Category Archives: South Korea

South Korean petrol stations refuse to fill up Japanese cars amid growing boycott

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Sales of holidays, beer and even tickets to see Butt Detective the Movie slump amid trade tensions

Petrol stations and garages in South Korea are refusing to fill up or service Japanese cars as part of a growing boycott of Japanese goods sparked by trade and political tensions.

Sales of trips to Japan, Japanese beer and even tickets for the anime work Butt Detective the Movie have all been affected, and there are demonstrations outside Japan’s embassy in Seoul, though some now worry the campaign is setting Koreans against each other.

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Joint Russian and Chinese air patrol heightens tension in Korean peninsula

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Moscow says it carried out its first long-range operation with Beijing, prompting warning shots from South Korean jets

Russia has said it carried out its first long-range joint air patrol with China in the Asia-Pacific region, a mission that triggered hundreds of warning shots from South Korean jets and a strong protest from Japan.

The flight by two Russian Tu-95 strategic bombers and two Chinese H-6 bombers, backed up by a Russian A-50 early warning plane and its Chinese counterpart, a KJ-2000, marks a notable ramping-up of military cooperation between Beijing and Moscow.

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‘The next era of human progress’: what lies behind the global new cities epidemic?

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The urge to build cities from scratch is not new – but this time they are being conceived by private multinational corporations as gilt-edged tax-exempt gated communities

At 8.30 every morning, an announcement is piped though a speaker in the ceiling of Kim Jong-won’s apartment, barking the daily bulletin in a high-pitched voice. The disembodied broadcaster details new parking measures, issues with the pneumatic waste disposal chute and various building maintenance jobs to be carried out that day.

“There’s no way of turning it off,” sighs Kim’s wife, Jung-sim, as she prepares breakfast. “I hate technology but my husband is an early adopter. He has to have everything first.”

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Donald Trump invites Kim Jong-un to US after entering North Korea

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US president hails ‘great honour’ of crossing border at impromptu meeting

Donald Trump has invited Kim Jong-un to the US after becoming the first sitting American president to enter North Korea.

The apparently impromptu meeting came about after Trump tweeted an invitation to Kim on Saturday from the G20 summit in Osaka, Japan.

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Trump arrives in demilitarised zone to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong-un – live

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President tweeted invitation to ‘say hello’ to Kim and says ‘a handshake means a lot’

So we are now just waiting for Donald Trump’s handshake meeting with Kim Jong-un, which Trump said would happen in four minutes (roughly 10 minutes ago).

Confirmation that Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner are in the DMZ with the president.

Yeah, Javanka there. Iron-clad stares. https://t.co/CqTunSPTDI pic.twitter.com/8Nfs6JgosG

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‘No way to stop it’: millions of pigs culled across Asia as swine fever spreads

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Experts say region is losing the battle to stop the biggest animal disease outbreak the planet has ever faced

South-east Asia is battling to contain the spread of highly contagious African swine fever, known as “pig Ebola”, which has already led to the culling of millions of pigs in China and Vietnam.

African swine fever, which is harmless to humans but fatal to pigs, was discovered in China in August, where it has caused havoc, leading to more than 1.2m pigs being culled. China is home to almost half of the world’s pigs and the news sent the global price of pork soaring.

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South Korea mulls ending arcane age system to match rest of world

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In South Korea a baby is one on the day it is born, and turns two on New Year’s Day, even if it is the very next day

A South Korean MP is attempting to overturn a centuries-old tradition in which every newborn baby turns one on the day they are born and two on the next New Year’s Day.

The unusual 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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New missile launches by North Korea ‘very concerning’, says Seoul

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Launching of two suspected short-range missiles casts doubt on nuclear talks with US

North Korea has fired two suspected short-range missiles, South Korea’s military has said, its second weapons launch in five days and a possible warning that nuclear disarmament talks with Washington could be in danger.

South Korea’s joint chiefs of staff said the weapons flew 420km (260 miles) and 270km (167 miles), respectively. It said it was working with the US to determine more details, such as the type of weapon that was fired.

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South Korea rebukes North Korea for firing projectiles into the sea

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Experts say Pyongyang is stepping up pressure against US after failed nuclear summit

South Korea has issued a stern rebuke to Pyongyang for escalating military tensions on the divided peninsula after North Korea fired a series of “unidentified short-range projectiles” into the sea.

The projectiles were fired on Saturday from the east coast city of Wonsan at around 9am, and flew 70 to 200km towards the north-east, South Korea’s Office of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement.

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South Korean court rules abortion ban must be lifted

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Historic decision sparks celebrations in Seoul following decades of campaigning

A court in South Korea has ruled that the country’s decades-old ban on abortion must be lifted, in a historic decision that sparked celebrations in Seoul.

Thursday’s decision by the constitutional court marks a major victory for pro-choice campaigners, 66 years after the country banned abortions in all but a few cases.

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‘Social disaster’: South Korea brings in emergency laws to tackle dust pollution

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Air quality has become a key political issue after record pollution levels hit the country last week

South Korea has passed emergency measures to tackle the “social disaster” being unleashed by air pollution, after record levels of fine dust blanketed most of the country in recent weeks.

The national assembly passed a series of bills on Wednesday giving authorities access to emergency funds for measures that include the mandatory installation of high-capacity air purifiers in classrooms and encouraging sales of liquified petroleum gas vehicles, which produce lower emissions than those that run on petrol and diesel.

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K-pop scandal widens as singer admits sharing secretly filmed sex videos

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Jung Joon-young apologises and says he will retire, one day after singer Seungri was charged with running a prostitution ring

A sex scandal swirling around South Korea’s K-pop industry has deepened after a singer and TV celebrity admitted he had secretly filmed himself having sex with women and sharing the footage online without their consent.

Jung Joon-young, who rose to fame after coming second in a TV talent show, said he would retire from show business and admitted he had shared footage of several women in a group chatroom.

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‘K-pop’s Great Gatsby’: Seungri charged over prostitution ring

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Big Bang singer Seungri retires to clear his name, saying ‘scandal is too big’

Seungri’s taste for the high life earned him the nickname the Great Gatsby of Korea. But now the singer, a member of one of South Korea’s biggest K-pop bands, is facing charges that he procured prostitutes for businessmen in some of Seoul’s most fashionable nightclubs.

The youngest member of Big Bang has announced he will retire to fight the charges and to spare his management agency, YG Entertainment, and fellow band members further embarrassment, according to South Korea’s Yonhap news agency. The decision came after news of the scandal spread on social media on Monday.

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South Korea nixes diversity rules after saying K-pop stars ‘look identical’

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Guidelines to address promotion of unrealistic beauty standards withdrawn in state censorship row

Government guidelines aimed at promoting more diversity in South Korea’s K-pop world have been withdrawn after critics said they amounted to state censorship of a booming industry.

The guidelines issued last week by the ministry of gender equality and family complained that K-pop stars looked too alike, saying “the problem of … uniformity among singers is serious”, and noting most idols were thin and wore identical makeup and skimpy outfits.

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End of an era: Seoul prepares to rip out its manufacturing heart

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The next 15 megacities #15: The fast-growing South Korean capital is about to wipe out Euljiro, a neighbourhood home to 10,000 shops and 50,000 tradespeople that was integral to the country’s postwar boom

From the main street, the Euljiro neighbourhood doesn’t look like much: some shabby retail stores, cold-noodle restaurants, a Starbucks.

Enter one of the small alleys, however, and you’ll find yourself in a kind of manufacturing anthill: thousands upon thousands of shops, each crammed to the rafters with bolts, circuit boards, iron castings, gauges, wires, lights, switches, tools and innumerable tiny objects that defy description.

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No-deal Brexit: UK exporters risk being locked out of world’s harbours

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Goods dispatched in coming days may not arrive until after 29 March deadline

British exporters sending goods to far-flung destinations in the coming days risk being locked out of harbours around the world as a no-deal Brexit looms, business leaders have warned.

Independent trade experts and the UK’s biggest business groups said exporters could be dispatching goods from UK ports imminently that would not arrive until after the 29 March deadline. This raised the prospect of goods being stuck in ports or facing hefty additional costs in the event of a disorderly Brexit.

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Women raped by Korean soldiers during Vietnam war still awaiting apology

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Campaign group urges recognition for women affected by sexual violence of Korean troops and the children born as a result

Tran Thi Ngai was 24 and alone at home in her village in Vietnam’s Phu Yen province when a South Korean soldier forced his way into the house and raped her.

“He pulled me inside the room, closed the door and raped me repeatedly. He had a gun on his body and I was terrified,” said Tran, now almost 80, and still waiting for South Korea to acknowledge sexual violence by its soldiers during the Vietnam war.

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South Korea sports chief apologises after Olympic speed skater alleges coach raped her

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Country’s Olympic committee president says he will impose lifetime ban on sexual offenders

The head of South Korea’s top sports body has apologised for a litany of sexual assault cases between young athletes and their coaches and vowed to impose lifetime bans on offenders.

The move comes after double-Olympic short-track gold medallist Shim Suk-hee, 21, accused her former coach last week of raping and sexually molesting her multiple times, prompting several other victims to come forward.

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What does 2019 hold for Kim Jong-un and North Korea?

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Kim Jong-un goes into 2019 with momentum to build on after last year’s historic meeting with President Donald Trump. As Kim attempts to negotiate a fresh summit, the Guardian’s Tania Branigan looks at his leadership so far and Emma Graham-Harrison describes a rare trip to Pyongyan. Plus: Catherine Shoard on the annual film awards season

Donald Trump has revealed that negotiations are underway to secure a location for a new summit with the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un, after the historic meeting between the two men in Singapore last year.

It came after Kim warned in a New Year’s speech that Pyongyang may change its approach to nuclear talks if Washington persisted with sanctions.

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North Korea’s Kim agrees to dismantle main nuke site if US takes steps too

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South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un announced a sweeping set of agreements after their second day of talks in Pyongyang on Wednesday that included a promise by Kim to permanently dismantle the North's main nuclear complex if the United States takes corresponding measures, the acceptance of international inspectors to monitor the closing of a key missile test site and launch pad and a vow to work together to host the Summer Olympics in 2032. Declaring they had made a major step toward peace on the Korean Peninsula, the two leaders were side by side as they announced the joint statement to a group of North and South Korean reporters after a closed-door meeting Wednesday morning.