Author: Jae young
August 14, 2025SEOUL – The special counsel investigating multiple allegations against former first lady Kim Keon Hee is expected to accelerate its work after a court approved her arrest Tuesday evening.Within hours of the court’s decision, the team led by special counsel Min Joong-ki carried out search and seizure operations at 21 Gram. The local interior design firm is at the center of controversy over the presidential office’s relocation from Cheong Wa Dae to Yongsan in central Seoul.Investigators are examining claims that unqualified companies, including 21 Gram, received preferential treatment during the relocation and expansion of the presidential office and…
August 14, 2025SEOUL – President Lee Jae Myung will visit Tokyo on Aug. 23 to hold talks with Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, Lee’s office said Wednesday.The meeting will involve a dinner hosted by Ishiba during Lee’s two-day working visit while on his way to Washington to meet US President Donald Trump on Aug. 25.Lee’s trip to Japan is meant to resume a shuttle diplomacy — through which leaders of the two countries take turns traveling to a counterpart’s country frequently without diplomatic formalities — Lee’s spokesperson Kang Yu-jung said in a briefing at the presidential office in Seoul.Kang also…
August 13, 2025SEOUL – President Lee Jae Myung will meet with US President Donald Trump at the White House for their first summit on Aug. 25, with the leaders of the two allied countries expected to address sensitive security and trade issues.Lee’s spokesperson Kang Yu-jung said Tuesday that the president would leave Seoul on Aug. 24 for a three-day trip, which also includes a working lunch with Trump on the day they hold the summit.The summit will put Lee’s diplomatic skills to the test as he seeks to prioritize national interests while bolstering the alliance amid rising US-China tensions.The two…
August 13, 2025SEOUL – In a quiet but expectant atmosphere, 25 fathers from diverse age groups gathered in a bright meeting room in Seongsu-dong, eastern Seoul, to take a closer look at their lives as parents.They were participants of the Papa School: Fatherhood Care Capacity-Building Workshop, a three-part series hosted by the UN Women Center for Knowledge and Partnerships, in collaboration with Root Impact, a nongovernmental organization dedicated to fostering an ecosystem for sustainable development.The program was designed to address a reality that remains prevalent in many societies, including South Korea. Caregiving remains largely concentrated in the hands of women,…
August 13, 2025SEOUL – Samsung Electronics could face higher US tariffs on its smartphones and other finished electronics as early as this week, even as Apple’s iPhones made primarily in China may be granted exemptions, industry sources said Tuesday.This would highlight a notable divergence in how major smartphone makers are treated under Washington’s trade measures aimed at protecting US manufacturing and reducing reliance on Chinese supply chains.Industry officials said the US President Donald Trump’s administration is considering tariffs of up to 25 percent on smartphones, laptops, monitors and other semiconductor-related finished goods. If applied at that rate, the base model…
August 13, 2025SEOUL – The Seoul Central District Court on Tuesday issued a warrant to detain former first lady Kim Keon Hee over evidence-tampering concerns linked to multiple charges against her.The Seoul court approved the arrest warrant requested by the special counsel team investigating Kim for her alleged involvement in the stock price manipulation of imported car dealer Deutsch Motors, a bribery case and influence-peddling in the 2022 by-elections.Kim attended a court hearing Tuesday morning where she reportedly denied all charges against her. The hearing concluded after about four hours, and the court issued Kim’s warrant nine hours later, after…
August 12, 2025SEOUL – A special counsel investigating former first lady Kim Keon Hee raided the headquarters of Seohee Construction as part of a probe into a possible quid pro quo involving a Van Cleef & Arpels diamond necklace valued at 60 million won ($46,000).On Monday morning, the special counsel team led by Min Joong-ki searched the offices of Seohee Construction for evidence related to the claims involving Kim’s luxury necklace, and the company’s potential violation of the Improper Solicitation and Graft Act.The suspicions are related to the former first lady’s omission of the diamond necklace, which she wore during…
August 12, 2025SEOUL – Eighty years since a nuclear Armageddon leveled two Japanese cities, ending the bloodiest armed conflict in history, nuclear anxiety is rising in this region. At the crux of this paradoxical security dilemma is the Korean Peninsula, with no end in sight to its division, imposed by the Allies upon their victory. North Korea continues to expand its nuclear stockpile as a de facto nuclear power, and big-power rivalries intensify to reshape the geopolitical landscape.North Korea’s nuclear and missile capability poses a major security threat in the region and beyond, with cross-border dialogue frozen for years, deepening…
August 12, 2025HANOI – Party General Secretary Tô Lâm and President of the Republic of Korea (RoK) Lee Jae Myung have agreed to jointly shape and implement a new strategic vision for Việt Nam–RoK economic cooperation, shifting from market-based collaboration to a partnership focused on developing production chains and cultivating high-quality human resources.The new approach aims to elevate Việt Nam–RoK economic ties to a higher level, aligning with the two countries’ needs and interests in the current context, and to help achieve the target of US$150 billion in bilateral trade by 2030.The agreement was reached on Monday during talks held…
August 11, 2025MANILA – South Korean actor Hyun Bin cited the warm hospitality of Filipinos and the county’s famous dish adobo as highlights of his first visit to the Philippines this week.Hyun Bin met with the members of the press on Friday, Aug. 8, at a hotel in Parañaque City, where he shared that he was “amazed” by the way he was welcomed by the Filipinos.“The Philippines has always been on my list, and I did not have much time yet to go around and kind of experience the Philippines, but the way they have welcomed me here is really…