Category Archives: South Korea

South Korea’s highest court overturns military convictions of two gay soldiers

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Court rules long-criticised military sodomy law shouldn’t apply to consensual sex off base in off-duty hours

South Korea’s supreme court has thrown out a military court ruling that convicted two gay soldiers for having sex outside their military facilities, saying it stretched the reading of the country’s widely criticised military sodomy law.

The court’s decision on Thursday to send the case back to the high court for armed forces was welcomed by human rights advocates, who had long protested the country’s 1962 military criminal act’s article 92-6, which prohibits same-sex conduct among soldiers in the country’s predominantly male military.

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Kim Jong-un oversees missile test that North Korea claims advances nuclear program

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Leader appears well pleased with latest test of what state media reported was a new type of tactical guided weapon

North Korea has test-fired a new weapons system, under the supervision of leader Kim Jong-un, that it claims will boost the efficiency of its tactical nuclear weapons, state media reported.

The “new-type tactical guided weapon ... is of great significance in drastically improving the firepower of the frontline long-range artillery units and enhancing the efficiency in the operation of tactical nukes,” the official Korean Central News Agency said early on Sunday, without specifying when the test took place. It said the test was successful.

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North Korea could hold nuclear test next week, US envoy warns

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US says Pyongyang may escalate recent provocations with a weapons test on 110th anniversary of founder Kim Il-sung’s birth

North Korea could be planning its first nuclear weapon test in nearly five years, according to a senior US official who urged the regime to step back from further provocations following its recent long-range missile test.

Sung Kim, the special representative for North Korea policy at the US state department, said Washington believes Pyongyang could demonstrate its growing nuclear weapons capacity on 15 April, an annual holiday held to celebrate the 110th anniversary of the birth of the country’s founder, Kim Il-sung.

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North Korea would ‘annihilate’ South if provoked, warns Kim Jong-un’s sister

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Warning points to a rise in tensions on the peninsula after the North conducted its first intercontinental ballistic missile test in five years

The influential sister of North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong-un, has said the country’s nuclear forces would “annihilate” the South Korean military if it launched a pre-emptive strike against the regime.

Kim Yo-jong, who holds several senior positions in the government and ruling party, said the North had no intention of starting a second Korean war, but would respond if provoked and leave the South’s military in a state of “total destruction and ruin”.

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‘Scum-like guy’: North Korean leader’s sister attacks South Korea defence minister

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Kim Jong-un’s sister, Kim Yo-jong, issues blistering attack on Seoul and ‘reckless remarks’ by Suh Wook

The influential sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has called South Korea’s defence minister a “scum-like guy” for talking about preemptive strikes on the North, warning that the South may face “a serious threat”.

Kim Yo-jong’s statement on Sunday came amid heightened tensions between the rival Koreas over the North’s spate of weapons tests this year, including its first intercontinental ballistic missile launch in more than four years.

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South Korea says it has successfully test-fired its first solid-fuel space rocket

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Test follows North Korea’s recent launch of a long-range missile amid speculation regime could soon conduct nuclear test

South Korea has said it has successfully test-fired a solid-fuel space rocket for the first time, as it attempts to ramp up its defences after North Korea’s recent launch of a long-range missile and amid speculation that the regime could soon conduct a nuclear test.

The South’s defence ministry said Wednesday’s launch, from a site 150km (93 miles) south-west of Seoul, was an “important milestone” in the country’s ability to monitor its neighbour, as it would allow it to eventually launch satellites to spy on the North.

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North Korea may be preparing for nuclear test soon – report

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‘Shortcut’ tunnel at Punggye-ri nuclear testing centre could see it operational within a month, sources tell South Korean news agency

North Korea may be making rapid preparations to carry out a nuclear weapons test for the first time in more than four years, according to a South Korean media report.

The Yonhap news agency, quoting government sources, said North Korea appeared to be digging a “shortcut” to Tunnel 3 at its previously closed nuclear test site in Punggye-ri.

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North Korea test-launches its ‘largest intercontinental ballistic missile yet’

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Japan calls testing ‘unforgivable’ as regime fires one of biggest missiles for first time since 2017

North Korea has launched what is thought to be its largest intercontinental ballistic missile to date, in a dramatic return to long-range testing that marks the regime’s most serious provocation for years.

South Korea’s military fired a missile barrage into the Sea of Japan in response to the ICBM launch – the first full-range test of Kim Jong-un’s most powerful missiles since 2017. The launch will lead to fears that the North has made significant progress in developing weapons capable of sending nuclear warheads anywhere in the US.

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South Korea reports record Covid deaths as daily cases surge past 600,000

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Despite record infections and fatalities, public opinion appears to support plans to ease Covid curbs in the coming days

South Korea reported record daily Covid infections and record deaths caused by the virus, as the country which once took an aggressive anti-pandemic approach is set to end Covid restrictions.

On Thursday, authorities said 621,328 new daily cases of the virus were recorded, and 429 deaths.

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‘Devastated’: gender equality hopes on hold as ‘anti-feminist’ voted South Korea’s president

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Election of Yoon Suk-yeol, who has blamed feminism for low birthrates, seen as a ‘pivotal moment’ for public discussion of women’s issues

The election of an avowed “anti-feminist” as the next president of South Korea has been greeted with dismay amid accusations Yoon Suk-yeol fuelled the county’s gender divide to garner support from young male voters.

Former top prosecutor Yoon defeated the liberal ruling party candidate Lee Jae-myung by a margin of 263,000 votes in one of the most closely contested presidential elections in recent memory.

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South Korea election contenders neck and neck, according to exit polls

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Contest between People Power party candidate Yoon Suk-yeol and Democratic party rival Lee Jae-myung too close to call

Exit polls in South Korea showed the two main contenders in the presidential election neck and neck, after a campaign overshadowed by personal attacks and the country’s worst coronavirus wave of the pandemic.

The People Power party’s candidate, Yoon Suk-yeol, a conservative who supports a tougher stance on North Korea, has 48.4% of the vote, according to a joint exit poll by three TV networks, while his Democratic party opponent, Lee Jae-myung, was on 47.8%.

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South Korea’s poisonous gender politics a test for next president

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As election campaign enters final stages, the two leading candidates have been accused of pandering to sexism to win the votes of aggrieved young men

The identity of South Korea’s next leader will be determined this week by the economy, housing prices and incomes, but the road to the presidential Blue House will also be dotted with the wreckage of the country’s poisonous gender politics.

The successor to Moon Jae-in, who is restricted by law to a single five-year term, will not be able to ignore the fallout from a campaign defined by the culture war being waged in the world’s 10th-biggest economy.

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South Korea’s presidential candidates face balancing act amid rising anti-China sentiment

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With an election days away, the two leading candidates must negotiate pitfalls of a reliance on US for security and on China for trade

When Moon Jae-in, the outgoing president of South Korea, returned home from Washington in May last year, his foreign minister, Chung Eui-yong, rushed to clarify the mention of Taiwan in his joint statement with Joe Biden – a highly sensitive subject for South Korea’s biggest trading partner, China.

“The Taiwan-related expressions [in the joint statement] are ‘very general expressions’,” Chung said a day after the statement was released. As if this clarification was not enough, Chung’s deputy, Choi Jong-gun, added: “China would appreciate the fact that South Korea does not see China as an enemy.”

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Park Seo-joon: ‘I actually couldn’t believe Marvel wanted to speak to me’

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The actor talks about joining the MCU, his friendships with BTS’s V and the rest of the ‘Wooga Squad’, and the social and economic issues behind his TV hits Itaewon Class and Fight for My Way

In an early scene of Bong Joon-ho’s Parasite, a brief conversation between rich student Min-hyuk and his friend Ki-woo proves a crucial moment in the multi-Oscar winning film. “Tutor a rich kid. It pays well,” the scooter-riding Min-hyuk tells the impoverished Ki-woo, who lives in a semi-basement home with his family. And when Min-hyuk offers Ki-woo the opportunity to take over his job as a tutor for the rich Park family, he acts as a bridge between the two worlds, and sets the plot of the film in motion.

Min-hyuk is played by Park Seo-joon, and despite the brevity of Park’s appearance in Parasite, it will have been the first time most international audiences will have got a good look at him. Park is a big name in South Korea however, thanks to a string of successful domestic TV series – mostly romantic comedies such as She Was Pretty and Fight for My Way – and the Netflix hit Itaewon Class. Now his international profile is about to be raised, after it was confirmed he will be joining the Marvel Cinematic Universe for Captain Marvel 2: The Marvels, appearing alongside Brie Larson, Iman Vellani and Zawe Ashton, making him the third South Korean actor to join the MCU.

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North Korea test fires possible ballistic missile in sea in eighth launch this year

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After pausing launches during the Winter Olympics, North Korea has fired a possible ballistic missile, according to Japan’s coast guard

North Korea has fired what may be a ballistic missile, South Korean and Japanese officials said, after a seemingly quiet month without launches during the Beijing Olympics.

South Korea’s joint chiefs of staff reported on Sunday that North Korea had fired one suspected ballistic missile toward the sea off its east coast from a location near Sunan, where Pyongyang’s international airport is located.

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From tuna fishing to teen love: the producer behind K-pop’s biggest stars

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Bumzu is one of the most influential people in K-pop, helping shape South Korea’s multibillion-dollar global music business

When Jin from the superstar boyband BTS released Super Tuna – an upbeat song about his favourite pastime, fishing – it instantly went viral.

The track, written to commemorate the star’s birthday, has logged more than 53m YouTube views since December, and on TikTok the #SuperTuna hashtag has inspired a viral dance challenge.

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US and allies condemn North Korea over missile test ‘provocations’

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Joint statement from US, Japan and South Korea urges Pyongyang to return to negotiations and stop its recent spate of ‘destabilising’ missile launches

The top diplomats of Japan, South Korea and the United States declared their unity against North Korea on Saturday after a series of ballistic missile launches by Pyongyang.

After a day of meetings in Honolulu, US secretary of state Antony Blinken, South Korean foreign minister Chung Eui-yong, and Japanese foreign minister Hayashi Yoshimasa condemned the series of seven launches as “destabilising” in a joint statement.

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Hanbok at Beijing Winter Olympics opening sparks South Korean anger

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Appearance of traditional dress denounced as further attempt by China to appropriate Korean culture

China and South Korea have become embroiled in a cultural appropriation row after a woman appeared at the opening ceremony of the Beijing winter Olympics wearing traditional Korean dress.

The Chinese embassy in Seoul defended the decision to include a participant wearing hanbok, describing her as a representative of the country’s dozens of ethnic groups.

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South Korea’s nose-only ‘kosk’ mask for Covid-safe eating raises eyebrows

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The unusual masks designed to protect wearers while they eat have attracted criticism online

An anti-virus mask that only covers the nose and can continue to be worn while eating and drinking is on sale in South Korea.

The “kosk”, a combination of ko, the Korean word for nose, and mask, has been released by a company called Atman and sells for 9,800 won ($8.13; £5.99) for a box of 10 on online retailer Coupang. It consists of two pieces, one of which can be removed to leave the mouth uncovered.

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US urges North Korea to join direct talks after latest missile test by Pyongyang

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  • Biden official: ‘We reiterate our call for diplomacy’
  • South Korean leader fears return to war threats of 2017

The US on Sunday made a direct appeal to North Korea to join direct talks with no preconditions about its nuclear and missile programs, after Pyongyang sent a suspected intermediate-range ballistic missile into space.

“We believe it is completely appropriate and completely correct to start having some serious discussions,” a senior Biden administration official told reporters.

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