Page 2 - Seoul

S Korean Oppn leader released from hospital a week after being stabbed

South Korea's main opposition leader expressed hopes for an end of politics of hatred, as he left a hospital Wednesday about a week after he was stabbed in the neck by a knife-wielding man who approached while asking for his autograph. The suspect's motive isn't known, but he told police that he attempted to kill Lee Jae-myung, leader of the liberal Democratic Party. The shocking assault came as political strife was deepening in South Korea ahead of its parliamentary elections in April. Our respected and dear citizens, I feel sorry for causing concerns for you and I'd like to say thank you. Our people saved me, Lee said in front of Seoul National University Hospital, as his supporters shouted his name. Lee said he hopes the attack will serve as a chance to end politics of hatred and politics of confrontation and return to politics of mutual respect and co-existence. The attack, which happened during his visit to the southeastern city of Busan on Jan. 2, left Lee, 59, bleeding and .

North Korea fires 90 artillery shots from western coast, alleges Seoul

North Korea conducted a new round of artillery firing drills near the disputed sea boundary with South Korea on Saturday, officials in Seoul said. South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said the North fired more than 60 rounds near the western sea boundary. A day earlier, North Korea fired about 200 artillery shells near the area, prompting South Korea to conduct its own firing drills in response. The Joint Chiefs of Staff said it strongly urges North Korea to halt acts that heighten tensions.

S Korean Oppn leader recovering well from surgery after stabbing attack

South Korea's main opposition leader is recovering well from surgery after being stabbed in the neck earlier this week, his doctor said Thursday, as police seek a formal arrest warrant to extend the suspect's custody. Lee Jae-myung, head of the liberal Democratic Party, South Korea's biggest political party, was stabbed by a knife-wielding man who approached him asking for his autograph at an event in the southeastern city of Busan on Tuesday. The man was immediately detained by police. The assault left Lee, 59, bleeding and slumped on the ground. After emergency treatment, he was flown to a Seoul hospital for an operation that lasted about 100 minutes. After the surgery, Lee was placed an an intensive care unit at Seoul National University Hospital and then transferred to an ordinary ward on Wednesday evening, according to party officials. In his first briefing since the surgery, Min Seung-kee, a vascular surgeon at the hospital who performed the operation, said Thursday that Lee i

Crypto adoption high in India, says IMF chief Kristalina Georgieva

Says adequate legal frameworks needed

N Korea, Russia discuss economic ties as Seoul raises labour export issue

Senior North Korean economic officials met with the governor of a Russian region along the Pacific coast for discussions on boosting economic cooperation between the countries, North Korean state media said on Wednesday. The meeting in Pyongyang, North Korea's capital, came as concerns have grown in South Korea that the North may be attempting to expand its labour exports to Russia in violation of UN Security Council resolutions to generate revenue for its struggling economy and help fund leader Kim Jong Un's nuclear weapons programme. The official Korean Central News Agency said North Korean officials led by the country's external economic relations minister, Yun Jong Ho, met with the delegation led by Oleg Kozhemyako, governor of the Primorye region in the Russian Far East, and discussed elevating economic cooperation between the countries to higher levels. The report did not specify the types of cooperation that were discussed. Kozhemyako told Russian media ahead of his visit th

South Korea to import foreign workers to ease burden of housework: Report

The South Korean government on Friday announced that a pilot programme allowing 100 foreign domestic helpers to start working in the capital Seoul would begin as early as December

Torrential rains in South Korea kill at least 7 in landslides and floods

Two days of heavy rain in South Korea killed at least seven people and left two others missing in landslides and floods, the government said Saturday. Additionally, eight people were trapped following landslides in central areas earlier in the day. Three people were killed Saturday after landslides caused by torrential downpours buried their houses in two central towns, the Ministry of the Interior and Safety said in a report. It said two other people were also found dead elsewhere Saturday in landslide-related accidents, and two other people died in a building collapse caused by landslides in the central city of Nonsan on Friday. The report said two people were missing Saturday after flooding in their village in the central town of Yecheon. It said five people were injured due to landslide-caused accidents, including a train-derailment, on Friday and Saturday. South Korea has been pounded by heavy rains since July 9. The ministry report said the rainfall forced about 1,570 people

Seoul issues first heat wave advisory of year, comes in effect from today

The Seoul metropolitan government issued the first heat wave advisory of the year for Seoul on Sunday

S Korea, US set for largest-ever live fire drills to mark 70th anniversary

South Korea and the US plan to conduct the largest-ever combined live-fire drills in June as part of a program to celebrate the 70th anniversary of their alliance, Seoul's Defence Ministry said

North Korea tests submarine-launched cruise missile, Seoul confirms

North Korea said Monday it has conducted submarine-launched cruise missile tests, days after its leader Kim Jong Un ordered his troops to be ready to repel its rivals' frantic war preparation moves. The test on Sunday came a day before the U.S. and South Korean militaries begin large-scale joint military drills that North Korea views as a rehearsal for invasion. North Korea's official news outlet, the Korean Central News Agency, said Monday that the missile launches showed the North's resolve to respond with overwhelming powerful forces to the intensifying military maneuvers by the the U.S. imperialists and the South Korean puppet forces. KCNA also implied that the North aims to arm the cruise missiles tested with nuclear warheads. It said the missiles flew for more than two hours, drawing figure-eight-shaped patterns in waters off the country's eastern coast, and hit targets 1,500 kilometers (930 miles) away. The missiles were fired from the 8.24 Yongung ship, KCNA said, referenci

Snowstorm sweeps through South Korean capital Seoul, nearby regions

Cars slowed and stopped on icy roads and bundled-up commuters gingerly navigated snow-covered sidewalks as a snowstorm swept through the South Korean capital of Seoul and nearby regions on Thursday, extending a frigid cold spell that has the country in its grip. There were no immediate reports of major disruptions or damage caused by the snow, ice and subzero temperatures as of Thursday afternoon, as officials lifted their heavy snow warnings for the area after the snowfall weakened following morning commuting hours. Traffic on the country's major roads was normal, although 110 hiking trails across three national parks remained closed. More than 5 centimeters (2 inches) of snow fell in Seoul in the 24 hours through 11 a.m. Thursday, while neighbouring Gyeonggi province and Incheon saw 6 to 8 centimeters (2.3 to 3 inches) of snow. Morning temperatures in the region fell to around minus 10 degrees Celsius (14 degrees Fahrenheit). The country's weather agency forecasted similar weathe

Coldest day of season grips S Korea; Seoul records minus 25.5 degrees C

The lowest apparent temperature for Seoul was minus 25.5 degrees, while that of Cheorwon was minus 39.3 degrees

Hundreds flee after fire breaks out in south Seoul, over 60 homes gutted

More than 800 firefighters, police officers and public workers were deployed to fight the flame and handle evacuations after the fire broke out around 6:30 am

North Korea launches ballistic missile off east coast, says Seoul official

North Korea launched a ballistic missile Sunday off its east coast, South Korea said. South Korea's Joint Chief of Staff said the launch was made on Sunday morning but gave no further details. The launch came three days after North Korea said it tested a high-thrust solid-fuel motor for a new strategic weapon, a development that could allow it to possess a more mobile, harder-to-detect arsenal of intercontinental ballistic missiles that can reach the U.S. mainland. In recent months, North Korea has test-fired a barrage of nuclear-capable ballistic missiles including last month's launch of its developmental, longest-range, liquid-fueled Hwasong-17 ICBM designed to carry multiple warheads. Some experts say North Korea would eventually use an expanded arsenal to seek sanctions relief and other concessions from the United States.

Kim Jong Un's sister makes insulting threats to Seoul over sanctions

The powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un made insult-laden threats against South Korea on Thursday for considering unliteral sanctions on the North, calling the South's new president and his government "idiots" and "a running wild dog gnawing on a bone given by the US". Kim Yo Jong's diatribe came two days after South Korea's Foreign Ministry said that it was reviewing additional unilateral sanctions on North Korea over its recent barrage of missile tests. The ministry said it would also consider sanctions and clampdowns on North Korea's alleged cyberattacks a new key source of funding for its weapons program if the North conducts a major provocation like a nuclear test. "I wonder what sanctions' the South Korean group, no more than a running wild dog gnawing on a bone given by the US, impudently impose on North Korea," Kim Yo Jong said in a statement carried by state media. "What a spectacle sight!" She called South Korea's new President Yoon Suk Yeol and his ...

North Korea has test-fired another missile toward eastern sea: South Korea

South Korea's military says North Korea has fired at least one ballistic missile toward its eastern sea, the latest in a series of weapons tests that have raised tensions in the region. Seoul's Joint Chiefs of Staff didn't immediately confirm what type of missile was fired Thursday or how far the weapon flew. The launch came a day after North Korea fired more than 20 missiles, the most it has fired in a single day ever. One of those missile flew in the direction of a populated South Korean island and landed near the rivals' tense sea border, triggering air raid sirens and forcing residents in Ulleung island to evacuate. South Korea quickly responded by launching its own missiles in the same border area. Wednesday's launches came hours after North Korea threatened to use nuclear weapons to get the US and South Korea to pay the most horrible price in history in protest of ongoing South Korean-US military drills that it views as a rehearsal for a potential invasion.

South Korea police chief admits responsibility for Halloween stamepede

South Korea's police chief admitted "a heavy responsibility" for failing to prevent a recent crowd surge that killed more than 150 people during Halloween festivities in Seoul, saying on Tuesday that officers didn't effectively handle earlier emergency calls about the impending disaster. The admission came as the South Korean government faces growing public scrutiny over whether the crowd surge Saturday night in Seoul's Itaewon district, a popular nightlife neighbourhood, could have been prevented and who should take the responsibility for the country's worst disaster in years. I feel a heavy responsibility (for the disaster) as the head of one of related government offices, Yoon Hee Keun, commissioner general of the Korean National Police Agency, told a televised news conference. Police will do their best to prevent a tragedy like this from happening again. Yoon said an initial investigation has found that there were many urgent calls by citizens notifying authorities about the ...

Witnesses say 'it was like a hell' inside South Korean Halloween stampede

In one moment, thousands of Halloween revellers crammed into the narrow, vibrant streets of Seoul's most cosmopolitan neighbourhood, eager to show off their capes, wizard hats and bat wings. In the next, panic spread as an unmanageable mass of people jammed into a narrow alley in Itaewon. Toppled revellers stacked on one another "like dominoes" in a chaotic crush so intense that clothes were ripped off. A stunned Seoul was just beginning on Monday to put together the huge scope of the crowd surge that killed mostly people in their 20s and 30s, including foreign nationals, on Saturday night. As of Sunday evening, officials put the death toll at 153 and the number of injured people at 133. The Ministry of the Interior and Safety said it expected the death toll to rise on account of the number of injured people in serious conditions. Witnesses say the nightmarish scene intensified as people performed CPR on the dying and carried limp bodies to ambulances, while dance music pulsed from

PM Modi expresses deep anguish over South Korea's Halloween stampede

The stampede took place on Saturday night and led to death of at least 26 foreign nationals from 14 countries when crowd celebrating Halloween swelled in narrow alleys of Seoul's nightlife district

PM Modi expresses deep anguish over South Korea's stampede killing 153

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday wrote to South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol and expressed deep anguish at the tragic loss of lives at the deadliest stampede in the country's history which killed at least 153 people, including over 20 foreigners. The stampede happened on Saturday night in a narrow downhill alley near Hamilton Hotel in the famous nightlife district in Seoul after tens of thousands of people visited the area for Halloween celebrations. "PM @narendramodi in his letter to ROK President Yoon Suk Yeol @President_KR has expressed deep anguish at the tragic loss of lives at yesterday's stampede incident in Seoul. He also conveyed his heartfelt condolences to the friends and families who lost their loved ones," the Indian Embassy in South Korea tweeted on Sunday. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Sunday condoled the loss of lives in the stampede, and said India stands in solidarity with that country during this difficult time. "Deeply shocked at the loss of