Six dead in construction site fire in Busan

SEOUL, February 14 (AJP) - A fire broke out at a construction site in Busan, leaving six workers dead and about 25 others injured with smoke inhalation and other minor injuries. According to firefighters, the fire started around 10:50 a.m. on the first floor of the luxury Banyan Tree Hotel, which is slated to have its grand opening in the southern port city later this year. Firefighters rescued about a dozen trapped inside using helicopters from the roof, while more than a hundre

February 14, 2025

Acting president says US reciprocal tariffs will have limited impact

SEOUL, February 14 (AJP) - Acting President Choi Sang-mok said Friday that U.S. plans for reciprocal tariffs would likely have limited impact on the Korean economy due to existing free trade agreements, but warned that non-tariff barriers require close monitoring. The remark follows U.S. President Donald Trump's signing of a memorandum on reciprocal trade and tariffs that would examine not only tariffs but also non-tariff barriers and exchange rates of trading partners. The

February 14, 2025

Constitutional Court to hold two additional hearings for Yoon's impeachment trial next week

SEOUL, February 14 (AJP) - The Constitutional Court of Korea said on Friday that it will hold one more hearing session for President Yoon Suk Yeol's impeachment trial over his botched martial law debacle in December last year. This follows the court's earlier announcement that the trial's ninth hearing will be held on Tuesday, meaning that there will be two additional hearings scheduled for Tuesday and Thursday next week. The court also accepted a request from Yoon

February 14, 2025

South Korea, US to hold ministerial talks in Germany

SEOUL, February 14 (AJP) - South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul is set to hold talks with U.S. Secretary of State Marco on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference (MSC) in Germany. The three-day conference, one of the world's largest annual security forums, kicked off on Friday. Their first one-on-one meeting scheduled for Saturday comes about a month after U.S. President Donald Trump's inauguration on Jan. 20. The two are expected to discuss various topics incl

February 14, 2025

Constitutional Court sets additional hearing date for Yoon's impeachment trial

SEOUL, February 13 (AJP) - The Constitutional Court of Korea on Friday scheduled an additional hearing for President Yoon Suk Yeol's impeachment trial over his botched martial law debacle last December. The hearing, the ninth of its kind will be held at 2 p.m. next Tuesday. Yoon's legal representatives complained that the court is rushing the proceedings "unlawfully and unfairly" without providing sufficient time for his defense. They also made repeated reque

February 13, 2025

South Korean teen snowboarder wins gold in men's halfpipe at Winter Asiad in Harbin

SEOUL, February 13 (AJP) - South Korean snowboarder Kim Geon-hui on Thursday won the men's halfpipe event at this year's Winter Asian Games currently underway in Harbin, China. The teen snowboarder, who had finished first with a score of 78 points in the qualifying round earlier this week, secured gold after the final round scheduled for Thursday was canceled due to strong gusts at a ski resort located about 200 kilometers southeast of Harbin. His compatriot Lee Jio, who

February 13, 2025

Slasher gets 15 years in prison for attacking opposition leader

SEOUL, February 13 (AJP) - The Supreme Court on Thursday upheld a 15-year prison sentence for a man in his late 60s, surnamed Kim, who attacked Lee Jae-myung, leader of the main opposition Democratic Party in January of last year. Kim was indicted for stabbing Lee's left neck with a knife on Jan. 2 last year in Busan while Lee was visiting the southern port city. Due to the brutal assault, Lee sustained an injury to his internal jugular vein and underwent surgery, being hospi

February 13, 2025

Foreign Ministers of South Korea, China, and Japan to meet in Tokyo next month

SEOUL, February 13 (AJP) - The foreign ministers of South Korea, China, and Japan are expected to hold talks in Japan next month. South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, and Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya will have a trilateral meeting in Tokyo on March 22, Japanese daily Asahi Shimbun reported on Thursday, citing multiple government sources. If held, this will be the first such meeting since November 2023, when the ministers from the

February 13, 2025

Schoolchild died from multiple stab wounds, autopsy reveals

SEOUL, February 12 (AJP) - An autopsy revealed that the cause of death of an 8-year-old, who was killed by a school teacher in Daejeon earlier this week, was due to multiple wounds from a sharp object, police said Wednesday. According to police, the teacher in her 40s confessed that she was searching for targets for her knife attack last Monday and ended up coaxing the girl into an extracurricular room after class, telling her she had a book for her. After the rampage, she report

February 12, 2025

Man sentenced to 7.5 years for fatal car crash in central Seoul

SEOUL, February 12 (AJP) - The Seoul Central District Court on Wednesday sentenced a man to seven and a half years in prison without forced labor for killing nine people and injuring six others after ramming his car into a pedestrian road in central Seoul last July. The 68-year-old man, surnamed Cha, caused the deadly incident by driving his vehicle in the wrong direction on a one-way, four-lane street. After colliding with two oncoming vehicles, he suddenly accelerated and plowed i

February 12, 2025