DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

☆ Fire at lithium battery factory kills at least 22 in South Korea
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-24 | by ( Gawon Bae | Yoonjung Seo | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +1 min

Seoul, South Korea CNN —A fire at a lithium battery factory in South Korea Monday killed at least 22 people, most of them foreign nationals, local officials said. It was extinguished around 3:10 p.m, and firefighters were able to enter the factory, said Hwaseong Fire Department official Kim Jin-young in a briefing. Rescue workers recovered a number of burned bodies, Kim said, and one person died due to cardiac arrest. Emergency personnel carry the body of a person killed in a fire at a lithium battery factory owned by South Korean battery maker Aricell on June 24, 2024. South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol ordered the Interior and Safety Ministry and the head of the fire department to “make all-out efforts” to rescue people by “mobilizing all available personnel and equipment.”Parts of the lithium battery factory were burned following a fire in Hwaseong, South Korea on June 24, 2024.

Persons: Kim Jin, Kim, Kim Hong, Yoon Suk Yeol Organizations: South Korea CNN, Fire Department, South, Reuters, Interior, Safety Ministry Locations: Seoul, South Korea, Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province, South Korean

☆ North Korea sends 600 more trash balloons into South Korea
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-02 | by ( Kathleen Magramo | Gawon Bae | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

Soldiers inspect debris from a balloon sent by North Korea that landed in Incheon, South Korea on June 2, 2024. She compared North Korea’s actions to South Korea’s years-long practice of sending balloons with anti-North Korea leaflets the other way. North Korea is almost completely closed off from the rest of the world, with tight control over what information gets in or out. Earlier this year a South Korean research group released rare footage that it claimed showed North Korean teenagers sentenced to hard labor for watching and distributing K-dramas. But the situation in North Korea deteriorated in the following years and diplomatic talks fell apart – prompting strict rules to snap back into place.

Persons: Kim Jong Un’s, Kim Yo Jong –, –, ” Organizations: CNN, Korea’s, Chiefs, Staff, United Nations Command, Korean Central News Agency, North Locations: Korea, Seoul, South Korea, Gyeonggi, Chungcheong, Gyeongsang, North Korea, Incheon, Korean, China

☆ South Korea to hold first nationwide defence drills in 6 years amid North threats
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-23 | by ( Hyonhee Shin | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

South Korean soldiers with 20mm vulcan cannon take part in an anti-drone drill in Yangju, South Korea, in this handout picture provided by the South Korean Defence Ministry on December 29, 2022. The South Korean Defence Ministry/Handout via REUTERS/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsSEOUL, Aug 23 (Reuters) - South Korea is set to hold its first nationwide air defence drills in six years on Wednesday amid North Korea's growing nuclear and missile threats, with pedestrians required to take shelter and drivers asked to pull over in some areas. The drills are a key element of the annual Ulchi civil defence exercises, held alongside the Ulchi Freedom Shield drills, which South Korean and U.S. troops began on Monday, to improve responses to a North Korean attack or other contingencies. The Ulchi civil defence exercises were launched in 1969 in the wake of a raid by North Korean commandos into the presidential compound in Seoul. But the air defence training has not taken place since 2017.

Persons: Hyonhee Shin, Gerry Doyle Organizations: South Korean Defence Ministry, REUTERS, Rights, South Korean, North Korean, Thomson Locations: Yangju, South Korea, Rights SEOUL, U.S, Korean, Seoul, North Korea

Seoul CNN —At least 16 people have died from heat-related illnesses in South Korea as the country swelters under a prolonged heat wave with temperatures above 38 degrees Celsius (100 Fahrenheit) in some parts of the country. A total of 1,284 people reported suffering heat-related illnesses as of Tuesday, according to KDCA. South Korea has raised the heat wave warning to the highest “serious” level for the first time since 2019, the interior and safety ministry said Wednesday. Ahn Young-joon/APHeat wave warnings have expanded to most of the country since late July as temperatures rose over 33 degrees Celsius (around 91 Fahrenheit). To cope with the continuing heat wave, local authorities are regularly checking on vulnerable populations and setting up cooling facilities such as shade tents and sun umbrella rentals.

Persons: Ahn Young, ’ Organizations: Seoul CNN —, Korea Disease Control, Prevention Agency, “, Korean Confederation of Trade Unions Locations: Seoul, South Korea, Korea, KDCA, Gyeonggi, Yeoju, Anseong, Asia, China, Japan

☆ Factbox: Key moves in Justin Trudeau's cabinet shuffle
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

OTTAWA, July 26 (Reuters) - Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau shuffled his cabinet on Wednesday, appointing new heads at 30 of the 38 ministries, adding seven new faces. Bill Blair took over as defense minister, his fourth cabinet post under Trudeau since 2018, where he will oversee military efforts to help Ukraine and reinforce NATO. The former Toronto police chief, 69, had previously been in charge of border security, public safety and then emergency preparedness. Marc Miller, 50, was promoted to immigration minister from crown indigenous relations. Fraser, 39, had been immigration minister since October 2021.

Persons: Justin Trudeau, Anita Anand, Anand, Bill Blair, Trudeau, Dominic LeBlanc, Marco Mendicino, Marc Miller, Sean Fraser, Mark Holland, Jean, Yves Duclos, Pablo Rodriguez, Arif Virani, David Lametti, Mona Fortier, Mendicino, David Ljunggren, Steve Scherer, Deepa Babington Organizations: OTTAWA, Canadian, WHO, Treasury Board, NATO, Toronto police, Liberal, Canadian Heritage, Treasury, Thomson Locations: Ukraine, Fraser, Ontario

[1/5] Choi Jin-mook, 48, Chief Director of Drug Addiction Rehabilitation Centre (DARC) and visiting professor of Department of Addiction Rehabilitation and Social Welfare at Eulji University, listens to a recovering drug addict during a group counselling for drug addicts in Incheon, South Korea, April 1, 2023. South Korea has only six drug rehabilitation centres, according to Choi, including just two run by the food and drug safety ministry. In comparison, Japan - with 126 million people to South Korea's 52 million - has about 90 rehab centres. PRISON NOT REHABOne of the biggest problems is that South Korea's corrections system focuses mostly on punitive detention and lacks rehabilitation support, Choi said. Some drug crimes are also punishable by death although South Korea has not carried out any executions since 1997.

☆ South Korean police seek manslaughter charges over deadly Halloween crush
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-13 | by ( The Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +3 min

SEOUL, South Korea — Police in South Korea are seeking charges of involuntary manslaughter and negligence against 23 officials, including law enforcement officers, for a lack of safety measures they said were responsible for a crowd surge last year that killed nearly 160 people. Despite anticipating a Halloween weekend crowd of more than 100,000, Seoul police had assigned 137 officers to the capital’s nightlife district Itaewon on the day of the crush. Those officers were focused on monitoring narcotics use and violent crimes, which experts say left few resources for pedestrian safety. Son Je-han, who headed the National Police Agency’s special investigation into the incident, said Friday his team will now send the case to prosecutors. However, Son said the special investigation team will close its investigations of the Interior and Safety Ministry, the National Police Agency, and the Seoul Metropolitan Government, saying it was difficult to establish their direct responsibility.

CNN —South Korean authorities are investigating the crowd surge that killed at least 154 partygoers in Seoul, as the rattled nation attempts to come to terms with one of its worst-ever disasters. Nearly all of the victims – at least 150 – have been identified; police told CNN. Three South Korean military personnel were also among those killed, a Korean defense ministry official told CNN. The South Korean government has set a national mourning period starting until the end of November 5, Prime Minister Han Duck-soo said in a briefing. Civil servants and employees of public institutions will wear ribbons to express their condolences during the mourning period, Han said.

Search resuls for: "Safety Ministry"

8 mentions found