MOON JAE-IN

South Korea has confirmed its first five cases of the new omicron coronavirus variant in people linked to arrivals from Nigeria.

South Korea has reported 3,187 new cases of the coronavirus, nearly matching a one-day record set in September, a worrisome development in a country that eased social distancing rules in recent weeks to lessen the pandemic’s economic impact.

South Korea’s conservative former top prosecutor, who has called for a stronger U.S. security guarantee to neutralize North Korean nuclear threats, has won the main opposition party’s hotly contested nomination for next March’s presidential election.

The leaders of four Central European nations have met in Hungary’s capital where they urged visiting South Korean President Moon Jae-in to consider investing in a rapid train line connecting Budapest and Polish capital Warsaw.

French President Emmanuel Macron and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi have agreed to boost ties in the Indo-Pacific region during a meeting on the sidelines of the Group of 20 summit.

The Vatican has abruptly canceled the planned live broadcast of President Joe Biden’s meeting with Pope Francis.

South Korea’s president says he’ll keep striving to promote peace with North Korea through dialogue until the end of his term next May, after Pyongyang raised animosities with a resumption of provocative weapons tests.

NASA has completed stacking the 322-foot-tall Space Launch System and Orion spacecraft it will use for its next generation of deep space operations, including missions on and around the moon. (Oct. 22)

Live footage showed the 154 foot rocket soaring into the air with bright yellow flames shooting out of its engines following blastoff.

Live footage showed the 154-foot rocket soaring into the air with bright yellow flames shooting out of its engines following blastoff.

The country successfully launched a home-grown rocket for the 1st time, but the payload, a dummy satellite, failed to make it into orbit.

South Korea’s first domestically produced space rocket reached its desired altitude but failed to deliver a dummy payload into orbit in its first test launch on Thursday.

It's yet another capability attained by South Korea's increasingly modern and sophisticated military.

As North Korea goes back to its pattern of pressuring South Korea to get what it wants from the United States, the powerful sister of leader Kim Jong Un has emerged as the face of its campaign of mixing weapons demonstrations and peace offers.

Chung Eui-yong said the United States should do more to get North Korea to the negotiating table.

North Korea has accused the United States of hostility and demanded the Biden administration permanently end joint military exercises with South Korea.

South Korea is urging North Korea to restore dormant communication hotlines, a day after the North repeated an offer to open conditional talks.

The powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un says her country will take steps to repair ties with South Korea, and may even discuss another summit between their leaders, if the South drops what she described as hostility and double standards.

South Korean president Moon Jae-in called this week at the UN General Assembly for an end to the decades-long conflict.

Days after outgoing South Korean President Moon Jae-in made possibly his last ambitious push to diplomatically resolve the standoff over North Korea’s nuclear program, the North has rejected his call for a declaration ending the Korean War, making it clear it has no interest in political statements unless they bring badly needed relief from crippling economic sanctions.

Kim Yo-jong was responding to a renewed call from the South to officially declare an end to the Korean War.

The influential sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un says her country is willing to resume talks with South Korea if conditions are met, indicating it wants Seoul to persuade Washington to relax crippling economic sanctions.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in again pushed for peace and reconciliation with North Korea, amid recent missile testing on both ends of the peninsula.

It was a United Nations speech that got attention like few others — a plug for vaccines, young people and the earth’s well being from superstar K-pop band BTS.

"Every choice we make is the beginning of change," the K-pop superstars said, kicking off "Leaders Week" at the U.N. General Assembly.

Analysts say the ratcheting up of military might between North and South Korea raises the possibility of misunderstandings that could spiral to dangerous consequences.

"We cannot accept that only 3% of Africa has yet been immunized, we can and will do better," says incoming president of the General Assembly.

In an unusual North Korean parade that showcased military animals and virus workers in hazmat suits instead of ballistic missiles, leader Kim Jong Un still managed to seize the spotlight by looking thinner and more energetic than he has in years.

Apple Inc. and Alphabet Inc.’s Google are two of the world’s most profitable companies, and their app marketplaces are among their most profitable endeavors: The cut Apple takes from App Store transactions approaches the revenue from iPads and Macs, and accounted for most of the $54 billion generated by the Services division in fiscal 2020. Now such practices are coming under increasing scrutiny. U.S. Senators and European regulators have griped about the “gatekeeper control” that Apple and Goog

Apple Inc. and Alphabet Inc.’s Google are two of the world’s most profitable companies, and their app marketplaces are among their most profitable endeavors: The cut Apple takes from App Store transactions approaches the revenue from iPads and Macs, and accounted for most of the $54 billion generated by the Services division in fiscal 2020. Now such practices are coming under increasing scrutiny. U.S. Senators and European regulators have griped about the “gatekeeper control” that Apple and Goog

Samsung leader Lee Jae-yong walked out of prison a year early in a parole decision demonstrating the conglomerate’s outsized influence in South Korea as well as the country's continuing leniency for bosses who commit corporate corruption.

Samsung Group scion Jay Y. Lee walked out of jail Friday, a free man once again. He had been granted parole after being sent to prison for a second time in January after a conviction on bribery charges. He apologized to the public for “causing worries” and said he’s aware of “concerns, criticisms, expectations.”

Samsung Group scion Jay Y. Lee is poised to become a free man once again. Jailed for a second time in January after a conviction on bribery charges, he was recommended for parole in August and will be released Friday but faces the prospect of returning to prison if convicted in another, ongoing case. Both center on the means Lee used in trying to take control of the company founded by his grandfather, a saga that brought down a South Korean president and reignited public outrage over the cozy re

Samsung Group scion Jay Y. Lee is poised to become a free man once again. Jailed for a second time in January after a conviction on bribery charges, he was recommended for parole in August and will be released Friday but faces the prospect of returning to prison if convicted in another, ongoing case. Both center on the means Lee used in trying to take control of the company founded by his grandfather, a saga that brought down a South Korean president and reignited public outrage over the cozy re

A day before he is released on parole, Samsung scion Lee Jae-yong has appeared in a South Korean court for another trial.

South Korea says it will release billionaire Samsung scion Lee Jae-yong on parole this week after he spent 18 months in prison for his role in a massive corruption scandal that triggered nationwide protests and led to the ouster of the country’s previous president.

The powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has warned that next month’s annual military drills between South Korean and U.S. troops will undermine prospects for better ties between the Koreas, just days after the rivals reopened their long-dormant communication channels.

North Korea isn't at the Tokyo Olympics this summer.

North and South Korea exchanged messages in communication channels that have been dormant for more than a year and agreed to improve ties.

Japan’s “rising sun” flag is a focus of anger at the Olympics, with some in the Koreas, China and other Asian nations calling for it to be banned during the Tokyo Games.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in has decided not to visit Japan for the Tokyo Summer Olympics, citing a failure to set up a summit with Japan's prime minister that would produce meaningful results in improving relations. Moon’s office said Monday that officials from Seoul and Tokyo held talks over longstanding disputes about wartime history and a “future-oriented” development of their relations, but did not find enough common ground to support a summit between their leaders. The countries had been discussing the possibility of Moon visiting Tokyo to participate in the Olympics’ opening ceremony and having talks with Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga about repairing bilateral ties that have sunk to postwar lows in recent years with disputes over history, trade and military cooperation.

South Korea’s Olympic committee says it has removed banners at the Olympic athletes’ village in Tokyo which referred to a 16th-century war between Korea and Japan.

Leaders of Asian Pacific nations have agreed to step up coronavirus vaccination sharing efforts.

South Korea has reported 1,212 new cases, a steep rise in coronavirus infections unseen since the winter outbreak as it slips into another surge while most of its people are still unvaccinated.

South Korea is seeing a steep rise in coronavirus infections unseen since the worst of its outbreak last winter as it slips into another surge while most of its people are still unvaccinated. The 1,212 new cases confirmed by Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency on Wednesday came close to matching its highest daily increase of the pandemic — 1,240 cases reported on Christmas Day. Health experts say the government sent the wrong message to the public by pushing for a premature easing of social distancing despite a steadily rising caseload.

A South Korean court has rejected a claim by dozens of wartime Korean factory workers and their relatives who sought compensation from Japanese companies for their slave labor before the end of World War II.

North Korea says the U.S. allowing South Korea to build more powerful missiles was an example of the U.S.’s hostile policy against the North and could lead to instability.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has vowed an “uncompromising struggle” against anti-socialist elements at home as he tries to fortify his power amid pandemic-related difficulties and U.S.-led economic sanctions.

There's a new vibe at the White House of late: Hugs are in.

President Biden on Friday tapped career U.S. diplomat Sung Kim as his special envoy to North Korea, marking what could be a critical step toward reengaging with Pyongyang.

Pres. Moon Jae-in acknowledged the strong U.S.-South Korean alliance and hailed the Biden administration for its COVID response and economic recovery.

South Korea’s president is first foreign leader to attend ceremony awarding nation’s highest military

In the latest instalment of the White House versus Fox News, press secretary Jen Psaki agreed to call the president’s negotiations with on infrastructure the “Art of the Deal” with one correction – “for working people”. Ms Psaki announced on Friday that Joe Biden’s $2.3 trn spending plan had been reduced to $1.7 trn in the “art of seeking common ground”. Fox News reporter Peter Doocy asked if at some point those negotiations become the “art of the deal”, referencing Donald Trump’s infamous 1987 tome of the same name.

President Joe Biden is awarding his first Medal of Honor to a 94-year-old retired Army colonel for bravery more than a half-century ago in the Korean War.

President Joe Biden says he and South Korean President Moon Jae-in remain “deeply concerned” about the situation with North Korea.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in will meet with President Biden on Friday. He sees this year as representing "the last opportunity to move from an incomplete peace toward one that is irreversible."

President Biden will recognize retired Army Ranger Col. Ralph Puckett Jr. for his acts of valor during his service in the Korean War.

South Korean President Moon Jae-In, who is visiting the White House for talks with President Joe Biden, is scheduled to join the award ceremony.

Pressure is mounting on South Korean President Moon Jae-in to pardon Samsung heir Lee Jae-yong now that he has spent nearly four months in prison after his conviction in a massive corruption scandal.

The reasons for the ongoing global chip shortage, which is set to last into 2022 and possibly 2023, are complex and multifaceted.

A South Korean activist says he launched 500,000 propaganda leaflets by balloon into North Korea in defiance of a new law that criminalizes such actions.

Samsung Electronics says its operating profit for the last quarter jumped 46% from a year earlier driven by increased sales of smartphones and televisions as its business continues to flourish amid the pandemic.

The White House says President Joe Biden will embark on his first overseas trip in office in June.

The mayors of a dozen major U.S. cities, including Los Angeles, New York City and San Diego, are asking President Joe Biden to consult them as the administration studies how to identify and resettle people displaced by drought, rising seas and other effects of climate change.

President Joe Biden is being forced to go virtual for many of his leader-to-leader talks during the coronavirus pandemic, and the resulting Zoom meetings just aren't a natural fit for the back-slapping politician.

The White House says President Joe Biden will host South Korean President Moon Jae-in for meetings in the second half of May.

Two months after President Joe Biden took office, North Korea is again turning to weapons tests to wrest outside concessions. That indicates Washington has a window of engagement before North Korea pursues bigger provocations. Later in 2017, four days after current South Korean President Moon Jae-in was inaugurated, North Korea fired what it called a newly developed, nuclear-capable intermediate-range missile. North Korea could turn to long-range missile and even nuclear tests, which Kim Jong Un suspended when he began engaging diplomatically with Washington. Given its current tensions with Washington, China may not easily agree to more sanctions even if North Korea engages in long-range missile or nuclear tests, analyst Cha said.

The state health department said nearly 17,000 people had filled up four days of appointments for the speedway clinic being held Friday through Monday. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings)SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- California state prisons will soon resume limited in-person visits with inmates more than a year after they were halted because of the coronavirus pandemic. Museums, aquariums, retail businesses and shops, hair salons and personal care businesses can operate at 100% capacity indoors and outdoors. The three joined neighboring Santa Mateo County on Tuesday as the latest Bay Area counties to move into California’s “moderate” tier for coronavirus restrictions. Chicago Department of Public Health Commissioner Dr. Allison Arwady says the biggest driver behind the increase is young adults.

FILE - In this March 2, 2019, file photo, Kim Yo Jong, sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, attends a wreath-laying ceremony at Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum in Hanoi, Vietnam. Her statement was issued on Tuesday, March 16, 2021, as U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin arrived in Asia to talk to U.S. allies Japan and South Korea about North Korea and other regional issues. Kim Yo Jong’s statement was issued as U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin arrived in Asia to talk with U.S. allies Japan and South Korea about North Korea and other regional issues. AdShe said the North would also consider scrapping an office that handled South Korean tours to the North’s scenic Diamond Mountain, which Seoul suspended in 2008 after a North Korean guard fatally shot a South Korean tourist. In the past, the North has often responded with U.S.-South Korea drills with missile tests.

South Korean army K-9 self-propelled howitzers take positions during the annual exercise in Paju, South Korea, near the border with North Korea, Tuesday, June 23, 2020. A South Korean activist said Tuesday hundreds of thousands of leaflets had been launched by balloon across the border with North Korea overnight, after the North repeatedly warned it would retaliate against such actions. AdU.S.-South Korea drills have been a major source of animosities on the peninsula, with North Korea viewing them as invasion rehearsals and responding with its own weapons tests. In January, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un urged the U.S. to withdraw its hostile policy and South Korea to end drills with the U.S., warning the fate of their relations with North Korea depends on how they behave. The government of South Korean President Moon Jae-in, which facilitated the early part of the U.S.-North Korea talks, has been calling for the diplomacy’s restart and greater inter-Korean ties.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in speaks during a ceremony to mark the March First Independence Movement Day, the anniversary of the 1919 uprising against Japanese colonial rule in Seoul, South Korea, Monday, March 1, 2021. “There have been times where issues of the past weren’t separated from those of the future and became intermingled with each other. Those rulings led to further tensions over trade when Japan put export controls on chemicals vital to South Korea’s semiconductor industry. Japan has insisted that all wartime compensation issues were settled under a 1965 treaty normalizing relations with South Korea and it has reacted angrily to South Korean court rulings saying otherwise. There is a risk for further deterioration of the relationship if South Korean courts eventually order the liquidation of local assets of Japanese companies that have refused to compensate forced laborers.

FILE - In this June 16, 2017, file photo, North Korean men and women use computer terminals at the Sci-Tech Complex in Pyongyang, North Korea. Kwon Bo-young, a public relations manager at Pfizer’s South Korean office, said in text message that it was checking Ha’s claim with its global headquarters. AdAcquiring coronavirus vaccines is crucial for North Korea, whose public health care system is in shambles. The current South Korean government of President Moon Jae-in espouses rapprochement with North Korea and a negotiated settlement of the global standoff over North Korea’s nuclear program. Moon was a driving force behind now-dormant nuclear diplomacy between North Korea and the United States.

Lee Yong-soo, a South Korean woman who was sexually enslaved by Japan's World War II military, weeps during a press conference at the Press Center in Seoul, South Korea, Tuesday, Feb. 16, 2021. Lee called for the leaders of both countries to settle an impasse over the issue by seeking judgment from the International Court of Justice. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)SEOUL – A South Korean woman who was sexually enslaved by Japan’s World War II military called for the leaders of both countries to settle an impasse over the issue by seeking judgment from the International Court of Justice. Bilateral tensions over sexual slavery flared again last month when a South Korean court ruled that the Japanese government must give 100 million won ($90,000) to each of 12 victims who filed lawsuits in 2013 over their wartime sufferings. While a lawsuit at the U.N. court could only happen if both countries agree to take their dispute there, it would be illogical for Japan to object when it has already accused South Korean court rulings of violating international law, he said.

In this photo provided by South Korea Presidential Blue House, South Korean President Moon Jae-in talks on the phone with U.S. President Joe Biden at the presidential Blue House in Seoul, in South Korea, Thursday, Feb. 4, 2021. During their first phone talks since President Joe Biden’s Jan. 20 inauguration, South Korean President Moon Jae-in proposed the allies make joint efforts for lasting peace and denuclearization. The two leaders agreed on the need to soon map out a “comprehensive strategy on North Korea if possible,” Moon’s spokesman, Kang Min-seok, said. AdThe U.S., which has about 28,500 troops stationed in South Korea, regularly stages military drills with South Korea. North Korea views such military training and U.S.-led sanctions as proof of American hostility.

(AP Photo/Ahn Young-Joon, File)TOKYO – Japan's foreign minister accused South Korea on Monday of worsening already strained ties by making “illegal” demands for compensation for the sexual abuse of Korean women and use of forced laborers during World War II. Japan, under a 1995 semi-governmental Asian Women’s Fund, offered payments and apology letters to certified victims of its wartime sexual abuse from five countries, settling disputes with all but South Korea. Japan is still calling for appropriate steps by South Korea, while considering all possible options, he said. “We will be watching what actions will be taken by the South Korean side,” Sakai said. ___Associated Press writer Kim Tong-hyung in Seoul, South Korea, contributed to this report.

Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong arrives at the Seoul High Court in Seoul, South Korea, Monday, Jan. 18, 2021. South Korean court sentences Lee to 2 and a half years in prison over corruption case. Samsung didn’t issue a statement over the ruling. Lee Jae-yong helms the Samsung group in his capacity as vice chairman of Samsung Electronics, one of the world’s largest makers of computer chips and smartphones. It isn’t immediately clear what his prison term would mean for Samsung.

South Korea has also set up mobile testing stations and home visits, and can conclude in a matter of hours whether someone has been infected. In the U.S., with six times the population of South Korea, about 2,000 infections had been reported and 43 have died as of Friday. (Lee Jin-man / Associated Press)How South Korea accelerated its coronavirus testing, while early missteps left the U.S. lagging far behind, is a story of flexibility, preparedness and painful lessons from a past fumble. AdvertisementAs luck would have it, last December, the South Korean government held a mock disease response drill under the premise of a coronavirus outbreak. With new clusters being discovered in the densely packed Seoul metropolitan area this week, South Korea still faces challenges.

DUBAI/BEIJING (Reuters) - Irans coronavirus death toll rose to 16 on Tuesday, the highest outside China, increasing its international isolation as dozens of countries from South Korea to Italy accelerated emergency measures to curb the epidemics global spread. Growing outbreaks in Iran, Italy and South Korea are of particular concern. A man wearing a face mask rides a bicycle in Wuhan, the epicentre of the novel coronavirus outbreak, Hubei province, China February 24, 2020. Eurasia consultancys Scott Rosenstein said the bad news from Iran, South Korea and Italy had undercut confidence sustained human-to-human transmission can be limited to China. Markets have responded accordingly.DONT HANG ABOUTAfghanistan, Bahrain, Iraq, Kuwait and Oman reported their first new coronavirus cases, all in people who had been to Iran.

President Donald Trump and North Korea's leader Kim Jong-un stand on North Korean soil while walking to South Korea in the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) on June 30, 2019, in Panmunjom, Korea. South Korean President Moon Jae-in said on Tuesday it was too early to be pessimistic about stalled denuclearisation dialogue between the United States and North Korea, adding that Pyongyang has not yet shut the door to more talks. "Some were concerned about a new round of provocations just in time for Chairman Kim's birthday," Moon said. On Friday, a South Korean official said Trump had asked the South Koreans to pass on birthday greetings to North Korea. Over the weekend, however, North Korea released a statement saying it had already directly received a letter from Trump and ridiculed South Korea for trying to "meddle" in U.S.-North Korea relations.

Trumps willingness to flout all that came before him was welcomed by the leaders of North and South Korea. A very good relationship.... Nobody else would have done that.Three summits, several praise-filled letters and many months later, the U.S. finds itself back in familiar waters with North Korea. Paektu, a place of symbolic and historic importance for North Korea. (AFP via Getty Image)After a hiatus, North Korea has returned to regular testing of ballistic missiles, firing off more than a dozen rounds of short-range missiles this year. Time has been on North Koreas side forever.

South Korea's President Moon Jae-in (L) is welcomed by Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to the G-20 Summit in June 2019. South Korea's president said on Wednesday Japan's export curbs on key materials used by South Korean technology firms could be prolonged, and Seoul will help companies reduce their reliance on Japanese suppliers. Japan said last week it would tighten restrictions on exports of three materials used in smartphone displays and chips, citing a dispute with Seoul over South Koreans forced to work for Japanese firms during World War Two. "We can't rule out the possibility that the situation would be prolonged, despite our diplomatic efforts to resolve the issue," President Moon Jae-in said at a meeting with executives from South Korea's top 30 conglomerates.

When President Trump and North Koreas Kim Jong Un sat down for their historic first summit last June in Singapore, the president of South Korea was 3,000 miles away in Seoul. South Korean authorities would better mind their own internal business, a North Korean foreign ministry official wrote in a statement published this week by state media. The official, Kwon Jong Gun, who heads the ministrys American Affairs section, wrote that there was no role for South Korea in the nuclear talks between the U.S. and North Korea. The negotiation, if any, will be held face to face between the DPRK and the U.S., his statement said, referring to North Korea by its official name, the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea. North Korea was a no-show at the one-year anniversary celebration of last Aprils summit between the Koreas.