31 h. ago Trump warns foreign companies after South Koreans detained in huge US raid

US President Donald Trump on Sunday warned foreign companies to obey US law after immigration officials arrested some 475 individuals including South Korean workers at a Hyundai-LG battery plant being built in the southern state of Georgia. The arrests were made in a raid by US authorities on Thursday during the largest single-site operation implemented so far under Trump’s nationwide anti-migrant drive. “Please respect our Nation’s Immigration Laws,” the president posted on social media...

Events

2 d. ago ‘Deeply concerned’: South Korea vows to support citizens arrested in US raid

South Korean President Lee Jae-myung ordered all-out efforts on Saturday to respond to the arrests of hundreds of the nation’s citizens in a US immigration raid on a Hyundai Motor car battery factory. Foreign Minister Cho Hyun said the government had set up a team to respond to Thursday’s arrest of more than 300 Koreans at the facility in the southern state of Georgia, and that he could go to Washington to meet officials if needed. “I am deeply concerned. I feel heavy responsibility for the...

Events

3 d. ago Seoul expresses ‘concern’ over US immigration raid at Hyundai’s Georgia plant

South Korea on Friday expressed “concern and regret” over a major US immigration raid at a sprawling Georgia site where South Korean auto company Hyundai manufactures electric vehicles. South Korean Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lee Jaewoong described the number of detained South Koreans as “large”, though he did not provide an exact figure. His ministry would not confirm or deny South Korean media reports saying that about 300 South Koreans were detained in Georgia on Thursday. The Atlanta...

Politics

4 d. ago 2 Koreans and a Swiss national among 16 dead in Lisbon tram crash

Portuguese authorities were investigating on Thursday what caused a Lisbon funicular railway popular with tourists to hurtle down a hill, killing at least 16 people and injuring 22 when it crashed into a building. The Prosecutor General’s office said coroners had so far identified the bodies of five Portuguese, two South Koreans and one Swiss national, without disclosing further details of those killed. Portugal’s judicial police chief, Luis Neves, said there was a “high degree of certainty”...

Events

6 d. ago North Korea's Kim and South Korean parliament speaker shake hands in Beijing

North Korea's Kim and South Korean parliament speaker shake hands in Beijing  Reuters

Politics

6 d. ago Trump Issues New Warning to China During Its Military Parade

Trump Issues New Warning to China During Its Military Parade  Newsweek

Events

7 d. ago Former CDC heads say Kennedy Jnr ‘endangering’ all Americans

Nine former leaders of the top US health body sounded the alarm on Monday about the Trump administration’s evisceration of the agency and warned that vaccine sceptic Robert F. Kennedy Jnr is “endangering every American’s health”. The blunt guest essay in The New York Times marks the latest in snowballing attacks on the US health secretary after the director of the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention was recently fired by US President Donald Trump after just weeks in her post. Susan...

Politics

7 d. ago As US adds more semiconductor hurdles, Chinese firms could seize an opportunity

China’s drive for economic self-reliance is raising the spirits and prospects of its semiconductor industry, as insiders expect more home-grown technologies after Washington revoked waivers for some foreign-owned chipmakers’ factories in China to use US technologies in their operations. The Chinese branches of South Korean chipmakers Samsung and SK Hynix, as well as Intel Semiconductor (Dalian), will lose their fast-track status for compliance as “validated end-users”, meaning they will need to...

Politics

8 d. ago Lagarde warns Trump’s Fed meddling poses ‘serious danger’ to world economy

The US Federal Reserve losing its independence would pose a “serious danger” to the world, according to European Central Bank (ECB) President Christine Lagarde. But Lagarde told Radio Classique in an interview on Monday that US President Donald Trump would find it “very difficult” to take control of the US central bank, citing legal precedents that prevent the removal of Fed governors. “If he did manage to do so, I think it would pose a very serious threat to the US economy and the global...

Events

8 d. ago Tesla sees exodus of South Korean retail investors as crypto’s allure rises

South Korea’s retail investors are losing faith in Tesla’s stock, ramping up their selling last month amid growing disillusionment with the electric carmaker and rising interest in cryptocurrencies. Individual investors in South Korea sold a net US$657 million of Tesla stock in August, the largest outflow since at least early 2023, according to Bloomberg calculations of depository data. Investors have instead favoured even more volatile bets such as Bitmine Immersion Technologies, seen as a...

Economics

8 d. ago South Korea’s Samsung, SK Hynix stocks sag after US revokes China chip permits

Shares of Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix slid on Monday after the Trump administration decided to make it harder for the world’s largest memory chipmakers to ship critical equipment to their giant Chinese operations. The surprise ruling deals a potential blow to their production in the world’s largest semiconductor market. While both South Korean companies have memory plants in their home market, China accounts for a major slice of their global output. Samsung sank more than 2 per cent, while...

Politics

9 d. ago North Korean leader irks South and US in alliance with China

North Korean leader irks South and US in alliance with China  The Korea Times

Politics

1 week ago ‘My heart breaks’: North Korea’s Kim comforts families of fallen troops

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un met with the families of soldiers killed fighting for Russia against Ukraine and offered condolences for their “unbearable pain”, state media said on Saturday. Pyongyang has not confirmed the number of its soldiers that died fighting for Russia, though Seoul estimates around 600, with thousands more wounded. South Korean and Western intelligence agencies have said the North sent more than 10,000 soldiers to Russia in 2024 – primarily to the Kursk region – along...

Politics

1 week ago South Korea’s ‘Gangnam Style’ star Psy faces police probe over drug allegations

Psy, the South Korean pop phenomenon whose song “Gangnam Style” became a global hit in 2012, is under police investigation for allegedly obtaining prescription psychotropic drugs through intermediaries, bypassing required in-person hospital consultations. Seoul Seodaemun Police Station confirmed on Thursday that Psy – real name Park Jae-sang – and a university hospital doctor had been arrested on suspicion of violating South Korea’s medical law, according to the Yonhap news agency. The...

Events

1 week ago The risks of South Korea’s gambit for peace on Korean peninsula

In his first Liberation Day address, South Korean President Lee Jae-myung spoke optimistically and promised timely action in inter-Korean affairs. As he addressed the nation on August 15, Lee laid emphasis on peace as the foundation of his administration’s policy towards North Korea, stressing that reconciliation and stability must form the future of inter-Korean relations. However, Pyongyang’s reaction to Lee’s overtures so far has been less than reconciliatory. North Korea has not wavered from...

Events

1 week ago Seoul reluctant on Trump’s push for more flexible US Forces Korea

South Korea’s new president has signalled reluctance to give ground to US President Donald Trump on the role of US forces in Korea in relation to Taiwan, but experts say he may be continually pushed to take a clearer stance in the future. On Sunday, South Korean President Lee Jae-myung told reporters on his flight to Washington for an inaugural summit with Trump that it was difficult to agree to an American demand for strategic flexibility of US Forces Korea (USFK). Lee, who became president in...

Politics

1 week ago Seoul balks at Taiwan role for US troops stationed in South Korea

Seoul may be reluctant to support the White House’s call for South Korea-based US troops to shift their focus from the North to a Taiwan conflict but it might be forced to get behind the strategy, according to analysts. On his way to meet his US counterpart in Washington on Sunday, South Korean President Lee Jae-myung said it would be difficult to agree to an American demand for US Forces Korea (USFK) to have “strategic flexibility”. “This is not an issue we can easily agree with,” said Lee, who...

Politics

1 week ago Trump’s 200% rare earth tariff threat proof of China’s leverage: analysts

Revived threats of tariff increases from US President Donald Trump over China’s supply of rare earth elements highlight the minerals’ importance in global manufacturing, analysts said – and show Beijing its dominance in this area remains a potent source of leverage in trade negotiations. China will face “200 per cent tariffs, or something” unless it continues to ensure shipments of permanent magnets containing the minerals will reach the US, Trump said during a meeting with South Korean...

Politics

1 week ago Pence group warns Trump on China policy: White House ‘mocks the rule of law’ with TikTok account

Pence group warns Trump on China policy: White House ‘mocks the rule of law’ with TikTok account  The Hill

Events

1 week ago The ‘write’ stuff: Trump’s pen praise sends South Korean stock soaring

Shares in a South Korean penmaker surged on Tuesday, an unexpected outcome from the first summit between US President Donald Trump and his counterpart, Lee Jae-myung, in Washington. Lee signed a guest book before entering the Oval Office for talks with Trump, and the handcrafted wooden fountain pen he used caught the US leader’s eye. “Is that your pen? It’s a nice pen. Do you want to take it with you?” Trump said, drawing laughter in the room. “You know, I like it. The writing is beautiful, the...

Politics