Politics

The Nuri rocket blasts off from Naro Space Center, one of South Korea's southernmost points, on Oct. 21. The public sector alone will launch more than 100 satellites over the next decade, South Korean President Moon Jae-in said that day. (Photo by Yonhap via Reuters)
Aerospace & Defense Industries

South Korea chases global ambitions in space and defense

Seoul builds up military tech from homegrown rockets to sub-launched missiles

7 November 2021
Former prosecutor general Yoon Seok-youl gives an acceptance speech after being named as the presidential candidate of the main opposition People Power Party at a party convention in Seoul on Friday.
Politics

Yoon Seok-youl wins South Korea opposition's presidential primary

Former prosecutor will represent conservatives in face off against Lee Jae-myung

5 November 2021
U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai speaks in Washington,  Apr. 28.
30 October 2021
South Korean President Moon Jae-in, right, shakes hands with Kim Yo Jong, sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, upon his arrival for the meeting on May 26, 2018, in Panmunjom, North Korea. (Handout photo from South Korea's presidential Blue House)
N Korea at crossroads

Kim Yo Jong now in charge of North Korea's diplomacy and security

Leader Kim Jong Un focuses on building ideology: South Korea spy report

29 October 2021
Former South Korean president Roh Tae-woo in 1997. 
Obituaries

South Korea's former president Roh Tae-woo dies at 88

Decorated war veteran played a pivotal role in the transition to democratic elections

26 October 2021
South Korean jets perform during the Seoul International Aerospace and Defense Exhibition (ADEX) 2021 at the Seoul Military Airport in Seongnam. 
25 October 2021
A new submarine-launched ballistic missile is tested in this undated photo released on Oct. 19 by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency.
N Korea at crossroads

North Korea claims successful new ballistic missile launch from sub

U.N. Security Council to discuss Pyongyang's violation of resolution

20 October 2021
Afghans who supported the South Korean government's activities in Afghanistan arrive at Incheon International Airport near Seoul on August 26.
Afghanistan turmoil

Afghan arrivals test South Korea's tolerance for refugees

Children excited to join new society, but parents worry about jobs and housing

20 October 2021
Gyeonggi  Gov. Lee Jae-Myung attends a ceremony to celebrate Buddha's birthday at Bongseonsa temple in Namyangju, South Korea, on May 19.
South Korea election

Lee Jae-myung wins South Korea ruling party's presidential primary

Street cleaner's son known as populist who backs universal basic income

10 October 2021
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un expressed his willingness last week to reactivate the hotlines, which North Korea cut off in early August in protest against joint South Korea-U.S. military exercises. 
N Korea at crossroads

Two Koreas reopen hotlines as North urges South to mend ties

Restoration comes after Kim Jong Un expressed willingness to reactivate links

4 October 2021
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un delivers a speech to parliament on Sept. 29, offering to reopen a hotline with Seoul while slamming South Korea's policies.
N Korea at crossroads

Kim Jong Un seeks to split Seoul and US with hotline offer

North Korean leader rejects idea of talks with Biden administration

1 October 2021
People wait in line outside a COVID-19 vaccination center at Sydney Olympic Park. Vaccines from the U.K. that had been at risk of expiring have been put to use in Australia.
COVID vaccines

From Australia to Thailand, vaccine swap deals help ease shortages

Nearly expired doses shipped to nations with slow rollouts

1 October 2021
South Korean Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum speaks to Nikkei Asia in Seoul on Sept. 30. (Photo by Ahn Seong-bok)
Interview

South Korean PM says early Moon-Kishida summit 'needed'

Kim Boo-kyum calls for mending ties with Japan, North's return to Olympics

30 September 2021
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un expressed his willingness to reconnect inter-Korean hotlines to achieve "better relations and lasting peace," according to state media. 
30 September 2021
A South Korean woman forced to work for Mitsubishi Heavy Industries during World War II appears before the Supreme Court in November 2018.
Japan-South Korea rift

South Korean court orders sale of seized Mitsubishi Heavy assets

First ruling of its kind on wartime labor inflames Tokyo-Seoul tensions

28 September 2021
South Korean analysts are skeptical as to whether any of the candidates running for the leadership of Japan's ruling party will improve ties between Seoul and Tokyo. (Source photos by AP and Koji Uema)
Japan election

South Korea sees no good option among Japan LDP candidates

Neither Kono nor Kishida expected to improve Tokyo-Seoul relations

27 September 2021
South Korea has succeeded in shortening the time it takes for contact tracing to within 10 minutes. 
Coronavirus

South Korea hands out COVID relief 5 times faster than Japan

Government's one-stop-shop approach to personal information proves effective

27 September 2021
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and his sister Kim Yo Jong attend a bilateral meeting with South Korean President Moon Jae-in in 2018. Despite a decades-old armistice, the two Koreas technically remain at war.
N Korea at crossroads

North Korea signals 'interest' in formal end to war with South

However, Kim Yo Jong says Seoul first needs to change hostile rhetoric

25 September 2021
Former Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl's platform positions Japan as a neighbor with shared values. (Yonhap via Reuters)
South Korea election

South Korean presidential hopeful looks to improve ties with Japan

Ex-prosecutor general would keep Seoul in intelligence-sharing deal

23 September 2021
South Korean presidential hopefuls are gearing up for the March 2022 election. From left: Gyeonggi Province Gov. Lee Jae-myung, former Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl, Prime Minister Lee Nak-yon. (Source photos by Kyodo/Yonhap and Reuters) 
South Korea election

South Korean presidential campaign mired in mudslinging

Policy debate upstaged by petty bickering as country lurches toward 2022 vote

21 September 2021
A protester objecting to the Myanmar military's takeover of the country in Seoul on April 10.
Myanmar Crisis

Myanmar shadow government sets up office in South Korea

First 'mission' in Asia for democratically elected leaders overthrown by military

18 September 2021
North Korea fires a ballistic missile from a train in a central part of the country on Wednesday.
N Korea at crossroads

Tensions rise on Korean Peninsula as both sides test missiles

Analysts say Kim Jong Un wants to strengthen leverage over U.S.

16 September 2021
North Korea leader Kim Jong Un attends a parade held to mark the 73rd founding anniversary of the country at Kim Il Sung square in Pyongyang in this undated image supplied by the North's Korean Central News Agency on Sept. 9.
N Korea at crossroads

North Korea's missiles landed in Japan's EEZ: Defense minister

Move follows South's sub-launched missile test, escalating arms race on peninsula

15 September 2021
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, left, meets his South Korean counterpart Chung Eui-yong in Seoul on Sept. 15.
International relations

China's Wang Yi dismisses West's Five Eyes as Cold War relic

In Seoul, top diplomat slams possible expansion of intelligence-sharing alliance

15 September 2021
South Korea’s 3,000-ton Dosan Ahn Chang-ho submarine recently conducted the country’s first successful underwater test of a submarine-launched ballistic missile.
International relations

South Korea beefs up military muscle to counter threat from North

Defense spending rising fast, with missile and aircraft carrier programs underway

14 September 2021