Hana Financial kicks off annual volunteering campaign with kimchi-making event

The National Assembly will hold a confirmation hearing for Kim Jong-chul, nominee for commissioner general of the Korean National Police Agency (KNPA), next week, officials said Wednesday. The parliamentary public administration and security committee adopted a plan to hold the hearing next Wednesday during a plenary meeting earlier in the day. The KNPA commissioner general nominee can be appointed by the president even without parliamentary consent following the confirmation hearing. If appointed, Kim would fill a post that has remained vacant for nearly two years since former President Yoon Suk Yeol's declaration of martial law in late 2024.

President Lee Jae Myung on Wednesday vowed to accommodate farmers' opinions in deciding whether to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP). The president made the remarks in a post on X, formerly Twitter, on the 31st Day of Farmers, reiterating his pledge to take farmers' interests into account when deciding to join the Indo-Pacific trade bloc. "On important issues, including farmland reform ... and the CPTPP, the government will work toward faithfully reflecting voices from the (agricultural) field so as to be helpful to farmers," Lee wrote in the post. The president has previously said that Korea's entry into the CPTPP would be "unavoidable," but has pledged to focus on finding complementary measures to implement when seeking CPTPP membership. While CPTPP membership is expected to help boost Korea's overall exports, the agricultural and fisheries sectors are likely to take a hit from market opening due to imports of cheaper products. Lee has ordered the government not to apply for CPTPP membership this year, expressing the need for sufficie

National Assembly Speaker Cho Jeong-sik on Wednesday reaffirmed his commitment to pushing for a constitutional revision, rejecting opposition claims that the revision would be aimed at allowing President Lee Jae Myung to seek a second term. Cho's remarks came as opposition lawmakers have questioned whether he had left open the possibility of Lee seeking another term after he told a press conference in July that an incumbent president's eligibility to seek another term would be up to the people to decide. "As stipulated in Article 128 of the Constitution, the extension of a sitting president's term is not a subject of discussions for a constitutional revision," Cho said during a discussion hosted by the Kwanhun Club, a senior journalists' association. "This should no longer be used for political conflict." Cho said the National Assembly should take the lead in pursuing constitutional reform, adding he plans to launch an advisory committee under his office soon to set the direction and key priorities for the revision. He also pledged efforts to further advance Korea's national interest, sa

Unionized workers of Korea Railroad Corp. (KORAIL) said Wednesday they will launch an indefinite general strike at 9 a.m. on Dec. 10, demanding improvements to the promotion system and the employment of more safety-related personnel. The Korean Railway Workers' Union announced the plan in a news conference at Seoul Station, warning the walkout will proceed unless its demands are met. In a statement, the union criticized the current promotion system for "unfairly" excluding field workers and said staff shortages in railway operations are directly compromising safety. The union plans to hold a large-scale rally at Seoul Station on Saturday, followed by a two-week safe-operation campaign and a series of regional nighttime rallies beginning Nov. 23. The walkout could disrupt KTX and conventional train services nationwide, as well as subway services in the capital area. Its impact could be greater than that of previous strikes following the integration of high-speed rail operator SR Co. into KORAIL in September.

Korea jumped eight places to rank 10th out of 70 nations in the 2026 World Digital and AI Competitiveness Ranking (WDAIR), published Wednesday by the International Institute for Management Development (IMD) — the prestigious Swiss business school known for its benchmark global competitiveness evaluations. Among nations with populations exceeding 20 million, Korea secured fourth place, trailing only the United States, Canada and China. The Ministry of Science and ICT announced that Korea achieved comprehensive improvements across all five evaluated categories: Governance, Technological Infrastructure, Efficiency, Human Resources Development and Societal Attitudes & Values. Notably, Korea jumped 10 places to rank third globally in Efficiency and climbed four spots to third in Technological Infrastructure. Korea demonstrated unmatched leadership in government execution and technological foundation, claiming the top spot worldwide in both the Government Core Systems Index and total research and development (R&D) expenditure as a percentage of gross domestic product. The nation also mainta

SEONGNAM — A bus plowed into more than 30 vehicles waiting at a traffic stop in Seongnam, just south of Seoul, during morning rush hour Wednesday, officials said, leaving 57 people injured. The city bus, driven by a man in his 60s, struck four other buses, a cargo truck and 27 passenger cars before coming to a stop after hitting a traffic barrier in Seongnam's Bundang Ward at 7:34 a.m. The bus reportedly hit the vehicles over a distance of about 100 to 150 meters The incident left nine people seriously hurt and 48 others with minor injuries. None of the injuries were reported to be life threatening. The bus driver reportedly told police that the brakes did not work, with investigators looking into the exact cause of the crash. Police said the driver was not under the influence of alcohol, but plan to check whether he had taken drugs.

A private school that made teachers share beds with students should be barred from enrolling new students, forced to pay back staff and face investigation over allegations of misused government funding, a landmark parliamentary inquiry has found.

New light shows replacing Hong Kong’s long-running “A Symphony of Lights” should help nearby shops and restaurants attract business, rather than simply drawing spectators who leave after the performance, tourism representatives have said. Lawmaker Perry Yiu Pak-leung and tourism union adviser Leung Fong-yuen on Wednesday backed experimenting with new formats as the nightly Victoria Harbour attraction prepares to stage its final show next Wednesday after 22 years. “Don’t simply attract tourists...

Two researchers in Hong Kong are using advanced data-driven computation and artificial intelligence (AI) alongside traditional scientific principles to better understand the mechanisms of the human brain and tackle the growing urban threat posed by extreme temperatures and air pollution. The academics at Hong Kong Baptist University (HKBU) have been recognised by Hong Kong’s Research Grants Council (RGC), a non-statutory advisory council under the University Grants Committee responsible for...

As uncertainty grows, more Australians are turning to an old-fashioned safeguard.

Larvotto Resources has hit high-grade gold-antimony up to 9.61g/t gold equivalent at the Freehold prospect in its NSW Hillgrove project, doubling the mineralised strike to 700m.

Citing the impact of AI, the airline will send 850 back-office jobs, “mostly” to India, through professional services firm Accenture.