Category Archives: South Korea

Promise of ‘glass skin’ drives surge in sales of K-beauty products in UK

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South Korean skincare brands expected to follow country’s music, film and TV exports in becoming blockbusters

We’ve had South Korean pop, film, fashion and food, and now the latest trend is K-beauty, with sales of Korean skincare brands taking off in the UK as consumers are seduced by products that promise to conjure a radiant complexion.

Britons are cutting back in other areas, but they are still chasing what the beauty industry describes as the “glass skin” look, with retailers reporting a rise in spending on high-end skincare.

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Viral South Korean Olympic shooter Kim Yeji scores first acting role – as an assassin

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  • Pistol shooter’s coolness shot her to prominence in Paris
  • Kim will play a killer in upcoming short-form series

South Korean pistol shooter Kim Yeji, whose skill and nonchalance won the internet at the Paris Olympics, has landed her first acting role – as an assassin.

The 32-year-old took silver in the women’s 10m air pistol in July and her ultra-calm demeanour, combined with her wire-rimmed shooting glasses and baseball cap, turned her into a worldwide online sensation.

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South Korea reveals new evidence of ‘violent and systemic’ forced adoption abroad

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Hospitals and adoption agencies appear to have colluded to force single mothers to give up children, commission finds

South Korea has found new evidence that mothers were forced to give up their children for adoption in countries including Australia, Denmark and the United States.

At least 200,000 South Korean children had been adopted abroad since the 1950s, but allegations have emerged that hospitals, maternity wards and adoption agencies systematically colluded to force parents – primarily single mothers – to give up their children.

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Chinese FA bans 38 players for life in corruption crackdown

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  • Former internationals among those banned
  • Move relates to match-fixing and gambling

The Chinese Football Association has banned 38 players and five club officials for life after a two-year investigation into match-fixing and gambling. The investigation, part of a crackdown on corruption in the sport, found that 120 matches had been fixed, with 41 clubs involved, according to the official Xinhua news agency. The report did not say whether all the matches were in China.

The former China internationals Jin Jingdao and Gu Chao and the South Korea midfielder Son Jun-ho were among those banned for life, according to findings made public on Tuesday.

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North Korean table tennis players may be punished for Olympic podium selfie with rivals from South

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Kim Kum-yong and Ri Jong-sik reportedly placed under ‘ideological scrutiny’ and could face punishment if they fail to criticise inappropriate behaviour

For most observers, it was proof of sport’s ability, if only for a fleeting moment, to bring people together – even when they live on opposite sides of one of the world’s most heavily armed borders.

But one of the most celebrated images of the Paris Olympics – a selfie taken by medal-winning table tennis players from either side of the divided Korean peninsula – appears to have landed the North Korea duo in trouble back home.

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South Korea’s climate law violates rights of future generations, court rules

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Absence of legally binding targets for greenhouse gas reductions from 2031-49 deemed unconstitutional

South Korea’s constitutional court has ruled that part of the country’s climate law does not conform with protecting the constitutional rights of future generations, an outcome local activists are calling a “landmark decision”.

The unanimous verdict concludes four years of legal battles and sets a significant precedent for future climate-related legal actions in the region.

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Hyundai to double hybrid range as demand for ‘pure’ electric cars slows

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Carmaker increases portfolio to 14 and will also launch challenge in large and luxury vehicle sectors

The carmaker Hyundai has said that it will double the range of its hybrid car models amid a wider slump in consumer demand for “pure” electric vehicles.

Hyundai, which is increasing the number of hybrid vehicles in its portfolio to 14, also plans to move beyond making compact and mid-size electric vehicles (EVs) and challenge in the large and luxury vehicle sectors.

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North Korean soldier crosses militarised border to defect to South – report

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South Korean military says it is investigating but can’t confirm the person’s ‘exact motivations and goals’

A North Korean has defected to South Korea by crossing the militarised border in the eastern part of the Korean peninsula, with Yonhap news agency reporting that the defector is a soldier.

Seoul’s military said on Tuesday it had picked up “one suspected North Korean individual on the eastern front and handed them over to the relevant authorities”. Yonhap news agency reported that the person was a staff sergeant.

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BTS member Suga facing possible prison sentence or fine over drink-driving e-scooter incident

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Suga has apologised after he was found lying on the ground in the Yongsan district of Seoul following an apparent accident

Suga, a member of the K-pop supergroup BTS, faces a potential prison sentence or a hefty fine after a breathalyser test revealed he was over the blood-alcohol limit when he reportedly fell off his e-scooter in Seoul last week.

Suga, who along with other members of the band has taken a break from music to perform compulsory national service, was found lying on the ground in the Yongsan district of Seoul on 6 August after an apparent accident, South Korean media reported.

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North Korea vows to ‘totally destroy’ enemy as regime marks end of Korean war

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Military officials aim to strengthen war efficiency by following any attack order by Kim Jong-un ‘anytime and without delay’

North Korea has vowed to “totally destroy” its enemies in case of war when leader Kim Jong-un gives an order, state media KCNA reported on Sunday, as the regime marked the end of hostilities in the Korean war.

Senior military officials including Col Ri Un-ryong and Lt Cdr Yu Kyong-song made the comments “out of surging hatred” towards the US and South Korea at a meeting on Saturday attended by Kim, marking the 71st anniversary of the Korean war armistice, according to KCNA.

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IOC ‘deeply apologises’ after South Korean athletes introduced as North Korean

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Olympic Games organisers said they “deeply apologise” for introducing South Korea’s athletes as North Korean during the opening ceremony in Paris.

As the South Korean athletes waved their nation’s flag on a boat floating down the Seine on Friday evening, they were announced in both French and English as the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. South Korea is the Republic of Korea.

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Rubbish balloons from North Korea land on presidential office compound in Seoul

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Resumption of flights comes after South boosted frontline broadcasts of K-pop songs and propaganda messages across the border

Balloons carrying rubbish sent by North Korea have fallen on the compound of South Korea’s presidential office, according to the Yonhap news agency.

Other South Korean media reported the balloons caused no damage. AFP reported that the balloons prompted Seoul to mobilise chemical response teams. Yonhap gave no further details.

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South Korean airport authorities crack down on Trader Joe’s bagel seasoning

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Travellers say the popular seasoning mix by the US brand has been the subject of increased confiscation by authorities, because it contains poppy seeds

A popular US food seasoning mix created for “yummifying the tops of bagels” is the subject of an intensifying crackdown in South Korea, where poppy seeds – one of its key ingredients – are banned.

Trader Joe’s Everything But the Bagel seasoning blend – a crunchy mix of sesame seeds, salt, dried garlic, dried onion and poppy seeds – has been on South Korea’s list of restricted foods since 2022, but travellers say it has been the subject of increased confiscation in airports in recent weeks.

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North Korea diplomat flees to South in highest ranking envoy defection since 2016

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Ri Il-kyu was responsible for political affairs at Pyongyang’s embassy in Cuba, the Chosun Ilbo daily has reported

A senior North Korean diplomat based in Cuba defected to South Korea in November, becoming the highest-ranking North Korean diplomat to escape to the South since 2016.

Without giving any further details, South Korea’s spy agency the National Intelligence Service confirmed an earlier report by the Chosun Ilbo newspaper, which said that a counsellor responsible for political affairs at the North Korean embassy in Cuba had defected.

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Samsung Electronics workers to extend strike indefinitely

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Campaign for better pay and benefits stepped up, says union representing about 30,000 staff in South Korea

Thousands of workers in South Korea have pledged to extend indefinitely the first strike at Samsung Electronics, ramping up a campaign for better pay and benefits at one of the world’s largest smartphone and AI chip makers.

A union representing about 30,000 staff – about a quarter of its employees in South Korea – said members were extending industrial action that was originally meant to last only three days, after management failed to give any indication that it would hold talks with them.

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North Korea says drills by South Korea, US and Japan show nations have developed ‘Asian Nato’

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Pyongyang calls ‘Freedom Edge’ drills involving fighter jets and nuclear-powered US aircraft carrier ‘provocative’

North Korea has criticised a joint military exercise by South Korea, Japan and the US held this month, state media have said, saying such drills show the relationship among the three countries has developed into “the Asian version of Nato”.

On Thursday, the three countries began the large-scale joint military drills called “Freedom Edge”, involving navy destroyers, fighter jets and the nuclear-powered US aircraft carrier Theodore Roosevelt, aimed at boosting defences against missiles, submarines and air attacks.

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Seoul’s airport runways closed by rubbish-filled balloons sent from North Korea

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Several balloons were spotted in and around the airport boundaries, as one balloon landed on the tarmac near passenger terminal two

Takeoffs and landings at South Korea’s Incheon international airport have been disrupted for about three hours because of balloons launched by North Korea filled with refuse, an airport spokesperson said.

One balloon landed on the tarmac near passenger terminal two and the three runways at Incheon were temporarily shut down on Wednesday, the spokesperson said.

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Weather tracker: southern China hit by floods as north suffers from drought

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Heavy rainfall in Guangdong causes flooding, landslides and mudslides, while northern China gripped by heatwave

Guangdong province in southern China has once more experienced severe flooding, two months after the late April floods and landslides led to more than 50 deaths.

On Sunday 16 June, heavy rainfall affected the area, with an average of 199mm falling in Pingyuan county. The town of Sishui experienced the highest rainfall totals of 367mm, with three others in the area recording more than 300mm.

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‘A return to the cold war’: Putin and Kim have joined forces as global delinquents | Andrew Roth

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The defiant Russia-North Korea friendship pact raises big questions for Washington and Seoul – but also for Beijing

A quarter of a century ago, Vladimir Putin flew to Pyongyang to sign a ­“friendship treaty” with Kim Jong-il that helped revive Russia’s relations with North Korea without obliging the two sides to come to each other’s aid in case of a military attack.

With his visit last week, Putin has in effect gone further into the past, signing a deal with Kim Jong-un reminiscent of the 1961 security pact that existed under the Soviet Union during the cold war. But today Russia is engaged in a hot war in Ukraine that Putin has made his ­foreign policy priority, and a nuclear North Korea has become a crucial lifeline of munitions for his military.

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Russia-Ukraine war: EU to open enlargement talks with Ukraine and Moldova next week – as it happened

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Countries in the 27-nation bloc formally approve the launch of accession negotiations on Tuesday

A member of Russia’s lower house of parliament said law enforcement authorities need to do more to protect civilians from ex-convicts who have returned home from fighting in Ukraine.

Nina Ostanina, a Communist Party deputy who has been sanctioned by Western countries over Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, told the gazeta.ru newspaper in an interview that violent crimes involving decommissioned soldiers “will be even more numerous” if authorities do not act.

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