Tag: South Korea

Ousted S. Korean leader Park faces trial

SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — South Korea’s ousted president Park Geun-Hye was due in court Tuesday to face trial over the massive corruption scandal that led to her stunning downfall. The fallen head of state will be taken from the detention centre where she is being held to Seoul Central District Court, for the opening of the final act in the drama that has engulfed her. Park was impeached by parliament and in March sacked […]

China urges S.Korea to ‘remove obstacles’ to good ties

BEIJING, China (AFP) — China’s foreign minister urged South Korea’s new government on Thursday to remove “obstacles” to good relations amid Chinese anger at the United States’ deployment of an anti-missile system on the Korean peninsula. Greeting South Korean presidential envoy Lee Hae-Chan in Beijing, Foreign Minister Wang Yi said bilateral relations have made immense progress over the years. “But this year we’ve had some undeserved setbacks,” Wang said, likely in a veiled reference to […]

South Korea, US to hold Washington summit in June

SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) – South Korea’s left-leaning new leader Moon Jae-In will travel to the United States for a summit with President Donald Trump next month, Moon’s spokesperson said Tuesday, amid high tensions over the North’s nuclear ambitions. The summit will be held in Washington in late June, Yoon Young-Chan said, adding that details of the precise date and agenda would be decided later. Moon backs engagement with nuclear-armed North Korea to try to […]

South Korean president orders temporary closure of old coal-fired power plants to mitigate air pollution

SEOUL, South Korea (Reuters) — South Korean President Moon Jae-in visited a primary school in Seoul on Monday (May 15) where he announced a new government air pollution policy that includes shutting down coal-fired power plants that are over 30 years old in June to mitigate air pollution. The measure comes as coal-fired power plants are being criticized for contributing to deteriorating air quality in South Korea, Asia’s fourth-largest economy. Amid these concerns, new President […]

North Korea says Sunday missile launch used new type of rocket

SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA (AFP) – North Korea’s latest missile launch was a successful test of a new type of rocket, Pyongyang’s state media reported Monday. Sunday’s launch was of a “newly-developed mid/long-range strategic ballistic rocket, Hwasong-12,” the official KCNA news agency said, adding that leader Kim Jong-Un “personally oversaw the test-launch of the new type of rocket.” The isolated North is under multiple sets of United Nations sanctions over its nuclear and missile programs, which […]

History lesson: S. Korea’s Moon scraps state textbooks

SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) – South Korea’s new President Moon Jae-In on Friday scrapped state-issued school history textbooks introduced by his ousted predecessor, saying they represented an “outdated and one-sided” view of the past, his office said. The previous Park Geun-Hye administration had introduced state-authored history textbooks at middle and high schools, arguing that some existing tomes reflected left-leaning and pro-North Korea ideologies. Park’s conservative government began publishing the new textbooks this year despite opposition […]

Xi, Moon agree denuclearizing N.Korea ‘common goal’: Seoul

SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — Chinese leader Xi Jinping and new South Korean president Moon Jae-In agreed Thursday that denuclearizing North Korea was a “common goal” between them, Moon’s office said. Ties between Seoul and Beijing have soured over the South’s deployment of a controversial US anti-missile system aimed at guarding against threats from the nuclear-armed North. China sees the deployment of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system as a threat to its […]

China hopes South Korea pays attention to its security concerns on THAAD

BEIJING, China (Reuters) — China’s Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday (May 10) it hopes South Korea pays attention to its security concerns after South Korea’s new liberal President Moon Jae-in was sworn in. Moon said in his first speech as president he would immediately begin efforts to defuse security tensions on the Korean peninsula and negotiate with Washington and Beijing to ease the row over the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system being deployed […]

Duterte congratulates new SoKor president-elect

  (Eagle News)– President Rodrigo Duterte on Wednesday (May 10) extended his greetings to Mr. Moon Jae In on his election as the new President of the Republic of Korea. “On behalf of the Filipino nation, President Rodrigo Roa Duterte wishes to extend his warm congratulations to Mr. Moon Jae-in on his election as the new President of the Republic of Korea (ROK),” presidential spokesperson Ernesto Abella said in a statement. “The Philippines and the […]

S. Korea’s Moon says will visit Pyongyang in ‘right circumstances’

SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — New South Korean President Moon Jae-In on Wednesday declared his willingness to visit the nuclear-armed North, moments after taking his oath of office. Tensions are high over the North’s weapons ambitions and Moon — who backs engagement with Pyongyang — said he would work for peace. “If needed I will fly to Washington immediately,” he said. “I will also go to Beijing and Tokyo and even Pyongyang in the right […]

Landslide win for Moon in South Korea election

  by Jung Ha-won Eagle News Service Seoul, South Korea (AFP) — Left-leaning former human rights lawyer Moon Jae-In won South Korea’s presidential election by a landslide Tuesday, sweeping to power and vowing unity after a tumultuous scandal felled the country’s last leader. The ballot was needed after Park Geun-Hye was ousted and indicted for corruption, and took place against a backdrop of high tensions with the nuclear-armed North. Voters were galvanized by anger over […]