Category Archives: South Korea

Japanese officials helped procure wartime sex slaves, report claims

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News agency says diplomatic dispatches contradict claims that so-called ‘comfort women’ worked willingly

The Japanese imperial army asked the government to provide one wartime sex slave for every 70 soldiers serving in China in the late 1930s, according to dispatches that offer evidence of official involvement in the recruitment of women to work in military brothels.

The dispatches from Japanese diplomatic missions in China include requests to the foreign ministry in Tokyo to provide “comfort women”, Kyodo news agency reported. The term was a euphemism used to describe tens of thousands of women from Korea, Taiwan, Japan, the Philippines and other countries who were forced into sexual servitude before and during the second world war.

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South Korean pop star and actor Cha In Ha found dead aged 27

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Cha becomes third young Korean star to die in space of two months

South Korean pop star and actor Cha In Ha has been found dead at the age of 27, the third young Korean star to die in the space of two months.

Cha, who was a member of the K-pop group Surprise U and also had a fledgling acting career, was found at his home. His South Korean talent agency Fantagio saying it was “filled with grief at this news that is still hard to believe”.

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K-pop stars jailed for gang-rape in South Korea

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Singer-songwriter Jung Joon-young also convicted of sharing footage without consent

A South Korean court has sentenced two K-pop stars to six and five years in prison for gang-rape and additionally convicted one of them for distributing videos of the assaults and other sexual encounters.

Jung Joon-young, a singer-songwriter, and Choi Jong-hoon, a former member of the boy band FT Island, were found guilty of gang-raping two different women in two incidents in 2016.

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Go game master quits saying machines ‘cannot be defeated’

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Lee Se-dol retires from Chinese strategy game after playing against Google algorithm

The only human ever to beat Google’s algorithm at the ancient Chinese strategy game Go has said he decided to retire because machines cannot be defeated.

Lee Se-dol’s five-match showdown with Google’s artificial intelligence program AlphaGo in 2016 raised both the game’s profile and fears of computer intelligence’s seemingly limitless learning capability.

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K-pop singer Goo Hara found dead aged 28

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Police trying to establish cause of death of girl group Kara’s former member

The K-pop singer Goo Hara has been found dead at her home in Seoul, according to police.

The body of the 28-year-old, a former member of the girl group Kara, was found early on Sunday evening, South Korea’s Yonhap news agency reported. Police said they were trying to establish the cause of death.

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Outcry as conservative South Korean MPs seek to curtail LGBT rights

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Campaigners condemn attempt to remove protection for ‘sexual orientation’ from new legislation

Campaigners in South Korea have condemned an attempt by conservative MPs to remove homophobia and transphobia from a list of violations of a proposed anti-discrimination law.

An amendment submitted this month by Ahn Sang-soo, a member of the main opposition Liberty Korea party, seeks to remove sexual minorities from groups protected by the law, sparking protests by rights groups and members of the LGBT community.

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Japan’s rising sun flag is not a symbol of militarism | Letter

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Ohtaka Masato of Japan’s foreign affairs ministry says his country’s flag should not be banned at the 2020 Olympics

Alexis Dudden’s opinion piece presents an argument on the rising sun flag based on the misunderstanding of Japan’s sincere dealings with the past (Japan’s rising sun flag has a history of horror. It must be banned at the Tokyo Olympics, 1 November).

Looking at Prime Minister Abe’s statement on the 70th anniversary of the end of the second world war – issued by cabinet consensus – it is clear that Japan has squarely faced the facts of history and repeatedly expressed feelings of deep remorse and heartfelt apology for its actions during the war, which this opinion piece fails to recognise.

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North Korea hails test of ‘super-large multiple rocket launcher’

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Kim Jong-un ‘expressed satisfaction’ with the test and congratulated weapons scientists, state media said

North Korea conducted another test of super-large multiple rocket launchers on Thursday afternoon, calling it a success, the state news agency KCNA said on Friday.

The latest test of the “super-large multiple rocket launchers”, following two tests in August and September of the same weapon that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un oversaw, according to KCNA, indicates the progression of North Korea’s weapons development while talks with the US remain in limbo.

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Quarter of world’s pig population ‘to die of African swine fever’

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World Organisation for Animal Health warns spread of disease has inflamed worldwide crisis

About a quarter of the global pig population is expected to die as a result of the African swine fever (ASF) epidemic, according to the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE).

Global pork prices are rising spurred by growing demand from China, where as many as 100 million pigs have died since ASF broke out there last year. In recent months, China has been granting export approval to foreign meat plants and signing deals around the world at a dizzying rate. US pork sales to China have doubled, while European pork prices have now reached a six-year high.

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Kim Jong-un orders razing of South’s ‘unpleasant’ Mount Kumgang buildings

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North Korean ruler demands makeover of joint resort, saying South Korean facilities are like ‘temporary buildings at construction sites’

Kim Jong-un has ordered the demolition of “unpleasant-looking” South Korean facilities at the Mount Kumgang resort – a rare symbol of inter-Korean collaboration – and called for them to be replaced with “modern” buildings constructed by the North.

The North’s ruler said it was a “mistake” for the resort, on the east coast, to be regarded as the common property of two Koreas given its location on North Korean soil, according to the state news agency KCNA.

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K-pop under scrutiny over ‘toxic fandom’ after death of Sulli

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Anger grows at culture of exploitation and failure of agencies to protect performers

The death this week of the South Korean singer and actor Sulli has turned the spotlight on the darkest corners of the highly pressurised K-pop industry and sparked anger over the failure of management agencies to protect their stars from the menace of “toxic fandom”.

Sulli, a former member of the group f(x), had spoken publicly about her mental health problems and shock at her death has led to calls for greater support for performers. Authorities said she was suffering from severe depression and are investigating suicide as a possible cause of death.

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North Korean projectiles land in Japan’s exclusive economic zone

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Tokyo says there’s no damage from what appear to be ballistic missiles ahead of US-North Korea talks resuming this weekend

North Korea has launched two projectiles, one of which landed in waters inside Japan’s exclusive economic zone, the Japanese government said on Wednesday, after what appears to have been a show of strength by Pyongyang before it resumes nuclear talks with the US at the weekend.

Japan’s government said the projectiles appeared to be ballistic missiles, adding that there were no immediate reports of damage to shipping or aircraft.

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‘We have to get along’: Japan’s Korean residents at sharp end of diplomatic row

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Worsening relations between the two countries now affecting trade, security, tourism and day-to-day life

Long lunchtime queues form outside restaurants serving samgyeopsal (barbecued pork belly) and sundubu jjigae (a tofu stew). Groups of teenage girls brave the drizzle and eat Korean-style hotdogs on street corners after shopping for cosmetics and K-pop merchandise.

This is not Seoul, but Shin-Ōkubo, a little slice of Korea in central Tokyo. It is home to a large ethnic Korean community, some the descendants of people at the heart of a dispute between Japan and South Korea that local business owners fear is turning them into collateral victims.

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South Korea serial killer suspect found after 30 years, but won’t face prosecution

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DNA technology links man to Hwaseong murders that inspired a film, but the statute of limitations has expired

South Korean police have identified a suspect more than 30 years after one of the country’s most notorious serial murder cases, but are unable to launch proceedings because it’s too long ago.

Between 1986 and 1991 a record number of police officers were mobilised to try to find the person who raped and murdered women in rural parts of Hwaseong, south of the capital, Seoul.

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Politician scolds female professor for not having child

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‘Failing to fulfil her duty to the nation’ criticism sparks outrage on social media

A South Korean politician has sparked anger after he criticised the female nominee for head of the country’s fairtrade commission for “failing to fulfil her duty to the nation” by not having children.

Jeong Kab-yoon, a member of the conservative opposition Liberty Korea party, was widely condemned after suggesting to Joh Sung-wook, an economics professor, that she had focused on her career at the expense of the country’s birth rate.

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North Korea fires more projectiles, says it may be ‘compelled to seek new road’

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Pyongyang says US-South Korea military drills are ‘flagrant violation’ of efforts to reach peace

North Korea has fired two unidentified projectiles into the sea from South Hwanghae province, according to South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff.

The launches came as Pyongyang described Washington and Seoul’s war games as a “flagrant violation” of efforts to reach peace on the Korean peninsula which reflected a lack of “political will” to improve relations.

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North Korea missile tests could be effort to divide US, Japan and South

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Three launches in eight days point to ulterior motive amid strained relations between its neighbours and Washington

The series of short-range missile tests by North Korea over the last eight days could be an attempt by Pyongyang to exploit strained US-Japan-South Korea relations, analysts have said.

The latest launches, at about 3am on Friday from North Korea’s east coast, involved the firing of two unidentified projectiles into the Sea of Japan. They follow two tests in the past eight days.

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North Korea fired multiple unidentified projectiles, South Korean report says

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Projectiles were fired early Wednesday, Yonhap news agency reported, citing South Korean military’s joint chiefs of staff

North Korea fired multiple unidentified projectiles early on Wednesday, less than a week after firing two new short-range ballistic missiles, the South Korean military’s joint chiefs of staff (JCS) said.

The latest launches were from the Hodo peninsula on North Korea’s east coast, the same area from where last week’s were conducted, the JCS said in a statement. It said it was monitoring the situation in case of additional launches and maintaining a readiness posture.

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South Korea: world championship athletes injured in fatal balcony collapse

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Two South Koreans killed and athletes from US, New Zealand, Netherlands, Italy and Brazil injured

Two South Koreans have died and several others, including athletes attending the world aquatic championships, have been injured after a structure collapsed in a nightclub in the city of Gwangju early on Saturday, a fire department official has said.

The deaths happened when a two-level structure in the club, which is next to the athletes’ village, collapsed at about 2am local time, hitting and pinning revellers, the official said.

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