South Korea

SEOUL, May 25 (Xinhua) -- South Korea launched its homegrown space rocket on Thursday to carry eight satellites into orbit, marking the country's second successful rocket launch.

The Korea Space Launch Vehicle (KSLV)-II, also dubbed Nuri, blasted off from the Naro Space Center in the southern coastal village of Goheung at about 6:24 p.m. local time (0924 GMT), live footage from the Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI) showed.

SEOUL, May 25 (Xinhua) -- The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) on Thursday denounced the establishment of a trilateral information-sharing mechanism among the United States, Japan and South Korea on the margins of the Group of Seven (G7) Summit in Japan's Hiroshima.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — The South Korean and U.S. militaries conducted large live-fire drills near the border with North Korea on Thursday, despite the North’s warning that it won’t tolerate what it calls an invasion rehearsal on its doorstep.

The drills, the first of five rounds of live-fire exercises through mid-June, mark 70 years since the establishment of the military alliance between Seoul and Washington. North Korea typically reacts to such major South Korean-U.S. exercises with missile and other weapons tests.

SEOUL, May 20 (Xinhua) -- Tens of thousands of South Koreans gathered in central Seoul on Saturday to voice their opposition to Japan's planned discharge of radioactive wastewater from its crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant into the Pacific Ocean.

"Stop Japan's dumping of nuclear contaminated water into ocean. Oppose the dumping from Fukushima," protesters shouted in unison with civic activists and politicians joining the rally.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un examined a finished military spy satellite, which his country is expected to launch soon, during a visit to an aerospace facility where he described space-based reconnaissance as crucial for countering the U.S. and South Korea.

Kim during Tuesday’s visit approved an unspecified “future action plan” in preparations for launching the satellite, North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency said Wednesday. North Korea hasn’t disclosed a target date for the launch, which some analysts say may be in the next few weeks.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau arrived in South Korea on Tuesday for a meeting with South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol at which they are expected to discuss expansion of trade and challenges posed by North Korea.

Trudeau, the first Canadian leader to visit South Korea in nine years, will meet with Yoon on Wednesday, hours after he delivers a speech at the National Assembly in Seoul.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — A South Korean court on Tuesday ordered the country’s biggest adoption agency to pay 100 million won ($74,700) in damages to a 48-year-old man for mishandling his adoption as a child to the United States, where he faced legal troubles after surviving an abusive childhood before being deported in 2016.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol met with Japanese business leaders on Monday and called for expanded technology cooperation between the countries, which he described as a key element in broader efforts to improve relations.

Yoon has met twice with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in recent weeks, demonstrating their intent to overcome historical grievances that have strained ties for years and to strengthen cooperation in response to shared challenges, including a nuclear-armed North Korea and growing Chinese assertiveness in the region.

SEOUL, May 11 (NNN-YONHAP) – South Korea’s export fell in double digits, in the first 10 days of May, due to the continued weakness in global demand for locally-made products, customs office data showed today.

Export amounted to 14.48 billion U.S. dollars, during the May 1-10 period, down 10.1 percent from the same period of last year, according to Korea Customs Service.

The outbound shipment kept sliding for the seventh consecutive month through Apr.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Japan’s prime minister expressed sympathy for the suffering of Korean forced laborers during Japan’s colonial rule, as he and his South Korean counterpart Sunday renewed their resolve to overcome historical grievances and strengthen cooperation in the face of shared challenges such as North Korea’s nuclear program.