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☆ Crab cakes, beef and banana splits: Biden's South Korea state dinner menu unveiled
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-24 | by ( Jeff Mason | Thomson Reuters | Jeff Mason Is A White House Correspondent For Reuters. He Has Covered The Presidencies Of Barack Obama | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

WASHINGTON, April 24 (Reuters) - Guests at President Joe Biden's and first lady Jill Biden's state dinner with their South Korean counterparts will feast on Maryland crab cakes and braised beef short ribs followed by banana splits for dessert, the White House said on Monday. The meal itself will kick off with crab cakes along with cabbage, kohlrabi, fennel and cucumber slaw. "We hope to showcase the harmony of our cultures and our people intertwined," at the dinner, she said. The first lady worked with Chef Edward Lee, author of "Smoke & Pickles" and "Buttermilk Graffiti," along with the White House chefs to design the menu. "The first person I called was my mother," Lee said, noting she had immigrated to the United States from Korea.

☆ Factbox: What's on the agenda at the South Korea-US summit?
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-24 | by ( Ju-Min Park | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Yoon has been pushing to increase South Korea's say in operating "extended deterrence" while calls are growing in South Korea for it to develop its own nuclear weapons. At the summit, Biden will pledge "substantial" steps to underscore the U.S. commitment to deter a North Korean nuclear attack, a senior U.S. official said. South Korea's defence ministry said the allies have been exploring ways to support Ukraine but declined to confirm specific discussions. His comments prompted an angry exchange of words between Beijing and Seoul with South Korea summoning the Chinese ambassador. South Korea's comment on Taiwan was "the worst" since the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and South Korea in 1992, China's state-run Global Times said on Sunday.

☆ Morning Bid: Tech tally in focus, China alarms Europe
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Otherwise, a packed earnings season dominates this week's investment radar as more than a third of S&P500 companies report. Including Intel (INTC.O), those five tech stocks have accounted for two-thirds of the S&P500's gains this year - with the Artificial Intelligence craze sparked by the emergence of ChatGPT adding a new non-cyclical attraction to the sector. But before markets get a taste of Q1 tech profits, the reverberations from last month's banking blow-up are still being absorbed. European stocks were slightly negative and U.S. stock futures also marginally in the red ahead of Wall Street's open. The dollar was mixed - up against Asian currencies but off against European currencies amid hawkish European Central Bank soundings on interest rates.

☆ US urges South Korea not to fill China shortfalls if Beijing bans Micron chips, Financial Times reports
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

April 23 (Reuters) - The United States asked South Korea to urge its chipmakers not to fill any market gap in China if Beijing bans memory chipmaker Micron (MU.O) from selling chips, the Financial Times reported on Sunday. The United States made the request as South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol prepares to travel to Washington on Monday, the newspaper reported, according to four people familiar with the talks. China's cyberspace regulator Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) said in March that it would conduct a cybersecurity review of products sold in the country by Micron. In a response, Micron said that it is cooperating with the Chinese government and that its operations in China are normal. It has blacklisted a number of China's largest chip firms, including Micron rival Yangtze Memory Technologies Co Ltd.

☆ China lodges complaint over South Korean president's 'erroneous' Taiwan remarks
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BEIJING, April 23 (Reuters) - China's Vice Foreign Minister Sun Weidong has lodged solemn representations with the South Korean ambassador over "erroneous" remarks by the South Korean president about Taiwan, China's foreign ministry said on Sunday. "The Taiwan issue is not simply an issue between China and Taiwan but, like the issue of North Korea, it is a global issue," Yoon said. Yoon's remarks are "totally unacceptable," Sun said, according to a Chinese foreign ministry statement. "The South Korean leader made no mention of the One China principle, but equated the Taiwan issue with the Korean Peninsula issue," Sun said. Sun's complaint followed criticism from the Chinese foreign ministry last week that South Korea should "prudently" handle matters related to Taiwan.

WASHINGTON, April 21 (Reuters) - At a summit next week with South Korean leader Yoon Suk Yeol U.S. President Joe Biden will pledge "substantial" steps to underscore the U.S. commitment to deter a North Korean nuclear attack on South Korea, a senior U.S. official said on Friday. In a poll released on April 6 by the Asian Institute for Policy Studies in Seoul, 64.3% of South Koreans supported developing nuclear weapons with 33.3% opposed. The survey showed 52.9% of South Koreans were confident the United States would use nuclear weapons to defend South Korea in the event of a nuclear attack by North Korea. A second official said the United States welcomed the role South Korea had played in supporting Ukraine and would "welcome additional steps (It) might be willing to take." Biden will also commend huge South Korean tech investment in the United States since he took office, which was now approaching $100 million, the official said.

☆ South Korea's Yoon to visit US on April 24-30, Yonhap reports
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

SEOUL, April 20 (Reuters) - South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol will visit the United States on April 24-30 for a summit with President Joe Biden, Yonhap news agency reported on Thursday. The two leaders are scheduled to hold a summit and joint news conference on April 26, and Yoon will deliver a speech to the U.S. Congress on April 27, Yonhap said. Yoon's trip would mark the South Korean leader's first state visit to the United States since 2011, and the 70th anniversary of the two countries' alliance. Reporting by Hyonhee Shin; Editing by Christian SchmollingerOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ S.Korea summons Chinese ambassador over reaction to Yoon's Taiwan remarks
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The move came after China and South Korea exchanged harsh words over Yoon's comments in a recent interview with Reuters. "The Taiwan issue is not simply an issue between China and Taiwan but, like the issue of North Korea, it is a global issue." Asked about Yoon's comments, the Chinese foreign ministry denounced Yoon and called on South Korea to "prudently handle matters" related to Taiwan. Hours later, South Korea's foreign ministry hit back and said comments by the Chinese foreign ministry were "unspeakable". A vice foreign minister called in Chinese Ambassador to South Korea Xing Haiming and strongly protested what South Korea called "diplomatic discourtesy", the South Korean foreign ministry said in a statement.

It was the first time that Seoul suggested a willingness to provide weapons to Ukraine, more than a year after ruling out the possibility of lethal aid. During the summit, Yoon said he will seek "tangible outcomes" on the allies' efforts to improve responses to evolving threats from North Korea, which has ramped up military tests, and launched its first solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missile last week. In February, South Korea and the U.S. staged table-top exercises simulating a North Korea nuclear attack as part of Seoul's efforts to play a bigger role in Washington's nuclear policy over the North. "I think there's no big problem if Japan is joining, but since there's been much progress between the U.S. and South Korea, it would be more efficient to create this system ourselves first." "The Taiwan issue is not simply an issue between China and Taiwan but, like the issue of North Korea, it is a global issue."

☆ South Korea, US, Japan to hold missile defence drills to counter North Korea
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-17 | by ( Hyonhee Shin | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

SEOUL, April 17 (Reuters) - South Korea, the United States and Japan will stage joint naval missile defence exercises on Monday as they push for greater security cooperation to better counter North Korea's evolving missile threats, Seoul's navy said. Monday's drills will be held in international waters between Korea and Japan, bringing together South Korea's 7,600-ton Aegis destroyer Yulgok Yi I, U.S. guided-missile destroyer USS Benfold, and Japan's Atago destroyer, also equipped with Aegis radar systems. The three countries would focus on mastering response procedures from detection to tracking to information sharing by creating a virtual target under the scenario of a North Korean ballistic missile provocation, the South Korean navy said. South Korean and U.S. air forces are separately set to begin their drills on Monday for a 12-day run. South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol has pledged to move the ties beyond the past and visited Tokyo in March for the first time in 12 years as the country's leader.

☆ South Korea and Japan's finance ministers to hold first bilateral talks in 7 years
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

SEOUL/TOKYO, April 17 (Reuters) - South Korea and Japan's finance ministers will hold a bilateral meeting early next month for the first time in seven years, heralding closer cooperation in economic policy that has been hampered by diplomatic conflict. South Korean Finance Minister Choo Kyung-ho told reporters during a visit to the United States that he has agreed to meet Japanese Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki, according to a media pool report. "It is significant in that it will be the first step toward reviving regular bilateral meetings," Choo said, without elaborating. Regular annual meetings between the two countries' finance ministers have been suspended since 2016 due to disputes over wartime history. Financial markets will likely pay close attention to whether the finance ministers will discuss resuming a bilateral currency swap arrangement - one that had served as backstop against any potential currency crisis but which expired in February 2015.

☆ Most Korean plaintiffs in Japan forced-labour cases accept Seoul's compensation plan
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-13 | by ( Soo-Hyang Choi | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

"The bereaved families of 10 victims expressed hope that this issue be promptly resolved, and agreed to accept the compensation under the government plan," the foreign ministry said in a statement. South Korea will continue efforts to seek understanding from the victims and their families, the ministry added. The South Korean proposal has been hailed as "groundbreaking" by U.S. President Joe Biden following a deterioration in Japanese-South Korean relations to the lowest point for decades in the wake of the 2018 rulings. The March announcement was followed by South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol's visit to Tokyo for a meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida. The two leaders agreed to put aside their countries' difficult shared history and work together to counter regional security challenges.

[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 Korea to lend 500,000 rounds of artillery shells to US, report says
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-12 | by ( Hyonhee Shin | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

SEOUL, April 12 (Reuters) - South Korea reached an agreement last month to lend the United States 500,000 rounds of 155 mm artillery shells that could give Washington greater flexibility to supply Ukraine with ammunition, a South Korean newspaper reported on Wednesday. The DongA Ilbo newspaper cited unnamed government sources saying that South Korea decided to "lend" the ammunition instead of selling in order to minimise the possibility of South Korean shells being used in the Ukraine conflict. It said the loaned shells would be used primarily by the United States to fill its stockpile. Having bought 100,000 rounds of the shells last year, the U.S. government had asked to buy the same amount or more in February, but the South Korean government sought another way to supply the ammunition to its ally. South Korea is a key U.S. ally and major producer of artillery ammunition, but has sought to avoid antagonising Russia in light of economic ties and Moscow's influence over North Korea.

☆ Hyundai Motor Group to invest $18 bln in South Korean EV industry by 2030
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-11 | by ( Heekyong Yang | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

SEOUL, April 11 (Reuters) - Hyundai Motor Group said on Tuesday it planned to invest 24 trillion won ($18.14 billion) in South Korea's electric vehicle (EV) industry through 2030, bolstering its presence in a segment that is set to dominate long-term global automotive demand. The investment plan by the group, which includes Hyundai Motor Co (005380.KS), Kia Corp (000270.KS) and Hyundai Mobis Co Ltd (012330.KS), came as President Yoon Suk Yeol attended a groundbreaking ceremony for Kia's first designated electric vehicle plant. It added that the government would expand tax benefits for domestic EV facility investment for a five-fold boost in production capacity by 2030. The South Korean auto group said last year it would invest more than $10 billion in the United States by 2025 to enhance collaboration with U.S. firms in advanced technology. Shares of Kia and Hyundai Motor closed up 4.9% and 3.3%, respectively, on Tuesday versus a rise of 1.4% in the benchmark KOSPI (.KS11) index.

☆ South Korea city wildfire fanned by strong winds, evacuations begin
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-11 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

SEOUL, April 11 (Reuters) - More than 150 people evacuated from their homes in South Korea's eastern coastal city of Gangneung as strong winds and dry weather fanned a wildfire on Tuesday, officials said. Firefighters were struggling to control the blaze that started at around 8:30 a.m. (2330 GMT) on Monday in Gangneung, officials said. The flames had prompted the evacuation of 152 residents in the city of more than 200,000 people as of noon local time, a Gangneung city official told Reuters. Photos and footage circulating on social media showed large plumes of smoke and fires razing forests and fields. Reporting by Soo-hyang Choi; Editing by Kenneth MaxwellOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ South Korea says leaked US intel document 'untrue' amid US spying allegations
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-11 | by ( Soo-Hyang Choi | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

REUTERS/Erin ScottSEOUL, April 11 (Reuters) - A senior South Korean security official said on Tuesday that information contained in purportedly leaked U.S. confidential documents that appeared to be based on internal discussions among top South Korean officials is "untrue" and "altered." But internally, top South Korean officials were worried that the U.S. would divert them to Ukraine. South Korea has said its law forbids supplying weapons to countries engaged in conflict, meaning it can't send arms to Ukraine. Earlier, U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin held phone talks with his South Korean counterpart on Tuesday and discussed recent media reports on the leak of confidential U.S. documents, South Korea's defence ministry said. During the phone conversation, which took place at the request of Austin, the Pentagon chief vowed to closely communicate and cooperate with South Korea on the issue, the ministry said.

☆ South Korea to Probe Circumstances Around Reported Leak of Classified U.S. Documents
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-10 | by ( Jiyoung Sohn | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol is scheduled to travel to Washington for a state visit this month. SEOUL—A South Korean official said the government was investigating the circumstances around a leak of highly classified U.S. documents that appeared to show intelligence based on intercepted communications of U.S. allies, including discussions among Seoul officials about concerns over selling ammunition to the U.S. that could end up in Ukraine. South Korea’s first priority was to establish the facts, an official from the country’s presidential office said in a Monday briefing, noting that the reports of the intelligence leak hadn’t been confirmed. Once that is done, South Korea “plans to request, if necessary, the U.S. to take reasonable measures,” the official said.

☆ TSMC talking to US about CHIPS Act 'guidance' amid subsidy concerns
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

TAIPEI, April 10 (Reuters) - Taiwanese chipmaker TSMC (2330.TW) said on Monday it is communicating with Washington about its "guidance" for a law designed to boost U.S. semiconductor manufacturing that has sparked concerns about subsidy criteria. "We can confirm that we are communicating with the U.S. government about the CHIPS ACT guidance," TSMC, the world's leading contract chipmaker, said in a short emailed statement. Taiwan Economy Minister Wang Mei-hua told reporters on Monday that TSMC was specifically talking to the United States about the details of the subsidies. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co Ltd (TSMC) is investing $40 billion in a new plant in the western U.S. state of Arizona, supporting Washington's plans for more chip-making at home. The subsidies would come from a $52 billion pool of research and manufacturing funds earmarked under the CHIPS Act.

☆ S.Korea's Yoon calls strategy meeting to boost chip, battery sectors
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

SEOUL, April 10 (Reuters) - South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol ordered on Monday a national strategy meeting to boost the competitiveness of the country's rechargeable battery and semiconductor sectors, a presidential spokesperson said. South Korea's economy, heavily dependent on trade and chip exports, has been decelerating in the face of a weakening global economy and still-sluggish demand from neighbouring China. Local consumers are also holding back on spending after interest rate rises. South Korean battery and chip shares rallied in early trade on Monday. Reporting by Choonsik Yoo and Hyunsu Yim; Editing by Tom Hogue and Jamie FreedOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ South Korea to discuss 'issues raised' from leaked documents with US
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

SEOUL, April 9 (Reuters) - South Korea is aware of news reports about a leak of several classified U.S. military documents and it plans to discuss "issues raised" as a result of the leak with the United States, a South Korean presidential official said on Sunday. But internally, top South Korean officials were worried that the United States would divert them to Ukraine. The South Korean presidential official, speaking to reporters, declined to respond to questions about U.S. spying or to confirm any details from the leaked documents. South Korea has signed major deals providing hundreds of tanks, aircraft and other weapons to NATO member Poland since Russia invaded Ukraine. The South Korean official said there was no change to South Korea's policy.

☆ Top lawmakers invite South Korean president to address Congress
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-07 | by ( Megan Lebowitz | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

South Korea's President Yoon Suk Yeol attends a meeting with Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida (not pictured) at the prime minister's official residence in Tokyo on March 16, 2023. Congressional leaders on Thursday invited South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol to address a joint meeting of Congress on April 27. A bipartisan delegation arrived in Taiwan on Thursday, a day after McCarthy defied Beijing by meeting with the president of the self-ruling island. It was the delegation's third overseas trip following visits to U.S. allies in Japan and South Korea. During that trip, Biden and his South Korean and Japanese counterparts vowed to stand together in coordinating a response to North Korea's nuclear programs.

☆ South Korean millennials and Gen Z are raging against the idea of a 69-hour workweek. They are tired, having fewer babies, and are even working themselves to death.
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-06 | by ( Nidhi Pandurangi | Reena Koh | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

The South Korean government wants to increase the workweek to 69 hours. The 69-hour limit relates to a six-day workweek, while the 80.5-hour limit is applicable for a seven-day workweek, according to South Korean outlet Han Kyeo Re. In 2020, 14 delivery couriers in South Korea died of overwork stemming from increased deliveries during the COVID-19 pandemic, Reuters reported, citing a union representative. Notably, the culture of long working hours and death linked to overworking is not specific to South Korea. However, the government is trying to disconnect longer working hours from low birth rates.

☆ South Korea delays decision on energy price hikes for Q2
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-31 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

SEOUL, March 31 (Reuters) - South Korea will announce higher electricity and natural gas prices for the second quarter in the next few days, the energy ministry said on Friday, after the government failed to reach an agreement with parliament on the new rates. It cited people's living conditions, global energy prices, possible impacts on inflation and the local bond market, and the financial standing of public enterprises as factors to be considered for the decision. In the first quarter, South Korea raised electricity prices by 9.5%, which was the biggest hike in four decades, to reflect a surge in global energy prices. Gas prices were kept steady. Reporting by Jihoon Lee; Editing by Christian SchmollingerOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

REUTERS/Nacho DoceTOKYO/SEOUL, March 31 (Reuters) - South Korea's Samsung Electronics Co Ltd (005930.KS) is considering setting up a chip test line in Japan, five people said, to bolster its advanced packaging business and forge closer ties with Japanese makers of semiconductor equipment and materials. It would be the first such test line in Japan for Samsung, the world's largest maker of memory chips. Companies are racing to develop advanced packaging techniques, which involve placing chips with different functions into a single package, to enhance overall capabilities and limit the added cost of more advanced chips. The test line would involve the so-called back-end process of chipmaking, according to the five people, which refers to a process in which semiconductors are cut and assembled into products. Samsung last year set up an advanced packaging team in South Korea.

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