The Senate impeachment court will continue to discuss on Thursday, October 1, the alleged unexplained wealth of Vice President Sara Duterte.
Oct 1, 2026
TACLOBAN CITY, LEYTE, Philippines — The mother of slain San Jose National High School (SJNHS) student Chris Lorenz Fabian welcomed a House of Representatives resolution honoring her son but said the recognition could not erase the pain of losing him. Erbea Tanglao Fabian said the family was grateful for the recognition but would have been
CEBU CITY, Philippines — Bells tolled at 9:59 p.m. in Bogo City, San Remigio and Medellin in northern Cebu on Wednesday, Sept. 30, as communities paid respects to the 79 people killed in the magnitude 6.9 earthquake that struck the province exactly a year ago. Holy Masses and other commemorative activities were also held in
SAN FRANCISCO, AGUSAN DEL SUR, Philippines — With farmers in Caraga (Region 13) feeling the crunch of the prolonged drought, the Department of Agriculture (DA) regional office has sought funding of P6.2 million for cloud seeding operations to alleviate the impact of the dry spell that has already affected water sources in some parts of
TACLOBAN CITY, LEYTE, Philippines — A 31-year-old fisher from Maasin City, Southern Leyte was rescued on Wednesday, Sept.30, after his pump boat suffered engine failure while he was fishing in the waters off Limasawa Island, authorities said. The fisher, a resident of Barangay Combado, had been out of communication with his family for more than
Stefan Maier hopes to see millions of refugees in long-term displacement move beyond dependence on humanitarian assistance over the next nine years, under the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) "50 by 35" vision. "By 2035, we want to halve the number of refugees who have been displaced for prolonged periods and remain unable to meet their basic needs without humanitarian assistance," Maier, deputy representative for the UNHCR in Korea, told The Korea Times in a recent written interview. "We live in an intensely interconnected world," the Austrian national said. "Forced displacement may begin locally, but its consequences rarely remain local. Conflicts and persecution can uproot millions of people and have repercussions far beyond the countries and regions in which they originate." He cited the arrival of around 550 Yemenis on Jeju in 2018. "I relate to that episode quite personally because I worked in Yemen from 2015 to 2017, at the height of a devastating war and humanitarian crisis," he said. "It illustrates how a conflict that may initially seem geographically dist
Sungshin Women's University is rethinking how it responds to the demands of the era of artificial intelligence (AI) — not by endlessly adding new departments, but by tearing down the walls between existing ones. President Yi Seong-keun said universities face constant pressure to keep pace with rapidly changing social and industrial needs, but warned that the reflexive response of creating new departments for every emerging field can simply replace old academic boundaries with new ones. “Society is constantly asking universities to respond to changing needs, but we cannot do that with rigid ways of thinking,” Yi told The Korea Times in a recent interview. “Just as students must adapt to a changing world, universities must evolve with them.” That approach is already reshaping Sungshin’s academic structure. The university has expanded into AI and other advanced fields through its AI Convergence Department and College of IT Convergence, while a new Department of AI Convergence and Semiconductor Engineering will begin admitting students in 2027. Enrollment in advanced fields unde
U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday unveiled South Korea's U.S. investment projects under last year's bilateral trade agreement: the construction of a gas-fired power plant in Texas, eight large-scale nuclear power plants and a liquefied natural gas (LNG) project in Alaska. The announcement followed protracted negotiations over major energy infrastructure projects under the agreement that committed South Korea to investing $350 billion in the United States — $150 billion for the shipbuilding sector and the remainder for strategic investments — in return for lower U.S. tariffs on Korean goods. Trump's explanation of the first investment package under the agreement suggested apparent differences with Seoul's position that only the Texas project has been finalized, while the Alaska LNG and nuclear projects remain subject to further discussions with the Trump administration. Trump highlighted the investment projects as he has underscored his economic achievements ahead of the November midterm elections amid public concerns over the monthslong war with Iran that has resulted in high
Behind Korea’s medal-winning athletes are companies that have been in the sports realm for decades, turning sponsorship into technology, training and long-term support. The approach reflects a major shift in how conglomerates are shaping their support for athletics: Sponsorship is increasingly being used to build a long-term relationship with a sport, rather than simply gaining exposure around major competitions. At the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games, Korean fencing once again showed the value of that commitment. The national team won 10 medals across men’s and women’s sabre, epee and foil, including four golds. SK Telecom has been backing Korean fencing for 24 years, but its role has evolved far beyond financial support. As the Korean Fencing Federation’s lead sponsor since 2003, the telecom operator has invested 36 billion won ($26.5 million) in the sport, supporting training equipment, overseas competitions and international events. This year, it added artificial intelligence (AI) to that partnership. The Fencing AI Nexus system, developed by the company, uses computer vision an
Seoul and Washington unveiled plans for three investment projects in the United States — a $22.3 billion Texas gas-fired power plant for data centers, a framework to build eight large nuclear reactors and a review of an Alaska liquefied natural gas (LNG) project. The projects are part of a $200 billion investment commitment under a Korea-U.S. agreement signed in November 2025, with the two governments seeking to expand cooperation in energy and other strategic industries while creating new openings for Korean suppliers in the U.S. market. "The colossal package of investments we are announcing today is a major step toward securing our critical energy supply chain, ensuring American energy dominance, and making our partnership with South Korea and the entire Pacific region stronger than ever before," U.S. President Donald Trump said during a press conference in Washington, Wednesday (local time). The Texas power plant project, dubbed Project Star, calls for a 6,472-megawatt combined-cycle gas power plant in Encinal to supply electricity directly to artificial intelligence (AI) data cent
South Korea and the United States have formally selected a gas-fired power plant project in Texas as the first project under Seoul's US$350 billion investment commitment to the U.S., the industry ministry said Thursday. The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Resources announced the three projects, including the Texas plant, after the two sides signed a memorandum of understanding in November last year, under which South Korea pledged to invest in the U.S. in return for lower U.S. tariffs on Korean imports. The formal announcement comes after U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday (U.S. time) announced South Korea's investment plans at the White House. The investment will comprise $150 billion for shipbuilding cooperation and $200 billion for projects in various strategic sectors. "As taxpayers' money will be injected into the initiative, we have placed top priority on the commercial viability of the projects and the national interest to ensure that not a penny goes to waste," Industry Minister Kim Jung-kwan told reporters during a briefing. "We held consultations with the U.S. side while c
Unification Minister Chung Dong-young has said South Korea's response to the recent North Korean land mine explosion inside the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) should not undermine efforts to build peace on the Korean Peninsula. In a Facebook post from Belfast, Northern Ireland, on Tuesday (local time), Chung said the government should conduct a "thorough investigation" and "truth finding" into the Sept. 21 DMZ blast caused by mines planted by the North and respond accordingly. He said, however, those responses should not "be used as an excuse to belittle or distort our efforts for peace on the Korean Peninsula." "We should reflect on why this tragic event repeats and seek more fundamental answers," he added. "In Northern Island, which has turned past tragedy into today's hope, I reaffirm my resolve to end the long-running war on the Korean Peninsula and build a lasting peace regime," he wrote. The minister cut short his trip to Europe after a military investigation found North Korea responsible for last week's land mine explosion inside the DMZ that injured three South Korean soldiers. He had be
WASHINGTON—Two U.S. Democratic lawmakers have welcomed U.S. President Donald Trump's recent efforts to restart talks with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, saying dialogue and diplomacy are the "most effective" tools for protecting U.S. national security interests. Rep. Brad Sherman (D-CA) and Rep. Judy Chu (D-CA) issued a joint statement on Tuesday, underlining their belief that diplomacy with Pyongyang would help address nuclear proliferation concerns and achieve "durable" peace on the Korean Peninsula. Trump has recently expressed his intention to meet Kim later this year, with the White House reiterating that Trump remains open to talks with the North Korean leader "without any preconditions." "We sincerely hope that President Trump will direct the State Department to take steps to lay a foundation for successful, meaningful discussions with North Korea," they said. Those steps could include revisiting the ban on U.S. citizen travel to North Korea; pursuing a formal treaty, legally ending the 1950-53 Korean War; and starting negotiations with North Korea to establish liaison offices