Nonagenarian ex-North Korean soldier attempts to return home after decades in South Korea

SEOUL, August 20 (AJP) - A handful of surviving former North Korean soldiers have recently expressed their willingness to return to the North, with one of them attempting to cross the border in Paju, Gyeonggi Province on Wednesday. The Unification Ministry here said earlier this week that six former North Korean soldiers have recently requested repatriation. Now in their 80s and 90s, they spent decades in prisons here after refusing to abandon communist ideologies and pledge their a

August 20, 2025

S. Korea sets AI transformation as centerpiece of new economic plan

SEOUL, August 20 (AJP) - South Korea's government and ruling Democratic Party on Wednesday announced plans to push for an "AI transformation" across industry, government, and daily life, while easing heavy penalties on companies and opening public data to the private sector. The announcement followed a policy meeting at the National Assembly attended by the ruling Democratic Party (DP), the Ministry of Economy and Finance, the Ministry of Science and ICT, and the Min

August 20, 2025

Annual report on North Korean human rights abuses to be kept under wraps

SEOUL, August 19 (AJP) - The Unification Ministry here said on Tuesday that it will continue compiling its annual report on human rights abuses in North Korea, though it will be published for internal use only. The report, mostly based on testimonies from North Korean defectors, documents their suffering and harrowing tortures during their escape from the isolated country. The ministry has published the report annually since 2018, although some previous governments had kept it un

August 19, 2025

Two dead, several injured after train hits railway workers in Cheongdo

SEOUL, August 19 (AJP) - Two men were killed and five others were injured after a passenger train struck a group of railway workers on the tracks in Cheongdo, North Gyeongsang Province, police said on Tuesday. The accident occurred around 10:50 a.m. when a train bound for Jinju, South Gyeongsang Province, that had departed from Dongdaegu, collided with seven workers inspecting railway damage caused by recent heavy rainfall. There were 89 passengers aboard the train, but no injuri

August 19, 2025

South Korea taps new envoys to Washington and Tokyo ahead of key summits this week

SEOUL, August 19 (AJP) - President Lee Jae-myung is expected to soon appoint new envoys to the U.S. and Japan, ahead of his summits with the leaders of both countries that begin later this week. According to government sources, former Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha has been named ambassador to Washington, and former envoy to Viet Nam Lee Hyuk has been tapped as ambassador to Tokyo, with their agrément procedures currently underway. Lee is scheduled to sit for talks with J

August 19, 2025

Independence hall of Korea chief calls for national unity in liberation day address

SEOUL, August 19 (AJP) - On August 15 at the Independence Hall of Korea in Cheonan, about 90 kilometers (56 miles) south of Seoul, director Kim Hyung-seok read a Liberation Day statement calling for "national unity" and an end to "history wars." The full text follows. --- Fellow citizens. Distinguished guests present here. Today, on the 80th anniversary of Liberation, we have gathered at the Independence Hall of Korea to once again honor the emotion of th

August 19, 2025

Zombie-themed comedy tops summer box office with 4.5 million viewers

SEOUL, August 18 (AJP) - Actor Jo Jung-suk's latest film has attracted over 4.5 million moviegoers as of Monday, less than three weeks after its release late last month, becoming this year's first South Korean film to achieve the milestone. According to the Korean Film Council, "My Daughter is a Zombie" drew about 762,000 moviegoers over the long holiday weekend marking the 80th anniversary of Liberation Day which began last Friday, dominating the box office here f

August 18, 2025

Lee's approval rating falls to lowest since taking office

SEOUL, August 18 (AJP) - President Lee Jae-myung's approval rating has slid further to the lowest since he took office in early June. According to a survey of over 2,000 voters conducted by pollster Realmeter last week and released on Monday, some 51.1 percent of respondents said Lee was doing well in his job while 44.5 percent said he wasn't. His approval rating fell 5.4 percentage points from the previous week and 12.2 points compared with two weeks earlier, when it sto

August 18, 2025

Annual joint military exercise with US kicks off

SEOUL, August 18 (AJP) - South Korea's annual joint military exercise with the U.S. began on Monday, involving some 18,000 South Korean troops and a similar number of U.S. personnel. Dubbed Ulchi Freedom Shield, the exercise runs until Aug. 28 and includes computer-simulated drills as well as field training to strengthen the two allies' combined defense posture against North Korean threats and other security challenges. Although the overall scale of the exercise remains u

August 18, 2025

S. Korea, India to seek ways to deepen economic partnership

SEOUL, August 17 (AJP) - South Korea’s Foreign Minister, Cho Hyun, and his Indian counterpart, Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, held talks in New Delhi, Saturday (local time) as the two countries marked the 10th anniversary of their strategic partnership and pledged to expand cooperation in security, technology and defense. Cho's visit come amid a flurry of high-level exchanges between the two governments, including a summit meeting between President Lee Jae Myung and Prime Mini

August 17, 2025