South Korea

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1.5K Trash Balloons Have Descended on South Korea

Hundreds arrived with favorable winds this week

(Newser) - Flights in and out of Incheon, South Korea, were paused for hours early Wednesday when balloons presumably sent by North Korea began descending on the city's airport. More than 1,500 balloons carrying trash, excrement , dirt, worms, and "slashed 'western' clothes" have landed across the country since...

North Korea's Missile Launch Ended in Explosion, Says South

South Korea says suspected hypersonic missile launch failed

(Newser) - A suspected hypersonic missile launched by North Korea exploded in flight on Wednesday, South Korea's military said, a development that comes as North Korea is protesting the regional deployment of a US aircraft carrier for a trilateral military drill with South Korea and Japan. South Korea's Joint Chiefs...

22 Die in Fire at Lithium Battery Factory

Fire extinguishers failed to put out blaze at South Korea plant, officials say

(Newser) - A fire likely sparked by exploding lithium batteries swept through a factory near South Korea's capital on Monday, killing 22 people, mostly Chinese migrant workers, and injuring eight, officials said. The fire began after batteries exploded while workers were examining and packaging them on the second floor of the...

After Kim-Putin Deal, US Dispatches Carrier Strike Group

Theodore Roosevelt will take part in exercises with South Korea, Japan

(Newser) - A nuclear-powered US aircraft carrier arrived Saturday in South Korea for a three-way exercise involving Japan for stepped-up military training to cope with North Korean threats, which have escalated following the announcement of a security pact with Russia. The arrival of the USS Theodore Roosevelt strike group in Busan came...

South Korea May Relent on Selling Weapons to Ukraine

Possible reconsideration of weapons policy comes in response to Russia-North Korea pact

(Newser) - South Korea is not taking North Korea and Russia's newly cemented partnership lightly. Shortly after Vladimir Putin stated that the deal provides for "mutual assistance in the event of aggression against one of the parties," Seoul on Thursday said it was "planning to reconsider the issue...

Report: North Korea Is Building a Wall in the DMZ

Seoul says North Korean troops have stepped up activity in area

(Newser) - It's not big, it's not beautiful, and Mexico certainly won't be paying for it, but North Korea appears to be building a wall near its southern border. The BBC says high-resolution satellite images from a stretch of the Demilitarized Zone between North and South Korea show that...

South Korean Troops Fire More Warning Shots After 2nd Border Violation

North Korean soldiers once again did not return fire

(Newser) - South Korean soldiers fired warning shots to repel North Korean soldiers who temporarily crossed the rivals' land border Tuesday morning for the second time this month, South Korea's military said. South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said around 20 to 30 North Korean soldiers, while engaging in unspecified...

Denmark Recalls Spicy Noodles Over 'Acute Poisoning' Risk

They're recalled despite, apparently, no actual problems having been reported

(Newser) - Food authorities in Denmark have recalled three types of spicy instant noodle products imported from South Korea over possible risks for "acute poisoning," the AP reports. Consumers are asked to discard them or return the noodles to the retailer. The noodles are made by Seoul-based Samyang Foods, one...

After Balloon Battle, S. Korea Says North Is Setting Up Speakers

Says North Korea is installing its own propaganda loudspeakers along the border

(Newser) - South Korea's military on Monday said it's detecting signs that North Korea is installing its own loudspeakers along their heavily armed border, a day after the South blared anti-Pyongyang propaganda broadcasts for the first time in years as the rivals engage in Cold War-style psychological warfare. The South'...

Neighbors Again Trade Balloons
Neighbors Again Trade Balloons
Jun 8, 2024 12:40 PM CDT

Neighbors Again Trade Balloons

North Korea's launch follows neighbor's leaflet dump

(Newser) - North Korea resumed flying balloons on Saturday in a likely attempt to drop trash on South Korea again, South Korea's military said, two days after Seoul activists floated their own balloons to scatter propaganda leaflets in the North. Animosities between the two Koreas have risen recently because North Korea...

North Korea: We've Made Our Point With Balloon Drop

The 260 large white balloons held bags said to contain excrement

(Newser) - A top defense official said North Korea will "temporarily halt dropping trash over the border" in balloons after South Korea promised "unendurable measures" in retaliation. "We've let the South Koreans experience enough of how dirty it feels and how much joint effort it takes to clean...

Two-Timing Tycoon Ordered to Pay Ex-Wife $1B in Cash

It's South Korea's largest ever divorce settlement

(Newser) - Divorce can be expensive, especially when you're a billionaire found to have fathered a child with your lover behind the back of your wife of 35 years. Such is the case for Chey Tae-won, chairman of SK Group, South Korea's second-largest conglomerate. A decade after his marriage dissolved,...

South Korea's Climate Policy Challenged by a Fetus

Constitutional Court to rule on landmark case alleging violation of human rights

(Newser) - What right does a child, even a fetus, have to grow up in a healthy environment? It's a question at the heart of "the first lawsuit to challenge national climate policies in East Asia," per Nature . Resulting from the merger of four separate lawsuits filed between 2020...

There's a Move to Get Lonely Beluga Out of 'Unethical' Home

Animal rights activists are fighting for release of Bella, housed in a shopping mall aquarium in Seoul

(Newser) - Efforts have kicked up again to "free Bella," a beluga whale housed in an aquarium in a South Korean shopping mall. Bella was caught in 2013 at the tender age of 2 in the Arctic Ocean, off the coast of Russia, and along with two other male belugas...

Kim Jong Un Finding New Ways to Vent Against South
Kim's New Tactic Against
South Korea: Removing Lights
in case you missed it
May 12, 2024 3:15 PM CDT

Kim's New Tactic Against South Korea: Removing Lights

North Korean leader has streetlights removed from inter-Korean roads

(Newser) - Amid bombastic threats of war, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has found a much smaller-scale way to vent against South Korea. He had crews remove streetlights from the only remaining roads that connect the two countries, reports the Korea Herald . The pair of inter-Korean roads were built about 20...

K-Pop Star at Center of Boyfriend Brouhaha Has News

Karina, who faced scolding and threats for relationship, has split with Lee Jae-wook

(Newser) - The relationship that roiled South Korea is over. Yonhap reports K-pop star Karina and her beau, actor Lee Jae-wook, have parted ways, just a few weeks after they took their pairing public, to much backlash. "Lee decided to end the relationship to focus on the work that he is...

Crew Called for Help, Then the Tanker Capsized

South Korean vessel carrying acrylic acid ran into rough seas

(Newser) - A South Korean chemical tanker capsized off an island in southwestern Japan on Wednesday, authorities said, killing eight people on board. One crew member survived, while the fate of two others was unknown, reports the AP . Officials said the tanker was carrying 980 tons of acrylic acid, a corrosive organic...

The Lowest Fertility Rate in the World Just Got Lower—Again

Incentives fail to counter South Korea's 'national emergency'

(Newser) - South Korea's "national emergency" of declining births was only exacerbated in 2023 as the world's lowest fertility rate fell further. The average number of babies expected to be born to a woman during her reproductive life fell from 0.78 in 2022 to a new record low...

3 Officials Guilty in Case Tied to Deadly Halloween Crush

They were found to have destroyed evidence in the South Korean case

(Newser) - Wednesday brought the first convictions in connection with the 2022 Halloween crowd surge in Seoul that killed almost 160 people. Three former police officers were found guilty of destroying documents—including an internal report that warned of crowd-related accidents during the festivities—they feared could lead to police being held...

Symbol of Hope for Peace Between Koreas Is No More

North Korea's Arch of Reunification comes down, escalating tensions

(Newser) - In a further sign that North Korea is abandoning decades-old policy geared toward reuniting with the South, a symbol of hope for peace and reunification has come down. Standing 100 feet tall, the Arch of Reunification, built in Pyongyang in 2000 following an inter-Korean summit, depicted two women, one from...

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