Tag: South Korea

US, S.Korea detect another failed N. Korea missile test

by Hwang Sung-Hee SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — North Korea on Thursday conducted what appeared to be its second failed test in a week of a powerful medium-range missile that experts warn could be operationally deployed as early as next year. South Korean and US military monitors said the missile — believed to be an intermediate-range Musudan — exploded shortly after take-off at around 6:30 am Pyongyang time (2200 GMT Wednesday). The attempted launch came […]

Tour bus crash kills 10 in S. Korea

SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — At least 10 people were killed and seven others seriously injured after their tour bus crashed and caught fire on a highway near South Korea’s southeastern city of Ulsan, police said Friday. Although the precise cause of the accident is still under investigation, the driver of the bus was taken into custody for questioning about the vehicle’s maintenance record. The bus was carrying 20 people late Thursday night when one […]

Samsung sees further $3bn profit hit from Note 7 crisis

by Hwang Sung-Hee SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — Samsung on Friday said the crisis over its exploding Note 7 smartphones would cost another $3 billion-plus in lost profit over the next two quarters, but hoped expanded sales of its other flagship handset would help cushion the impact. The profit warning came two days after the South Korean electronics giant slashed its operating profit for the third quarter by $2.3 billion. After a recall problem with […]

Family feud reignites at S. Korea’s Lotte Group

SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — The elder brother of South Korea’s Lotte Group chairman has filed a lawsuit against his younger sibling for alleged accounting fraud, his spokesman said Tuesday, reigniting a bitter family feud over a stake in the business empire. “We submitted a complaint to the prosecutors’ office on September 30,” Thomas Hong, spokesman for Shin Dong-Joo, former vice president of Lotte Holdings, told AFP. Hong said Shin accused Lotte chairman Shin Dong-Bin […]

Samsung says ‘adjusting production’ of recalled Note 7

SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — Samsung Electronics said Monday it was “adjusting” production of its recalled Galaxy Note 7 smartphone, after key distributors stopped offering replacements because of continued safety concerns. “We are in the process of adjusting production volumes to enhance quality control and to enable thorough investigations following the recent cases of Galaxy Note 7 explosions,” the South Korean company said in a statement. © 1994-2016 Agence France-Presse

Samsung to ‘review’ US hedge fund plan to split firm

SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — Samsung Electronics responded warily Thursday to a plan submitted by the US activist hedge fund Elliott Management for splitting the South Korean electronics giant into a separate holding and operating company. “We will carefully review the shareholders’ proposals,” the technology conglomerate said in a terse one-line statement, with its spokesmen declining any further comment. Entities controlled by Elliott, the hedge fund run by billionaire Paul Singer, own about 0.62 percent of […]

Typhoon Chaba leaves six dead in S. Korea

  SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — South Korea cleaned up Thursday after Typhoon Chaba lashed its southern coast with powerful winds and heavy rains that triggered flash floods and left six people dead and four missing. The violent storm passed over the southern tip of the Korean peninsula on Wednesday, pummelling the port of Busan — the country’s second-largest city — and the industrial city of Ulsan. In Ulsan, a man drowned near his apartment […]

Powerful typhoon Chaba barrels toward Japan

TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Authorities issued storm and heavy rain warnings on Wednesday as powerful typhoon Chaba barrelled toward Japan, after it hit a South Korean resort island causing flight cancellations and flooding streets. The violent storm was moving north-northeast off the Tsushima islets chain near Japan’s southern Kyushu, packing gusts of up to 180 kilometres (110 miles) per hour, Japan’s weather agency said. The Japan Meteorological Agency issued warnings for gusts, heavy rains, high […]

Samsung to resume S. Korea sales of new Note 7 phones

SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — Samsung said Thursday it would resume sales of new Galaxy Note 7 smartphones in South Korea this week, hoping to turn the page on the troubled device after an ongoing global recall prompted by battery explosions. The company on September 2 suspended sales of the oversized “phablet” and recalled 2.5 million units shipped worldwide after faulty batteries caused the phones to explode while charging. With the recall underway in 10 […]

Hyundai car workers start first full strike in 12 years

  SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — Tens of thousands of unionised workers at South Korea’s Hyundai Motor staged their first full strike on Monday for more than a decade after negotiations over a wage increase stalled. Nearly 50,000 workers at Hyundai Motor’s three plants across the country — including the main one in the southern city of Ulsan — walked off the job throughout Monday, said a spokesman for its labour union. The day-long stoppage is […]

S. Korea rules out flood aid to N. Korea

SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — South Korea Friday ruled out giving aid to flood-hit North Korea, saying leader Kim Jong-Un would claim credit for any assistance following what Pyongyang calls the “worst disaster” since World War II. The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) appealed Wednesday for $15.5 million in emergency funding to help North Koreans. It warned of a “secondary disaster” in the impoverished country unless urgent assistance is provided. […]

N. Korea says US pushing peninsula to ‘explosion’

SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — North Korea on Wednesday accused the United States of pushing the Korean Peninsula to “the point of explosion” after it dispatched two huge bombers in a show of force against Pyongyang. The supersonic B-1B Lancers flew over South Korea Tuesday as Washington vowed its “unshakeable commitment” to defend its allies in the region following North Korea’s fifth and largest-ever nuclear test conducted last week. Washington called the demonstration “just one […]