The diplomatic crisis involving Ukraine is getting tangled up with President Lee Jae-myung’s overtures towards Russia. South Korea hopes that the Kremlin might facilitate fresh talks with the North; however, contacts with Moscow are fuelling suspicions in Washington and risk jeopardising relations with Kyiv and South Korea’s European partners.
Delivered by the President of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of India (CBCI), Monsignor Andrews Thazhath. No Pope has visited the subcontinent since John Paul II's last visit in 1999. In 2024, Prime Minister Modi renewed the government's invitation to Pope Francis. Meanwhile, in Seoul, the Minister of Unification hopes that the pontiff's presence at World Youth Day 2027 will be a step towards ‘de facto unity’ between the Koreas.
The South Korean government has banned travel to some Cambodian provinces following the killing of a young South Korean abducted and forced to work in an online scam centre. A South Korean delegation has asked Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet to repatriate its citizens still held in the compounds, while the US and the UK have imposed sanctions on Chen Zhi's Prince group, accused of links to criminal networks, which, despite Phnom Penh's statements, continue to thrive in Cambodia.
According to a survey conducted by the Korea Rural Economic Institute, only 40.4% of respondents said they would organise Charye - one of the rituals that characterise today's traditional harvest festival. In 2016, the figure was 74.4%. This is an indication of the changes taking place in Korean society. For the younger generations, the holiday that marked the return to their hometowns has become the season for travelling abroad.
Leo XIV met the congregation today, gathered for the 12th General Chapter. Sister Mari Lucia Kim, 60, a former provincial superior in South Korea, will lead the Pauline Sisters until 2031. She brings the vitality of their presence in the Far East to the institute founded by Blessed Giacomo Alberione for the apostolate through the media. Pope Leo calls on the Sisters “to look up and immerse yourselves.”
In 2023, 39.8 per cent of people over 65 were living below the country’s median income. About 57.6 per cent of seniors want to continue working out of economic necessity; two in three are unhappy with their standard of living. Retirees currently account for 20.3 per cent of the total population, but will reach 40 per cent by 2050. Divorces among seniors are also on the rise.
In 2024, South Korea recorded its highest number of suicides in 13 years, with a total of 14,872, a 6.3 per cent increase over the previous year. The causes lie in the intense social pressure imposed from childhood to excel in studies and careers. Seeking psychological support continues to be seen as a failure, preventing young people from getting proper help.
Bishop Moon of Cheju, chairman of the Bishops' Conference's Committee for Family and Life, met with Democratic Party lawmakers who are promoting a bill that the Church sees as a path towards unlimited abortions. The issue came to the fore in 2019 after a ruling by the Constitutional Court. For Bishop, “We must move towards respect for life.”
More than 300 South Korean workers were arrested at a Savannah, Georgia electric battery plant. While President Donald Trump called them “illegal immigrants”, they are in fact engineers needed in a plant owned by South Korean company that has invested in the United States to meet the president’s demands. In South Korea, the incident has sparked outrage and raised fears about defence cooperation.
The canonisation of the young man who lived between 1991 and 2006 and used the internet to spread the faith will take place tomorrow in St Peter's, together with Piergiorgio Frassati. Some of his relics are also travelling to Asian countries, where his peers are getting to know him. A ‘great message of hope’ for young Koreans preparing for the next World Youth Day. In Bangkok, young people say: ‘He is one of us.’ A new seminary named after him in Laos.
According to data from the Seoul government, there have been 252 reported cases of kidnappings for these activities run by transnational criminal groups. The testimony of a girl who was rescued: ‘They deceived me, robbed me and kept me together with other people identified only by a number instead of a name.’ In August, a fellow countryman was found dead with signs of torture.
At the White House summit, Trump said he was open to the idea. The meeting could take place in conjunction with the APEC summit in Gyeongju at the end of October, which Trump is expected to attend. So far, North Korea has made it a precondition that the US not continue to demand denuclearisation. Meanwhile, Lee has pledged to increase South Korea’s military spending and invest US$ 150 billion in shipbuilding in the US.
For the first time since 2018, the South Korean government may not publish its annual report denouncing violations by the North Korean regime. The decision, in line with President Lee Jae-myung's policy of rapprochement, aims to avoid tensions and revive contacts between the two Koreas. APyongyang has recently conducted military exercises in response to joint manoeuvres by Seoul and Washington.
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