Seoul, June 12 (IANS) South Korea’s justice ministry has approved a request from investigators to impose a travel ban on the former head of the National Election Commission (NEC) amid a probe into shortages of ballots during last week’s local elections, sources said Friday. The ministry took the measure against Roh Tae-ak, former chairperson of the NEC, as well as other key officials upon requests made by a team of investigators probing the case, according to judiciary sources.The move came a da…
Latest Yonhap news agency News & Updates
Seoul, June 9 (IANS) South Korean Prime Minister Kim Min-seok said on Tuesday he seriously takes the shocking shortage of ballot papers at dozens of polling stations in last week’s nationwide local elections, stressing that suffrage is the foundation of democracy. Kim made the remark at the start of a youth policy meeting with related ministers, saying he was ashamed of the incident.”We should have been more sensitive to such issues and should’ve responded more quickly to come up with solutions,…
Seoul, June 8 (IANS) North Korean leader Kim Jong-un said Monday deepening ties with China is his country’s top policy priority, as he held summit talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Pyongyang, according to a report.The Kim-Xi talks came hours after the Chinese leader arrived in Pyongyang for his first State Visit in nearly seven years, Yonhap news agency reported.Developing friendship between the North and China is “the people’s choice and the calling of the times,” China’s Xinhua News A…
Seoul, June 8 (IANS) The rival parties in South Korea each submitted a request Monday for a parliamentary investigation into an unprecedented shortage of ballots in last week’s local elections, both calling for a thorough probe into what caused the incident but differing over its scope. The ruling Democratic Party (DP) and the main opposition People Power Party (PPP) separately filed their requests at the National Assembly’s bills division but said they will hold follow-up discussions to narrow …
Seoul, June 8 (IANS) Loans extended to companies in South Korea grew at the fastest pace in 3 and a half years in the first quarter compared with the previous three-month period, driven by strong demand from the service sector, central bank data showed on Monday.Outstanding loans to local companies reached 2,061.8 trillion won (US$1.33 trillion) as of end-March, up 35.6 trillion won from the fourth quarter of 2025, according to data from the Bank of Korea (BOK).The increase marked the largest on…
Seoul, June 8 (IANS) Hundreds of protesters rallied for a fourth straight day Monday outside a vote-counting facility in Seoul, South Korea, demanding a new election over ballot shortages during last week’s local elections. As of 9:30 a.m., approximately 950 protesters surrounded the SK Olympic Handball Gymnasium in Songpa Ward, according to an unofficial police estimate. Protesters blocked the stadium’s 10 entrances to prevent the removal of ballot boxes.It marked a sharp drop in the number of …
Seoul, June 5 (IANS) South Korean President Lee Jae Myung on Friday called joint efforts by South Korea and the United States to recover and return the remains of troops killed during the 1950-53 Korean War the “most powerful testament” to the alliance. Lee made the remarks during a joint repatriation ceremony for the return of the remains of 10 fallen South Korean service members from Hawaii to Korea and the repatriation of those of three US soldiers back home.”Today’s repatriation marks a mean…
Seoul, June 5 (IANS) Seoul shares traded nearly 4 per cent lower on Friday as investors locked in profits from a recent tech-led rally while monitoring uncertainty over US-Iran peace negotiations.After opening 3.44 percent lower, the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) lost 334.97 points, or 3.88 percent, to 8,304.44 as of 11:20 a.m., recovering some of its earlier losses after plunging as much as 6.88 percent.The Korea Exchange suspended program trading for the KOSPI for five minutes at a…
Seoul, June 3 (IANS) South Korea and the United States continued talks on their security agreements for a second day Wednesday, with Seoul’s bid to secure uranium enrichment and spent nuclear fuel reprocessing capabilities for peaceful purposes expected to top the agenda. Wednesday’s talks marked the second and final day of a meeting that began Tuesday as the allies launched bilateral consultations to advance the agreements reached at an October summit between the leaders of the two countries la…
Seoul, June 2 (IANS) South Korea and the United States launched new high-profile talks Tuesday to discuss the implementation of security agreements reached by their leaders, including Seoul’s push to acquire nuclear-powered conventionally armed submarines.The first day of the two-day inaugural talks focused on security-related provisions laid out in a bilateral joint fact sheet issued following a summit between President Lee Jae Myung and US President Donald Trump in October, according to the So…