Oscar-winning director leads calls for inquiry into police investigative process following death of Lee Sun-kyun
A group of South Korean artists, including film director Bong Joon-ho, has called for an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the death last month of prolific actor Lee Sun-kyun.
Lee, who played a lead role in Bong’s Oscar-winning film Parasite, died last month in an apparent suicide, at the age of 48.
Continue reading...Animal welfare campaigners hail decision as ‘historic victory’ after years of pressure at home and abroad
South Korea’s parliament has voted to ban the production and sale of dog meat, in a decision campaigners hailed as a “historic victory” for animal welfare.
The country’s national assembly voted overwhelmingly to ban the breeding, butchery, distribution and sale of dogs for their meat on Tuesday, after years of pressure at home and abroad.
Continue reading...Intense speculation over future role for Kim Jong-un’s daughter, who is reportedly 10, comes as North Korea fires shells near South Korean islands
The young daughter of Kim Jong-un is seen as her father’s heir apparent, South Korea’s spy agency has said for the first time, after speculation that the North Korean ruler is grooming her to become the fourth member of the dynasty to lead the country since its foundation more than seven decades ago.
There has been intense international speculation about Kim Ju-ae, who is reportedly about 10 years old, since she made her first public appearance in November 2022 when she watched a long-range missile test launch with her father.
Continue reading...Up to 127mm of rain falls on Florida and gusty winds and flash flooding hit parts of Georgia and South Carolina
Last weekend, a low-pressure system that had developed over the Gulf of Mexico tracked north-east across the Florida peninsula. Lashings of heavy rain and strong winds were brought to Florida during the early hours of Sunday morning, dumping up to 127mm (5in) of rain on the state in its passing.
The low-pressure system, termed a “nor’easter”, continued to track north-east, strengthening and bringing gusty winds and flash flooding to the coastal parts of the south-east US, including Georgia and South Carolina.
Continue reading...As world leaders gather at Cop28, these charts show how far away the major economies are from their targets
Not a single G20 country has policies in place that are consistent with the Paris agreement’s goal of limiting global heating to 1.5C and meeting their “fair share” of emissions reduction.
The assessment, based on data up to 5 December provided by the Climate Action Tracker, comes as leaders gather in Dubai for the Cop28 conference.
Continue reading...Seoul’s satellite was launched into orbit on one of Elon Musk’s SpaceX rockets
A SpaceX rocket has launched South Korea’s first military spy satellite, intensifying a space race on the peninsula after Pyongyang launched its own first surveillance satellite last week.
Seoul’s reconnaissance satellite, carried by one of Elon Musk’s SpaceX Falcon 9 rockets, lifted off from the Vandenberg US Space Force Base in California at 10.19am local time on Friday.
Continue reading...Seoul condemns ‘provocative acts’ as tensions rise after launch of spy satellite in defiance of UN sanctions
North Korea has started rebuilding guard posts and stationing heavy weapons along its border with South Korea, the defence ministry in Seoul has said, after the countries’ withdrawal from a key confidence-building agreement designed to prevent a war.
Media reports cited the South Korean military as saying it had detected troops from the North repairing camouflaged guard posts that the regime had destroyed as part of a comprehensive military agreement in 2018 designed to lower the risk of a confrontation along the heavily armed demilitarised zone (DMZ).
Continue reading...As Seoul claims Russia helped Pyongyang carry out spy satellite launch, North Korea warns of stronger armed forces on border
North Korea has warned it will deploy new weapons and stronger armed forces along its heavily armed border with South Korea, as officials in Seoul claimed that Russia had helped Pyongyang carry out a satellite launch.
In a sign of rising tensions on the peninsula, North Korea said on Tuesday it would restore “all military measures” it had halted under a 2018 confidence-building agreement with South Korea.
Continue reading...Last four members of South Korean supergroup have begun enlisting, meaning the band will finish their mandatory military service by 2025
Jung Kook, a member of the K-Pop supergroup BTS, said on Wednesday he would begin military service in December, after the group’s management agency said that all seven BTS members were on track to carry out their service.
BTS is on temporary break as a group with three of its seven members now doing South Korea’s mandatory military service.
Continue reading...Fears South Korean court will impose harsh penalty on Kwon Pyong to appease Beijing
The father of a Chinese dissident detained in South Korea said his son will die if he is sent back to China, a country he escaped from on a jetski in a life-threatening journey in August.
A court in South Korea will decide on Thursday the fate of Kwon Pyong, who is charged with violating the immigration control act. Kwon, 35, pleaded guilty and appealed for leniency as prosecutors requested a sentence of two and a half years, which experts say is unusually harsh.
Continue reading...Rocket launch underlines Kim Jong-un’s ability to sidestep UN sanctions and suggests ballistic missile building abilities have reached a higher level
North Korea is already believed to be capable of striking the US mainland with a nuclear weapon; now it claims that it can spy on enemy troops, after state media reported the regime’s first successful launch of a surveillance satellite, drawing an immediate response from South Korea.
While Japan, South Korea and the US could not immediately confirm if the satellite’s payload had entered orbit late on Tuesday, a North Korean presence in space would add to military tensions on the peninsula and highlight the ineffectiveness of international sanctions.
Continue reading...Machine apparently identified man inspecting it as one of the boxes it was stacking
A robot crushed a man to death in South Korea after the machine apparently failed to differentiate him from the boxes of produce it was handling, the Yonhap news agency reported on Wednesday.
The man, a robotics company worker in his 40s, was inspecting the robot’s sensor operations at a distribution centre for agricultural produce in South Gyeongsang province.
Continue reading...Bedbugs were almost eradicated via nationwide campaign in 1960s but thanks to lifting of travel restrictions after Covid-19 pandemic they’re back
South Korea’s government has declared war on bedbugs, amid reports that an infestation is causing panic in a country that had practically rid itself of the nocturnal bloodsuckers.
Starting next week, authorities will carry out inspections of “vulnerable” locations – including public bathhouses and lodging facilities – and immediately disinfect places where the bugs are found.
Continue reading...From January, it will be standing room only in some carriages so people can use the South Korean capital’s metro lines ‘more comfortably and safely’
Seoul’s subway system plans to introduce trains with carriages with no seating in order to alleviate congestion during peak hours, its operator has announced.
The trial programme, set to start in January, will involve the removal of seats from two carriages on subway trains running on two of the South Korean’s capital’s nine major lines during morning and evening rush hours, Seoul Metro said on Wednesday. It forms part of a broader project aimed at reducing congestion on one of the world’s busiest metro systems.
Continue reading...Exclusive: Discussion on panel came as federal government was developing reforms to address high rates of youth nicotine addiction
An Australian politician spoke at the tobacco industry’s flagship conference in South Korea, despite the federal government developing reforms to address alarming rates of youth nicotine addiction.
It is the first time in more than a decade that a serving Australian politician has spoken at a tobacco industry-funded conference. Attending such events could breach a World Health Organization (WHO) treaty, to which Australia is a signatory.
Continue reading...Activists deplore ‘distressing setback for equality’ as court backs law against ‘indecent acts’ between military personnel
South Korea’s constitutional court has upheld two anti-LGBTQ+ laws including the country’s notorious military “sodomy law” for the fourth time, in a ruling activists are calling a setback for equality rights.
The court, in a five-to-four vote, ruled that article 92-6 of the military criminal act, which prescribes a maximum prison term of two years for “anal intercourse” and “any other indecent acts” between military personnel, even while on leave and consensual, was constitutional in response to several petitions challenging the law.
Continue reading...Ken Hasebe issues warning after 2022 Itaewon tragedy in Seoul, in which more than 150 people died
Authorities in one of Tokyo’s liveliest neighbourhoods are pleading with revellers to stay away during Halloween, fearing a repeat of last year’s deadly crowd crush in the Itaewon district of Seoul.
Ken Hasebe, the mayor of Shibuya – a popular destination for young Japanese and foreign tourists – said partygoers hoping to mark the celebration in the area on and around 31 October would be disappointed.
Continue reading...Suspension of operations at Yongbyon complex points to reprocessing work for nuclear arms, South Korean government source quoted as saying
North Korea has halted the nuclear reactor at its main atomic complex, probably to extract plutonium that could be used for weapons by reprocessing spent fuel rods, a South Korean news report has said, citing a government source.
The operation of the five-megawatt nuclear reactor at the Yongbyon nuclear complex has been suspended since late September, according to intelligence assessments by US and South Korean authorities, the report said.
Continue reading...Travis King arrived on US military flight and will undergo medical review and reintegration process
Travis King, the American soldier who fled across the border from South Korea to North Korea in July, has landed at a US military base in Texas after being taken back into US custody.
CNN reported that King arrived at Joint Base San Antonio-Fort Sam Houston on a US military flight in the early hours of Thursday morning.
Continue reading...Trilateral discussions to resume in response to Beijing’s fears over growing US influence in region
The leaders of China, Japan and South Korea will hold three-way talks “as soon as possible” after a meeting intended to ease Chinese concerns over Washington’s stronger security presence in the region.
Official said on Tuesday that the three countries’ deputy foreign ministers had agreed to revive trilateral talks after a four-year hiatus during which tensions have risen over North Korea’s nuclear weapons programme and Chinese military activity.
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