South Korea

"South Korea–U.S. and South Korea–China relations are all equally important for us," South Korean President Moon Jae-in said during a press conference in January.

It is reasonable to still be skeptical of the administration's payoffs to the criminal Iranian regime.

A new report by Korea Peace Now! with expert contributions argues a formal declaration of the end of the Korean War "would create unparalleled new momentum toward the creation of a lasting and stable peace regime in the region."

Her funeral was held at a branch of the Seoul Medical Center in the Gangnam district of the South Korean capital of Seoul.

"The ROK Government expects the new U.S. administration and North Korean authorities to move forward in building relations through dialogue and negotiations in a more flexible manner," a South Korean Unification Ministry told Newsweek.

"They are the idiot and top the world's list in misbehavior as they are only keen on things provoking world laughter," Korean Workers' Party Central Committee Vice Director Kim Yo Jong, sister of Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un, said.

Kim's regime is currently holding a major party congress in Pyongyang as North Korea waits for President-elect Joe Biden to take office.

"I hope that this North Korean party congress will serve as an opportunity to contribute to peace on the Korean Peninsula and the development of inter-Korean relations," a South Korean Foreign Ministry official told Newsweek.

"North Korea has two options to deal with an economic crisis: defense, or attack," Ruediger Frank, head of the University of Vienna's Department of East Asian Studies, told Newsweek, adding "it seems Kim Jong Un has decided in favor of the defensive option."

Iran said it took the vessel, Hankuk Chemi, in the Persian Gulf because it was violating environmental laws, which Seoul denies.

A South Korean Defense Ministry official told Newsweek the country, officially known as the Republic of Korea (ROK), had "sent anti-piracy troops near the Strait of Hormuz for the ROK oil tanker directly."

"Now Koreans expect Joe Biden to continue what Trump started," South Korean researcher Lee Sang Sin, who authored a popular opinion study on issues facing the peninsula, said. "The Singapore Agreement is still valid and Biden has no reason to ignore it."

Peace, freedom and prosperity for all Koreans cannot be achieved by standing on the sidelines. We also favor civil society involvement, especially women's groups, in overtures toward North Korea.

South Korea, a country previously touted for curbing the coronavirus pandemic early on, recorded its largest case increase on Christmas Day.

"Donald Trump has opened up something and if you use it well, it could result in something that's meaningful," Philip Yun, a former State Department senior adviser who specializes in North Korea, told Newsweek.

Biden will nominate Anthony Blinken to be secretary of state and Jake Sullivan as national security adviser.

One North Korean male was reportedly captured, but the high alert remained until the situation was investigated.

The investigation first began in 2017 following a complaint by a mother in South Korea who claimed her child developed a kidney disease after eating an undercooked meat patty sold by the fast food giant.

Japan and South Korea, U.S. allies in the post-World War II era, do not share President Donald Trump's tough anti-China position and have sought better ties with the People's Republic, even as major challenges persist.

"After reviewing death cases so far, it is not the time to suspend a flu vaccination program since vaccination is very crucial this year, considering ... the COVID-19 outbreak," Jeong Eun-Kyung, director of the KDCA, said during a briefing this week.

Of the total deaths reported following vaccination, 46 were believed to have no link to the flu shot, according to South Korean health officials.

The Indonesian national broke out of a quarantine facility in the South Korea capital city Seoul just one day before he was set to complete two weeks of mandatory isolation.

The Southern official was shot dead by North Korean soldiers last week when found adrift in waters off the coast of the peninsula.

There is much that could be learned from the old Cold War playbook.

The former bodyguard of then–North Korean Supreme Leader Kim Jong Il, says he fears for his life if he is deported to South Korea, after being denied asylum in Canada.

The incident took place in Seoul, South Korea, where masks have been required on public transport since May.

Kim Yo Jong will be directing "overall state affairs," including relations with the U.S. and South Korea, according to the South's National Intelligence Agency.

They aren't cheap, but they're changing transportation.

South Korea suffered one of the first major COVID-19 outbreaks outside of China.

The U.S. currently has the most confirmed cases and deaths in the world.