South Korea to relocate government ministries to Sejong from 2027; other major stories include US semiconductor tariff policy, Nepal flood aid, Naver Cloud cybersecurity project, and justice minister nominee's statement

The government announced Thursday it will begin to move some government ministries and agencies in the Seoul metropolitan area to the administrative city of Sejong next year, as well as public institutions to outside the capital in a major push to promote balanced regional growth.

The relocation will take place in phases, with the justice and gender ministries to be relocated to Sejong, about 110 kilometers south of Seoul, from the first half of next year, according to an interagency announcement.

U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said Wednesday that President Donald Trump's administration is working to craft a "targeted" and "thoughtful" tariff policy for semiconductors, reiterating that companies that produce products in the United States would not pay duties.

During a CNBC interview, Lutnick confirmed that the administration is working on the envisioned tariffs, after Politico, a media outlet, reported last week that it is weighing new chip tariffs despite warnings from tech companies that the move could doom U.S. hopes of dominating artificial intelligence.

More than a week after devastating floods struck Nepal, South Korea is intensifying efforts to locate nine nationals who remain unaccounted for, while expanding its humanitarian support for the disaster-hit country, the foreign ministry said Thursday.

The 44-member Korea Disaster Relief Team (KDRT) has arrived in Kathmandu and is working to launch search-and-rescue operations in earnest in areas devastated by the floods and landslides that struck on Aug. 26, according to the ministry.

A consortium led by Naver Cloud Corp. has been selected for a government project to develop an artificial intelligence (AI) foundation model specialized in cybersecurity, the Ministry of Science and ICT said Thursday.

The cloud and AI arm of portal operator Naver Corp. beat a rival consortium led by SK Telecom Co., earning high marks for its broad industry-academia-research partnership, technological capabilities and development strategy, among other factors, the ministry said.

Justice Minister nominee Kim Seung-won on Thursday denied any intention to order the withdrawal of indictments against President Lee Jae Myung if he takes office, saying the position has no direct authority over such matters.

Kim, a lawmaker of the ruling Democratic Party (DP), has faced criticism from the main opposition People Power Party over his involvement in a group of DP lawmakers calling for dropping Lee's criminal indictments.