SEOUL, Dec. 24 (Korea Bizwire) — U.S. President Donald Trump has gifted President Lee Jae Myung a specially designed gold key to the White House in return for the presents he received during his visit to South Korea in October, Lee’s chief of staff said Wednesday. In a Facebook post, Kang Hoon-sik said Trump handed [...]
SEOUL, Dec. 24 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea carried out routine military drills this week near Dokdo, its easternmost islets, reaffirming its control over the disputed territory in exercises that again drew protests from Japan. The drills took place Tuesday in waters off Dokdo, according to a South Korean military official who said they were [...]
WASHINGTON•SEOUL, Dec. 24 (Korea Bizwire) – South Korea is pressing ahead with a bid for greater military autonomy within its alliance with the United States, a shift that reflects both Seoul’s growing confidence and Washington’s evolving strategic priorities as rivalry with China intensifies. From efforts to reclaim wartime operational control of its forces from the United [...]
SEOUL, Dec. 23 (Korea Bizwire) — The families of Koreans who were forcibly conscripted by Imperial Japan during World War II and later enshrined at Japan’s controversial Yasukuni Shrine have filed a lawsuit in a South Korean court, seeking the removal of their relatives’ names and damages for what they describe as an ongoing violation of [...]
SEOUL, Dec. 18 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s ruling Democratic Party said Thursday it would push for a joint parliamentary hearing involving multiple standing committees to investigate a massive data breach at e-commerce giant Coupang, stepping up pressure after the company’s founder repeatedly failed to appear before lawmakers. Kim Hyun-jung, a spokesperson for the Democratic Party’s [...]
SEOUL, Dec. 18 (Korea Bizwire) — The Supreme Court said Thursday it would install a dedicated tribunal to handle charges of insurrection, treason and mutiny amid the ruling party’s push to create a special bench for insurrection cases stemming from former President Yoon Suk Yeol’s failed imposition of martial law. The announcement comes as the [...]
SEOUL, Dec. 18 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korean lawmakers sharply criticized Coupang on Wednesday during a National Assembly hearing on the company’s massive personal data leak, condemning the absence of founder Bom Kim and accusing the e-commerce giant of showing contempt for Korean consumers and regulators. Members of both ruling and opposition parties denounced Kim, the [...]
SEOUL, Dec. 17 (Korea Bizwire) — The United Nations Command (UNC) on Wednesday sharply reiterated that it holds exclusive authority over civilian and military access to the southern side of the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), citing the terms of the 1953 armistice. The unusually direct statement came as South Korea’s National Assembly advances legislation that would allow [...]
SEOUL, Dec. 16 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea and the United Kingdom signed an upgraded free trade agreement aimed at easing rules of origin for Korean exporters and expanding access to Britain’s high-speed rail and digital services markets, Seoul’s trade ministry said Tuesday. The deal, signed in London by Korean Trade Minister Yeo Han-koo and [...]
SEOUL, Dec. 16 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korean lawmakers on Monday advanced a bill that would sharply increase financial penalties for companies responsible for major personal data breaches, amid rising public anger over a series of high-profile leaks. The bill, approved by the National Assembly’s Political Affairs Committee subpanel, would raise the maximum fine for [...]