International, Politics
536 storiesRuling party presses chief justice to testify at audit; opposition protests
South Korea's Legislation and Judiciary Committee held its Supreme Court audit on Oct. 6, where ruling and opposition lawmakers clashed over whether Chief Justice Cho Hee-dae should take the witness stand. Cho submitted an opinion letter on…
Han Dong-hoon presses Roh Moo-hyun claims for fifth day as ruling party hits back
Independent lawmaker Han Dong-hoon has for a fifth consecutive day pressed claims that former President Roh Moo-hyun or his family received two Piaget watches worth 300 million won and billions of won from former Taekwang Industrial chairma…
Japan transport ministry finds no pressure from farm minister over road budget
Japan's transport ministry said on 6 October that it found no lobbying or pressure from Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Minister Yanagi Kazuo over road budget allocations, after he was reported to have said he had “substantially cut” th…
US Secretary of State Rubio visits Iceland to discuss Arctic security and trade
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio visited Iceland on 5 October and met Icelandic government officials in Reykjavik to discuss economic and security cooperation. Rubio said he came to advance shared priorities including a safe Arctic, strong…
Egypt's Sisi to make state visit to South Korea Oct 7-9, summit with Lee on Oct 8
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi will make a state visit to South Korea from Oct 7 to 9 at President Lee Jae-myung's invitation, the Blue House said in a written briefing on Tuesday. The two leaders will hold a summit on Oct 8, prece…
Trump suggests Iran could ‘take out’ LA and San Diego; California officials condemn
President Donald Trump said at a rally in Grand Island, Nebraska, that Iran could “take out” Los Angeles and San Diego, calling the war with Iran “a small price to pay for keeping the world safe, keeping our country safe.” California Govern…
Park Jin-young says he did not know of 2 mln won monthly committee payment
Park Jin-young, co-chair of the presidential Public Culture Exchange Committee and executive producer at JYP Entertainment, said he did not know he was receiving about 2 million won a month in duty expenses for the post, which had been desc…
South Korea chief justice refuses oath at audit, denies martial law role
Supreme Court Chief Justice Cho Hee-dae attended the Supreme Court’s parliamentary audit at the National Assembly on Oct. 6, delivered a greeting and refused to take the witness oath, saying demands for testimony about his recommendation of…
Police question lawmaker Kim Jae-seop on audit opening day over Cancún trip claims
Seoul police questioned Rep. Kim Jae-seop of the People Power Party as a suspect from 10 a.m. on Oct. 6, the first day of the National Assembly audit, over allegations about former Seoul mayoral candidate Chung Won-oh’s 2023 trip to Cancún,…
Trump says he told South Korea it must pay a price for lower tariffs
US President Donald Trump said on Oct 6 that he told South Korea it must pay a price to have tariffs lowered, and that South Korea recently provided $150 billion, all of it going to shipbuilding. Korean outlets link the remarks to MASGA, th…
Trump says super PAC will pay for taxpayer-funded pro-Trump ads after backlash
President Trump said Monday he will stop using taxpayer funds for television ads promoting him and instead pay for them himself and with money raised for MAGA, Inc., his super PAC. The ads drew criticism from Republicans and Democrats, and …
Reports say US, China discuss mutual visits to nuclear facilities
US and Chinese officials have reportedly begun informal talks about mutual visits to nuclear facilities, according to CNN, as cited by Sankei Shimbun. The reported aim is to build confidence amid concern over China's rapid nuclear expansion…
Kremlin: Putin to hold series of international calls on his birthday
Russian President Vladimir Putin will hold a series of international telephone calls on October 7, his birthday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. Peskov said other events are planned and the Kremlin will give details later. Kremlin aid…
Chief justice calls “second Yoon Suk-yeol” question insulting at court audit
Chief Justice Cho Hee-dae appeared at the National Assembly’s Supreme Court audit on Oct. 6 but refused to take the witness oath or testify on the dispute over the re-recommendation of a Supreme Court justice. Asked by Justice Party lawmake…
Ukraine criticizes South Korea over reported diesel shipments to Russia
Ukraine's presidential office sanctions adviser, Vladyslav Vlasiuk, publicly criticized South Korea over a Guardian report that seven tankers carried more than 176,000 tonnes of petroleum products, mostly diesel, from South Korean ports to …
Trump pledges $90 Medicare rebates for 20.8 million US seniors before midterms
President Donald Trump said late Friday that his administration would immediately begin sending checks of nearly $100 to more than 20 million seniors to help pay Medicare Part B premiums. The White House and the Centers for Medicare & Medic…
Ex-Lower House member Inatomi to run in Fukuoka mayoral election as independent
Former Lower House member Shuji Inatomi, 56, has decided to run in the Fukuoka mayoral election as an independent and will formally announce at a press conference soon. The race is set for Nov. 1 notification and Nov. 15 voting, with incumb…
Japan farm minister retracts budget-cut remarks, apologises, denies resignation
Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Minister Yana retracted and apologised on Oct 5 for remarks that he had “greatly cut” road budgets of municipalities whose mayors did not support him in the February lower house election. He denied lobbyi…
Bolsonaro's son leads Brazil's first round; Lula faces Oct. 25 runoff
Brazilians voted on Sunday, Oct. 4, 2026, in the first round of a presidential election between incumbent Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Sen. Flávio Bolsonaro, and no candidate won a majority, sending the race to an Oct. 25 runoff. The Wall …
Trump repeats Alaska LNG charge threat as Vance says Korea details unresolved
US President Donald Trump said on 2 October that if South Korea does not invest in the Alaska LNG project, Washington can charge it more, and Seoul should be told the amount will double if it does not agree soon. Korean outlets reported tha…