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☆ At the Home of BTS, Turmoil Over a Rising K-Pop Star
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-12 | by ( Jin Yu Young | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The video had none of the hallmarks of K-pop. But it included screenshots of chats between two power players in the industry and instantly became the talk of the K-pop world. It was the live broadcast of a two-hour emotional tell-all delivered last month by Min Hee-Jin, the producer of NewJeans, arguably today’s hottest K-pop act. She had called a news conference to dispute accusations of corporate malfeasance by her employer, Hybe, the K-pop colossus behind BTS. And it has cast a cloud over Hybe’s relationship with a rising star, NewJeans, while its biggest act, BTS, is on hiatus.

Persons: Min Hee, Jin, NewJeans, —

☆ Airline Agrees to Pay $79 Million After Selling Tickets for Canceled Flights
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-06 | by ( Jin Yu Young | More About Jin Yu Young | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Qantas, Australia’s national airline, said on Monday that it had reached a deal with the country’s consumer watchdog to pay the equivalent of $79 million for selling thousands of tickets to flights that it had already canceled. The airline said in a statement that the payments, totaling 120 million Australian dollars, would resolve a lawsuit that the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission filed against Qantas over the issue last year. The commission accused the airline of advertising and selling tickets for more than 8,000 canceled flights from May 2021 through July 2022. The commission said Qantas had known that the flights would never take off, and that tickets remained available for an average of over two weeks after the flights were canceled — in some cases, for as long as 47 days. Qantas said it expected to pay 20 million Australian dollars in compensation to more than 86,000 of its customers, as well as a fine of 100 million dollars, subject to court approval.

Organizations: Qantas, Australia’s, Australian Competition, Consumer Commission

☆ Teenager Fatally Shot by Australian Police After He Stabbed a Man
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-05 | by ( Jin Yu Young | More About Jin Yu Young | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The police in Perth, Australia, fatally shot a 16-year-old boy who had stabbed a man in a parking lot and who officials said had been on their radar for suspicion of having extremist tendencies. Members of the public had also alerted the police that the teenager was wielding a knife, and officers were dispatched to the scene. A mass stabbing in a shopping mall in Sydney killed six people and injured at least a dozen on April 13. On Saturday in Perth, the two officers who arrived to confront the teenager drew their tasers and a firearm, Commissioner Blanch said. They tried to convince him to drop his knife, but he did not comply and rushed at one of the officers.

Persons: Col Blanch, Blanch Organizations: Police Locations: Perth, Australia, Western Australia, Sydney

☆ Frustrated South Koreans Blame President in Standoff With Doctors
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-01 | by ( Jin Yu Young | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Eun Sung injured her right thumb in a fall in March and needed surgery to fix a torn ligament. But scheduling one has been difficult even though she lives in one of the most developed nations in the world, South Korea. For more than two months, South Korea’s health care system has been in disarray because thousands of doctors walked off the job after the government proposed to drastically increase medical school admissions. But one thing has changed: Public opinion has turned against the government of President Yoon Suk Yeol. A majority of respondents in a recent poll said that the government should negotiate with the doctors to reach an agreement quickly or withdraw its proposal.

Persons: Eun Sung, ”, Sung, Yoon Suk Locations: South Korea, Seoul

☆ 2 Police Officers Are Killed in Shootout Near Syracuse, N.Y.
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-15 | by ( Jin Yu Young | More About Jin Yu Young | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

Two police officers were killed in a shootout on Sunday evening as they investigated a stolen vehicle in an upstate New York town near Syracuse, the authorities said. The two officers were investigating a parked vehicle in Salina, N.Y., when a suspect shot at them, Syracuse Police Chief Joseph L. Cecile told reporters early Monday morning. Several people were shot in the ensuing shootout, including an officer from the Syracuse Police Department, a sheriff’s deputy from Onondaga County and one male suspect, the police said. Those three were later pronounced dead at a nearby hospital. Earlier in the evening, around 7 p.m.., two Syracuse officers tried to stop what they had determined to be a suspicious vehicle, but the driver drove off, the police said.

Persons: Joseph L, Cecile Organizations: Syracuse Police, Syracuse Police Department, Syracuse Locations: New York, Syracuse, Salina , N.Y, Onondaga County

☆ Israel Faced a Sophisticated Attack From Iran
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-14 | by ( Jin Yu Young | More About Jin Yu Young | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

The weapons Iran used on Saturday can travel much farther, and some of them can travel much faster. Still, Israel said that nearly all of the missiles and drones that Iran fired were intercepted, many with help from U.S. forces. In Saturday’s attack, 185 drones, 36 cruise missiles and 110 surface-to-surface missiles were fired toward Israel, according to Israeli military officials. It has a range of more than 1,200 miles — plenty to reach Israel from Iran. In recent decades, Iran has largely been focused on deterrence, long-range missiles, drones and air defenses.

Persons: Israel, Fabian Hinz, Jeffrey Lewis Organizations: Hamas, Islamic, Fajr, International Institute for Strategic Studies, Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, Iraqi Popular Mobilization Forces, International Security, U.S . State Department Locations: Iran, Israel, U.S, Iraq, Yemen, Berlin, United States, Vietnam

A Palestinian man inspecting damage on Saturday after Israeli settlers attacked the village of Al Mughayir, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. The Israeli military announced on Saturday that it would bolster its forces in the West Bank with additional companies and police. Israeli settlers, some of them armed, entered the villages, the official added, and there were reports that they had opened fire. At one point, “rocks were hurled” at Israeli soldiers, leading them to open fire in response, the Israeli military said. Last February, an attack by Israeli settlers devastated the Palestinian town of Huwara in the northern West Bank.

Persons: Al Mughayir, Binyamin Achimair, Yesh Din, Abu Aliya —, Amin Abu Aliya, Binyamin’s, Naser Dawabsheh, “, ”, Na’asan Na’asan, Shaul Golan, Golan, Biden, Binyamin, Abu Aliya, Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel, Yair Lapid, ” Mr, Na’asan Organizations: West Bank ., West Bank, United Nations, Duma Locations: Al, Palestinian, Ramallah, torching, East Jerusalem, Gaza, Al Mughayir, “, Israel, Huwara, West Bank

☆ As Doctors’ Walkout Drags On, Some South Koreans Are Losing Patience
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-04 | by ( Jin Yu Young | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Six weeks after thousands of residents and interns at South Korean hospitals walked off the job, frustration is rising. Nurses have taken on duties usually performed by physicians, and military doctors have been deployed to public health centers. The young doctors who walked out in February to protest that plan say it wouldn’t solve the health care system’s problems. But many people are also exasperated with the doctors, despite the exalted position that physicians hold in South Korea’s hierarchical society. Critics accuse them of trying to protect their elite status, and their income, by keeping the number of doctors low.

Persons: Yoon Suk Yeol, Critics Organizations: South, Hospitals, Nurses

☆ The Key Bridge was named after the national anthem’s author.
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-26 | by ( Jin Yu Young | More About Jin Yu Young | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The Francis Scott Key Bridge, which collapsed after being struck by a cargo ship early Tuesday, was named after the American lawyer who wrote the lyrics of the national anthem. When the bridge opened, The New York Times reported that construction costs had totaled $141 million, which is roughly $735 million in today’s dollars. More than 12.4 million passenger and commercial vehicles crossed the bridge in 2023, according to a Maryland state government report. Francis Scott Key was believed to be near the site of the future bridge in 1814 when he observed the British bombardment of Fort McHenry, where he served as quartermaster, during the War of 1812. After the bridge opened to the public, parts of it underwent renovation several times, including a $14 million project in 1986 to repair damage, improve safety and restore the bridge’s appearance.

Persons: Francis Scott Key Organizations: The New York Times Locations: Baltimore, Maryland, Patapsco, Fort McHenry, Fort M’Henry, British

☆ South Korea Moves to Suspend Licenses of Thousands of Protesting Doctors
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-04 | by ( Jin Yu Young | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The South Korean government on Monday said that it was moving to suspend the licenses of thousands of doctors who walked off the job nearly two weeks ago, threatening to escalate a dispute that has shaken the nation’s health care system. The announcement came after thousands of physicians, nurses and medical professionals took to the streets on Sunday, rallying with banners that read: “Doctors are not criminals! For more than a month, young doctors have been in a high-stakes dispute with the government over the future of health care in the country. Nearly 10,000 interns and residents, about a tenth of all doctors in the nation, have walked off the job, with most ignoring a Thursday deadline to return to work. On Monday, the government said it would begin to suspend the licenses of around 7,000 of those doctors.

Persons: ”, Lee Haeju Organizations: South, Seoul National University Bundang Hospital

☆ What to Know About the Doctor Protests in South Korea
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-29 | by ( Jin Yu Young | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

For more than a week, procedures at some of the largest hospitals in South Korea have been disrupted because thousands of medical interns and residents walked off their jobs. The dispute started in early February, when the government proposed admitting more students to medical schools to address a longstanding shortage of physicians in South Korea. The doctors then took to the streets to the protest the plan, threatening to strike or quit their jobs. Trainee doctors — who are a crucial part of large hospitals — started submitting their resignations on Feb. 19. As of Wednesday, nearly 10,000, or about 10 percent of all doctors in the country, had done so, according to government data.

Persons: ’, ’ pushback, — Locations: South Korea

☆ South Korean Doctors Walk Out, Protesting Plan to Increase Their Ranks
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-19 | by ( Jin Yu Young | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Hundreds of interns and residents at major South Korean hospitals walked off the job on Tuesday, disrupting an essential service to protest the government’s plan to address a shortage of doctors by admitting more students to medical school. While South Korea takes pride in its affordable health care system, it has among the fewest physicians per capita in the developed world. The protesters, who are doctors in training and crucial for keeping hospitals running, say the shortage of doctors is not industrywide but confined to particular specialties, like emergency care. They say the government is ignoring the issues that have made working in those areas unappealing: harsh working conditions and low wages for interns and residents. Surveys have found that in a given week, doctors in training regularly work multiple shifts that last longer than 24 hours, and that many are on the job for more than 80 hours a week.

Locations: Korea

☆ The Antitrust Enforcers Aimed at Big Tech. Then Came the Backlash.
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-16 | by ( Jin Yu Young | Daisuke Wakabayashi | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The South Korean government unleashed a wave of panic across the internet industry: The country’s antitrust regulator said it would enact the toughest competition law outside Europe, curbing the influence of major technology companies. The Korea Fair Trade Commission, with the backing of President Yoon Suk Yeol, said in December that it planned to make a proposal modeled after the 2022 Digital Markets Act, the European Union’s landmark law to rein in American tech giants. This bill also seemed to target South Korea’s own internet conglomerates just as much as the Alphabets, Apples and Metas of the world. The commission said the law would designate certain companies as dominant platforms and limit their ability to use strongholds in one online business to expand into new areas. After a furious backlash from South Korean industry lobbyists and consumers, and even the U.S. government, the Fair Trade Commission said it would delay the bill’s formal introduction to solicit more opinions.

Persons: Yoon Suk Yeol Organizations: South, Korea Fair Trade, ., Fair Trade Commission Locations: Europe, South

☆ For Families of Itaewon Crowd Crush Victims, Verdicts Are a Bittersweet Win
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-15 | by ( Jin Yu Young | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Bereaved relatives of the victims of a deadly 2022 crowd crush in South Korea expressed mixed emotions this week after three former police officers were convicted of destroying evidence connected to the episode, in which nearly 160 people died in Seoul. Dissatisfaction over the slow pace of the inquiry and the perceived leniency of the sentences was mingled with relief that someone, at last, had been held to account. Though others have been indicted, these officers are the first people to be convicted of any crime related to the episode. The verdicts were an unexpected win for the victims’ family members, who had waited more than 15 months and were starting to lose faith that anyone would ever be held responsible. “It was a long wait, but it’s a meaningful outcome in that the court has clearly outlined where the police went wrong,” said Lee Jeong-min, the head of an association for the bereaved families.

Persons: ”, Lee Jeong Locations: South Korea, Seoul

☆ If It Isn’t Perfect, Is It Still K-Pop?
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-30 | by ( Jin Yu Young | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

What comes to mind when you hear the word “K-pop”? Is it the global boy band phenomenon BTS, wearing studded jackets and dancing in perfect sync? Or the girl group Blackpink, performing at Coachella in trendy fashions and perfectly curled hair? “Give me some more bass,” said Omega Sapien, a vocalist with electric-green hair and grills, swaying his hips and grunting to the beat. The studio was cluttered with art, vinyl records, dumbbells and other odds and ends.

Persons: ”, Omega Sapien Organizations: Coachella Locations: Seoul

A satellite city 22 miles northwest of Seoul, South Korea, Paju is small, with a population of around half a million. The streets are quieter than those of the bustling capital, the air cleaner and the pace of life half a beat slower. While many people know the city for its military base, Paju is also home to the nation’s elaborate book publishing hub — officially known as Paju Publishing Culture, Information and National Industrial Park but commonly referred to as Paju Book City. Around 900 book-related businesses, including printing presses, distribution companies and design studios line the streets, and signs reading “Paju Book City” are everywhere.

Organizations: Paju Publishing Locations: Seoul, South Korea

☆ Nokia to Cut 14,000 Jobs in Major Overhaul at Telecom Giant
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-19 | by ( Jin Yu Young | More About Jin Yu Young | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Nokia announced a major overhaul of its business on Thursday that includes slashing up to 14,000 jobs, or about 16 percent of its work force, over the next three years. The company employs 86,000 people and said the “reset” would reduce its costs by as much as 1.2 billion euros, or roughly $1.3 billion. Nokia once led the global mobile phone market, but it quickly fell behind the iPhone, which was released by Apple in 2007. Nokia sold its mobile phone division to Microsoft in 2013. Since then, it has focused on selling the back-end infrastructure of telecom systems to wireless companies, cable operators and other business buyers.

Persons: Pekka Lundmark Organizations: Nokia, “, Apple, Microsoft

That’s not an issue for QI.X, which doesn’t aspire to the immaculately styled look of the typical K-pop act (and, in any case, couldn’t afford the ensemble of stylists those groups have). They handle their own bookings and manage their social media presence, recording videos themselves to post on TikTok and Instagram. Many of the videos are shot at LesVos, an L.G.B.T.Q. Myoung-woo YoonKim, 68, who has run LesVos since the late 1990s, grew up at a time when lesbians were practically invisible in South Korea. “I would often think, ‘Am I the only woman who loves women?’” they said.

Persons: That’s, QI.X, YoonKim, “, ‘, ’ ” Organizations: Seoul Disabled People’s, Festival Locations: Seoul, South Korea

☆ What We Know About Canada’s Claims Against India About a Sikh’s Killing
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-20 | by ( Jin Yu Young | More About Jin Yu Young | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Mr. Nijjar was a self-proclaimed “Sikh nationalist who believes in and supports Sikhs’ right to self-determination and independence of Indian-occupied Punjab through a future referendum,” according to an open letter he wrote to the Canadian government in 2016. The Indian government declared Mr. Nijjar a terrorist in 2020, decades after he left India. It accused him of plotting a violent attack in India and leading a terrorist group called the Khalistan Tiger Force. Mr. Nijjar was shot in June near the Sikh temple that he led. On Monday, the Canadian prime minister told lawmakers that “agents of the government of India” had been linked to Mr. Nijjar’s killing on Canadian soil.

Persons: Nijjar, India ”, Nijjar’s Organizations: British Columbia, Khalistan Tiger Force, Royal Canadian Mounted Police Locations: Punjab, British, Canada, Punjab State, India

☆ Kilauea, Hawaii’s Most Active Volcano, Erupts Again
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-11 | by ( Jin Yu Young | More About Jin Yu Young | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Kilauea, Hawaii’s most active volcano, erupted for the second time in three months on Sunday afternoon, according to the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory, which said there was no immediate danger to residents. The observatory raised alert levels for Kilauea to a warning from a watch just under an hour before the eruption began. Livestreamed footage showed fissures at the base of the volcano’s main crater, Halemaʻumaʻu, generating lava flows on its surface floor. Kilauea, in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park on Hawaii’s Big Island, last erupted in June, and the observatory had been closely monitoring it for another possible eruption since August. Increasingly frequent earthquakes, swelling of ground during the past few weeks and pools of magma flowing upward over the past 24 hours were all signs of an imminent eruption, according to the observatory.

Persons: David Phillips Organizations: United States Geological Survey Locations: Hawaii

☆ How the Pennsylvania Fugitive Scaled a Prison Wall and Escaped
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-07 | by ( Jin Yu Young | More About Jin Yu Young | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Place one hand on the wall in front of you, and then put the opposite foot on the wall behind you. This is how a convicted killer escaped from a prison near Philadelphia nearly a week ago, according to surveillance video released by the authorities on Wednesday. After that, officials said, he pushed through razor wires — installed after the previous inmate scaled the same wall — before reaching the prison’s roof. He ran across the roof, scaled a fence, pushed his way through more razor wire, and has eluded the police ever since. He added that officials should have further “bolstered” the prison’s defenses following the previous escape attempt.

Persons: Danelo Cavalcante, Cavalcante, ” Howard Holland Locations: Philadelphia, Chester

A white gunman shot and killed three Black people in a Dollar General store in Jacksonville, Fla., on Saturday afternoon. The police said the shooting was a racially motivated hate crime. Around 11:40 a.m. on Saturday, the gunman left his parents’ house in Clay County, Fla., and headed toward Jacksonville in the next county, according to law enforcement officials. The shooter had written several manifestoes, the Jacksonville sheriff, T.K. Parts of these manifestoes detailed the shooter’s “disgusting ideology of hate,” Sheriff Waters said.

Persons: Waters Locations: Jacksonville, Fla, Clay County

The death toll in Maui stood at 89 on Saturday night and was expected to climb even further, according to Gov. Many survivors in the region were relying on each other in the wake of the disaster. More federal emergency workers and active-duty military personnel were headed to the island to help with the search and rescue effort. It remains unsafe for residents to return because of toxic fumes and other dangers, Mr. Green said. “We are going to do some reviews so we can make things safer going forward,” Mr. Green said.

Persons: Josh Green of, ”, Ashlee Yap, Richard T, Bissen Jr, Green, Irving Sotelo, Sotelo, Mr Organizations: Gov, Radio Locations: United States, Maui, Josh Green of Hawaii ., West Maui, Honokowai, “, Lahaina, Maui County, Government

A utility pole on Friday that had been damaged in the high winds this week in Lahaina, Hawaii. But Hawaiian Electric, the state’s largest utility and the parent company of the power provider on Maui, made wildfire prevention its lowest priority in a state regulatory filing in April. In fact, the utility had no plan to cut power to prevent further ignitions even after flames began consuming the island. The recent devastation on Maui served as a reminder that climate-driven disaster can strike anywhere. “From what we’ve learned, we believe the Lahaina fires could have been prevented had proper safety precautions been taken,” said Gerald Singleton, one lawyer who issued a release about potential lawsuits.

Persons: ”, Jennifer Potter, Potter, Jim Kelly, we’ve, Gerald Singleton, Nicole Lowen, Ms, ” Ms, “ Organizations: Hawaii Public Utilities Commission, Pacific Gas & Electric, San Diego Gas &, Hawaiian Electric, Energy, Hawaii State Legislature Locations: Lahaina , Hawaii, Maui, California, Lahaina, “, Hawaii

Devastating wildfires linked to climate change have lately become somewhat normal in the American West and beyond. In that sense, the Maui fires are nothing new. The ones on Maui this week are destructive in part because of the island’s isolation, fragile supply chains and dependence on tourism. The winds driving the fires, driven themselves in part by a hurricane passing hundreds of miles away in the Pacific Ocean, were expected to ease on Thursday. Phone service was down in some parts of the island’s west coast, including Hawaii’s former royal capital, Lahaina, where fire has been ripping through weathered wooden storefronts.

Persons: ”, Burgess Harrison, “ Organizations: Fire, U.S . Coast Guard, Hawaii Department of Health Locations: Maui, American, Maui and Minnesota, Minnesota, Hawaii, Lahaina

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