MOSCOW, Russia (AFP) — Moscow denied on Tuesday that its aircraft had violated South Korean airspace, saying its jets had carried out planned drills over international waters. “Two Tu-95 strategic bombers of Russia’s aerospace forces carried out a planned flight in the airspace above the neutral waters of the Sea of Japan,” the defence ministry said in a statement. It also denied that the South Korean planes fired warning shots. Moscow said two South Korean […]
Tag: South Korea
US hopes N.Korea talks go ahead despite Pyongyang threat
by Kang Jin-kyu WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The United States said Tuesday it hoped to hold denuclearization talks with North Korea, despite a warning from Pyongyang that US-South Korean military exercises could affect their planned resumption. The North had earlier Tuesday hinted that it could even reconsider its moratorium on nuclear testing over next month’s drills, which have been held for years but were scaled down to facilitate dialogue with Pyongyang. It […]
Vintage fashion: senior models bridge S. Korea’s age divide
by Claire LEE SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — Aged 70 she was working 20 hours a day in a hospital just to make ends meet. Now at 75, Choi Soon-hwa is an unlikely fashion star and model in South Korea, one of a handful of seniors who have become social media and fashion celebrities in a country where intergenerational conflict is mounting as the population ages. “I think of having this job at this age […]
Seoul dissolves Japan fund for WWII sex slaves
SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — A foundation set up to compensate victims of Japan’s wartime sex slavery has been formally dissolved, South Korean officials said Friday, the latest chapter in a bitter dispute over the two countries’ shared history. The $8.8 million fund was established in 2015 as Tokyo and Seoul made a renewed effort to push past their continuing row over Japan’s brutal 1910 – 1945 occupation. The money — which the two […]
Japan restricts some exports of chip, smartphone materials to South Korea
TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Japan announced Monday it would tighten regulations on the export to South Korea of several chemicals used in chip and smartphone production amid a row with Seoul on wartime forced labour. The new rules, which take effect from July 4, come after South Korean courts ordered Japanese firms to compensate people forced into wartime labour, an issue Tokyo says was resolved when the countries resumed diplomatic relations decades ago. “The export […]
News in photos: Historic Trump-Kim impromptu meeting at North Korea’s DMZ
(Eagle News) — It all started with a tweet by US President Donald Trump inviting North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to an impromptu meeting at the Demilitarized Zone. Trump’s invitation on Twitter from the G20 summit in Osaka, read: “if Chairman Kim of North Korea sees this, I would meet him at the Border/DMZ just to shake his hand and say Hello(?)!” He later said he would have “no problem” stepping into the […]
A historic first: Trump steps into North Korea, meets with Kim in Demilitarized Zone
by Sebastien BERGER / Jerome CARTILLIER Agence France Presse PANMUNJOM, South Korea (AFP) — US President Donald Trump stepped onto North Korean soil Sunday as he met Pyongyang’s leader Kim Jong Un in the Demilitarized Zone dividing the peninsula, in a symbolic diplomatic spectacle and a first for any American president. After shaking hands with Kim over the line that marks where their two countries and their allies fought each other to a standstill […]
Trump, Kim exchanged 12 letters: S. Korea minister
SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un have exchanged a total of 12 letters since the beginning of last year, South Korea’s Unification Minster said, with the North Korean leader the more assiduous suitor in their nuclear bromance, penning eight. “Since 2018, chairman Kim has written eight letters to President Trump, and President Trump has written four letters to chairman Kim,” Kim Yeon-chul, the South’s […]
South Korean Olympians in sexual harassment incident
SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — A South Korean Olympic short-track medallist sexually harassed another male Games podium-finisher, officials said Tuesday — prompting them to suspend the entire team. The offender — who has not been identified — reportedly forcibly pulled down the victim’s trousers, leaving him standing in his underwear in front of team-mates at the national training centre in Jincheon. In response coaches collectively punished the entire team — seven men and seven women […]
US President Trump to visit Seoul after letters with Kim
SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — US President Donald Trump will visit South Korea at the weekend after the G20 summit to discuss deadlocked nuclear talks with the North with President Moon Jae-in, Seoul’s presidential office said Monday. Trump will fly to the South Korean capital on Saturday after attending the G20 summit in Japan, officials said, prompting speculation he could try to visit the Demilitarized Zone that divides the peninsula. The visit comes after Trump […]
South Korean president calls for new Trump-Kim meeting
OSLO, Norway (AFP) — South Korean President Moon Jae-in called Wednesday for US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to meet soon, saying a prolonged impasse could weaken their willingness to pursue dialogue on the Korean peninsula. During a visit to Oslo, Moon said it was “desirable that Chairman Kim and President Trump meet in the near future”. “If the period of no dialogue is prolonged, then the passion for […]
South Korea approves $8 million in aid for hungry North
SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — South Korea approved $8 million in humanitarian aid for the impoverished North on Wednesday, authorities said, with negotiations over Pyongyang’s nuclear arsenal deadlocked and inter-Korean relations at a standstill. It will be the first such aid Seoul has provided Pyongyang since 2015 and follows the North’s lowest recorded harvest for a decade, according to the United Nations. The donation — to be made through the UN — comes as […]
