SEOUL (Reuters) – Two South Korean military intelligence officers have been indicted on charges of raping a North Korean defector, the South’s defense ministry said on Tuesday. According to Yonhap news agency, the victim filed a criminal complaint last year, a... More »
SEOUL (Reuters) – Day traders seeking help for gambling addiction have tripled in number in South Korea, as COVID-19 social distancing and working-from-home has freed up more time for online stock market trading, data showed. Retail investors, known locally as... More »
SEOUL (Reuters) – One in three South Korean patients seriously ill with COVID-19 showed an improvement in their condition after being given Gilead Sciences Inc’s antiviral remdesivir, health authorities said. More research was needed to determine if the improv... More »
SEOUL (Reuters) – Former team mates of a South Korean triathlete found dead last month after alleging she had been abused by her coaching staff said on Monday athletes endured a living “hell” and were habitually beaten and verbally abused. Choi Suk-hyeon, a me... More »
SEOUL (Reuters) – It is being hailed as a major win for democracy in South Korea. After 16 years in exile, a president this week triumphantly returned to claim his rightful place – on the front of a box of green onion-flavoured cereal. The limited edition of t... More »
SEOUL (Reuters) – Accounts by former U.S. National Security Adviser John Bolton of discussions between leaders of the United States and the two Koreas in his upcoming book are inaccurate and distorted, South Korea said on Monday. Bolton gives details in the bo... More »
SEOUL (Reuters) – Fans of the popular South Korean boy band BTS matched its $1 million donation to Black Lives Matter (BLM) in support of U.S. protests against police brutality, an organisation that runs fundraisers for the fans said on Monday. The K-pop group... More »
SEOUL (Reuters) – The manager of South Korea’s popular boyband BTS has apologised on behalf of one of its members who went to a bar in April, contrary to government advice, just as the country is trying to contain a recent coronavirus outbreak around Seoul’s c... More »
SEOUL (Reuters) – South Korean authorities were combing through mobile phone data, credit card statements and CCTV footage on Tuesday to identify people who visited nightclubs at the centre of one of the capital’s biggest novel coronavirus clusters. More than ... More »
SEOUL (Reuters) – South Korean exports plunged nearly 27% in the first 20 days of April as the coronavirus health crisis paralyzed global manufacturing activity and crushed consumer demand. The worst may be yet to come with many of the country’s top trading pa... More »
SEOUL (Reuters) – South Korea reported on Monday that at least 116 people initially cleared of the new coronavirus had tested positive again, although officials suggested they would soon look at easing strict recommendations aimed at preventing new outbreaks. ... More »
SEOUL (Reuters) – South Korea plans to send 600,000 coronavirus testing kits to the United States on Tuesday in the first such shipment following a request from U.S. President Donald Trump, a Seoul official told Reuters on Monday. Trump made the request for te... More »
SEOUL (Reuters) – South Korea reported fewer than 50 new coronavirus cases for the first time since its peak at the end of February as daily infections in Asia’s largest outbreak outside China continued to trend downward. The Korea Centers for Disease Control ... More »
SEOUL (Reuters) – For student Kim Jin-won, watching his favourite baseball team’s practice games live on YouTube is a rare slice of happiness while stuck at home during South Korea’s social distancing campaign aimed at curbing the spread of the coronavirus. Th... More »
SEOUL (Reuters) – South Korea is struggling to retain its lead in global next-generation 5G telecom services, as the coronavirus pandemic further cools sentiment of consumers whose interest in the technology has waned due to cost and quality concerns. The Asia... More »
SEOUL (Reuters) – A South Korean K-Pop star on Wednesday pulled an April Fool’s prank announcing that he had contracted coronavirus, and later removed the Instagram post after triggering a backlash. Kim Jae-joong, a member of boyband JYJ, posted on his Instagr... More »
SEOUL/GAPYEONG, South Korea (Reuters) – The founder of the church at the center of South Korea’s coronavirus outbreak apologized on Monday after one of its members tested positive for the virus and infected many others, calling the epidemic a “great calamity”.... More »
TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan’s defence ministry said on Monday there was no indication that North Korea projectiles reached Japan’s territory or its exclusive economic zone. South Korea’s defence ministry said earlier North Korea fired two unidentified projectiles ... More »
SEOUL (Reuters) – South Korea reported on Monday 476 new coronavirus cases, taking its national tally to 4,212, as the government of Seoul sought a murder investigation into a controversial church at the center of the country’s outbreak. The new cases followed... More »
SEOUL (Reuters) – South Korea reported 123 new coronavirus cases, taking the country’s total infections to 4,335, the Yonhap news agency said, citing health authorities. The updated numbers added to the 476 recorded earlier by the Korea Centers for Disease Con... More »
SEOUL (Reuters) – Hyundai Motor (005380.KS) reported its lowest monthly global sales in a decade in February as the coronavirus outbreak hurt demand, in what is the first major indicator of damage to the broader auto sector from the epidemic. It turned in a pr... More »
SEOUL (Reuters) – Some South Korean workers at Samsung Electronics (005930.KS) and Hyundai Motor (005380.KS) are staying home as a precautionary measure as corporate Korea scrambles to prevent the coronavirus outbreak from causing widespread disruption in its ... More »
SEOUL (Reuters) – As the new coronavirus spreads in South Korea, private software developers have set up websites and apps to help people track cases and shun places where infected people have been in the hope of avoiding the fast-spreading virus. The governme... More »
SEOUL (Reuters) – South Korean social media erupted in celebration on Monday after the dark comedy “Parasite” became the first non-English language movie to win the Best Picture award, already having netted three other Oscars in a historic first for the countr... More »
SEOUL (Reuters) – South Korea said on Thursday DuPont will invest $28 million in the country to produce advanced photoresists and other materials by 2021, a move that will help reduce its reliance on Japan for the products used in semiconductor manufacturing. ... More »
SEOUL (Reuters) – South Korean and U.S. special forces troops recently conducted drills simulating the infiltration of an enemy facility, U.S. military photos seen by Reuters on Monday show, as tensions with North Korea ratchet up ahead of a year-end deadline.... More »
BEIJING (Reuters) – Stalled denuclearization talks and a recent flare-up in tension between the United States and North Korea are not beneficial for Pyongyang, South Korean President Moon Jae-in told Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing on Monday. North Kor... More »
BEIJING (Reuters) – Chinese President Xi Jinping told South Korean President Moon Jae-in on Monday that China supports South Korea’s efforts to improve ties with North Korea and inject new impetus into promoting peace talks, state television reported. Source: ... More »
TOKYO (Reuters) – Senior Japanese and South Korean trade officials met on Monday for the first time since Japan imposed controls on exports to its neighbor of high-technology materials, plunging testy relations between the U.S. allies into a new crisis. Japan ... More »
SEOUL (Reuters) – U.S. special envoy for North Korea, Stephen Biegun, urged Pyongyang on Monday to return offers of talks, dismissing leader Kim Jong Un’s year-end deadline while highlighting Washington’s willingness to discuss “all issues of interest.” Tensio... More »
INCHEON, South Korea (Reuters) – Stephen Biegun, the U.S. special envoy for North Korea, arrived in South Korea on Sunday as Pyongyang stepped up pressure on Washington to make concessions to revive stalled denuclearization talks ahead of a year-end deadline. ... More »
SEOUL (Reuters) – A South Korean court sentenced a K-pop musician to six years in prison on Friday for raping a woman and distributing a video capturing the act in a case that drew attention to the darker side of the country’s lucrative entertainment industry.... More »
SEOUL (Reuters) – The apparent suicide of a second K-pop artist in a month has cast renewed focus in South Korea on vicious personal attacks and cyber bullying of vulnerable young stars, and how it mostly goes unpunished. The police consider cyber violence a s... More »
SEOUL/TOKYO (Reuters) – South Korea and Japan traded fresh barbs on Monday, just days after agreeing to salvage an important intelligence-sharing pact, highlighting the fragile ties between the former wartime foes and allies of the United States. Officials fro... More »
SEOUL (Reuters) – A former member of South Korea’s top K-pop girl group was found dead on Sunday, the country’s Yonhap news agency reported citing police. The body of Koo Hara, 28, was discovered at her home in southern Seoul, Yonhap said. Police were not imme... More »
SEOUL (Reuters) – North Korean media reported on Monday that leader Kim Jong Un supervised air force drills for the second time in three days, even as the United States and South Korea decided to postpone their joint air drills to ease denuclearisation talks w... More »
SEOUL (Reuters) – South Korean and U.S. officials resumed talks on Monday to narrow a $4 billion gap in how much they want Seoul to pay for the cost of hosting the American military amid public protests of “highway robbery” against sharply increased U.S. deman... More »
SEOUL (Reuters) – The creator of the children’s song “Baby Shark,” which has become a global phenomenon, says the firm is eyeing the Chinese market, where the tune did not quite catch on, with a brand new character featuring dinosaurs. The popular song about a... More »
SEOUL (Reuters) – The South Korean Army has banned the use and possession of liquid e-cigarettes on its bases for health reasons, the military said on Monday, following a government warning for people to stop using the devices. South Korea has a large military... More »
SEOUL (Reuters) – A South Korean service is offering free funerals – but only to the living. More than 25,000 people have participated in mass “living funeral” services at Hyowon Healing Center since it opened in 2012, hoping to improve their lives by simulati... More »
SEOUL (Reuters) – South Korea’s President Moon Jae-in on Monday suggested high-level talks to resolve a deepening political and trade row with Japan during a meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Moon’s spokeswoman said. The two leaders held an 11-m... More »
SEOUL (Reuters) – North Korea and the United States could hold another round of working-level talks as soon as mid-November to expedite progress before a year-end deadline set by Pyongyang, a South Korean lawmaker said on Monday. North Korean and U.S. official... More »
SEOUL (Reuters) – Hyundai Motor Group said on Tuesday that it plans to invest 41 trillion won ($34.65 billion) in mobility technology and strategic investments by 2025, as South Korea’s top automaker accelerates its attempts to catch up in the self-driving car... More »
TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan’s foreign minister Taro Kono will meet his South Korean counterpart, Kang Kyung-wha, in Beijing on Wednesday, a Japanese foreign ministry official said on Monday, amid deteriorating relations between the two East Asian countries. The ta... More »
MADRID (Reuters) – A Spanish businessman has bought a statue symbolizing women forced to work in Japanese military brothels which was removed from an exhibition in Japan after organizers received threats over the piece. The “Statue of a Girl Of Peace” symboliz... More »
SEOUL (Reuters) – South Korea said on Monday it plans to drop Japan from its “white list” of countries with fast-track trade status from September, a tit-for-tat move that deepens a diplomatic and trade rift between the two countries. The tighter trade regulat... More »
TOKYO (Reuters) – Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is unlikely to meet South Korean President Moon Jae-in during the United Nations General Assembly in September, the Sankei newspaper said on Monday, the latest sign of strained ties between the key U.S. alli... More »
TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan is considering taking a dispute with South Korea over its compensation for wartime forced laborers to the International Court of Justice as the deadline for seeking third-country arbitration passes on Thursday, public broadcaster NHK re... More »
SEOUL (Reuters) – South Korea’s President Moon Jae-in has urged Japan to withdraw export controls on high-tech materials bound for South Korea as a row over forced wartime labor threatened to disrupt global supplies of South Korean memory chips and smartphones... More »
TOKYO/SEOUL (Reuters) – Japan will tighten curbs on exports of high-tech materials used in smartphone displays and chips to South Korea amid a growing dispute over South Koreans forced to work for Japanese firms during World War Two, the industry ministry said... More »
SEOUL (Reuters) – Japan’s decision to tighten curbs on tech material exports to South Korea violates World Trade Organization rules and Seoul would respond firmly, a senior official at South Korea’s trade ministry said on Monday. “This export control measure b... More »
TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan plans to tighten restrictions on the export of high-tech material used in smartphones and chips to South Korea from July 4 in connection with a dispute over a South Korean ruling on war-time forced labor, the Sankei newspaper reported o... More »
SEOUL (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump will visit South Korea this week to discuss ways to revive nuclear talks with North Korea, the South’s presidential Blue House said on Monday. Trump is set to start his two-day visit on Saturday, and hold a summit ... More »
SEOUL, (Reuters) – In a panic after a fire has broken out and can’t remember where the fire extinguisher is, let alone how to use it? Worry no more. Now you can simply pick up a vase and throw it to douse the flames. Developed by South Korean ad agency Cheil W... More »
SEOUL (Reuters) – South Korea and Britain have agreed in principle to sign a separate free trade deal ahead of Britain’s exit from the European Union in late October, South Korea’s trade ministry said on Monday. The deal would help South Korea minimize trade u... More »
SEOUL (Reuters) – On a recent weekend night, the dance floor at one of the hottest clubs in Seoul’s swanky Gangnam district held only a few dozen people surrounded by mostly empty tables. A few months ago, the nightclub would have been packed with hundreds of ... More »
SEOUL (Reuters) – North Korea reversed a decision to withdraw its staff from an inter-Korean liaison office by sending some back to work on Monday, South Korea said, in a turnaround that came after U.S. President Donald Trump opted not to impose extra sanction... More »
SEOUL (Reuters) – A member of South Korean K-pop band Big Bang, who goes by the stage name Seungri, has been charged with providing prostitutes to foreign investors in his private club, media reported on Sunday, sending shares of his agency as much as 14 perce... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Donald Trump said on Sunday the reason he wanted to curb military drills with South Korea was to save the United States hundreds of millions of dollars in costs, and suggested it could also reduce tensions with North Korea. “Th... More »
TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan on Wednesday demanded talks with South Korea over a Korean court compensation award against a Japanese company for using forced laborers during World War Two, saying all such claims were settled decades ago. Ties between the Asian neigh... More »
SEOUL (Reuters) – The United States has agreed to help South Korea send flu medication to North Korea, a South Korean official said on Friday, after the United States said it would help deliver aid to the North despite stalled nuclear talks. North Korean leade... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday nominated Admiral Harry Harris, head of the U.S. Pacific Command, as U.S. ambassador to South Korea ahead of a summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un scheduled next month but since called into q... More »
SEOUL (Reuters) – North Korea and South Korea agreed on Tuesday to hold high-level inter-Korea talks on May 16 to discuss steps needed to uphold the pledge to denuclearize the Korean peninsula, South Korea’s Unification Ministry said. The meeting will discuss ... More »
SEOUL (Reuters) – North Korea will invite South Korean reporters from one news agency and from one television broadcaster to observe the dismantling of a nuclear test site between May 23 and May 25, South Korea’s Ministry of Unification said on Tuesday. The So... More »
SEOUL (Reuters) – South Korean police are seeking an arrest warrant for the youngest daughter of Korean Air Lines’ chairman on suspicion of assault during a recent angry outburst, police said on Friday. Cho Hyun-min, the younger sister of the notorious “nut ra... More »
SEOUL (Reuters) – South Korean trust in North Korea has surged since last week’s feel-good summit at which their leaders declared an end to hostilities and to work towards denuclearization of the peninsula. A survey taken on Friday, the day North Korean leader... More »
SEOUL (Reuters) – South Korean President Moon Jae-in said U.S. President Donald Trump deserves a Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to end the standoff with North Korea over its nuclear weapons program, a South Korean official said on Monday. “President Trump s... More »
SEOUL (Reuters) – Smiling and holding hands, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and South Korean President Moon Jae-in met at the heavily fortified demilitarized zone between the countries on Friday, pledging to pursue peace after decades of conflict. Kim became ... More »
SEOUL (Reuters) – The golden doors on the stately North Korean building swung open and leader Kim Jong Un, in a black Mao suit and surrounded by a gaggle of officials, descended the steps toward the border. Not since the 1950-53 Korean War had a North Korean l... More »
SEOUL (Reuters) – North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and South Korean President Moon Jae-in wrapped up the first round of talks on Friday for their countries’ first summit in over a decade, the South’s presidential office said on Friday. Kim and Moon will meet la... More »
SEOUL (Reuters) – General Motors Co’s (GM) South Korean unit dropped a plan for a vote on a bankruptcy filing after reaching a tentative wage deal with its labour union on Monday that helped the U.S. automaker win concessions on pay, bonuses and benefits. GM s... More »
SEOUL (Reuters) – The South Korean government said on Monday it would join forces to help normalize General Motors Co’s South Korean unit. The government said in a statement that it respected a tentative wage deal struck between the company and the union. Sour... More »
DETROIT/SEOUL (Reuters) – General Motors Co’s (GM.N) president said common ground must be reached on a long-term financial restructuring of GM’s South Korean auto unit by next Friday and if there was none, the operation would likely seek bankruptcy protection.... More »
GUNSAN, South Korea (Reuters) – Workers at a rural South Korean factory are busy extracting some of the world’s most coveted metals, used in the batteries that power electric cars. But they’re not digging in the ground or refining ore. Instead, they are sortin... More »
SEOUL (Reuters) – General Motors Co’s South Korean unit has proposed suspending one of two shifts at a plant near Seoul, an internal union newsletter seen by Reuters showed, increasing uncertainty about the fate of the factory as the U.S. automaker grapples wi... More »
FILE PHOTO: North Korean leader Kim Jong Un meets members of the special delegation of South Korea’s President in this photo released by North Korea’s Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on March 6, 2018. KCNA/via Reuters/File Photo SEOUL (Reuters) – North Korea... More »
FILE PHOTO: South Korean Finance Minister Kim Dong-yeon speaks during his inaugural ceremony in Sejong government complex in Sejong, South Korea, June 15, 2017. REUTERS/Kim Hong-Ji SEOUL (Reuters) – South Korea will “deploy all possible means” to respond to U.... More »
FILE PHOTO: The main gate to GM Korea’s Gunsan factory is seen in Gunsan, South Korea February 13, 2018. Yonhap via REUTERS/File Photo SEOUL (Reuters) – South Korea held an initial meeting on Monday for its due-diligence of General Motors’ local unit to decide... More »
FILE PHOTO: South Korean Finance Minister Kim Dong-yeon speaks during his inaugural ceremony in Sejong government complex in Sejong, South Korea, June 15, 2017. REUTERS/Kim Hong-Ji SEOUL (Reuters) – South Korea’s finance minister said on Monday the government ... More »
Members of a civic group attend a protest demanding prosecutors in Gunsan to investigate GM Korea over its decision to shut down a plant in the city, southwest of Seoul, South Korea, March 5, 2018. Yonhap via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS – THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUP... More »
FILE PHOTO – Bank of Korea Governor Lee Ju-yeol speaks during a news conference in Seoul, South Korea, November 30, 2017. REUTERS/Kim Hong-Ji SEOUL (Reuters) – South Korea has reappointed current central bank chief Lee Ju-yeol for another term on Friday, a mov... More »
FILE PHOTO: The main gate to GM Korea’s Gunsan factory is seen in Gunsan, South Korea February 13, 2018. Yonhap via REUTERS/File Photo SEOUL (Reuters) – General Motors’ (GM.N) sales in South Korea slumped 19 percent in February, hurt by its decision to shut do... More »
Feb 16, 2018- Pyeongchang, South Korea- South Korea president Jae-in Moon visit the Olympic Main Press Center. Mandatory Credit: Jerry Lai-USA TODAY Sports SEOUL (Reuters) – South Korean President Moon Jae-in said on Monday General Motors Co’s (GM.N) decision ... More »
FILE PHOTO – Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte (R) speaks with China’s President Xi Jinping over the phone while with Christopher ‘Bong’ Go, Special Assistant to the President, in Davao City, southern Philippines May 3, 2017. Malacanang Photo/Handout via RE... More »
FILE PHOTO: Bitcoin (virtual currency) coins are seen in an illustration picture taken at La Maison du Bitcoin in Paris July 11, 2014. REUTERS/Benoit Tessier SEOUL (Reuters) – South Korea said on Monday that North Korea last year stole cryptocurrency from the ... More »
FILE PHOTO: South Korean Finance Minister Kim Dong-yeon speaks during his inaugural ceremony in Sejong government complex in Sejong, South Korea, June 15, 2017. REUTERS/Kim Hong-Ji SEOUL (Reuters) – South Korea’s finance minister said on Monday that the govern... More »
Smoke rises from a burning hospital in Miryang, South Korea, January 26, 2018. Kim Dong-min/Yonhap via REUTERS MIRYANG, South Korea (Reuters) – Once famous for an award-winning film of the same name, the South Korean city of Miryang became a scene of horror on... More »
SEOUL (Reuters) – North and South Korea agreed to hold working talks on Wednesday on the North sending athletes to next month’s Winter Olympics in the South, Seoul’s unification ministry said, as months-long tensions over the North’s weapons programs ease. The... More »
FILE PHOTO: A Bitcoin logo is seen on a cryptocurrency ATM in Santa Monica, California, U.S., January 4, 2018. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson/File Photo SEOUL (Reuters) – South Korea said on Monday that its plans to ban virtual coin exchanges had not yet been finalize... More »
A man walks past an electric board showing exchange rates of various cryptocurrencies at Bithumb cryptocurrencies exchange in Seoul, South Korea, January 11, 2018. REUTERS/Kim Hong-Ji SEOUL (Reuters) – With a tech-savvy population quick to adopt the latest gad... More »
A portrait and the coffin of Kim Jong-hyun, the lead singer of top South Korean boy band SHINee, is carried during his funeral at a hospital in Seoul, South Korea, December 21, 2017. REUTERS/Kim Hong-Ji SEOUL (Reuters) – Grief-stricken fans braved Seoul’s wint... More »
SEOUL (Reuters) – South Korea’s finance minister said on Monday that relevant ministries are in talks to decide whether trading of bitcoins should be regulated. “We’re looking at its speculative nature, as well as situation in other countries as we review,” Ki... More »
FILE PHOTO: Lee Cook-jong, a South Korean surgeon who operated the defected North Korean soldier with gunshots, speaks during an interview with Reuters at a hospital in Suwon, South Korea, November 23, 2017. REUTERS/Yang Hee-kyong/File Photo SEOUL (Reuters) – ... More »
A flag is pictured outside the Permanent Mission of North Korea in Geneva, Switzerland, November 17, 2017. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse SEOUL (Reuters) – North Korea may conduct additional missile tests this year to polish up its long-range missile technology and r... More »
SEOUL (Reuters) – South Korea on Sunday said it had confirmed an outbreak of highly pathogenic H5N6 bird flu at a duck farm in the south west of the country and raised its bird flu alert level to the highest ranking. The virus was discovered on a farm on Satur... More »
Chinese Premier Li Keqiang called on Tuesday for advancing free trade agreement talks between China, Japan and South Korea, state news agency Xinhua reported. More »
A North Korean soldier shot while defecting to the South has undergone several surgical procedures and is in a critical condition, South Korea's government and military said on Tuesday, with doctors expecting to save him. More »
A South Korean actress is promoting cosmetics on China's biggest online mall, in a subtle sign of easing diplomatic tension that has seen once-ubiquitous South Korean celebrities vanish from Chinese marketing campaigns. More »
South Korea's foreign ministry said Lee Do-hoon, its representative for six-party nuclear talks, and his Chinese counterpart, Kong Xuanyou, will meet in Beijing on Tuesday. More »
South Korea's central bank is expected to raise interest rates for the first time in more than six years at its Nov. 30 meeting, months earlier than previously anticipated, after the economy grew at a robust pace in the third quarter. More »
