Page 31 - South Korea

EAM Jaishankar meets S Korean PM; discusses ways to boost bilateral ties

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Tuesday called on South Korean Prime Minister Han Duck-soo and discussed with him ways to further enhance bilateral ties. Jaishankar is here on the first leg of his four-day visit to South Korea and Japan. He will co-chair the 10th India-South Korea Joint Commission Meeting (JCM) with his counterpart Cho Tae-yul during the visit. "Honored to call on @PrimeMinisterKR Han Duck-soo today in Seoul. Appreciated his positive sentiments for India-South Korea ties and value his guidance ahead of the 10th Joint Commission Meeting tomorrow," Jaishankar posted on X. The JCM is expected to comprehensively review the entire gamut of bilateral cooperation and explore avenues for further strengthening it. It will also provide an opportunity for the two sides to exchange views on regional and global issues of mutual interest, the Ministry of External Affairs said in New Delhi ahead of Jaishankar's visit. Earlier, Jaishankar met South Korea's national ...

N Korea threatens to take action in response to US-S Korea military drills

North Korea called the ongoing South Korean-US military drills a plot to invade the country, as it threatened Tuesday to take unspecified "responsible" military steps in response. The North's warning came a day after the South Korean and U.S. forces kicked off their annual computer-simulated command post training and a variety of field exercises for an 11-day run. This year's drills were to involve 48 field exercises, twice the number conducted last year. In a statement carried by state media, the North's Defense Ministry said it "strongly denounces the reckless military drills of the US and (South Korea) for getting more undisguised in their military threat to a sovereign state and attempt for invading it." An unidentified ministry spokesperson said North Korea's military will "continue to watch the adventurist acts of the enemies and conduct responsible military activities to strongly control the unstable security environment on the Korean Peninsula." The spokesperson didn't say

S Korea to suspend licenses of doctors after they refuse to end walkouts

South Korea's government began steps on Monday to suspend the medical licenses of thousands of striking junior doctors, days after they missed a government-set deadline to end their joint walkouts, which have severely impacted hospital operations. Nearly 9,000 medical interns and residents have been on strike for two weeks to protest a government push to sharply increase the number of medical school admissions. Their action has led to hundreds of cancelled surgeries and other treatments and threatened to burden the country's medical service. On Monday, officials were sent to dozens of hospitals to formally confirm the absence of the striking doctors as the government began steps to suspend their licenses for at least three months, Vice Health Minister Park Min-soo told a briefing. Park said authorities will later notify the striking doctors of their expected license suspensions and give them a chance to respond. He suggested the license suspensions would take weeks to go into ...

US, S Korea begin large military drills to boost readiness against N Korea

South Korea and the United States began large annual military exercises Monday to bolster their readiness against North Korean nuclear threats after the North raised animosities with an extension of missile tests and belligerent rhetoric earlier this year. The South Korean and US forces began a computer-simulated command post training called the Freedom Shield exercise and a variety of field exercises for an 11-day run, the South Korean Defense Ministry said. North Korea had no immediate response to the major annual drills it regards as a rehearsal for invasion. The North has staged provocative weapons tests in the past in reaction to its adversaries' joint drills. South Korea's military said last week that it would conduct 48 field exercises with the US forces this spring, twice the number conducted last year, and that they would involve live-firing, bombing, air assault and missile interception drills. Since early 2022, North Korea has conducted more than 100 rounds of missile te

Doctors protest in S Korea over plan to increase medical school admissions

On Thursday, the government issued a back-to-work order, warning striking doctors their medical licenses could be suspended if they did not comply

Top 10 companies command a third of India's market capitalisation

According to experts, if a company or sector dominates the market, there is a risk that the market could collapse if anything goes wrong with the sector or the company

EAM S Jaishankar's Japan, Korea visits to focus on semiconductor push

South Korea has the 2nd-largest share of the global chip market and manufactures 60% of global memory chips

South Korea keeps shattering own record for world's lowest fertility rate

The number of babies expected per woman in a lifetime fell to 0.72 last year from 0.78 in 2022, according to data released Wednesday by South Korea's national statistics office

Talks on upgrading India-S Korea FTA may conclude in 2024: Korean envoy

South Korea is hoping that the negotiations will conclude before the possible visit of Yoon Suk Yeol, the South Korean President, to India

South Korea's fertility rate, which is world's lowest, drops to fresh low

The total number of births in South Korea stood at 230,000 in 2023, a 7.7 per cent decrease and another new low for the country, which has a population of about 50 million people

S Korea, US to begin major exercises in response to N Korean threats

South Korean and US troops will begin their expanded annual military drills next week in response to North Korea's evolving nuclear threats, the two countries said on Wednesday, a move that will likely enrage North Korea because it views its rivals' joint training as an invasion rehearsal. In recent months, North Korea has inflamed animosities on the Korean Peninsula with fiery rhetoric and continued missile tests. While it's unlikely for North Korea to launch full-blown attacks against South Korea and the US, observers say the North could still stage limited provocations along the tense border with South Korea. On Wednesday, the South Korea and US militaries jointly announced that the allies will conduct the Freedom Shield exercise, a computer-simulated command post training, and a variety of separate field training, from March 4-14. Col. Lee, Sung-Jun, a spokesperson for South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff, said that the allies' drills are designed to bolster their joint ...

S Korea sets Feb 29 as deadline for its young doctors to return to work

South Korea's government gave striking young doctors four days to report back to work, saying on Monday that they won't be punished if they return by the deadline but will face indictments and suspensions of medical licenses if they don't. About 9,000 medical interns and residents have stayed off the job since early last week to protest a government plan to increase medical school admissions by about 65 per cent. The walkouts have severely hurt the operations of their hospitals, with numerous cancellations of surgeries and other treatments. Government officials say adding more doctors is necessary to deal with South Korea's rapidly aging population. The country's current doctor-to-patient ratio is among the lowest in the developed world. The strikers say universities can't handle so many new students and argue the plan would not resolve a chronic shortage of doctors in some key but low-paying areas like pediatrics and emergency departments. Vice Health Minister Park Min-soo said ..

Mark Zuckerberg's Asia tour to range from AI to Ambani wedding party

On Wednesday, Zuckerberg plans to travel to Seoul to meet with partners, the spokesperson said, declining to elaborate further

EAM Jaishankar to pay bilateral visits to S Korea, Japan from March 5-8

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar will pay bilateral visits to the Republic of Korea and Japan from March 5-8 and will co-chair the 10th India-Republic of Korea Joint Commission Meeting (JCM) with his Korean counterpart Cho-Tae Yul, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said.The EAM will first visit South Korea's Seoul from March 5-6 to co-chair the JCM meeting, and the two sides will also exchange views on regional and global issues of mutual interest, the MEA said in a statement."India - Republic of Korea Special Strategic Partnership has expanded to diverse areas of cooperation, which include trade, investments, defence, education, S & T, and culture. The JCM is expected to comprehensively review the entire gamut of bilateral cooperation and explore avenues for further strengthening it. It will also provide an opportunity for the two sides to exchange views on regional and global issues of mutual interest," the statement said.Later, EAM will visit Japan from March 6-8 for

S Korean doctors protest against govt policy, causing surgery cancellations

South Korean trainee doctors collectively walked off their jobs Tuesday to escalate their protest of a government medical policy, triggering cancellations of surgeries and other medical treatments at hospitals. The Health Ministry urged them to return to work immediately, saying they must not endanger the lives of patients to fight the government. As of Monday night, more than half of the 13,000 trainee doctors in South Korea were confirmed to have submitted resignations en masse to protest a government push to increase the number of medical students. A total of 1,630 of them have left their work sites, according to Health Ministry records. More trainee doctors are expected to follow suit. Under a decision made by their association last week, trainee doctors at the country's five major hospitals were supposed to walk off collectively on Tuesday. At the centre of the dispute is a recent government announcement that it would raise medical school admissions by 2,000 from next year. Th

The antitrust enforcers aimed at Big Tech: Then came the backlash

The Korea Fair Trade Commission, with the backing of President Yoon Suk Yeol, said in December that it planned to make a proposal modeled after the 2022 Digital Markets Act,

North Korea's Kim Jong Un supervises missile test, warns South Korea

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un supervised a test of new surface-to-sea missiles and warned that the country would take a more aggressive military posture in disputed sea boundaries with war-divided rival South Korea, the North's state media said Thursday. The report by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency came a day after South Korea's military said it detected the North firing multiple cruise missiles in waters off its eastern port of Wonsan. The test, the North's sixth missile launch event of 2024, added to a provocative run in weapons demonstrations since 2022 that escalated tensions to the highest point in years. Some experts say Kim may seek to further dial up pressure in an election year in South Korea and the United States. There are growing concerns in South Korea about a direct military provocation and a possible area of conflict could be the Koreas' poorly drawn western sea boundary, which has been the site of several bloody skirmishes in past years. Kim ...

N Korea fires cruise missiles, adds to provocative weapons tests: S Korea

North Korea on Wednesday fired multiple cruise missiles into the sea in its fifth test of such weapons since January, South Korea's military said, extending a streak in weapons demonstrations that's elevating tensions in the region. South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said the South Korean and US militaries were analysing the launches from an area in North Korea's northeastern coast. The South Korean military didn't immediately provide the exact numbers of missiles fired or how war they flew. Experts say North Korea is ramping up pressure on its rivals in an election year in South Korea and the US, with a long-term focus of forcing Washington to accept the idea of the North as a nuclear power and extract security and economic concessions from a position of strength. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has also been issuing belligerent statements toward South Korea, including a declaration that he would abandon the North's long-term objective of reconciliation with its war-divided rival

No desire for talks, will destroy S Korea if provoked: Kim Jong Un

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un restated he has no desire for diplomacy with South Korea and that the North would annihilate its rival if provoked, state media said Friday, in the latest of his belligerent statements that are raising tensions in the region. During a visit to North Korea's Defence Ministry on Thursday, Kim said his recent moves to cut ties with South Korea allow his military to take on a more aggressive posture by securing lawfulness to strike and destroy (the South) whenever triggered." Tensions on the Korean Peninsula have increased in recent months, with Kim elevating his weapons demonstrations and threats and the United States, South Korea and Japan strengthening their combined military exercises in response. While most South Korean officials and experts have downplayed the possibility that Kim has real intent to engage in a war, concerns about a direct military provocation have grown as the North may try to ramp up pressure in an election year in South Korea and

North Korea scraps all economic cooperation with South Korea: Report

The project was suspended in 2008 after a South Korean tourist who strayed into a restricted zone was shot and killed by North Korean guards