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SEOUL, Feb 8 (Reuters) - South Korean lawmakers voted on Wednesday to impeach the interior minister over his responses to a deadly Halloween crush, setting the stage for him to become the first cabinet member ousted by the legislature. The Democrats and other opposition parties had pushed for expulsion of the interior minister, Lee Sang-min, urging him to take responsibility for botched responses to the crush. A presidential official said there was no evidence that the minister had severely violated the constitution or any law. In 2017, President Park Geun-hye became South Korea's first elected leader to be expelled from office when the Constitutional Court upheld her impeachment. The court dismissed an impeachment motion in 2004 for President Roh Moo-hyun.
Even with an aging fleet, Pyongyang has been able to catch the attention of South Korea and the US. On October 6, 12 North Korean jets were detected practicing air-to-ground attacks near the DMZ, prompting South Korea to scramble 30 of its fighters. On November 4, 80 South Korean fighters were scrambled after 180 North Korean planes were detected on South Korean radar. The activity and scale is unusual given North Korea's air force is widely regarded as the weakest branch of North Korea's military. South Korean troops guard a MiG-19 used by a North Korean pilot to defect to South Korea in May 1996.
A star law professor, Cho was a key aide to former President Moon Jae-in and briefly served as a justice minister before resigning and being indicted on a dozen charges, including bribery and document fraud in late 2019. It eventually gave rise to incumbent President Yoon Suk-yeol, who then as prosecutor-general investigated Cho and other graft scandals. Chung has already received a four-year sentence for the charges and irregularities over family investment, while her daughter's medical school and university cancelled her admission. The court also imposed fines of 6 million won ($4,900), which it said Cho had taken from his daughter's medical school as bribes in the form of a scholarship. ($1 = 1,228.7300 won)Reporting by Hyonhee Shin; Editing by Gerry Doyle and Arun KoyyurOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
NATO Chief Presses South Korea to Provide Arms to Ukraine
  + stars: | 2023-01-30 | by ( Dasl Yoon | ) www.wsj.com   time to read: 1 min
After his meeting Monday with NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol promised continued support to Ukraine, without saying whether that might include arms. SEOUL—NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg urged South Korea to provide military support to Ukraine, saying the country is in urgent need of ammunition. South Korea has sent materials such as gas masks, bulletproof vests and medical supplies to Ukraine, but has declined to provide lethal weapons, citing a law that prevents it from arming countries engaged in conflicts.
[1/3] NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg shakes hands with South Korean Foreign Minister Park Jin during their meeting at the Foreign Ministry in Seoul, South Korea January 29, 2023. Kim Min-Hee/Pool via ReutersSEOUL, Jan 30 (Reuters) - NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg urged South Korea on Monday to increase military support to Ukraine, citing other countries that have changed their policy of not providing weapons to countries in conflict after Russia's invasion. Speaking at the Chey Institute for Advanced Studies in Seoul, he thanked South Korea for its non-lethal aid to Ukraine, but urged it to do more, adding there is an "urgent need" for ammunition. "I urge the Republic of Korea to continue and to step up on the specific issue of military support," he said. Last year South Korea opened its first diplomatic mission to NATO, vowing to deepen cooperation on non-proliferation, cyber defence, counter-terrorism, disaster response and other security areas.
In Seoul, Stoltenberg is due to meet with Foreign Minister Park Jin, Minister of National Defence Lee Jong-Sup, and other senior officials, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization said in a statement. Yoon and Kishida became the first leaders from their countries to attend a NATO summit, joining alliance leaders as observers last year. Following the summit, South Korea opened its first diplomatic mission to NATO, vowing to deepen cooperation on non-proliferation, cyber defence, counter-terrorism, disaster response and other security areas. Chinese state media had warned against South Korea and Japan attending the NATO summit and criticised the alliance's broadening partnerships in Asia. North Korea has said NATO involvement in the Asia-Pacific region would import the conflict raging in Europe.
TOKYO, Jan 28 (Reuters) - Japan is considering relaxing controls on exports to South Korea as its president, Yoon Suk-yeol, seeks to improve ties amid a strained East Asian security environment, the Sankei newspaper reported on Saturday. Japan's foreign ministry and trade ministry officials were not immediately available for comment on the report when Reuters contacted them outside regular business hours. "Given the growing need to promote cooperation among countries sharing universal values at a time when the importance of economic security is increasing, we hope that Japan will judge wisely," the South Korean ministry said. Their diplomatic officials are due to meet on Monday in the South Korean capital, Seoul, as they near a conclusion of a plan for the resolving their dispute, Jiji news reported on Friday. Reporting by Kantaro Komiya; Additional reporting by Joyce Lee in Seoul; Editing by William Mallard, Robert BirselOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
SEOUL, Jan 27 (Reuters) - South Korea's huge national pension fund is set to see its pool of money depleted by 2055, earlier than expected, because of a shrinking population amid low economic growth, an official estimate showed on Friday. A government panel commissioned for the estimate, made every five years, said in a report that the National Pension Service (NPS) would see its fund depleted two years earlier than 2018 estimate predicted. The fund will grow until at least 2040 as the relatively young pension system, launched in 1988, still has more contributions than payments. President Yoon Suk-yeol, who took office in May 2022, has promised sweeping reforms of the national pension system with the aim of making it more sustainable, and the panel's findings will be the basis for the reform plans. South Korea's population has started shrinking since reaching its peak in 2020 at 51.84 million, and the speed of decline will likely quicken because of low birth rates, official data and estimates show.
In January 1968, North Korean commandos slipped across the border into South Korea. Infiltrations into South Korea, both across the DMZ and by sea, by North Korean agents and commandos were also increasing. After cooperating with South Korean authorities, Kim Shin-jo was released in 1970 and received South Korean citizenship, which led North Korean officials to execute his parents and siblings. In December, a North Korean drone flew into a no-fly zone around South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol's office in Seoul. It was one of five North Korean drones that flew into South Korea, the first to do so in five years.
A fire destroyed about 60 makeshift homes in a densely packed neighborhood surrounded by some of the wealthiest streets of South Korea’s ultramodern capital Friday. Firefighters extinguished the flames in Seoul’s Guryong village within about five hours, and no injuries or deaths were reported. Shin Yong-ho, an official at the fire department of Seoul’s Gangnam district, said rescue workers have searched areas affected by the fire but all residents were believed to have safely evacuated. Photos showed firefighters fighting the flames under thick, white smoke covering the village as helicopters sprayed water from above. Kim Ah-reum, an official at the Gangnam district office, said around 500 residents evacuated to nearby facilities including a school gym.
On Monday, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol announced that the United Arab Emirates had pledged a staggering $30 billion in investment in the Asian country. The news came after the leaders of the two nations held talks in Abu Dhabi on Sunday, in a landmark trip that marked the first-ever state visit to the UAE by a South Korean president, according to a statement from Yoon’s office. In total, representatives from approximately 100 South Korean companies traveled with the president, according to his office. Some South Korean firms also agreed to build farms for tomatoes and strawberries in the UAE, a country that relies heavily on imports of agricultural products. Going forward, South Korea “will be a key partner in the global supply chain,” using its expertise in sectors such as semiconductors and steel-making to help stabilize supply chains, he pledged.
Davos, Switzerland CNN —The World Economic Forum in the Swiss Alps is typically a venue for politicians and business leaders to deliver sermons about the benefits of globalization and cross-border cooperation. European leaders used Davos to amplify complaints about the law’s tax breaks for American companies that make parts for green energy projects, which they claim will disadvantage European firms. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz addresses the World Economic Forum, in Davos, Switzerland, on Wednesday. Representatives from Asia’s third largest economy showed up in force at Davos to meet with international investors. “We’re looking at a less efficient world,” US Trade Representative Katherine Tai said.
SEOUL, Jan 20 (Reuters) - About 500 people were evacuated on Friday after fire broke out in a shanty town in the South Korean capital, Seoul, fire authorities said. The fire erupted at 6:27 a.m. (0927 GMT) in Guryong Village in southern Seoul, which is home to more than 660 households. [1/4] Smoke rises from a fire at Guryong village, the last slum in the glitzy Gangnam district, in Seoul, South Korea, January 20, 2023. Plans for redevelopment and relocation have made little progress amid a decades-long tug of war between land owners, residents and authorities. Seoul said Mayor Oh Se-hoon visited the village and asked officials to draw up measures to relocate families affected by the fire.
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol said his country would continue to strengthen its ability to counter North Korean capabilities such as cyberwar and intelligence. DAVOS, Switzerland—South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol dialed back recent remarks that Seoul could develop its own nuclear weapons, telling The Wall Street Journal that his focus is on working closely with the U.S. on North Korean proliferation. Noting that South Korea, a nonnuclear nation, is part of the decades-old Non-Proliferation Treaty aimed at curbing nuclear arms, Mr. Yoon said: “I can assure you that the Republic of Korea’s realistic and rational option is to fully respect the NPT regime…I’m fully confident about the U.S.’s extended deterrence.”
It would supersede a 2018 law that limited the work week to 52 hours - 40 hours of regular work plus 12 hours of overtime. For counting periods of a month or longer, up to 29 hours a week of overtime would be allowed, for a total of 69 work hours in one week. In a statement, the Korean Women's Associations United said "only regulations like the 52-hour workweek and pressure from labour unions can protect workers from long working hours". Extending working hours, even temporarily, affects women more than men, said Lee Min-Ah, Professor of Sociology at Chung-Ang University. Other workers say the new plan ignores a lot of the cultural and social nuances of work in South Korea.
SEOUL, Jan 19 (Reuters) - Iran and South Korea summoned each other's envoys in a deepening spat over comments by South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol that described the Islamic republic as the enemy of the United Arab Emirates. Yoon, speaking to South Korean troops stationed in Abu Dhabi earlier this week, said South Korea and the UAE are under "very similar" circumstances, each facing North Korea and Iran as "the enemy, biggest threat." Relations between Seoul and Tehran had already been testy over frozen Iranian funds in South Korea and suspected arms dealings between Iran and North Korea. Iran has repeatedly demanded the release of some $7 billion of its funds frozen in South Korean banks under U.S. sanctions. South Korea was once one of Iran's biggest crude buyers in Asia, but ceased imports after Washington imposed sanctions on Tehran in 2018.
Yoon, speaking with South Korean troops stationed in Abu Dhabi early this week, said South Korea and the UAE are under "very similar" circumstances, each facing North Korea and Iran as "the enemy, biggest threat." His remarks prompted a rare spat between Seoul and Tehran, at a time when relations have already been testy over frozen Iranian funds in South Korea and suspected arms dealings between Iran and North Korea. Iran's deputy foreign minister on legal affairs, Reza Najafi, summoned Yun Kang-hyeon, the South Korean ambassador on Wednesday to protest against Yoon's "interventionist remarks," the official IRNA news agency said. Najafi also accused South Korea of pursuing an "unfriendly approach" toward Iran, singling out its frozen funds. Iran has repeatedly demanded the release of some $7 billion of its funds frozen in South Korean banks under U.S. sanctions.
Data from the World Bank shows that global trade of goods and services as a percentage of total economic output peaked that year. A wooden sign on the waterfront of Lake Davos in Davos, Switzerland, on Jan. 8, 2023. Just look to Italy’s new prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, who was installed in October. Those skipping the gathering this year include US President Joe Biden, China’s Xi Jinping, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, French President Emmanuel Macron and UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. That raises questions about whether Davos can hang on to its reputation an essential event for the rich and powerful.
[1/5] Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the United Arab Emirates, receives Yoon Suk Yeol, President of South Korea and Kim Keon-hee, First Lady of South Korea, upon their arrival for a state visit reception, at Qasr Al Watan, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, January 15, 2023. Mohamed Al Hammadi/UAE Presidential Court/Handout via REUTERSSEOUL, Jan 15 (Reuters) - The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has decided to invest $30 billion in South Korea's industries, South Korea's presidential office said on Sunday, as the two countries seek to expand economic cooperation. The investment decision was announced as South Korea's President Yoon Suk-yeol met his UAE counterpart, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan, in Abu Dhabi during a four-day state visit, Yoon's office said. "We have decided a $30 billion investment based on the trust on South Korea which keeps promises under any circumstances," Yoon's office quoted the UAE president as saying. Seoul's finance ministry said the $30 billion investment would be led by sovereign wealth funds, including Mubadala Investment Company.
SEOUL—For years, most of the fiery rhetoric has been coming from North Korea. Now it’s coming from Seoul. South Korean President Yoon Suk -yeol has grown more confrontational with Pyongyang in recent weeks. On Wednesday, he raised the prospect of the country developing its own nuclear weapons, the first time a South Korean leader has done so in decades. Last week, he threatened to suspend an agreement aimed at preventing clashes between North and South Korea.
SEOUL—South Korean President Yoon Suk -yeol said the country could develop its own nuclear weapons or ask the U.S. to redeploy them on the Korean Peninsula if the threat from North Korea grows, in the first time a leader of the country has explicitly raised the prospect in decades. The prospect of South Korea, a nonnuclear state, acquiring its own weapons threatens to destabilize nuclear disarmament efforts and inflame already high tensions with Pyongyang. The idea has long been rejected by the U.S. and previous administrations in Seoul, although polls have shown it is supported by a majority of the public in South Korea.
The Foundation for Victims of Forced Mobilization by Imperial Japan said it has secured initial donations from steelmaker POSCO (005490.KS) totalling 4 billion won ($3.2 million). Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno, Tokyo’s top spokesperson, declined to comment on Seoul’s compensation plan or its public hearing, saying they were domestic matters within South Korea. The foundation's chief, Shim Kyu-sun, said he would encourage South Korean companies to donate "from the perspective of social responsibility". National flags of South Korea and Japan are displayed during a meeting between Komeito Party members and South Korean lawmakers at Komeito Party's headquarters in Tokyo, Japan, July 31, 2019. Under the 1965 deal, South Korea was required to consider all pre-treaty compensation issues settled.
South Korea calls China's visa suspension 'deeply regrettable'
  + stars: | 2023-01-11 | by ( ) www.reuters.com   time to read: +2 min
SEOUL, Jan 11 (Reuters) - China's recent decision to suspend the issue of short-term visas in South Korea was "deeply regrettable", the South's Foreign Minister Park Jin said on Wednesday. Tuesday's suspension by the Chinese embassy in South Korea was China's first retaliatory move against countries imposing COVID-19 curbs on its travellers. "It's deeply regrettable China took such a countermeasure by entirely suspending issuance of short-term visas," Park told a news briefing, adding that South Korea still issues visas to Chinese visitors for urgent business or humanitarian purposes. Some Chinese tourists have complained over such curbs, which are the strictest among the new rules countries have adopted, but South Korea said they were not discriminatory. "I don't think it's desirable for these measures to have any negative impact on the South Korea-China relations," Park added.
SEOUL, Jan 11 (Reuters) - South Korea and the United States will hold tabletop exercises next month as the allies move to better counter the North's nuclear threats, South Korea's defence minister said on Wednesday. Nuclear-armed North Korea launched an unprecedented number of missiles last year, including intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) capable of reaching the U.S. mainland. "We're planning to hold tabletop exercises in February between defence officials on operating means of extended deterrence under the scenario of North Korea's nuclear attacks," South Korean defence minister Lee Jong-sup told a news conference. "There is a shared need for it between the two sides, given that North Korea's nuclear threat has become serious not only to South Korea but also to the United States," he said. As part of efforts to step up its intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance capability, South Korea plans to launch its first spy satellite this year and four more by 2025, he added.
BEIJING/SEOUL, Jan 10 (Reuters) - The Chinese embassy in South Korea has suspended issuing short-term visas for South Korean visitors, it said on Tuesday, the first retaliatory move against nations imposing COVID-19 curbs on travellers from China. A Chinese embassy official confirmed the new measures. South Korea's Park told Qin the new border restrictions were "science-based" measures, according to his office. Last week, South Korean police tracked down a Chinese man who went missing while awaiting quarantine after having tested positive for COVID-19 upon arrival. South Korea's President Yoon Suk-yeol said on Monday the country's border measures should focus strictly on the safety of its citizens.
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