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Ruling and opposition parties clashed over the government’s decision to keep the repatriation of two North Korean prisoners of war (POWs) from Ukraine confidential. After Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy disclosed the arrangement, the main opposition People Power Party (PPP) questioned whether Seoul had been too concerned about provoking Pyongyang. The ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) defended the decision, saying it was necessary to protect the two men and safeguard national security. President Lee Jae Myung expressed regret over Kyiv’s disclosure, saying Zelenskyy had broken a bilateral agreement to keep the transfer confidential. Lee also criticized opposition politicians for questioning the government's decision, saying those who jeopardize lives and national security for the sake of taking credit are "murderers and traitors." DPK spokesperson Shin Hyun-young defended the government's approach, saying its priority was to protect the two former North Korean soldiers. "(President Zelenskyy's disclosure) was an act that betrayed trust between the two countries and was d

MEXICO CITY — A presidential official has pledged a prompt and thorough investigation into who was responsible for the recent explosions in the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) that injured three South Korean soldiers. "An objective, prompt and thorough investigation is underway," the presidential official told reporters in Mexico City on Thursday while accompanying President Lee Jae Myung on his ongoing state visit to Mexico. The official's remark came in response to suspected mine explosions in the DMZ on Monday that injured three South Korean soldiers, prompting forensic analysis of collected mine fragments to determine whether they were of South or North Korean origin. "A thorough fact-finding is needed to determine whether they were mines, and if they were mines, what kinds of mines they were, as well as whether they were buried by North Korea, and if not, what happened," he said. The investigation is being carried out carefully in coordination with the United Nations Command because the site of the explosions is a new reconnaissance route, making it dangerous to tread on, the official sa

MEXICO CITY — President Lee Jae Myung on Thursday expressed regret that Ukraine disclosed the transfer of two North Korean prisoners of war (POWs) to South Korea, calling it a breach of a nondisclosure agreement that he said may lead to many problems. "It was appropriate in every aspect not to disclose, considering many problems it may cause when disclosed, and (we) had agreed to do so," Lee said in a post on his X account, a day after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in his address to the United Nations General Assembly in New York that Ukraine recently sent the two North Korean POWs to South Korea. Shortly after Zelenskyy's speech, the Ukrainian presidential office said the transfer of the two North Korean prisoners to South Korea was carried out through direct dialogue with Seoul. "(Ukraine) disclosed the transfer in breach of a nondisclosure agreement," Lee wrote. "I don't know the reasons (for the disclosure), but I regret it." Lee said the issue is a very sensitive matter that could immensely affect diplomacy and national security, as well as the security environment

Gyeongbok Palace drew a record 2.78 million foreign visitors last year, making it the most visited tourist attraction among international visitors to Korea, as attendance at four of Seoul’s major royal palaces continued to rise. According to the data from the Culture Ministry and the Korea Heritage Service, a total of 6.89 million people visited Gyeongbok Palace in 2025, up 6.88 percent from 6.44 million a year earlier. Foreign visitors accounted for 2.78 million of the total, which is a 37.34 percent increase from 2.03 million in 2024. Domestic visitors also rose 7.11 percent to 4.10 million. The other three major palaces — Deoksu, Changdeok and Changgyeong — also drew millions of visitors last year. Visitor numbers are not tracked at Gyeonghui Palace. Deoksu Palace attracted 3.56 million visitors, up 5 percent from the previous year, including about 378,000 foreign visitors, up 1 percent. Changdeok Palace recorded 2.22 million visitors, including about 666,000 foreign nationals, while Changgyeong Palace drew 1.60 million visitors, of whom about 270,000 were foreign. Combined attend

China is emerging as a critical earnings lifeline for Korea’s struggling low-cost carriers (LCCs), offering them access to fast-growing passenger demand and lucrative business traffic as growth in other short-haul markets loses steam. Some 2.13 million passengers traveled between Korea and China in August, surpassing the previous monthly record of about 2.07 million set in August 2016, before the fallout from the deployment of a U.S. missile defense system in Korea severely disrupted bilateral tourism. The August figure was up 27.5 percent from a year earlier and 9.7 percent from July, according to data from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport. The rebound comes as Korean airlines are gaining access to some of the most commercially attractive China routes. In the latest allocation of traffic rights, the government gave major LCCs additional slots on routes linking Seoul with Beijing and Shanghai, as well as Guangzhou, Dalian and other Chinese cities. Jeju Air and Eastar Jet each secured seven weekly flights on the Incheon-Beijing route, while Parata Air and Air Premia re

Korean regulators’ hardline stance toward Coupang is complicating Seoul’s talks with Washington over the next stages of its planned $350 billion investment in the United States. The latest development came Wednesday when the Seoul High Court rejected Coupang’s request to suspend the effect of a Fair Trade Commission (FTC) decision ordering an on-site inspection of the U.S.-headquartered e-commerce firm’s alleged violations of a local fair transaction act. Coupang had refused to cooperate with the probe, arguing that the FTC failed to provide advance notice. The court ruling allows the FTC to proceed with the investigation. FTC Chairman Ju Biung-ghi has vowed to review the agency’s internal rules to close what he described as loopholes that allow companies to delay or evade investigations through court injunctions. He has also rejected U.S. criticism that the regulator is discriminating against American companies, saying the FTC will continue to enforce Korean law without regard to nationality. The confrontation is particularly sensitive, as Korea and the U.S. work to flesh out t

Expressway traffic headed to people's hometowns eased somewhat Friday evening, the second day of the Chuseok holiday, though traffic back to the cities remained heavy, the expressway operator said. As of 7 p.m., travel times from Seoul were estimated at 4.5 hours to the southeastern city of Busan, four hours and 10 minutes to Ulsan, three hours and 40 minutes to Mokpo, 3.5 hours to Daegu, and three hours and 20 minutes to Gwangju, according to the Korea Expressway Corp. This year's holiday for Chuseok, the Korean equivalent of Thanksgiving, runs from Thursday to Sunday. The holiday is marked by visits to hometowns, family reunions, ancestral rites and traditional holiday foods. Trips to Seoul were expected to take five hours and 50 minutes from Busan, 5.5 hours from both Mokpo and Ulsan, and five hours and 10 minutes from Gwangju. The state-run company said traffic congestion on roads leaving the Seoul area was expected to clear between 7 p.m. and 8 p.m., and in the opposite direction, between 2 a.m. and 3 a.m. the following day. An estimated 6.84 million vehicles were expected to travel

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Domestic US political turmoil and Donald Trump’s feud with the media overshadowed a summit that Beijing hoped would project an image of China on equal footing and help stabilise ties with the United States. Trump rolled out the full red-carpet treatment for Chinese President Xi Jinping as he paid his first state visit to the US in over a decade. In addition to Trump and his wife Melania greeting Xi and his wife Peng Liyuan on the tarmac on arrival, the “many special arrangements” included a...

Hong Kong police have arrested three men suspected of using crowbars to steal popular Jellycat dolls and other plush toys worth about HK$70,000 (US$8,923) from a claw machine shop to resell them. The force on Friday said it received a report in the early hours of September 17 that two thieves had broken into an unstaffed claw machine shop in Tai Wai. The shop owner had offered a HK$100,000 reward on social media to catch the thieves after the crime. “They used a crowbar to pry open two claw...

President Trump said on Friday that Chinese President Xi Jinping appeared to like referring to artificial intelligence as “super intelligence” days after Trump announced the U.S. would be using the new name in official documents and communications. Trump made the observation in a Truth Social post in which he referred to his meeting with the...

This live article is freely available to our registered users. Please log in or create an account. Unrivalled Xi-Trump summit analysis: get real-time updates and exclusive boots-on-the-ground reporting from our US and China bureaus. Subscribe now with great savings to stay ahead. This is the final day of Chinese President Xi Jinping and first lady Peng Liyuan’s visit to Washington, following a day in which Xi and US President Donald Trump discussed Taiwan and reached a “new joint arrangement” on...