Page 30 - South Korea

S Korea exports accelerate as shipments to US overtake China for first time

China remains South Korea's biggest trading partner by a large margin given the scale of Seoul's imports from the world's second-largest economy

Kim orders military to 'thoroughly annihilate' US, S Korea if provoked

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un ordered his military to thoroughly annihilate the United States and South Korea if provoked, state media reported Monday, after he vowed to boost national defences to cope with what he called an unprecedented US-led confrontation. Kim is expected to ramp up weapons tests in 2024 ahead of the US presidential election in November. Many experts say he likely believes his expanded nuclear arsenal would allow him to wrest US concessions if former President Donald Trump is reelected. In a five-day major ruling party meeting last week, Kim said he will launch three more military spy satellites, produce more nuclear materials and develop attack drones this year in what observers say is an attempt to increase his leverage in future diplomacy with the US. In a meeting on Sunday with commanding army officers, Kim said it is urgent to sharpen the treasured sword to safeguard national security, an apparent reference to his country's nuclear weapons program. He cit

Will launch 3 more spy satellites, build more nuclear weapons in 2024: Kim

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said his country will launch three additional military spy satellites, build more nuclear weapons and introduce modern unmanned combat equipment in 2024, as he called for overwhelming war readiness to cope with US-led confrontational moves, state media reported Sunday. Kim's comments, made during a key ruling Workers' Party meeting to set state goals for next year, suggest he'll continue a run of weapons tests to expand his arsenal amid long-dormant diplomacy with the United States. Observers say Kim would ultimately hope to use his boosted nuclear capability to wrest greater outside concessions if diplomacy resumes. During the five-day meeting that ended Saturday, Kim said moves by the United States and its followers against North Korea have been unprecedented this year, pushing the Korean Peninsula to the brink of a nuclear war, according to the official Korean Central News Agency. The grave situation requires us to accelerate works to acquire ...

First made-in-China cruise ship to set sail from Shanghai to S Korea

The Adora Magic City will depart from its home port of Shanghai Monday for a six-day trip that will take in South Korea's Jeju island and the Japanese cities of Nagasaki and Fukuoka

Who was Lee Sun-kyun? Parasite actor found dead in a car in Seoul

Lee Sun-kyun had been under police investigation over his alleged use of marijuana and other psychoactive drugs

South Korean actor Lee Sun-kyun of Oscar-winning film 'Parasite' dies

Actor Lee Sun-kyun of the Oscar-winning movie Parasite" has died, South Korea's emergency office said on Wednesday. Lee was found dead at a car in a central Seoul park on Wednesday, it said. Police earlier said an unconscious Lee was discovered at an unidentified Seoul location. South Korean media outlets including Yonhap news agency reported that police had been searching for Lee after his family reported he left home after writing a message similar to a suicide note earlier on Wednesday.

N Korea's Kim boasts of achievements during key year-end political meeting

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un praised what he called achievements and victories that strengthened national power and boosted the country's prestige this year, as he opened a key political meeting to set new policy goals for 2024, state media reported on Wednesday. Experts said that during this week's year-end plenary meeting of the ruling Workers' Party, North Korea would likely hype its progress in arms development because the country lacks economic achievements amid persistent international sanctions and pandemic-related economic hardships. In his opening-day speech at the meeting that began on Tuesday, Kim defined 2023 as a year of great turn and great change both in name and reality, in which (North Korea) left a great trace in the glorious course of development in the efforts to improve the national power and enhance the prestige of the country, according to the official Korean Central News Agency. KCNA said North Korea achieved a rapid advancement in its defence capabilities

S Korea orders Japanese cos to compensate wartime workers for forced labour

South Korea's top court ordered two Japanese companies to financially compensate more of their wartime Korean workers for forced labor, as it sided Thursday with its contentious 2018 verdicts that caused a huge setback in relations between the two countries. But observers say Thursday's ruling won't likely hurt bilateral ties much since Seoul and Tokyo, now governed by different leaders, are pushing hard to bolster their partnerships in the face of shared challenges like North Korea's evolving nuclear threats and China's increasing assertiveness. The Supreme Court ruled that Mitsubishi Heavy Industries must provide between 100 million and 150 million won ($76,700 and $115,000) in compensation to each of four plaintiffs bereaved families of its former employees who were forced to work for the company during Japan's 1910-45 colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula. The court also said Nippon Steel Corp. must give 100 million won (about $76,700) to each of seven Korean plaintiffs for ...

US flies long-range bomber for joint drills with South Korea, Japan

The United States flew a long-range bomber for joint drills with South Korea and Japan on Wednesday in a show of force against North Korea, days after the North performed its first interconnectional ballistic missile test in five months. The trilateral training off South Korea's southern island of Jeju was meant to strengthen the countries' joint response against North Korean nuclear threats, South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement. The exercise involved a B-1B bomber and South Korean and Japanese fighter jets, the statement said. It said the B-1B's flyover is the 13th time that a US bomber has been temporarily deployed near and over the Korean Peninsula this year. A B-1B is capable of carrying a large conventional weapons payload. North Korean has previously called the bomber's deployment a proof of US hostility and had reacted with missile tests. North Korea on Monday launched a Hwasong-18 ICBM into the sea in a drill it said was meant as a warning over the US and

N Korea, Russia clash with US and S Korea over Pyongyang's missile launch

North Korea and Russia clashed with the United States, South Korea and their allies at an emergency UN Security Council meeting on Tuesday on Pyongyang's latest intercontinental ballistic missile launch, which it called a warning counter-measure to threats from the US and other hostile forces. North Korean Ambassador Kim Song said this is the most dangerous year in the military-security landscape on the Korean Peninsula, pointing to stepped up US-South Korean military exercises and the US deployment of nuclear-powered submarines and other nuclear assets to the area that have raised a nuclear war danger. The US and nine allies pointed to five North Korean ICBM launches, over 25 ballistic missiles launches and three satellite launches using ballistic missile technology this year, violating multiple Security Council resolutions and threatening the peace and stability of its neighbours and the international community. In a statement read just before the council meeting by US deputy ...

N Korea fires ballistic missile into sea amid S Korea, US' deterrence plans

North Korea on Sunday fired a ballistic missile toward its eastern waters, South Korea said, in a possible display of defiance against the latest steps by Washington and Seoul to tighten their nuclear deterrence plans against North Korean threats. South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said the missile was fired from an area near the North Korean capital of Pyongyang at around 10:38 p.m. and that it presumes the weapon to be short-range. It said the South Korean military was sharing the launch information with the United States and Japan while maintaining readiness against the possibility of further North Korean military activities. Japan's coast guard, citing the Defence Ministry, said the weapon was believed to have already landed, but it didn't immediately provide more details. Tensions on the Korean Peninsula are at their highest in years, with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un accelerating the expansion of his nuclear and missile programme, and flaunting an escalatory nuclear doctr

All BTS members start military service: What follows next for K-pop stars?

Every able-bodied man in South Korea is required to enlist for military service by the age of 30 and serve for 18 to 21 months

No plan to expand laptop, personal computer import curbs: India tells WTO

India said that industry experts were consulted prior to the notification issued on August 3, and a transition period of three months was provided till October 31

N Korea, Russia discuss economic ties as Seoul raises labour export issue

Senior North Korean economic officials met with the governor of a Russian region along the Pacific coast for discussions on boosting economic cooperation between the countries, North Korean state media said on Wednesday. The meeting in Pyongyang, North Korea's capital, came as concerns have grown in South Korea that the North may be attempting to expand its labour exports to Russia in violation of UN Security Council resolutions to generate revenue for its struggling economy and help fund leader Kim Jong Un's nuclear weapons programme. The official Korean Central News Agency said North Korean officials led by the country's external economic relations minister, Yun Jong Ho, met with the delegation led by Oleg Kozhemyako, governor of the Primorye region in the Russian Far East, and discussed elevating economic cooperation between the countries to higher levels. The report did not specify the types of cooperation that were discussed. Kozhemyako told Russian media ahead of his visit th

BNP Paribas sells retail broking arm Sharekhan To S Korea's Mirae

Paris-headquartered BNP had acquired 100 per cent equity of Sharekhan from a clutch of investors in 2015

US pilot safely ejected before F-16 crashed into sea off S Korea: Official

A US Air Force pilot safely ejected on Monday before his F-16 fighter jet crashed into the sea off South Korea's southwestern coast, US and South Korean military officials said. The unidentified pilot was recovered by South Korean maritime forces and was awake and in stable condition, the US 8th Fighter Wing said in a statement. It said the pilot was being returned to Kunsan Air Base near the southwestern port city of Gunsan, where he would be evaluated further. The pilot took off from the air base, used jointly by the U.S. and South Korean air forces, on a routine training flight and was forced to eject from the aircraft after experiencing an unspecified in-flight emergency. The 8th Fighter Wing, which is composed of two F-16 squadrons, said the cause of the in-flight emergency is being investigated. We are grateful for the safe recovery of our Airman by our ROK Allies and that the pilot is in good condition, Col. Matthew C. Gaetke, the 8th Fighter Wing commander, said in a ...

PM extends wishes to S Korean prez as both nations celebrate 50 yrs of ties

He further emphasised that India and South Korea have mutual respect, shared values and growing partnerships.

Twitch withdrawing from South Korean market over expensive network fees

Twitch, a popular video service, will shut down its struggling business in South Korea, a decision its chief executive blamed on allegedly prohibitively expensive costs for operating in the country. In a blog post announcing the company's plan this week, Dan Clancy said the network fees the company has been paying to South Korean internet operators were 10 times more than in most other markets. He did not provide specific numbers to back such claims. We've made the difficult decision to shut down the Twitch business in Korea on February 27, 2024, Clancy said in the post. Twitch was able to lower costs by limiting video quality, he said, but our network fees in Korea are still 10 times more expensive than in most other countries". A platform popular with video game fans, Twich downgraded the quality of its video services in South Korea to a resolution of 720 p from 1080 p in September 2022, citing a need to reduce costs. Later that year it blocked South Korean streamers from upload

NSAs of US, South Korea and Japan will meet to discuss North Korean threat

The national security advisers of the United States, South Korea and Japan will meet in Seoul this week to discuss North Korea's growing military threat and other regional security issues as they continue to promote trilateral cooperation in Asia. South Korea's presidential office said its national security office director, Cho Tae-yong, will host a three-way meeting in Seoul on Saturday with US national security adviser Jake Sullivan and Japanese National Security Secretariat Secretary General Takeo Akiba for in-depth discussions on North Korea and other matters related to security, technology, and trade. Cho will also hold bilateral meetings with Sullivan and Akiba on Friday. White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said the meetings will be driven by a robust agenda of discussions of regional issues of mutual concerns, particularly in the security environment as the countries continue to build on an August summit between their leaders in Camp David, where they

South Korea launches military spy satellite amid threats from North Korea

It reported that the satellite was launched with the help of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base