South Korea

BUSAN, South Korea, Sept 23 (Reuters) - A U.S. aircraft carrier arrived in South Korea on Friday for the first time in about four years, set to join other military vessels in a show of force intended to send a message to North Korea.

USS Ronald Reagan and ships from its accompanying strike group docked at a naval base in the southern port city of Busan ahead of joint drills with South Korean forces.

Its arrival marks the most significant deployment yet under a new push to have more U.S. "strategic assets" operate in the area to deter North Korea.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — A U.S. aircraft carrier is to visit South Korea this week for its first joint training with South Korean warships in five years, officials said Monday, in an apparent show of force against increasing North Korean nuclear threats.

SEOUL, Sept 16 (NNN-YONHAP) – South Korea’s export of information and communications technology (ICT) products, kept falling for two months through Aug, government data showed today.

The ICT products shipment dwindled 4.6 percent from a year earlier, to 19.31 billion U.S. dollars in Aug, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.

Global demand for locally-made tech products weakened amid rising worries about the global economic downturn.

Semiconductor export reduced 6.8 percent over the year to 10.96 billion U.S. dollars in Aug.

INCHEON, Sept 16 (NNN-XINHUA) – South Korea, today returned to China the remains and belongings of 88 Chinese soldiers killed in the 1950-53 Korean War.

The ninth repatriation ceremony was held at the Incheon International Airport, west of the capital, Seoul, attended by a Chinese delegation, led by Vice Minister of Veterans Affairs, Chang Zhengguo, and South Korea’s Second Vice Foreign Minister, Lee Do-hoon, as well as, officials with the defence ministry.

During the ceremony, representatives of China and South Korea signed a handover document.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — A woman was arrested in South Korea on Thursday on two murder charges from New Zealand, where the bodies of two long-dead children were found last month in abandoned suitcases, authorities said.

Authorities didn’t immediately say if the 42-year-old suspect was the dead children’s mother. New Zealand police had earlier told their South Korean counterparts that the mother might be living in South Korea.

SEOUL, Sept 9 (Reuters) - North Korea has officially enshrined the right to use preemptive nuclear strikes to protect itself in a new law that leader Kim Jong Un said makes its nuclear status "irreversible" and bars denuclearisation talks, its state media reported on Friday.

The secretary-general of the United Nations, which has long-standing sanctions on North Korea's nuclear and missile programs, said he was "deeply concerned" by the new law and reiterated calls for Pyongyang to return to denuclearisation talks. 

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un stressed his country will never abandon the nuclear weapons it needs to counter the United States, which he accused of pushing to weaken the North’s defenses and eventually collapse his government, state media said Friday.

Kim made the comments during a speech Thursday at North Korea’s rubber-stamp parliament, where members passed legislation governing the use of nuclear weapons, which Kim described as a step to cement the country’s nuclear status and make clear such weapons will not be bargained.

SEOUL, Sept 8 (Reuters) - North Korea's rubber-stamp parliament convened this week to pass legislation aimed at turning the country into a "beautiful and civilized socialist fairyland," state media reported on Thursday.

The North Korean Supreme People's Assembly (SPA) met for its first session on Wednesday, and adopted laws on landscaping and rural development, state news agency KCNA reported.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — The most powerful typhoon to hit South Korea in years killed at least six people, dumped a meter (3 feet) of rain, destroyed roads and felled power lines on Tuesday. The death toll could have been higher if not for proactive evacuations and school closures, officials said.

There was also greater public awareness about the storm and its risks. Typhoon Hinnamnor made impact just weeks after heavy rain around the capital, Seoul, caused flooding that killed at least 14 people.

SEOUL, Sept 5 (Reuters) - South Korea raised its typhoon-alert to its highest level on Monday as approaching Typhoon Hinnamnor forced flight cancellations, the suspension of some business operations and the closure of schools.

Heavy rain and strong wind pounded the south of the country as the typhoon approached from the south at a speed of 33 km per hour (20.5 mph). Hinnamnor is expected to make landfall southwest of the port city of Busan early on Tuesday, after reaching the holiday island of Jeju on Monday.