South Korea

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North Korean Assassin Turned Pastor Dies
He Came as an Assassin,
Died as a Pastor
OBITUARY
Apr 9, 2025 5:00 PM CDT

He Came as an Assassin, Died as a Pastor

Kim Shin-jo resettled in South Korea after failed mission to kill president

(Newser) - Kim Shin-jo, a prominent ex-North Korean commando who resettled in South Korea as a pastor after his daring mission to assassinate South Korean President Park Chung-hee in 1968 failed, died on Wednesday. He was 82. Kim died of old age and his official funeral is set for Saturday, Kim's...

Jeju Air Pilots Would've Missed Barrier if Landing Went to Plan

Pilots had repeatedly tried to approach runway from the south, which didn't face a barrier

(Newser) - Audio from the Jeju Air flight that crashed in South Korea on Dec. 29, killing 179 people , reveals there were three different plans to land the plane after birds apparently flew into both engines . After reporting a bird strike and issuing a mayday call , the pilots told air traffic controllers...

South Korean President Yoon Removed From Office

Yoon Suk Yeol was impeached in December over martial law declaration

(Newser) - South Korea's Constitutional Court removed impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol from office on Friday, four months after he threw South Korean politics into turmoil by declaring martial law and sending troops to parliament in an ill-fated effort to break through legislative gridlock. The unanimous verdict comes more than three...

14K Cops Will Descend on Seoul on Friday
14K Cops Will Descend
on Seoul on Friday
THE RUNDOWN
Apr 3, 2025 12:22 PM CDT

14K Cops Will Descend on Seoul on Friday

South Korea is tense ahead of ruling on Yoon Suk Yeol's impeachment

(Newser) - More than a tenth of South Korea's entire police force will be mobilized in Seoul on Friday morning as the country's Constitutional Court prepares to decide Yoon Suk Yeol's fate. The court says it will rule on the validity of Yoon's impeachment at 11am local time,...

South Korea: We've Found Our Wildfires Culprit

Police suspect 56-year-man tending to grandparents' gravesites started historic blaze

(Newser) - The mystery of how South Korea's worst wildfires in history began—or at least one of them—may soon be solved. The Guardian reports that police there have launched a probe that's focused on a 56-year-old man who they believe started a fire while tending to his grandparents'...

South Korea's Young Adults Shrug Off Pressure to Marry

Governments roll out matchmaking incentives as birthrate falls, but young people aren't feeling it

(Newser) - South Korea has the world's lowest birthrate, and the government is ramping up its matchmaking efforts. But as the Wall Street Journal reports, young people just don't seem interested. The district of Saha-gu in the large city of Busan, for example, runs matchmaking services and will pay $14,...

South Korea's Wildfires Are 'Rewriting the Record Books'

24 people have been killed in fires that began Friday

(Newser) - Wildfires are infrequent in South Korea—but the ones burning there now in the country's southern regions have been labeled the deadliest ever. The fires, which CNN reports began last Friday from a spark from a lawn mower, have destroyed an ancient temple and prompted the evacuation of tens...

Sinkhole Appears in an Instant, Swallows Motorcyclist

The incident in Seoul was captured by dashcam video

(Newser) - A 65-foot-wide sinkhole that abruptly swallowed a motorcyclist on a Seoul street on Monday evening did so fatally, South Korean officials say. A motorcyclist in his 30s was found dead in the sinkhole midday Tuesday, per Gangdong fire station chief Kim Chang Seob, who said the man was discovered still...

S. Korea's Acting President Reinstated by High Court

Constitutional Court overturns impeachment of Han Duck-soo

(Newser) - South Korea's Constitutional Court overturned the impeachment of Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, reinstating the nation's No. 2 official as acting leader Monday while not yet ruling on the separate impeachment of President Yoon Suk Yeol over his shocking imposition of martial law late last year. Many observers said...

Brands Flee South Korean Star Accused of Dating Minor

Kim Soo-hyun's one-time girlfriend, Kim Sae-ron, died last month in a suspected suicide

(Newser) - Italian luxury brand Prada is among companies ditching popular South Korea actor Kim Soo-hyun after allegations that he was romantically involved with another actor when she was 15. Kim Sae-ron, 24, was found dead of a suspected suicide in February, three years after a "fall from grace," per...

South Korean Star Dies at 43
South Korean
Star Dies at 43
Mar 11, 2025 11:17 AM CDT

South Korean Star Dies at 43

Wheesung's death is 'the latest in a string of tragedies' in the country's entertainment industry

(Newser) - Yet another South Korean star has died, in what the New York Times calls "the latest in a string of tragedies to strike the country's booming entertainment industry." Wheesung, who put R&B on the map in South Korea over the course of a career that spanned...

South Korea Releases Impeached President

Court allows Yoon Suk Yeol to be free during rebellion trial

(Newser) - South Korea's impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol was released from prison on Saturday, a day after a Seoul court canceled his arrest to allow him to stand trial for rebellion without being detained. After walking out of a detention center near Seoul, Yoon waved, clenched his fists, and bowed...

South Korean Fighter Jet Accidentally Drops Bombs

8 people were injured in the incident

(Newser) - A South Korean fighter jet accidentally dropped eight bombs on a civilian area during training on Thursday, injuring eight people, officials said. The MK-82 bombs "abnormally" released by the KF-16 fighter jet fell outside a firing range, causing civilian damages, the air force said in a statement. The air...

Woman in Hot Water Over Kiss of K-Pop Star

S. Korean cops summon 50-something woman for questioning after smooch of BTS member

(Newser) - A kiss is not just a kiss in South Korea—especially if you try to smooch a member of BTS. NBC News reports that police there have summoned a woman accused of planting one on 32-year-old Kim Seok-jin, better known as the K-pop group's Jin, without his consent, with...

'Through Her Life, We Have Seen What Human Dignity Is'

Gil Won-ok, an advocate for so-called comfort women, dies at 96

(Newser) - Tens of thousands of Korean women were forced into sexual slavery by Japan during WWII. In the 1990s, about 240 of these so-called "comfort women" publicly identified themselves. Seven of them are still alive—and until her Sunday death, Gil Won-ok had been number eight. "Through her life,...

Teacher Allegedly Kills 8-Year-Old at School

Depressed female teacher was reportedly forced back to work in South Korea

(Newser) - An elementary school student in South Korea has died after she was allegedly stabbed by a teacher in an attempted murder-suicide. The unnamed female teacher, who also had stab wounds that police say may have been self-inflicted, was found beside the female student on the second floor of the Daejeon...

North Korea Sees US Act as 'Undeniable Threat'

Docking of USS Alexandria in South Korea ruffles feathers

(Newser) - A US Navy submarine docked at a naval base in South Korea on Monday, purportedly to replenish supplies—drawing a strong reaction from North Korea, which labeled the act an "undeniable threat." "We express grave concern over the US dangerous hostile military act," a Defense Ministry...

Prosecutors Indict South Korea's President
South Korea Indicts President
Jan 26, 2025 11:30 AM CST

South Korea Indicts President

A trial over martial law declaration is next for Yoon Suk Yeol

(Newser) - South Korean prosecutors on Sunday indicted impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol on rebellion in connection with his short-lived imposition of martial law, a criminal charge that could incur the death penalty or life imprisonment if he's convicted. Yoon was impeached and arrested over his Dec. 3 martial law decree...

Marriage, Babies Finally on the Rise in South Korea

Birth rate to climb in 9-year first

(Newser) - South Koreans are finally getting around to making more babies, which is of great news to their government. South's Korea's birth rate—for years the lowest of any country in the world—is now set to climb for the first time in almost a decade. The number of...

South Korea Enacts a Change After Jeju Air Crash

Concrete barriers that hold localizers will be buried or replaced

(Newser) - The deadliest plane crash in South Korea's history is triggering a change at the country's airports. The BBC reports the concrete barriers that contain navigation systems at seven airports will be altered in the wake of the crash, which saw a Jeju Air flight slam into a concrete...

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