Page 12 - South Korea

Leaders of South Korea, Japan agree to work towards improving partnerships

The leaders of South Korea and Japan agreed to accelerate efforts to mend ties frayed over Japan's past colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula as they held their countries' first summit talks in nearly three years on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, both governments announced Thursday. The meeting occurred after Tokyo denied Seoul's earlier announcement they had agreed on the summit, in a sign of the delicate nature of their current relations. During their 30-minute meeting in New York on Wednesday, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida shared the need to improve bilateral ties and agreed to instruct their respective diplomats to step up talks for that, Yoon's office said in a statement. Kishida's office confirmed the hotel meeting. A separate Japanese Foreign Ministry statement said the two leaders agreed to promote cooperation between the two countries as well as with the United States. It said the leaders shared the need to restore

South Korean govt to ease mask, social distancing regulations next month

As the number of new Covid-19 cases decreases in South Korea, the government is actively considering easing distancing regulations

Wealthy nations must share technology with developing world: S Korean prez

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol stressed the need for wealthy nations to share their advanced technologies and innovations with developing countries, particularly when it comes to closing the education gap and fighting infectious diseases. In the era of digital sophistication, one of the most urgent tasks for the global community and the UN is promoting global cooperation to narrow the digital divide which exacerbates polarisation between nations, Yoon told leaders gathered in New York Tuesday for the UN General Assembly. Yoon said his country will continue to widely share its advanced digital technology and data, and spare no effort in providing support and in investing in education. He also noted that South Korea has helped accelerate research and development for COVID-19 therapeutics and vaccines by pledging $300 million toward the ACT-A, a global initiative that pools together resources from governments, health organisations, scientists, businesses and philanthropists to ..

S Korean President arrives in NY to attend UNGA; set to meet Japanese PM

South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol has arrived in New York to attend the UN General Assembly and hold a series of summits, including a highly anticipated meeting with Japanese Prime Minister

South Korea to slaughter some 7,000 pigs amid new African swine fever case

South Korea will slaughter some 7,000 pigs to try to stem the spread of African swine fever (ASF) following a new outbreak at a local farm, the agriculture ministry said on Monday.

S Korea's new Covid-19 cases fall below 40,000 amid virus slowdown

South Korea's new Covid-19 cases fell for the fourth consecutive day to below 40,000 on Sunday as the spread of the virus slows down

South Korea's unemployment rate hits all-time low in August, says data

The number of employed people stood at 28.41 million in August, up 807,000 from a year earlier, according to the data compiled by Statistics Korea

China's legislator to meet S Korea leaders for talks on Seoul-Beijing ties

China's top legislator was set to meet South Korean leaders including new President Yoon Suk Yeol in Seoul on Friday, as Yoon's push to buttress a military alliance with Washington has caused concerns that it could hamper Seoul's ties with Beijing. Li Zhanshu, third in the Chinese Communist Party hierarchy and one of President Xi Jinping's closest confidants, is the highest-level Chinese official to visit South Korea since his predecessor came here in 2015. Li's trip is seen as part of Beijing's efforts to boost ties with neighboring countries ahead of a Communist Party congress next month that will likely grant Xi a third five-year term as leader. Li's visit is also crucial for Yoon's government as it wants to assure Beijing that its push to reinforce the U.S. alliance and participations in US-led regional initiatives won's target China, its biggest trading partner. Li, chairman of the standing committee of China's National People's Congress, heads a 66-member Chinese delegation to

Typhoon Nanmadol to affect South Korea from Sunday, says weather agency

After passing through the East China Sea, the typhoon is forecast to make landfall in northern parts of Japan's Kyushu on September 19 before moving out to the sea the following day

Samsung shifting from fossil fuels for 100% clean energy operations by 2050

Samsung Electronics is shifting away from fossil fuels and aiming to entirely power its global operations with clean electricity by 2050, a challenging goal that experts say could be hampered by South Korea's modest climate change commitments. South Korea-based Samsung is a top producer of computer memory chips and smartphones and, by some estimates, the biggest energy consumer among hundreds of global companies that have joined the RE100 campaign to get 100 per cent of electricity from renewable sources like wind or solar power. In announcing its target on Thursday the company said it aims to achieve net zero carbon emissions across its mobile device, display panel and consumer electronics divisions by 2030, and across all global operations including semiconductors by 2050. It plans to invest 7 trillion won (USD 5 billion) through 2030 on projects aimed at reducing emissions from process gases, controlling and recycling electronic waste, conserving water and minimizing pollutants.

South Korea's privacy watchdog fines Google, Meta over privacy violations

South Korea's privacy watchdog has fined Google and Meta a combined 100 billion won (USD 72 million) for tracking consumers' online behavioUr without their consent and using their data for targeted advertisements. T South Korea's Personal Information and Protection Commission said it fined Google 69.2 billion won (USD 50 million) and Meta 30.8 billion won (USD 22 million) after a meeting where officials agreed that the companies' business practices might cause serious privacy infringements. The fines were the biggest ever penalties imposed by South Korea for privacy law violations, the commission said in a press release. According to the commission, Google and Meta, which operates Facebook and Instagram, didn't clearly inform users or obtain their consent as they collected and analySed information about their online usage patterns and used the data they gathered to create individually customised advertisements. The commission ordered the companies to provide an easy and clear proce

South Korean won tumbles to over 13-year low following US inflation data

The local currency had been trading at 1,390.9 won against the US dollar as of 11 a.m. (local time), down 17.3 won from the previous session's close, reports Yonhap News Agency

South Korean govt faced 560K foreign hacking attempts in past 6 years

558,674 hacking attempts into key government computer systems were detected between 2017 and July this year

S Korean President to attend Queen Elizabeth's funeral in London next week

South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol plans to attend the funeral of Britain's late Queen Elizabeth II set to be held in London next week, his office has announced

Samsung begins operation of mega chip manufacturing line in South Korea

Samsung, the world's largest memory chip maker, said it has begun foundation work for yet another manufacturing line, P4, at its Pyeongtaek's mega 2.9 million-square-meter campus

South Korea proposes meeting with North on war-affected family reunions

South Korea on Thursday proposed a meeting with North Korea to resume reunions of families separated by war, despite long-strained ties between the rivals over the North's nuclear weapons programme. It's unclear if North Korea would accept the offer because it has already rejected the new South Korean government's offer to provide massive aid in return for denuclearisation. The South and the North should confront the painful parts of the reality. We must solve the matter before the term separated families' disappears, Unification Minister Kwon Youngse said in a televised briefing. We need to use all possible means immediately to come up with quick and fundamental measures. Kwon said South Korea hopes that responsible officials of the two Koreas will meet in person as soon as possible for a candid discussion. Since the 1950-53 Korean War ended, the two Koreas have been banning millions of people who found themselves suddenly divided from visiting each other's territory across the .

Typhoon Hinnamnor leaves 20,000 homes without power in South Korea

Thousands of people were forced to evacuate in South Korea as Typhoon Hinnamnor made landfall in the country's southern regions on Tuesday, unleashing fierce rains and winds that destroyed trees and roads, and left more than 20,000 homes without power. A 25-year-old man went missing after falling into a rain swollen stream in the southern city of Ulsan, according to the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, which didn't immediately report more casualties. Fires were reported at a major steel plant operated by POSCO in the southern city of Pohang, but it wasn't immediately clear whether they were caused by the storm. Government officials have put the nation on alert about potential damages from flooding, landslides and tidal waves unleashed by Hinnamnor, which they said would be the most powerful storm to hit the country in years. The storm came just weeks after capital Seoul and nearby regions were battered by heavy rainfall that unleashed flashfloods and killed at least 14 ...

South Korea expected to become world's most aged country in 2044, says data

The proportion of senior citizens in South Korea is forecast to account for 36.7 per cent of the total population in 2044, outstripping the world's most aged country of Japan with 36.5 per cent

Flights grounded, 200 evacuated in South Korea as Typhoon Hinnamnor nears

Hundreds of flights were grounded and more than 200 people evacuated in South Korea on Monday as Typhoon Hinnamnor approached the country's southern region with heavy rains and winds of up to 290 kilometres per hour, the strongest storm in decades. South Korea's weather agency said the country will start to feel the full force of Hinnamnor, the strongest global storm this year, by early on Tuesday when it is forecast to graze the southern resort island of Jeju before making landfall near the mainland city of Busan. Government officials raised concern about potentially huge damage from flooding, landslides and tidal waves. President Yoon Suk Yeol during an emergency response meeting on Monday urged maximum effort to prevent casualties. Prime Minister Han Duk-soo called for proactive efforts to evacuate residents in areas vulnerable to flooding. As of Monday afternoon, Hinnamnor was over the open sea 290 kilometres southwest of Jeju. It has dumped 46 centimetres (18 inches) of rain

S Korea halts flights, ferries as 'strongest typhoon' Hinnamnor approaches

Super Typhoon Hinnamnor has gradually moved northward to reach waters off South Korea's southern island of Jeju as the country braces for what could be the most powerful storm ever