SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — Former South Korean president and general Roh Tae-woo, who was instrumental in crushing the Gwangju Uprising at a cost of hundreds of lives, died of natural causes on Tuesday aged 88, according to reports. Roh withdrew from public view around 20 years ago following a diagnosis of prostate cancer, and was being treated at the Seoul National University Hospital, Yonhap news agency reported. He was elected to serve as president […]
Tag: South Korea
South Korea rocket launch fails to put payload in orbit: Moon
SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — South Korea’s first domestically-developed space rocket failed to put its dummy payload into orbit after its maiden launch on Thursday, President Moon Jae-in said. The launch and all three stages of the Korea Space Launch Vehicle II worked, as did the payload separation, Moon said, but “putting a dummy satellite into orbit remains an unfinished mission”. © Agence France-Presse
South Korea seeks space race entry with first homegrown rocket
SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — South Korea is aiming to join the ranks of advanced spacefaring nations on Thursday when it attempts to put a one-tonne payload into orbit using its first fully homegrown rocket. The country has risen to become the world’s 12th-largest economy and a technologically advanced nation, home to the planet’s biggest smartphone and memory chip maker, Samsung Electronics. But it has lagged in the headline-making world of spaceflight, where the Soviet […]
Sweet taste of Squid Game success for South Korean candy couple
by Yelim LEE / Claire LEE SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — Simple, sweet, and fictionally fatal: the stallholder who makes the traditional South Korean children’s treat featured in the global cultural phenomenon “Squid Game” — and once associated with post-war poverty — has hit a real-life jackpot. The Netflix smash hit series features a group of South Korea’s most marginalised and deeply in debt, who compete in children’s games for the chance of 45.6 billion […]
Squid Game: South Korea’s latest cultural phenomenon
by Claire LEE SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — A dystopian vision of a polarised society, Netflix smash hit “Squid Game” blends a tight plot, social allegory and uncompromising violence to create the latest South Korean cultural phenomenon to go global. It features South Korea’s most marginalised, including the deeply in debt, a migrant worker and a North Korean defector, competing in traditional children’s games for the chance to win 45.6 billion won ($38 million) in […]
North Korea fires ‘missile’, insists on right to weapons tests
by Claire LEE Agence France Presse SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — Nuclear-armed North Korea fired a presumed short-range missile into the sea on Tuesday, the South’s military said, as Pyongyang’s UN ambassador insisted it had an undeniable right to test its weapons. The projectile was fired from the northern province of Jagang into waters off the east coast, according to South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff, and a Japanese defence ministry spokesman told AFP […]
North Korea fires ‘unidentified projectile’: South’s military
SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — Nuclear-armed North Korea fired an ‘unidentified projectile’ into the sea off its east coast, the South’s military said Tuesday. No further details were immediately available from the South’s Joint Chiefs of Staff. The launch comes just days after North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s influential sister Kim Yo Jong, a key adviser to her brother, dangled the prospect of an inter-Korean summit. But she insisted that “impartiality” and mutual respect […]
N.Korea leader’s sister demands South drop ‘hostile policies’: KCNA
SEOUL, South (AFP) — The influential sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on Friday said it was “admirable” of the South to propose a formal end to the Korean War but demanded Seoul first drop its “hostile policies” towards Pyongyang. Kim Yo Jong’s remarks, carried by Pyongyang’s official KCNA news agency, were in response to South Korean President Moon Jae-in’s recent calls for declaring an official end to the 1950-53 conflict that ended […]
N.Korea says US submarine deal, alliance could trigger ‘nuclear arms race’
SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — North Korea’s foreign ministry on Monday said a new US alliance in the Indo-Pacific and recent US submarine contract with Australia could trigger a “nuclear arms race” in the region. Last week the United States announced a new three-way security pact with Australia and Britain, as part of a strategic partnership under which US nuclear submarines will be supplied to Canberra. “These are extremely undesirable and dangerous acts which will […]
BTS issued diplomatic passports for UN session
SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — K-pop sensation BTS have been granted diplomatic passports ahead of the United Nations General Assembly as they embark on their new roles as presidential special envoys, South Korea’s presidential office said. The trailblazing septet have reached global superstardom, with their single “Dynamite” entering the Billboard Hot 100 at number one last year, making them the first South Korean act to top the US chart. They are credited with generating billions […]
South Korea fires first submarine-launched ballistic missile
SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — South Korea successfully test-fired a submarine-launched ballistic missile on Wednesday, the presidential Blue House said, becoming only the seventh country in the world with the advanced technology. A missile was fired underwater from the newly-commissioned submarine Ahn Chang-ho, and flew the planned distance before hitting its target, the Blue House said. President Moon Jae-in supervised the test. South Korea has been advancing its military capabilities as it seeks to counter […]
North Korea fires two ballistic missiles: South’s military
by Claire LEE SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — North Korea fired two ballistic missiles into the sea on Wednesday, according to the South’s military, as China’s foreign minister visited Seoul — Pyongyang’s second launch in less than a week. Analysts said the timing was an unmistakable signal to Beijing, the North’s key diplomatic ally and main partner for trade and aid — although at times their relationship has been deeply strained. Pyongyang is under a […]
