Son Heung-min tells South Korean police he is victim of blackmail attempt

  • Spurs captain said to be target of false pregnancy claim
  • Kulusevski out of Europa League final after surgery

Son Heung-min has filed a complaint to South Korean police alleging he was the victim of a blackmail attempt, his agency said, after media reports that a woman had threatened the Tottenham captain with a false pregnancy claim.

“The police are currently investigating, so we will let you know the results as soon as they are available,” his agency, Son & Football Limited, said. “We’d like to tell you that Son Heung-min is clearly the victim of this incident.”

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After chaos of the Yoon era, South Korea prepares to pick a new president

Koreans hope politics can return to a focus on record high youth unemployment and a cost of living crisis after impeachment drama

After the unprecedented turmoil of the past six months, South Koreans could be forgiven for breathing a collective sigh of relief that the political focus has shifted from an impeachment crisis to economic policy ahead of next month’s presidential election.

The economy is expected to dominate the campaign to elect a new president on 3 June, after the impeachment of Yoon Suk Yeol, whose declaration of martial law in December triggered the South’s most serious political crisis for decades.

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From snail slime to salmon sperm: the K-beauty boom hits UK high streets

South Korean skincare retailers want to capitalise on viral sales of beauty ranges by opening stores across the UK

Korean beauty products are moving from phone screens to UK high streets as social media drives sales of skincare with the help of eye-catching ingredients such as snail slime and salmon sperm.

Retailers are looking to capitalise on the TikTok and Instagram trend for skincare and makeup ranges from South Korea – known as K-beauty – by opening physical stores and launching brands in a push to get consumers to pick up products that havegone viral online.

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Measles cases hit six-year high in South Korea amid outbreaks across south-east Asia

South Korea passes annual tally for 2024 already, as Vietnam and Thailand continue to battle outbreaks

South Korea has recorded the highest number of measles cases in six years, adding to concerns that low vaccination rates combined with international travel are contributing to further outbreaks elsewhere in the region.

The country has confirmed 52 cases so far this year, exceeding the 49 recorded for the whole of 2024, the Korean Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said this week. It is the highest figure since 2019, when 194 cases were recorded.

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South Korea’s conservatives pick hardline Kim Moon-soo as presidential candidate

People Power party trail in polls in election called after President Yoon Suk Yeol was removed for trying to impose martial law

South Korea’s conservative People Power party has picked former labour minister Kim Moon-soo as its candidate for the 3 June presidential election, which was called after the removal of Yoon Suk Yeol over his failed attempt to impose martial law.

Kim will face the liberal Democratic party’s candidate, Lee Jae-myung, who has led each of the declared conservative candidates by large double-digit margins in polls.

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Han Kang Nobel prize lecture book sells 10,000 copies in first day online in South Korea

Korean retailers report strong sales for Light and Thread, featuring speeches, essays and poems by novelist

A book featuring Han Kang’s Nobel prize lecture sold 10,000 copies in its first day on sale online.

Light and Thread, which takes its title from Han’s December lecture, is her first book to be published in South Korea since she was announced as the winner of the Nobel prize in literature last October.

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Rice crisis: Japan imports grain from South Korea for first time in more than 25 years

Japanese consumers who used to treat foreign-grown rice with scepticism have been forced to develop a taste for it amid domestic shortage

Japan has imported rice from South Korea for the first time in a quarter of a century in an attempt to address soaring prices and growing consumer anger.

South Korean rice arrived in Japan last month for the first time since 1999, according to media reports, as the price of domestically produced grain continued to rise, despite government attempts to relieve the pressure on shoppers.

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China and North Korea aid to Russia poses security risk in Indo-Pacific region, says top US commander

Beijing and Pyongyang are aiding Russia in its war against Ukraine, and Moscow in turn is assisting their militaries

The top US commander in the Pacific has warned senators that the military support that China and North Korea are giving Russia in its war on Ukraine is a security risk in his region as Moscow provides critical military assistance to both in return.

Adm Samuel Paparo, head of US Indo-Pacific Command, told the Senate armed services committee that China has provided 70% of the machine tools and 90% of the legacy chips to Russia to help Moscow “rebuild its war machine”.

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South Korea sets snap election date after President Yoon’s removal from office

Elections set for 3 June after months of political turmoil triggered by Yoon Suk Yeol’s shock declaration of martial law and subsequent impeachment

South Korea will hold a presidential election on 3 June, the country’s acting president said on Tuesday, after predecessor Yoon Suk Yeol was impeached and removed from office over a disastrous declaration of martial law.

The government “is to set June 3 as the date for South Korea’s 21st presidential election”, prime minister Han Duck-soo said, adding that the day would be designated as a temporary public holiday to facilitate voting.

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Celebrations as president’s impeachment is upheld – as it happened

Removed president says he is ‘very sorry’ to have not lived up to expectations. This blog is now closed

Yoon violated his duty as South Korean commander-in-chief by mobilising troops, says Justice Moon, the constitutional court’s acting president says. The president’s martial law declarations violated parliament’s rights, he says as the ruling continues.

Justice Moon says it is difficult to see the South Korean opposition’s actions as a severe national crisis to justify Yoon Suk Yeol’s martial law declaration, Reuters is reporting as he continues delivering the ruling.

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South Korea president Yoon Suk Yeol removed from office after court upholds impeachment

The court said Yoon had ‘committed a grave betrayal of the trust of the people’ over his ill-fated declaration of martial law in December

South Korea’s suspended president, Yoon Suk Yeol, has been removed from office after the country’s constitutional court voted unanimously to uphold parliament’s decision to impeach him over his ill-fated declaration of martial law in December.

After weeks of deliberations and growing concerns about the future of South Korea’s democracy, all eight justices voted to strip Yoon of his presidential powers.

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End of an era for Canada-US ties, says Carney, as allies worldwide decry Trump’s car tariffs

Canadian PM says Donald Trump has permanently altered relations, as countries around the globe insist import taxes are harmful to all, including Washington

Canada’s prime minister has said the era of deep ties with the US “is over”, as governments from Tokyo to Berlin to Paris sharply criticised Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs on car imports, with some threatening retaliatory action.

Mark Carney warned Canadians that Trump had permanently altered relations and that, regardless of any future trade deals, there would be “no turning back”.

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South Korea wildfires become biggest on record as disaster chief points to ‘harsh reality’ of climate crisis

Officials point to ultra-dry conditions as death toll reaches 27 and fires threaten Unesco heritage sites

Authorities in South Korea are battling wildfires that have doubled in size in a day in the country’s worst ever natural fire disaster.

At least 27 people have died and hundreds of buildings destroyed in the south-eastern province of North Gyeongsang, with the country’s disaster chief saying the fires had exposed the “harsh reality” of global heating.

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South Korea fires: 18 dead as acting president speaks of ‘unprecedented damage’

A 1,300-year-old Buddhist temple is among buildings destroyed after dry and windy weather saw mostly contained blazes spread again

Wind-driven wildfires that were among South Korea’s worst ever are ravaging southern regions, killing 18 people, destroying more than 200 structures and forcing 27,000 people to evacuate, officials said on Wednesday.

Han Duck-soo, South Korea’s prime minister and acting president, said five days of fires had caused “unprecedented damage” and asked agencies tackling the disaster to “assume the worst-case scenario and respond accordingly”, according to Yonhap news agency.

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Samsung Electronics co-CEO Han Jong-hee dies of heart attack at 63

Head of tech giant’s consumer electronics and mobile devices division passed away at a hospital on Tuesday

South Korean tech giant Samsung Electronics said on Tuesday that its co-chief executive officer Han Jong-hee has died due to cardiac arrest. Han was 63.

Han was in charge of Samsung’s consumer electronics and mobile devices division, while co-CEO Jun Young-hyun oversees the chip business of South Korea’s biggest company.

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Tokyo court orders dissolution of ‘Moonies’ Unification church

Assassination of former Japanese PM Shinzo Abe spurred official request for closure of South Korea-based sect

A court in Japan has ordered the Unification church to be dissolved after a government request spurred by the investigation into the 2022 assassination of the former prime minister Shinzo Abe.

The church, founded in South Korea and nicknamed the “Moonies” after its late founder, Sun Myung Moon, is accused of pressuring followers into making life-ruining donations, and blamed for child neglect among its members, although it has denied any wrongdoing.

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South Korea’s Han Duck-soo reinstated as acting president after court strikes down impeachment

The ruling is the latest twist in months of political turmoil since suspended president Yoon Suk Yeol’s martial law declaration last year

South Korea’s constitutional court has ruled against the impeachment of the country’s prime minister, Han Duck-soo, and to restore his position as acting president, marking the latest political twist in months of political turmoil.

Han took over as acting president after the country’s leader, Yoon Suk Yeol, was himself impeached over his short-lived declaration of martial law late last year.

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K-pop singer Wheesung found dead at home aged 43

Tributes have been paid to singer who had a string of hits in South Korea including a cover of Craig David’s Insomnia

The South Korean singer Wheesung has died aged 43, with police reportedly planning to conduct an autopsy to determine his cause of death.

The singer, whose name was Choi Whee-sung, was found unconscious in his apartment on Monday night by emergency responders after his mother called for help, local media reported.

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Impeached South Korean president released from prison ahead of insurrection trial

Both supporters of Yoon Suk Yeol and those who backed his impeachment rallied in Seoul ahead of his release

South Korea’s impeached conservative president, Yoon Suk Yeol, has been released from prison, a day after a Seoul court cancelled his arrest to allow him to stand trial for insurrection without being detained.

After walking out of a detention centre near Seoul on Saturday, Yoon waved, clenched his fists and bowed deeply to his supporters who were shouting his name and waving South Korean and US flags. Yoon climbed into a black van headed to his presidential residence in the capital.

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South Korea court cancels President Yoon’s detention as insurrection case continues

Police and supporters of impeached president gather at presidential residence in Seoul before his possible release

A South Korean court has cancelled President Yoon Suk Yeol’s detention warrant, paving the way for his potential release.

He has been held since mid-January on charges of leading an insurrection relating to his failed attempt in December to impose martial law.

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