2 d. ago South Koreans deserve Nobel Peace Prize for stopping martial law, president says

South Korean President Lee Jae-myung on Wednesday praised the citizens who confronted martial law troops a year ago, saying their collective defence of democracy made them worthy of the Nobel Peace Prize. Speaking at a ceremony marking the first anniversary of the attempt by impeached president Yoon Suk-yeol to impose military rule, Lee described the incident as an unprecedented test of South Korea’s democracy that the public overcame peacefully. “I am convinced that we, the people of the...

Politics

3 d. ago Seoul Shouldn't Take Sides Between Japan And China: South Korea President

Seoul Shouldn't Take Sides Between Japan And China: South Korea President  Barron's

Politics

3 d. ago South Korean lawmakers push for special court as distrust of judiciary grows

A year after former president Yoon Suk-yeol declared martial law, South Korea’s ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) is pushing ahead with a bill to create a separate court dedicated to handling cases linked to the decree, in response to widespread public distrust of what critics describe as a “biased” judiciary. President Lee Jae-myung warned on social media ahead of the December 3 anniversary of the decree: “If we leave hidden acts of insurrection as they are, insurrection will certainly...

Events

3 d. ago South Korea proposes special court to address ‘mockery of judicial process’

A year after former president Yoon Suk-yeol declared martial law, South Korea’s ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) is pushing ahead with a bill to create a separate court dedicated to handling cases linked to the decree, in response to widespread public distrust of what critics describe as a “biased” judiciary. President Lee Jae-myung warned on social media ahead of the December 3 anniversary of the decree: “If we leave hidden acts of insurrection as they are, insurrection will certainly...

Events

1 week ago South Korea's President Lee meets Chinese Premier, Japan PM at G20 summit

South Korea's President Lee meets Chinese Premier, Japan PM at G20 summit  Reuters

Politics

1 week ago How South Korea’s nuclear sub deal with US could torpedo inter

South Korea, under President Lee Jae-myung, has repeatedly proclaimed its desire to improve relations and re-engage in diplomacy with North Korea. Yet a landmark agreement with Washington formalised last week reveals a starkly different priority: advancing military capabilities that will almost certainly drive the two Koreas further apart. The United States has officially approved South Korea’s pursuit of nuclear-powered submarines while supporting Seoul’s efforts to secure uranium enrichment...

Events

1 week ago BREAKING NEWS: No contact with China's Premier Li on sidelines of G20 summit: PM Takaichi

BREAKING NEWS: No contact with China's Premier Li on sidelines of G20 summit: PM Takaichi  Japan Wire by KYODO NEWS

Politics

1 week ago South Korea’s US nuclear sub deal risks roiling East Asia’s waters

South Korea is set to acquire nuclear-powered attack submarines with US approval and assistance, according to a joint fact sheet last week. That approval came following a meeting at the end of October between South Korean President Lee Jae-myung and US President Donald Trump in Gyeongju. The agreement allows South Korea to build its first nuclear-powered attack submarines, which will be conventionally armed and powered by highly enriched uranium the United States will help source. It also...

Events

2 w. ago ‘Wipe them out’: Yoon’s dictatorial mindset evident before martial law attempt

South Korea’s former president Yoon Suk-yeol may have begun laying the ideological groundwork for a self-coup long before his failed attempt to impose martial law last December, according to newly disclosed legal documents. Political analysts say the revelations suggest Yoon’s push for emergency rule was not a sudden response to security tensions, but part of a long-standing pattern of authoritarian inclinations dating back to his early political career and even his years as a...

Politics

2 w. ago ‘Hostile to the end’: North Korea’s shock at US subs approval sinks talk hopes

North Korea is expected to remain largely impervious to Western diplomatic overtures for the foreseeable future as it rails against its rivals’ “hostile” policies. On Tuesday, North Korean state media denounced last month’s summit between US President Donald Trump and South Korean President Lee Jae-myung as proof of the “confrontational will” of its adversaries to “remain hostile to the end”. The North was taken aback by the outcomes of the Trump–Lee summit, according to Professor Cho Han-bum...

Events

2 w. ago China premier won’t meet Japan PM at G20, says Chinese foreign ministry

China premier won’t meet Japan PM at G20, says Chinese foreign ministry  104.1 WIKY

Politics

2 w. ago Beijing rejects G20 Japan meeting with Premier Li amid deepening Taiwan row

China continued a diplomatic chill with Japan over the weekend by ruling out a leaders’ meeting at the coming G20 summit in South Africa amid heightened tensions. “I can tell you that Premier Li Qiang does not have a meeting arrangement with Japanese leaders,” Mao Ning, a spokeswoman for China’s foreign ministry, said in response to a question at a regular media briefing on Monday. The G20 summit, to be held on November 22 and 23, could potentially set the stage for Li to meet his Japanese...

Politics

2 w. ago ‘Workplaces of death’: South Korean president’s childhood fuels crackdown

South Korean Kim Yong-ho thought he would die within seconds after a 200kg (441lbs) industrial press at a Hyundai Steel plant sprang to life during maintenance and crushed his legs and back. It was 2019, and Kim said he thought the heavy machinery around him had been switched off as he made repairs. “I was flattened like a squashed frog in a roadkill,” he said. “I couldn’t breathe for a few seconds.” A quick-thinking colleague saved his life by alerting the machine’s operator, said Kim, now...

Politics

3 w. ago Trump’s call to restart nuclear tests a reckless redefining of deterrence

US President Donald Trump’s recent call for the military to immediately restart nuclear weapons testing, apparently ending a 33-year moratorium that began under president George H.W. Bush in 1992, has sent shock waves across the globe. The announcement was made via social media moments before the much-anticipated meeting between Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping in Busan, South Korea, on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) summit, the first meeting between the...

Politics

3 w. ago Trump’s nuclear turn risks upsetting fragile global strategic balance

US President Donald Trump’s recent call for the military to immediately restart nuclear weapons testing, apparently ending a 33-year moratorium that began under president George H.W. Bush in 1992, has sent shock waves across the globe. The announcement was made via social media moments before the much-anticipated meeting between Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping in Busan, South Korea, on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) summit, the first meeting between the...

Events

3 w. ago South Korea’s Yoon accused of goading North into conflict to justify martial law

South Korea’s former president Yoon Suk-yeol, removed from office and arrested earlier this year for attempting to impose martial law, is facing new charges alleging he sought to provoke North Korea to justify his failed power grab. Prosecutors say Yoon and senior aides orchestrated risky military operations near the border to draw a retaliation from Pyongyang, which they hoped would legitimise the emergency decree Yoon signed on December 3 while still in office. Those operations allegedly...

Events

3 w. ago ‘Create instability’: Yoon accused of provoking North Korea to justify coup

South Korea’s former president Yoon Suk-yeol, removed from office and arrested earlier this year for attempting to impose martial law, is facing new charges alleging he sought to provoke North Korea to justify his failed power grab. Prosecutors say Yoon and senior aides orchestrated risky military operations near the border to draw a retaliation from Pyongyang, which they hoped would legitimise the emergency decree Yoon signed on December 3 while still in office. Those operations allegedly...

Politics

3 w. ago South Korea’s new president is fixing relations with America, Japan and China

South Korea’s new president is fixing relations with America, Japan and China  The Economist

Politics

4 w. ago ‘Interest surged’: Canada travel searches spike in China as group tours resume

Beijing’s decision to allow group travel to Canada to resume for the first time since the Covid-19 pandemic has sparked a surge in interest in visiting the country among Chinese consumers, with Chinese travel platforms recording a jump in related searches. China announced it was ending the group tour ban in early November, just days after Chinese President Xi Jinping met Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney in South Korea and called for relations between the two countries to get “back onto the...

Politics

4 w. ago North Korea prepared for war after South’s drone mission to Pyongyang: report

South Korea flew military drones over Pyongyang just weeks before then-president Yoon Suk-yeol declared martial law last December, a provocation that triggered North Korea to prepare for war, according to Seoul’s defence intelligence agency. The revelation, disclosed in a closed-door parliamentary briefing on Wednesday, adds to mounting scrutiny over Yoon’s final months in office, with opposition lawmakers accusing him of attempting to fabricate a national security crisis to justify an...

Events