by Claire LEE Agence France-Presse SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — North Korea warned Tuesday that it would be a “clear declaration of war” if its missiles were shot down during their test launches over the Pacific Ocean. The United States and South Korea have ramped up defense cooperation, including joint drills, in the face of growing threats from nuclear-armed Pyongyang, which has conducted a wave of banned weapons tests in recent months. North Korea has […]
Tag: South Korea
North Korea accuses US of ‘intentionally’ aggravating relations
SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — North Korea’s foreign ministry accused the United States of “intentionally” ramping up tensions by flying in joint military drills with South Korea, state news agency KCNA said Tuesday. The allegation comes after Seoul and Washington announced on Friday more than 10 days of large-scale military exercises from March 13 to 23. South Korea’s defence ministry also posted video online Monday they said showed war planes from both countries training together […]
Seoul announces plan to compensate victims of Japan wartime forced labor
by Kang Jin-kyu Agence France-Presse SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — South Korea announced plans Monday to compensate victims of Japan’s forced wartime labor, but without direct Japanese involvement, as Seoul seeks closer ties with Tokyo to counter Pyongyang. South Korea and Japan are both key regional security allies of the United States, but bilateral ties have long been strained over Tokyo’s brutal 1910-45 colonial rule of the Korean peninsula. Around 780,000 Koreans were conscripted into […]
‘Wholesome’ South Korean reality TV proves a global hit
by Claire LEE Agence France-Presse SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — The challenge is straight from Greek mythology: hold a boulder aloft as long as possible. Korean car dealer Jo Jin-hyeong lasted over two hours, captivating global audiences in a reality show that could signal a new K-culture export success. After films such as Oscar-winning “Parasite” and TV series including Golden Globe-bedecked “Squid Game” helped popularize K-content overseas, industry figures have said South Korea’s high-quality reality […]
North Korea fires more missiles after US-South Korea nuclear drill
by Claire LEE Agence France-Presse SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — North Korea said Friday it had fired cruise missiles and claimed that ramped-up US-South Korean military drills “can be regarded as a declaration of war”. It came after the two allies conducted a tabletop exercise at the Pentagon focused on responses to a nuclear attack by Pyongyang. North Korean forces held a “strategic cruise missile launching drill” in the early hours of Thursday, firing […]
North Korea pledges ‘expanded, intensified’ military drills
SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — North Korea’s top army officials have said they will expand and intensify military drills to ensure their readiness for war, state media reported Tuesday, ahead of a massive parade. The pledge came at a Monday meeting overseen by leader Kim Jong Un and follows last week’s staging of joint air drills by South Korea and the United States. The agenda was topped by “the issue of constantly expanding and intensifying […]
South Korea, US stage air drills in response to North Korea threats
SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — South Korea and the United States staged joint air drills featuring an American strategic bomber and stealth fighter planes in response to threats from North Korea, the Yonhap news agency said, drawing an angry rebuke Thursday from Pyongyang. The planes flew Wednesday over the Yellow Sea, located between China and the Korean peninsula, in the first such exercises this year, Yonhap said, citing South Korea’s military. The display of military […]
US, S.Korea to hold ‘tabletop’ exercises on nuclear threats
SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — The United States and South Korea will hold discussion-based exercises on addressing nuclear threats, US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin said Tuesday. Washington and Seoul will conduct “increasingly complex scenario-based tabletop exercises focused on nuclear threats on the peninsula,” Austin wrote in an op-ed published by the Yonhap news agency, without specifying when this would occur. Austin is visiting Seoul for the third time as defense secretary, during which he is […]
NATO chief asks S. Korea to ‘step up’ military support for Ukraine
SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg asked South Korea on Monday to “step up” military support for Ukraine, suggesting it reconsider its policy of not exporting weapons to countries in conflict. Stoltenberg is in Seoul on the first leg of his Asia trip, which will also take in Japan, as part of a drive to boost ties with the region’s democratic allies in the face of the Ukraine conflict and growing […]
South Korea’s Hanwha invests $2.5 bn in US solar panels
NEW YORK, United States (AFP) – A South Korea company on Wednesday said that it plans to invest $2.5 billion in US solar panel manufacturing in order to take advantage of tax breaks included in President Joe Biden’s climate plan. Biden said the plan by Hanwha Qcells would be “the largest solar investment in US history” and create thousands of jobs in the southern state of Georgia. The project would benefit from Biden’s massive Inflation Reduction […]
Seoul says talks underway over joint nuclear exercises
SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — Seoul and Washington are discussing joint planning and exercises involving US nuclear assets to counter growing threats from the North, South Korea’s presidential office said Tuesday, after US President Joe Biden said there would be no such joint drills. The statement was released after Biden said the United States was not discussing joint nuclear exercises with South Korea, seemingly contradicting comments by Seoul’s President Yoon Suk-yeol earlier this week. The […]
Six dead in South Korea road tunnel fire
SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) – Six people have been killed after a bus and truck crash caused a huge fire at an expressway tunnel on the outskirts of Seoul, the local fire department told AFP. Images of the scene in local media showed huge flames and plumes of smoke rising from the tunnel, as hundreds of firefighters battled to bring the blaze under control. The fire started when a bus collided with a truck at around […]





