Tokyo's defense buildup with Japanese ruling coalition lawmaker

30 December 2022
Left: People in Seoul's Myeongdong shopping district in 2020. Right: Unionized cargo workers during a large protest in Seoul in 2019. (Source photos by Reuters and Penta Press)
Politics

South Koreans shying away from labor organizations, protests

'Defeat' of truckers' union signals subtle change in public sentiment

25 December 2022
Professor Lee Shin-wha speaks with Nikkei Asia in Tokyo. (Photo by Jun Takai)
Interview

Middle powers can sway great powers if united: South Korean scholar

Lee Shin-wha says U.S. and China both promote 'distorted' models of multilateralism

23 December 2022
The U.S. deployed a B-52H bomber for a joint military drill with South Korea. (Photo courtesy of the South Korean Ministry of National Defense) 
International relations

U.S. deploys B-52 bomber and F-22s in drill with South Korea

North Korean leader's sister Kim Yo Jong hints at new ICBM tests

21 December 2022
A ship carrying liquefied hydrogen docks at an experimental terminal in Kobe, Japan. (Photo by Atsushi Ooka)
Environment

Green hydrogen booms in Asia as companies rush into projects

Denmark's Orsted in talks with POSCO, BP invests in Australian project

18 December 2022
IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi and South Korean Foreign Minister Park Jin shake hands in Seoul on Dec. 15.
N Korea at crossroads

South Korea's Yoon urges IAEA to keep closer eye on nuclear North

U.N. watchdog's chief pledges to safeguard international nonproliferation regime

16 December 2022
K-pop band member Jin sports a military-style buzz cut in a photo posted in an online fan community.
Media & Entertainment

BTS member Jin reports for military duty in South Korea

K-pop group's activities on hold as global superstars fulfill compulsory service

13 December 2022
South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol, left, and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida might have to pay a heavy political price to mend their countries' relationship.
Comment

South Korea, Japan leaders lack political capital to fix wartime row

Former Prime Minister Taro Aso of Japan lifts hopes of settling labor issue

12 December 2022
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's regime gains access to foreign currency by employing hackers and undercover tech workers, South Korea's government says. (KCNA via Reuters)
N Korea at crossroads

North Korea's undercover tech workers fund missiles: Seoul

Thousands sent abroad with fake identities to earn 'hundreds of millions of dollars'

9 December 2022