Category Archives: South Korea

Yoon arrives in Japan for historic talks with Kishida – and beloved omurice

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Leaders expected to use first summit since 2011 to address Japan’s use of Korean forced labour, as well as threats posed by North Korea and China

Yoon Suk Yeol will be treated to his favourite dish – omelette rice – when he becomes the first South Korean president to visit Japan in more than a decade on Thursday, as hopes rise for an end to years of animosity between the north-east Asian neighbours.

Given that the menu for official dinners has been a diplomatic flashpoint between the two countries, efforts by Yoon’s hosts to accommodate his palate are evidence of the recent thaw in relations, as regional tensions rise over North Korean missiles and Chinese military activity.

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South Korea U-turns on 69-hour working week after youth backlash

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Protesters claim proposed increase in hours would risk health and fail to boost low birth rate

South Korea’s government has been forced to rethink a planned rise in working hours after a backlash from younger people who said the move would destroy their work-life balance and put their health at risk.

The government had intended to raise the maximum weekly working time to 69 hours after business groups complained that the current cap of 52 hours was making it difficult to meet deadlines.

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North Korea escalates tensions with fresh ballistic missile tests

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Launch comes days after Pyongyang fired two ‘strategic’ missiles in an apparent protest over Washington-Seoul military drills

North Korea fired two short-range ballistic missiles Tuesday, Seoul said, Pyongyang’s second launch in three days and the first since South Korea and the United States began their largest joint military drills in five years.

Washington and Seoul have ramped up defence cooperation in the face of growing military and nuclear threats from the North, which has conducted a series of increasingly provocative banned weapons tests in recent months.

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North Korea fires cruise missiles as US-South Korean military drills begin

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Test came as Washington and Seoul prepared to kick-off their largest joint military exercises in five years

Nuclear-armed North Korea test-fired two strategic cruise missiles from a submarine on Sunday, state news agency KCNA reported, just as US-South Korea military drills were due to begin.

“Strategic” is typically used to describe weapons that have a nuclear capability.

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Biden hails ‘groundbreaking’ South Korean plan to compensate victims of Japan’s forced labour

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Victims groups criticise compensation deal which aims to resolve a disagreement that has long frustrated ties between Seoul and Tokyo

South Korea said that its companies would compensate people forced to work under Japan’s 1910-1945 occupation of Korea, in a bid to improve poor relations that have impeded trade and cooperation between the two countries for generations.

The disagreements over labour and women forced into Japanese military brothels have bedevilled ties between the two pivotal US allies for years, but South Korean president Yoon Suk-yeol has made a push to repair the relationship.

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North Korea fires ballistic missile off east coast

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Pyongyang confirms rapid launch drill after warning of strong response to upcoming US-South Korea military exercises

North Korea has fired a ballistic missile toward the sea off its east coast, South Korea’s joint chiefs of staff said, after Pyongyang warned of a strong response to upcoming US-South Korea military drills.

Japan’s coastguard also said North Korea fired what could be a ballistic missile on Saturday.

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Japan and North Korea sound warning as deadly cold snap sweeps across Asia

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Extreme weather kills at least one person in Japan and more than 100 in Afghanistan while parts of China hit record low temperatures

Weather authorities in Japan and the Korean peninsula have issued warnings over freezing temperatures and gales that have killed at least one person, and stranded thousands.

Severe cold weather has already caused fatalities, havoc and record low temperatures across the region in the last fortnight, with at least 124 people dead in Afghanistan and record lows of -53C in northeastern China.

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China halts short-term visas for South Korea and Japan over Covid travel curbs

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Beijing had said it would retaliate against countries that require negative tests from Chinese travellers

China has suspended issuing short-term visas in South Korea and Japan after announcing it would retaliate against countries that required negative Covid-19 tests from Chinese travellers.

China has ditched mandatory quarantines for arrivals and allowed travel to resume across its border with Hong Kong since Sunday, removing the last major restrictions under the “zero-Covid” regime that it abruptly began dismantling in early December after protests against the curbs.

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North Korea fires three ballistic missiles in latest tests

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Launches come five days after country reportedly flew drones into South Korea’s airspace

North Korea fired three ballistic missiles towards the sea east of the Korean Peninsula on Saturday, the South Korean military said.

The launches were the latest in an unprecedented number of missile tests conducted by North Korea this year, as Pyongyang presses on with weapons development amid speculation it could test a nuclear weapon for a seventh time.

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South Korea scrambles jets as North Korean drones ‘violate airspace’

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Warning shots fired after drones crossed military demarcation line from north, South Korea military says

South Korea scrambled warplanes and attack helicopters and fired warning shots on Monday after North Korean drones violated its airspace, the South Korean military said.

South Korea tracked the drones crossing from North Korea over what is known as the military demarcation line between the two countries after detecting them in the skies of the western city of Gimpo at about 10.25am (0125 GMT), the military said.

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Tensions simmer on Korean peninsula as North fires two ballistic missiles

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Launches come days after Pyongyang said it tested a new ‘high-thrust’ motor as it seeks to advance its nuclear and missile programmes

North Korea fired two ballistic missiles, Seoul’s military said, days after Pyongyang announced a successful test of a solid-fuel motor for a new weapons system.

Military tensions on the Korean peninsula have risen sharply this year as Pyongyang has carried out an unprecedented blitz of weapons tests, including the launch of its most advanced intercontinental ballistic missile ever last month.

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K-pop star Jin of BTS starts his military service in South Korea

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The 30-year-old begins five weeks of training amid questions over future of the global phenomenon band

Jin, the oldest member of the K-pop phenomenon BTS, was due to begin his mandatory military service on Tuesday at a base close to the border with North Korea, amid growing speculation about the band’s future.

The 30-year-old, now sporting a buzzcut, will be followed into the military by younger members of the band in the coming years, after their impending enlistment sparked a debate among South Koreans over whether the band, and other successful entertainers, should be granted exemptions.

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Kim Jong-un dogs end up at South Korean zoo after care costs row

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Moon Jae-in gave up hunting dogs claiming government refused to cover food and veterinary bills

A pair of dogs gifted four years ago by the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un, have ended up at a zoo in South Korea after a dispute over who should pay for the animals’ care.

Kim had given the two white Pungsan hunting dogs – a breed indigenous to North Korea – to the then South Korean president, Moon Jae-in, as a gift after their summit talks in Pyongyang in 2018.

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All South Koreans to become younger as traditional age system scrapped

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June will mark end of system that deemed newborns to be a year old, with a year added every 1 January

South Korea is to scrap its traditional method of counting ages and adopt the international standard – a change that that will knock one or two years off people’s ages on official documents but could take time to seep into daily life.

South Koreans are deemed to be a year old when they are born, and a year is added every 1 January. The unusual – and increasingly unpopular – custom means a baby born on New Year’s Eve becomes two years old as soon as the clock strikes midnight.

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South Korea’s truth commission to investigate dozens of foreign adoptions

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Adoptees sent to Europe and the US say they were wrongly removed from their families as government in Seoul actively promoted adoption

South Korea’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission will investigate the cases of dozens of South Korean adoptees in Europe and the US who suspect their origins were falsified or obscured during a child export frenzy in the mid-to late 20th century.

Thursday’s decision opens what could be South Korea’s most far-reaching inquiry into foreign adoptions, as frustration over broken family connections grows, and now grown up children demand government attention.

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South Korea scrambles jets after Chinese and Russian warplanes enter air defence zone

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Chinese bombers repeatedly entered and left zone but did not violate South Korean airspace

South Korea’s military said it scrambled fighter jets as two Chinese and six Russian warplanes entered its air defence zone.

The Chinese H-6 bombers repeatedly entered and left the Korea Air Defence Identification Zone (Kadiz) off South Korea’s southern and north-eastern coasts from about 5.50am local time on Wednesday, Seoul’s joint chiefs of staff (JCS) said.

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New Zealand ‘suitcase’ murders: South Korea hands over 42-year-old suspect

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Seoul says unidentified woman was transferred to New Zealand authorities on Monday evening

South Korea has extradited a 42-year-old murder suspect to New Zealand, two months after she was arrested over her possible connection to the discovery of the bodies of two long-dead children in abandoned suitcases in August.

South Korea’s justice ministry said on Tuesday the unidentified woman was handed over to New Zealand authorities on Monday evening at Incheon international airport near Seoul. The ministry said it also has provided New Zealand with unspecified “important evidence” on the case.

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North Korean ICBM had potential range to reach US mainland, Japanese officials say

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The intercontinental ballistic missile landed in Japan’s exclusive economic zone

A North Korean intercontinental ballistic missile that landed in Japan’s exclusive economic zone on Friday had the potential range to strike the US mainland, Japanese officials say.

The US, Japan and South Korea condemned North Korea for launching the missile, which landed about 200 km (124 miles) west of Oshima-Oshima island in the northern prefecture of Hokkaido. There were no reports of damage to ships or aircraft.

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North Korea launches ballistic missile, threatens ‘fiercer’ military response

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The latest missile test comes on the back of expanded military exercises between the US and South Korea

North Korea launched a short-range ballistic missile Thursday toward its eastern waters, South Korea’s military said, hours after the North threatened to launch “fiercer” military responses to the US bolstering its security commitment to its allies South Korea and Japan.

South Korea’s military detected the launch from the North’s eastern coastal Wonsan area at 10:48am local time, the South’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement. It said South Korea has boosted its surveillance of North Korea while maintaining a military readiness and a close coordination with the United States.

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South Korea cuts funding to broadcaster as concern over press freedom grows

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TBS set to have most of its funding cut starting in 2024 after a decision by Seoul city government, led by president Yoon’s party

A popular South Korean broadcaster accused of political bias is set to lose its city funding amid concern press freedoms are being restricted under the Yoon Suk-yeol government.

TBS, which operates two radio stations and a television channel, receives 70% of its funding from the Seoul city government.

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