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SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — South Korea said Wednesday it was dropping its vaunted “trace, test and treat” program as a surge in Omicron cases threatens to overwhelm the country’s healthcare system. At the start of the pandemic in 2020, South Korea was hit by one of the worst early outbreaks of the disease outside China but brought it under control with mass testing and aggressive contact tracing. The strategy earned the country widespread praise, […]
SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — South Korea’s economy grew in 2021 at the fastest pace for 11 years thanks to robust exports and strong activity in the service sector, the central bank said Tuesday. The 4.0 percent expansion, which came in line with forecasts, was the best performance since 2010 and came despite the pandemic hurting global supply chains. The strong data will give the Bank of Korea some room to further tighten interest rates […]
by Cat BARTON SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — North Korea hinted Thursday it could resume nuclear and long-range weapons tests as it prepares for “confrontation” with Washington, its latest threat after a string of sanctions-busting missile launches. Pyongyang has not tested inter-continental ballistic missiles or nukes since 2017, putting launches on hold as leader Kim Jong Un embarked on a blitz of high-level diplomacy, meeting then-US president Donald Trump three times before talks collapsed two […]
by Cat Barton and Kang Jin-kyu SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — North Korea fired two suspected ballistic missiles Monday, Seoul said, its fourth weapons test this month as Pyongyang flexes its military muscle while ignoring offers of talks from the United States. Despite biting international sanctions, Pyongyang has conducted a string of weapons tests this year, including of hypersonic missiles, as leader Kim Jong Un pursues his avowed goal of further strengthening the military. Reeling […]
SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — North Korea has fired an “unidentified projectile”, South Korea’s military said Monday, in what would be the nuclear-armed country’s fourth weapons test this month. Seoul’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said: “North Korea fired an unidentified projectile into the East Sea,” referring to the Sea of Japan. The Japanese coastguard also confirmed the launch. “North Korea appears to have launched a possible ballistic missile,” a Coast Guard spokesman told AFP without […]
SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — North Korea fired an “unidentified projectile” into the sea, South Korea’s military said Tuesday, less than a week after Pyongyang reported testing a hypersonic missile. The projectile was fired into the sea east of the peninsula, Seoul’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement, without giving further details. The launch was also reported by Japan’s coast guard, which said the North had fired a “ballistic missile-like object”. […]
MANILA, Philippines (AFP) — The Philippines has ordered two new warships from South Korea’s Hyundai Heavy Industries, Defence Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said Tuesday, modernizing Manila’s navy as it faces a dispute with Beijing in the South China Sea. The Philippine Navy had become run down in recent decades — even featuring US craft from World War II — until President Rodrigo Duterte’s predecessor, Benigno Aquino, began a modest modernization program in 2010. Tuesday’s 28 billion […]
by Claire LEE Agence France Presse SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — South Korea’s ex-president Park Geun-hye has received a pardon, cutting short a jail term of more than 20 years for corruption, the justice minister announced Friday, saying the reprieve was in the interests of national unity. Park became South Korea’s first woman president in 2013, casting herself in the role of the daughter of the nation, incorruptible and beholden to none. Less than […]
SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — South Korea said Thursday it will reimpose coronavirus curfews on businesses and limit the size of gatherings again as record infections forced the government to pause its plan to live with Covid. Following a rapid vaccination program, authorities eased restrictions last month to help boost the Covid-hit economy, removing limits on how long businesses could stay open. But new daily infections have more than trebled since then, with a record […]
SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — South Korea’s president on Monday ruled out joining a US diplomatic boycott of the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, citing the need to work with China. Visiting Canberra, Moon Jae-in said he was “not considering” snubbing the Olympics to protest China’s human rights abuses as several Western nations have done. “We have not received a request from any other country including the United States to participate in the diplomatic boycott,” […]
SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — Seoul has started trialling pint-sized robots as teaching aids in kindergartens — a pilot project the city government said would help prepare the next generation for a hi-tech future. The “Alpha Mini” is just 24.5 centimetres tall and can dance, lead sing-a-longs, recite stories and even teach kung-fu moves as children mimic its push-ups and one-legged balances. “The robots help with the kids’ creativity,” teacher Byun Seo-yeon told AFP during […]
by Claire LEE SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — A hush fell over South Korea Thursday as more than half a million students sat the gruelling, high-stakes national university entrance exam, with authorities taking extraordinary measures to minimise distractions. The nine-hour test is crucial not only for securing spots in top universities, but is also considered key for elevated social status, lucrative careers and even marriage prospects. The enormous pressure on students in South Korea’s ultra-competitive […]
