South Korea

South Korean President mulls apology to North over allegations of drone use

South Korean President Lee Jae Myung said Wednesday he's weighing a possible apology to North Korea over suspicions that his ousted conservative predecessor intentionally sought to raise military tensions between the war-divided rivals in the buildup to his brief martial law declaration in December 2024. Speaking to reporters on the first anniversary of former President Yoon Suk Yeol's ill-fated power grab, Lee a liberal who won a snap presidential election following Yoon's removal from office in April stressed his desire to repair ties with North Korea. But asked about North Korea's yearslong detentions of several South Korean nationals, Lee said he wasn't aware of the issue, drawing criticism from relatives who call for their safe return. A special prosecutor last month indicted Yoon and two of his top defense officials over allegations that he ordered drone flights over North Korea to stoke tensions. South Korean media also reported Monday that South Korea's military under Yoon'

S Korean e-commerce firm Coupang says 33.7 mn customer accounts breached

Coupang, dubbed the Amazon.com of South Korea, is the country's top online retailer with its services ubiquitous for many Koreans using its "Rocket" fast deliveries

Seoul is facing a more brazen North Korea amid rising border tensions

South Korea's new president is under pressure to act. In the last 12 months there have been repeated border breaches by North Korean troops, which have at times drawn warning shots from the South

Redrob raises $10 million in funding led by Korea Investment Partner

AI research startup Redrob on Friday said it has raised USD 10 million (Rs 88.7 crore) in a Series A financing round led by Korea Investment Partners. This brings Redrob's total funds raised to date to USD 14 million, following its earlier seed round of USD 4 million in 2023. The funding round also saw participation from KB Investment, Kiwoom Investment, Korea Development Bank Capital, Daekyo Investment, and DS & Partners, according to a company statement. With the fresh capital, Redrob plans to advance its technology by refining its machine learning architecture to achieve a targeted 50-fold reduction in costs. The company also aims to develop language models tailored for India, covering all 22 officially recognised constitutional languages, and deliver a comprehensive AI suite designed to support learning, career advancement, and workplace productivity. "The company is preparing to launch several major initiatives, including the rollout of free Redrob LLM access for all Indian .

Yoon indicted for manipulating probe into South Korean marine's drowning

South Korea's ousted President Yoon Suk Yeol was indicted on Friday on allegations he and others tried to manipulate the investigation into a marine's drowning, in another criminal case against the ex-leader. Yoon was removed from office earlier this year after being indicted on a rebellion charge related to his Dec. 3 martial law decree that plunged the country into political turmoil. After taking office in June, new President Lee Jae Myung appointed three independent counsels to investigate Yoon's martial law imposition and other allegations involving him, his wife and associates. On Friday, one of the independent councils charged Yoon, his former defence minister and 10 other figures with abuse of power, alleging they tried to alter an investigation report on the death of Cpl. Chae Su-geun, who died during a search-and-rescue operation for flood victims in 2023. The Marine Corps' early investigation report held one of the corps' division commanders and seven other people ...

US nod for S Korea's nuke submarines will lead to 'nuclear domino': N Korea

Seoul has sought to secure enrichment and spent fuel recycling rights as part of efforts to address concerns about energy security and growing stockpiles of nuclear waste

South Korean conglomerates pledge $550 billion domestic investment

Hyundai Motor Group pledged 125.2 trillion won over the same period

Glass skin and snail mucin: South Korea's journey to global beauty power

Propelled by interest in all things South Korea, Amorepacific, the cosmetics giant, is expanding its reach into the United States. But so are many of its competitors

S Korea's ousted leader Yoon indicted for flying drones over North Korea

South Korea's ousted conservative President Yoon Suk Yeol faces more criminal charges on Monday as prosecutors allege that he flew drones over North Korea in a deliberate bid to stoke tensions and justify his plans to declare martial law. Yoon set off the most serious political crisis in South Korea's recent history when he imposed martial law on Dec. 3, 2024 and sent troops to surround the National Assembly. He was later impeached and removed from office, and is in jail, standing trial on charges including masterminding a rebellion. His successor and liberal rival, President Lee Jae Myung, approved legislation that launched independent investigations into Yoon's martial law stunt and other criminal allegations involving his wife and administration. On Monday, Yoon and two of his top defence officials were charged with benefitting the enemy and committing abuse of power over their alleged drone flights, which happened about two months before the declaration of martial law, according

Nine missing after Chinese fishing boat capsizes off South Korea coast

South Korean rescue workers were searching Monday for nine missing crew members after a Chinese fishing boat capsized off the country's southwestern coast. South Korea's Coast Guard said two crew members were rescued by a nearby cargo vessel after their boat capsized about 150 kilometres southwest of Eocheong island, off the port city of Gunsan. Patrol vessels and aircraft were continuing to search for the missing. The accident came a day after South Korean officials responded to the capsizing of another Chinese fishing boat in international waters about 80 kilometres west of South Korea's southwestern Gageo island, which killed at least two crew members. South Korean officials rescued six others from that boat and were continuing their search for three missing crew members on Monday.

Ola Electric rebuts South Korea's LG Energy Solution tech leak claims

Ola Electric has rejected reports linking it to a South Korean probe into alleged battery technology leaks from LG Energy Solution, saying it is focused on its own 4680 Bharat Cell, now in commercial

Collapse at retired South Korean power plant leaves at least 3 dead

A 60-metre tower collapsed during demolition work at a decommissioned thermal power plant in the South Korean city of Ulsan, killing three people and leaving at least two others presumed dead, officials said Friday. Five people remain trapped under the rubble, including two whom officials have yet to locate. Nine people were working at the site when the boiler tower collapsed Thursday afternoon. Rescue workers pulled two to safety shortly after responding, but another worker rescued later was pronounced dead at a hospital early Friday. Hours later, they pulled out another worker who was pronounced dead, and a doctor at the site confirmed the death of another worker who was among three people in the rubble. Fire officials believe the other two are also dead, according to Kim Jeong-shik, an official with Ulsan's fire department. The search was temporarily halted Friday morning due to concerns over unstable rubble, and officials postponed planned stabilisation work before resuming the

South Korea seeks greater Chinese efforts to bring N Korea back to talks

South Korean President Lee Jae Myung asked Chinese President Xi Jinping to make greater efforts to persuade North Korea to return to talks, as the two leaders on Saturday agreed on a set of agreements to expand their economic and other ties. Their one-on-one meeting came hours after they and other Asia-Pacific leaders wrapped up their annual summit in South Korea with a joint statement pledging stronger economic cooperation. The two-day Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation in the city of Gyeongju took place a day after Xi and US President Donald Trump agreed to dial back earlier steps and de-escalate their trade war. During his meeting with Lee, Xi called for Seoul to work with Beijing to practice genuine multilateralism, according to Chinese state media, as he continued to position Beijing as the defender of the global trade order upended by Trump's sweeping tariffs. Xi, Lee discuss North Korea --------------------------------- Chinese state media reports on the Xi-Lee meeting didn'

Rajnath holds talks with defence ministers of NZ, South Korea, and Vietnam

Earlier, Rajnath arrived for the 12th Asean Defence Ministers' Meeting Plus (ADMM-Plus), where he will be addressing the forum on 'Reflection on 15 years of ADMM-Plus and Charting the Way Forward'

'Prevent world from returning to law of jungle': Xi warns against bullying

Xi's remarks came as he was the only superpower left at the summit after US President Donald Trump departed from South Korea a day earlier

Nvidia partners with South Korean govt, companies to boost AI development

Silicon Valley chipmaker Nvidia plans to supply hundreds of thousands of its graphics processing units for projects with South Korean businesses and the government to advance the country's artificial intelligence infrastructure and technologies. The government, Nvidia and leading South Korean chip maker Samsung Electronics announced the plan after South Korean President Lee Jae Myung met Friday with Nvidia's chief executive Jensen Huang. Huang has gotten rockstar treatment reminiscent of Apple's Steve Jobs since arriving in South Korea on Thursday to attend meetings of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in Gyeongju. As the APEC host, South Korea is using the gathering of world leaders to showcase its ambitions in AI. Lee's office said Nvidia will supply around 260,000 GPUs to support South Korea's AI computing capabilities. The company will also work with Samsung and other South Korean technology firms, including SK Hynix and Hyundai, to improve manufacturing processes usi

Apec leaders open summit after Trump-Xi move to ease trade tensions

Leaders of 21 Asian and Pacific Rim nations opened their annual summit Friday to discuss how to promote economic cooperation and tackle shared challenges, a day after President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping agreed to take steps to ease their escalating trade war. This year's two-day Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in the South Korean city of Gyeongju has been heavily overshadowed by Thursday's Trump-Xi meeting. Trump described the meeting as a roaring success, saying he would cut tariffs on China, while Beijing had agreed to allow the export of rare earth elements and start buying American soybeans. Their deals were a relief to the world economy, as experts previously warned that a failure to dial down trade tensions between the world's two largest economies were certain to deepen global economic uncertainties. Established in 1989 during a period of increased globalisation, APEC represents more than half of global trade. The forum champions free and open t

Trump meets Xi Jinping for first time in 6 years, calls him 'great leader'

The meeting took place on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) Summit

US to share tech for South Korea's nuclear-powered submarine programme

The United States will share closely held technology to allow South Korea to build a nuclear-powered submarine, President Donald Trump said on social media on Thursday after meeting with the country's president. President Lee Jae Myung stressed to Trump in their Wednesday meeting that the goal was to modernize the alliance with the US, noting plans to increase military spending to reduce the financial burden on America. The South Korean leader said there might have been a misunderstanding when they last spoke in August about nuclear-powered submarines, saying that his government was looking for nuclear fuel rather than weapons. Lee said that if South Korea was equipped with nuclear-powered submarines, that it could help US activities in the region. US nuclear submarine technology is widely regarded as some of the most sensitive and highly guarded technology the military possesses. The US has been incredibly protective of that knowledge, and even a recently announced deal with close

South Korea's Lee urges trump to revise nuclear pact for submarine fuel

The pact was last updated in 2015 and is effective until 2035. South Korea's neighbor, Japan, already has the right to reprocess spent fuel