Page 47 - South Korea

North Korea fires 23 missiles, air-raid alert in South, residents evacuate

Air raid sirens sounded on a South Korean island and residents there evacuated to underground shelters after North Korea fired more than 20 missiles Wednesday, at least one of them in its direction and landing near the rivals' tense sea border. South Korea quickly responded by launching its own missiles in the same border area. The launches came hours after North Korea threatened to use nuclear weapons to get the US and South Korea to pay the most horrible price in history in protest of the ongoing South Korean-US military drills that it views as an invasion rehearsal. The White House maintained that the United States has no hostile intent toward North Korea and vowed to work with allies to curb North Korea's nuclear ambitions. The North's barrage of missile tests also came as world attention was focused on South Korea following a weekend Halloween tragedy that saw more than 150 people killed in a crowd surge in Seoul in what was the country's largest disaster in years. South Korea'

Former Japanese PM Taro Aso leaves for South Korea to improve ties

Former Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso left for Seoul on Wednesday to meet with South Korean officials as the two countries try to improve ties that were badly strained by Japanese wartime atrocities. At the centre of the disputes between the two countries are South Korean court rulings in 2018 that ordered Japanese companies to compensate wartime forced Korean labourers. The Japanese government and the companies have refused to comply with the rulings, saying all compensation issues have been settled under the 1965 normalisation treaty and accusing South Korea of violating the international law. But ties have started showing signs of improvement since South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol's conservative government took power in May. As key Asian allies to the United States, having a strained relationship also poses a concern for their security cooperation in the Indo-Pacific region as it faces growing threats from China and North Korea. Gaffe-prone Aso is also known for his famil

South Korea closes some air routes after North Korean missile launches

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said some air routes in the East Sea would be closed from 10.58 a.m. on Wednesday to 11.05 a.m. on Thursday.

North Korea fires more than 10 missiles after threat: South Korea

South Korea says North Korea has fired a total of more than 10 missiles off its eastern and western coasts. South Korea's military said the missiles of various kinds flew toward the Korean Peninsula's eastern and western coasts, but gave no further details. Earlier South Korea's military said it detected the three North Korean short-range ballistic missiles fired off the peninsula's eastern coast. One of the missiles landed near the rivals' sea border, prompting South Korea to issue an air raid alert on one of its islands. The launches came hours after North Korea issued a veiled threat to use nuclear weapons to get the US and South Korea to pay the most horrible price in history an escalation of its fiery rhetoric targeting the ongoing large-scale military drills between its rivals. South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement North Korea fired the missiles from its eastern coastal area of Wonsan on Wednesday morning. The Joint Chiefs of Staff said one of the missiles

North Korea fires ballistic missile toward sea after threat: South Korea

South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement that North Korea has fired a ballistic missile toward sea Wednesday, but gave no further details like how far it flew. The launch came hours after North Korea issued a veiled threat to use nuclear weapons to get the US and South Korea to pay the most horrible price in history an escalation of its fiery rhetoric targeting the ongoing large-scale military drills between its rivals. In a statement, Pak Jong Chon, a secretary of the ruling Workers' Party who is considered a close confidant of leader Kim Jong Un, called the ongoing military drills between South Korea and the US aggressive and provocative. North Korea has argued its recent weapons tests were meant to issue a warning to Washington and Seoul over their series of joint military drills that it views as an invasion rehearsal, including this week's exercises involving about 240 warplanes.

South Korea police chief admits responsibility for Halloween stamepede

South Korea's police chief admitted "a heavy responsibility" for failing to prevent a recent crowd surge that killed more than 150 people during Halloween festivities in Seoul, saying on Tuesday that officers didn't effectively handle earlier emergency calls about the impending disaster. The admission came as the South Korean government faces growing public scrutiny over whether the crowd surge Saturday night in Seoul's Itaewon district, a popular nightlife neighbourhood, could have been prevented and who should take the responsibility for the country's worst disaster in years. I feel a heavy responsibility (for the disaster) as the head of one of related government offices, Yoon Hee Keun, commissioner general of the Korean National Police Agency, told a televised news conference. Police will do their best to prevent a tragedy like this from happening again. Yoon said an initial investigation has found that there were many urgent calls by citizens notifying authorities about the ...

North Korea warns US of 'powerful' response to allied drills with S. Korea

North Korea's Foreign Ministry criticised the United States for expanding joint military exercises with South Korea that it claims are practice for a potential invasion and it warned Tuesday of more powerful follow-up measures in response. The statement from the ministry came as the US and South Korea conduct aerial drills involving more than 200 warplanes, including their advanced F35 fighter jets, as they step up their defence posture in the face of North Korea's increased weapons testing and growing nuclear threat. North Korea has ramped up its weapons demonstrations to a record place this year, launching more than 40 ballistic missiles, including developmental intercontinental ballistic missiles and an intermediate range missile fired over Japan. The North has punctuated those tests with an escalatory nuclear doctrine that authorises preemptive nuclear attacks in loosely defined crisis situations. The US and South Korea have resumed large-scale military drills this year after .

The integrated circuit wars

US chip sanctions on China should be a wake-up call for India to quickly scale up and boost its capabilities in this critical arena

South Korea posts decline in foreign population for second straight year

According to a report by the Ministry, the number of foreign residents had stood at 2.13 million as of November 1, 2021, compared with 2.14 million the same day a year earlier.

Witnesses say 'it was like a hell' inside South Korean Halloween stampede

In one moment, thousands of Halloween revellers crammed into the narrow, vibrant streets of Seoul's most cosmopolitan neighbourhood, eager to show off their capes, wizard hats and bat wings. In the next, panic spread as an unmanageable mass of people jammed into a narrow alley in Itaewon. Toppled revellers stacked on one another "like dominoes" in a chaotic crush so intense that clothes were ripped off. A stunned Seoul was just beginning on Monday to put together the huge scope of the crowd surge that killed mostly people in their 20s and 30s, including foreign nationals, on Saturday night. As of Sunday evening, officials put the death toll at 153 and the number of injured people at 133. The Ministry of the Interior and Safety said it expected the death toll to rise on account of the number of injured people in serious conditions. Witnesses say the nightmarish scene intensified as people performed CPR on the dying and carried limp bodies to ambulances, while dance music pulsed from

PM Modi expresses deep anguish over South Korea's Halloween stampede

The stampede took place on Saturday night and led to death of at least 26 foreign nationals from 14 countries when crowd celebrating Halloween swelled in narrow alleys of Seoul's nightlife district

Halloween horror: Death toll in South Korean stampede rises to 151

A mass of mostly young people celebrating Halloween in Seoul became trapped and crushed as the crowd surged into a narrow alley, killing at least 151 people and injuring 82 others in South Korea's worst disaster in years. Emergency workers and pedestrians desperately performed CPR on people lying in the streets after the crush in the capital's nightlife district of Itaewon on Saturday night. Those killed or hurt were mostly teens and people in their 20s, according to Choi Seong-beom, chief of Seoul's Yongsan fire department. The dead included 19 foreigners, he said, whose nationalities weren't immediately released. The death toll could rise further as 19 of those injured were in critical condition. An estimated 100,000 people had gathered in Itaewon for the country's biggest outdoor Halloween festivities since the pandemic began and strict rules on gatherings were enforced. The South Korean government eased COVID-19 restrictions in recent months and this was the first big chance t

Ready to provide any support, US on S Korea stampede as death toll rises

US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan that reports of the Seoul stampede are heartbreaking and that Washington is ready to provide the Republic of Korea with any support it needs

59 dead, over 150 injured after Halloween crowd surge in Seoul: Official

At least 59 people were killed and 150 more were injured after being crushed by a large crowd pushing forward on a narrow street during Halloween festivities in the capital Seoul, South Korean officials said. Choi Seong-beom, chief of Seoul's Yongsan fire department, said the death toll could grow as emergency workers were continuing to transport the injured to hospitals across Seoul following the stampede in the leisure district of Itaewon Saturday night. Choi said 13 of the dead have been sent to hospitals while the bodies of the remaining 46 were still on the streets. Officials say it was believed that people were crushed to death after a large crowd began pushing forward in a narrow alley near Hamilton Hotel, a major party spot in Seoul.

The UK or Korea: What is the ideal benchmark for the size of India's govts?

There must be a warning in the fact that some of the most problem-ridden middle-income economies have big govts, big deficits, high levels of debt and large-scale corruption, writes T N Ninan

N Korea fires ballistic missile toward sea as Seoul wraps up military drill

North Korea fired a ballistic missile toward the sea on Friday, Seoul officials said, as its rival South Korea was wrapping up an annual military drill that the North views as an invasion rehearsal. South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement the missile flew toward North Korea's eastern waters but gave no further details including how far the weapon flew. The launch, the latest in a series of weapons tests by North Korea in recent weeks, came on the final day of South Korea's annual 12-day Hoguk field exercises, which also involved an unspecified number of US troops this year. The South Korean and US air forces plan to conduct a large-scale training next week. North Korea sees such regular drills by Seoul and Washington as practice for launching an attack on the North, though the allies say their exercises are defensive in nature. Friday's launch came four days after the rival Koreas exchanged warning shots along their disputed western sea boundary, a scene of past ..

US vows full range of military defence of allies against North Korea

The United States will make full use of its military capabilities, including nuclear, conventional and missile defense," to defend its allies Japan and South Korea, U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman said Tuesday as she warned North Korea against escalating its provocations. Sherman said North Korea's repeated firings of ballistic missiles and artillery in recent weeks were provocative military actions. North Korea has described them as practice runs for the use of tactical nuclear weapons. This is deeply irresponsible, dangerous, and destabilizing, Sherman said in talks in Tokyo with South Korean First Vice Foreign Minister Cho Hyundong. The two officials met ahead of a three-way meeting with their Japanese counterpart on Wednesday. It would be the second in-person meeting of the three officials since conservative South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol took office in May, signaling an improvement in difficult ties between Japan and South Korea. A year ago, Japanese and Sout

S Korea, US, Japan hold talks amid speculation on N Korea nuke test

Senior diplomats of South Korea, the US and Japan held high-level talks on Wednesday on regional and global security issues amid concerns over the possibility of a North Korean nuclear test

US vows full military defence of allies against North Korea: Wendy Sherman

The United States will make full use of its military capabilities, including nuclear, conventional and missile defence," to defend its allies Japan and South Korea, US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman said Tuesday as she warned North Korea against escalating its provocations. Sherman said North Korea's repeated firings of ballistic missiles and artillery in recent weeks were provocative military actions. North Korea has described them as practice runs for the use of tactical nuclear weapons. This is deeply irresponsible, dangerous, and destabilizing, Sherman said in talks in Tokyo with South Korean First Vice Foreign Minister Cho Hyungdong. The two officials met ahead of a three-way meeting with their Japanese counterpart on Wednesday. It will be second in-person meeting of the three officials since conservative South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol took office in May, signalling an improvement in difficult ties between Japan and South Korea. A year ago, Japanese and South ...

South Korea, Arab nations to hold new round of FTA talks next week

Various issues will be on the table during the upcoming meeting, including goods and services trading, country of origin, digital trade and intellectual property rights, the ministry said