Analysts say North Korea’s apparent desire for engagement part of a push to get the US to ease crippling sanctions
The influential sister of North Korea’s leader said that an inter-Korean summit could take place, but only if mutual “respect” and “impartiality” are guaranteed.
The statement on Saturday was the second in two days by Kim Yo-jong, Kim Jong-un’s sister and key adviser.
Continue reading...Further 3,273 infections added to South Korea’s tally; fully vaccinated travellers in Northern Ireland will no longer need pre-departure test from 4 October
The introduction of Covid passes in the Netherlands has sparked protests, with demonstrators marching against the requirement to show proof of vaccination to enter bars, theatres and other venues.
After social distancing was brought to a close on Saturday, customers are now required to show proof of vaccination, recent recovery from Covid or a negative test to enter hospitality and leisure venues in the Netherlands.
The Netherlands ended social distancing measures on Saturday, replacing the restriction with a requirement to show a Covid-19 health pass to enter hospitality and entertainment venues.
Known as the “1.5-meter society” in the Netherland, social distancing measures have been in place for the last 18 months.
Continue reading...Doses will help South Korea boost full vaccination rates, and UK will get same number back later in year
One million doses of the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine are being sent from the UK to South Korea as part of a swap deal.
South Korea will return the same “overall volume of doses” before the end of the year, the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) said.
Continue reading...Launch comes as Chinese foreign minister is in Seoul to discuss stalled nuclear diplomacy and two days after North tests a new long-range cruise missile
North Korea fired two ballistic missiles into the sea off its east coast on Wednesday, South Korea’s military has said, two days after the North claimed to have tested a new missile in its first weapons test in six months.
South Korea’s joint chiefs of staff (JCS) said the missiles flew from a central inland area towards the waters off the Korean Peninsula’s east coast and that further analysis with US officials was under way. “Our military maintains a full readiness posture in close cooperation with the US,” the JCS said.
Continue reading...Thousands of ethnic Koreans left Japan for North Korea decades ago lured by promise of a better life
A Japanese court has summoned North Korea’s leader to face demands for compensation by several ethnic Korean residents of Japan who say they suffered human rights abuses in North Korea after joining a resettlement programme there that described the country as a “paradise on Earth”, a lawyer and plaintiff have said.
Kim Jong-un is not expected to appear in court for the hearing on 14 October, but the judge’s decision to summon him was a rare instance in which a foreign leader was not granted sovereign immunity, said Kenji Fukuda, a lawyer representing the five plaintiffs.
Continue reading...Outbreaks of the highly infectious Delta variant have led to closures in some countries, while others push to keep classrooms open
As countries across Asia battle worsening Covid outbreaks, schools face particular challenges in keeping children and teachers safe. Some countries – determined that classrooms stay open – are relying on measures like masks, smaller groups and even bans on talking in class to limit infections. In others, schools remain shut.
Here’s a look at what countries around Asia and the region are doing to prevent Covid spread in schools:
Continue reading...Seoul skirts fraught issue of refugees as it ‘fulfils moral responsibility’ and welcomes 391 newcomers
South Korea has welcomed the arrival of Afghans who supported its operations before the Taliban took control of Afghanistan, designating them as “persons of special merit” instead of refugees in an apparent effort to defuse anti-migrant sentiment.
A military aircraft landed at Incheon airport west of Seoul in the afternoon, transporting 378 Afghans who had worked for South Korea’s embassy and other facilities in Afghanistan and their family members. A further 13 will arrive on a separate flight.
Continue reading...Billionaire vice-chair was serving 30-month sentence for bribing country’s former president
The billionaire boss of South Korea’s Samsung empire hs been released from prison after serving 18 months of a 30-month sentence for bribing the former president of South Korea Park Geun-hye.
Lee Jae-yong, Samsung’s vice-chair and de facto leader, apologised to the country for his actions upon his release from Seoul detention centre. “I’ve caused much concern for the people. I deeply apologise,” Lee, 53, told reporters on Friday. “I am listening to the concerns, criticisms, worries and high expectations for me. I will work hard.”
Continue reading...Regime looking to shift focus from domestic problems with rhetoric around US-South Korea military drills, say analysts
North Korea’s threat to boost its military capacity to counter hostility from Washington before joint US-South Korea military drills is intended to divert attention from its economic crisis but could lead to a resumption of missile tests, according to analysts.
While there is nothing unusual about North Korean opposition to the summer exercises involving American and South Korean forces, its warning this week that Seoul and Washington faced “greater security threats” comes from a position of weakness not seen since Kim Jong-un came to power a decade ago.
Continue reading...Recent court rulings have punished men on charges of property damage rather than sexually criminal behaviour
Politicians in South Korea are seeking to make amendments to existing laws in order to make “semen terrorism” a punishable sex crime.
The move comes after a string of controversial court verdicts that have punished men who secretly ejaculated onto women’s belongings for “property damage”, and not for sexually criminal behaviour.
Continue reading...Kim Yo-jong, a key adviser to North Korean ruler, interrupts surprise thaw in relations on Korean peninsula
The influential sister of the North Korean ruler, Kim Jong-un, has called Seoul authorities “treacherous” over the South’s joint military exercises with the US, warning the two allies would face greater security threats as a result.
Kim Yo-jong’s latest remarks come despite a surprise thaw on the Korean peninsula, prompted by a series of personal letters between her brother and the South Korean president, Moon Jae-in.
Continue reading...Billionaire Lee Jae-yong will be released in South Korea on Friday having served 18 months in prison
The billionaire boss of South Korea’s Samsung empire will be freed from jail on Friday after serving part of a 30-month sentence for bribing former South Korea president Park Geun-hye.
Lee Jae-yong, Samsung’s vice-chairman and de facto leader, will be released on 13 August, the country’s justice minister announced in a live TV briefing.
Lee was caught up in a huge corruption scandal that brought down the government Park in 2016. Park was sentenced to 20 years in prison and fined 18bn won (£12m).
Continue reading...Amid economic crisis, Kim Jong-un wants restrictions relaxed on necessities as well as luxury goods, South Korea lawmakers say
North Korea wants a raft of international sanctions eased – including on imports of luxury items such as high-class liquors and suits – before it will restart denuclearisation talks with the United States, South Korean lawmakers have said.
Pyongyang has also called for sanctions banning its metal exports and imports of refined fuel and other necessities to be lifted, the lawmakers said on Tuesday after being briefed by Park Jie-won, head of the South Korea’s National Intelligence Service (NIS).
Continue reading...Beijing police detain the ex-boy band member after social media allegations of date rape
Chinese-Canadian pop star Kris Wu has been detained by Beijing police on suspicion of rape.
The 30-year-old former member of the Korean boyband EXO had previously been accused by a teenager of having sex with her while she was drunk. Wu denied the accusation.
Continue reading...Nightclubs across the world have been linked to outbreaks, leading some countries to open up to vaccinated clubbers only
They only wanted to enjoy themselves on the sunny Sardinian coast last summer after a tough two-month lockdown. But instead, young Italians, who had frequented nightclubs, returned home either with Covid-19 or laden with feelings of guilt, regret or anger at the authorities.
Nightclubs, such as those in Spain, France, the UK, Austria and Thailand, have triggered coronavirus outbreaks since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Continue reading...Editorial in official newspaper calls on youth to follow ‘traditional lifestyles’ and stick to ‘superior’ language
Young North Koreans have been warned to adhere to the country’s standard language and follow “traditional lifestyles” as part of the regime’s campaign to stamp out cultural influences from neighbouring South Korea.
In an editorial published on Sunday, the Rodong Sinmun, the official newspaper of the ruling Workers’ party, railed against the creeping influence of the South on everything from hairstyles to the spoken word.
Continue reading...Authorities add requirement that workout tunes must not exceed 120 beats per minute in group exercises
Plenty of gymgoers rely on a good tune to get themselves through that workout, but in South Korea their musical options have just reduced significantly under new Covid-19 rules.
To the standard restrictions such as social distancing and travel curbs, South Korea has added a requirement that gyms do not play music with higher than 120 beats per minute (bpm) during group exercises such as aerobics and spinning.
Continue reading...From South Korea to Australia, authorities are struggling to contain the highly transmissible coronavirus strain that has caused a surge in UK, Europe and US
Countries throughout Asia Pacific – from South Korea to Australia – have been hit by a rise in coronavirus infections as the Delta variant threatens a new wave of the pandemic even in a region renowned for tackling the virus with a high degree of success.
China reported 57 new coronavirus cases in the mainland for 6 July, up from 23 cases a day earlier, the national health authority said on Wednesday. It was the highest daily tally of infections since 30 January.
Continue reading...Activists decry discrimination as court finds men guilty of indecency and hands down a six-month suspended sentence
A South Korean military court has been accused of discriminating against sexual minorities after it found two male soldiers guilty of indecency for engaging in consensual oral sex.
The ruling, which took place in March but emerged last week, found the soldiers’ actions “bordered on rape” and handed them a six-month suspended prison sentence by applying the controversial article 92-6 of the Military Criminal Act. This punishes “anal sex and other indecent acts” between military personnel with up to two years in prison.
Continue reading...Meeting of leaders at G7 reportedly cancelled over Seoul’s decision to stage exercises around Dokdo islands, which are also claimed by Tokyo
South Korea has begun annual military drills near a pair of remote islands that are also claimed by Japan, as the long-running territorial dispute threatened to sour preparations for the Tokyo Olympics.
The exercises near the Dokdo islands – referred to as Takeshima in Japan – began days after a meeting between the countries’ leaders on the sidelines of the Cornwall G7 summit was reportedly cancelled due to Japanese objections to the exercises.
Continue reading...