South Korea arrests former top officials over 2020 killing
South Koreaโs former defense minister and coast guard chief have been arrested over their alleged involvement in covering up facts and distorting the circumstances surrounding North Koreaโs killing of a South Korean fisheries official in 2020 near the rivalsโ tense sea border.
South Korean celebration of 'Squid Game' Emmy wins subdued
South Koreans shared congratulations on social media for the multiple wins by โSquid Gameโ at the Emmy Awards, but the overall reaction was subdued as the country grows accustomed to its increasingly prominent role in global entertainment.
In S. Korea election, future of foreign policy up for debate
Ahead of the March 9 presidential election in South Korea, major candidates are embroiled in a heated debate over how to address a foreign policy challenges that include the U.S.-China rivalry, North Korea's nuclear threats and badly strained ties with Japan.
South Korea pushes booster shots as COVID-19 spread worsens
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 pandemicโs economic impact.
Ex-prosecutor in SKorea wins opposition presidential ticket
South Koreaโs 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 partyโs hotly contested nomination for next Marchโs presidential election.
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EXPLAINER: Kim's sister leads N. Korea's pressure campaign
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.
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Kim's sister: NKorea willing to talk if Seoul shows respect
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.
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EXPLAINER: Why North Korea wants sanctions lifted first
Days after outgoing South Korean President Moon Jae-in made possibly his last ambitious push to diplomatically resolve the standoff over North Koreaโs 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.
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Thinner, energetic Kim stands out at North Korean parade
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.
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South Korea to release Samsung scion on parole
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 countryโs previous president.
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Kim's sister warns S. Korea-US drills will rekindle tensions
The powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has warned that next monthโs 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.
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The Latest: Mayors ask Biden for consult on climate migrants
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.
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EXPLAINER: What N Korean missile tests mean for US relations
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.
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The Latest: California prisons to resume in-person visits
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 Californiaโs โmoderateโ tier for coronavirus restrictions. Chicago Department of Public Health Commissioner Dr. Allison Arwady says the biggest driver behind the increase is young adults.
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N Korea warns US not to 'cause a stink' before Seoul meeting
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 Jongโs 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 Northโs 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.
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S Korea, US scale back drills over virus, N Korea diplomacy
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 diplomacyโs restart and greater inter-Korean ties.
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Moon: South Korea, Japan must look to future to improve 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. โThere have been times where issues of the past werenโt 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 Koreaโs 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.
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S. Korea spy agency: N. Korea hackers targeted vaccine tech
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 Pfizerโs South Korean office, said in text message that it was checking Haโs 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 Koreaโs nuclear program. Moon was a driving force behind now-dormant nuclear diplomacy between North Korea and the United States.
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S. Korean sexual slavery survivor wants UN court judgment
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 โ A South Korean woman who was sexually enslaved by Japanโs 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.
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Moon, Biden agree to work on joint North Korea strategy
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 Bidenโs 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 โcomprehensive strategy on North Korea if possible,โ Moonโs 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.
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Japan urges South Korea to drop wartime compensation demands
(AP Photo/Ahn Young-Joon, File)TOKYO โ Japan's foreign minister accused South Korea on Monday of worsening already strained ties by making โillegalโ 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 Womenโs 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. โWe will be watching what actions will be taken by the South Korean side,โ Sakai said. ___Associated Press writer Kim Tong-hyung in Seoul, South Korea, contributed to this report.
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SKorean court gives Samsung scion prison term over bribery
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 didnโt 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 worldโs largest makers of computer chips and smartphones. It isnโt immediately clear what his prison term would mean for Samsung.
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Moon urges Biden to learn from Trump's N. Korea diplomacy
South Korean President Moon Jae-in speaks during an on-line New Year press conference with local and foreign journalists at the Presidential Blue House in Seoul, South Korea Monday, Jan. 18, 2021. (Jeon Heon-kyun/Pool Photo via AP)SEOUL โ South Koreaโs president on Monday urged the incoming Biden administration to build upon the achievements and learn from the failures of President Donald Trumpโs diplomatic engagement with North Korea. Biden has accused Trump of chasing the spectacle of summits rather than meaningful curbs on the Northโs nuclear capabilities. And while Moon acknowledged that Biden is likely to try a different approach than Trump, he stressed that Biden could still learn from Trumpโs successes and failures in dealing with North Korea. โThe start of the Biden administration provides a new opportunity to start over talks between North Korea and the United States and also between South and North Korea,โ which have stalled amid the stalemate in nuclear negotiations, Moon said.
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S. Korean court upholds prison term for ex-president Park
FILE - In this Oct. 10, 2017, file photo, former South Korean President Park Geun-hye, left, arrives to attend a hearing on the extension of her detention at the Seoul Central District Court in Seoul, South Korea. South Koreas top court upheld 20-year prison term for Park over corruption on Thursday, Jan. 14, 2021. But the finalizing of her prison term also makes her eligible for a special presidential pardon, a looming possibility as the countryโs deeply split electorate approaches the next presidential election in March 2022. Park originally faced a prison term of more than 30 years before the Supreme Court sent her cases back to a lower court in 2019. Prosecutors appealed after the Seoul High Court handed Park a 20-year term in July last year after merging the two cases.
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The Latest: New Zealand visitors must show negative test
(AP Photo/Pavel Golovkin)WELLINGTON, New Zealand โ New Zealand will soon require that travelers from most countries show negative coronavirus tests before they leave for New Zealand. Public health officials announced plans Monday to replace the stateโs distribution plan and direct providers to concurrently vaccinate high-risk groups. State health officials report more than 13,000 coronavirus patients currently in hospitals statewide, and nearly 30,000 deaths since the pandemic started. ___ATLANTA โ Georgiaโs plan to expand access to the coronavirus vaccine for people over 65 is off to a rocky start. ___AMMAN, Jordan โ Jordan has received its first shipment of the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine before its vaccination drive kicks off this week.
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Asia Today: Virus rules tightened in province near Beijing
Chinese health authorities say scores more people have tested positive for coronavirus in Hebei province bordering on the capital Beijing. (Mu Yu/Xinhua via AP)BEIJING โ Chinese health authorities say scores more people have tested positive for coronavirus in Hebei province bordering on the capital Beijing. The National Health Commission said Monday that another 82 people had tested positive in Hebei and were showing symptoms. Earlier Monday, South Korea reported 451 new virus cases, the first time its daily tally was below 500 in 41 days. Malaysiaโs virus cases have spiraled from just over 15,000 three months ago to 138,224, including 555 deaths.
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After early success, S. Korea sleepwalks into virus crisis
People queue in line to wait for coronavirus testing while maintaining social distancing near a Christmas decoration at Seoul Plaza in Seoul, South Korea on Dec. 18, 2020. But a deadly resurgence has reached new heights during Christmas week, prompting soul-searching on how the nation sleepwalked into a crisis. Officials could decide to increase social distancing measures to maximum levels on Sunday, after resisting for weeks. South Korea plans to secure around 86 million doses of vaccines next year, which would be enough to cover 46 million people in a population of 51 million. Thereโs disappointment the shots arenโt coming sooner, though officials have insisted South Korea could afford a wait-and-see approach as its outbreak isnโt as dire as in America or Europe.
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EXPLAINER: How do other democratic nations select leaders?
SPAINIn Spain, the Congress of Deputies elects the prime minister. In 1996, this led to an awkward situation for the would-be prime minister. As votes were being counted, Jose Maria Aznar's conservative Popular Party thought it won enough seats to make him prime minister. Then, the party that wins the largest number of the 650 constituencies generally takes power, with the party leader becoming prime minister. That means the prime minister must officially be approved by the Queenโs representative in New Zealand, the governor-general.