Category Archives: South Korea

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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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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