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SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — The heir and de facto leader of Samsung group received a presidential pardon Friday, the latest example of South Korea’s long tradition of freeing business leaders convicted of corruption on economic grounds. Billionaire Lee Jae-yong, who was convicted of bribery and embezzlement in January last year, will be “reinstated” to give him a chance to “contribute to overcoming the economic crisis” of the country, Justice Minister Han Dong-hoon said. Lee […]
by Claire Lee Agence France-Presse SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — North Korea’s Kim Jong Un declared a “shining victory” over Covid-19 as his sister revealed he had fallen ill during the outbreak, which she blamed on Seoul, state media said Thursday. Addressing a meeting of health workers and scientists, Kim announced a “victory… in the war against the malignant pandemic disease”, according to the official Korean Central News Agency. The isolated country, which has […]
SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — Subway stations and major roads were underwater in the South Korean capital Seoul after record-breaking rains caused severe flooding, with at least seven people dead and seven more missing, officials said Tuesday. Dramatic images shared on social media late Monday showed people wading through waist-deep water, metro stations overflowing, and cars half-submerged in Seoul’s posh Gangnam district after torrential rain battered the city. The downpour that began Monday is the […]
SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — South Korea’s first-ever lunar orbiter was launched from the US Thursday on a year-long mission to observe the Moon, live video showed, with a payload including a new disruption-tolerant network for sending data from space. Danuri — a portmanteau of the Korean words for “Moon” and “enjoy” — was carried on a Falcon 9 rocket launched from Cape Canaveral in Florida by Elon Musk’s aerospace company SpaceX. It aims to […]
NEW YORK, United States (AFP) — K-pop superstar J-Hope of BTS made history on Sunday as the closer at Chicago’s annual Lollapalooza weekend, becoming the first South Korean act to headline a major US music festival. The star appeared to dramatically pop out of a box as he took the stage in Chicago’s Grant Park, and was greeted by a sea of screaming fans. The crowd rapped and sang along to songs from J-Hope’s new […]
by Natsuko Fukue Agence France-Presse TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — The assassination of former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe by a man resentful of the Unification Church has resurfaced years of controversy over the group. Police say Tetsuya Yamagami targeted Abe because he believed the former prime minister supported a “certain group” to which the man’s mother had made large donations. In a letter published by local media, Yamagami accused Abe of supporting the Unification Church […]
SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said his country was “ready to mobilize” its nuclear deterrent in any future military clash with the United States and South Korea, state media said Thursday. Washington and Seoul have repeatedly warned that Pyongyang is preparing to carry out its seventh nuclear test — a move that the United States has warned would provoke a “swift and forceful” response. In Kim’s latest speech to […]
SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — US Army Apache attack helicopters stationed in South Korea are holding live-fire drills with guns and rockets, the US military said Monday, as Seoul looks to boost deterrence against the nuclear-armed North. The drills — the first such exercises since 2019 — come after a record-breaking blitz of weapons tests by Pyongyang this year, including firing an intercontinental ballistic missile at full range for the first time since […]
by Sara Hussein Agence France-Presse SADO, Japan (AFP) — Under a split-top mountain on the Japanese island of Sado lies a network of centuries-old mines that have sparked a new diplomatic row with South Korea. Some of the gold and silver mines of Sado, off Japan’s west coast, are believed to have started operating as early as the 12th century and produced until after World War II. Japan believes that lengthy history and the artisanal […]
SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — South Korea’s central bank on Wednesday delivered a historic half-point interest rate hike to tame fast-growing inflation, particularly soaring energy costs linked to the war in Ukraine. The Bank of Korea (BOK) raised its benchmark policy rate by 50 basis points to 2.25 percent, it said in a tweet, the largest increase since its current framework was implemented in 1999. The decision comes as Asia’s fourth-biggest economy recovers from […]
by Claire Lee Agence France-Presse SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — The South Korean government on Wednesday slammed the controversial 2019 repatriation of two North Koreans, after releasing photos that appeared to show one of them resisting the handover. Then-president Moon Jae-in’s administration had expelled the men after investigators said the pair murdered 16 crewmates before taking their fishing boat to South Korean waters. The government said at the time that the men — described by […]
by Cat Barton Agence France-Presse SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — From Indian K-pop idols to Swedish songwriters, South Korea’s music industry is now a hotbed of global talent — a smart strategy as it aims for world domination, experts say. K-pop bands have long included non-Koreans: Blackpink’s Lisa is Thai, while Japan and China are both well represented, and Korean-American singers have topped the local charts. But after megastars like Psy and BTS brought K-pop […]
