South Korea

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un admitted that his economic development plans have failed as he opened the nation’s first full ruling party congress in five years, state media reported Wednesday.

In an opening speech at the congress that began Tuesday, Kim said that “almost all sectors fell a long way short of the set objectives” under a previous five-year development plan established at the 2016 congress, according to the North’s official Korean Central News Agency.

SEOUL (Reuters) - Iran denied on Tuesday it was using a South Korean ship and its crew as hostages, a day after it seized the tanker in the Gulf while pressing a demand for Seoul to release $7 billion in funds frozen under U.S. sanctions.

The seizure of the MT Hankuk Chemi and its 20-member crew near the strategic Strait of Hormuz has been seen as an attempt by Tehran to assert its demands, just two weeks before President-elect Joe Biden takes office in the United States.

SEOUL, Jan. 2 (Xinhua) -- South Korea decided on Saturday to extend its tightened social-distancing rules for two more weeks amid a continued COVID-19 resurgence.

The Seoul metropolitan area will be placed under the second-highest Level 2.5 social-distancing guidelines for two more weeks until Jan. 17, according to the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasure Headquarters.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un thanked the public for their trust and support “in the difficult times” and wished them happiness and good health in his first New Year’s Day cards sent to his people.

Kim usually gives a televised speech on Jan. 1, but he is widely expected to skip it this year since he will address the country’s first ruling party congress in five years sometime in early January.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has reviewed the agenda for an important ruling party congress set for early next month, state media reported Tuesday, dispelling outside speculation the North might delay the meeting due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Workers’ Party Congress is the first in five years. It is North Korea’s biggest political conference and is mainly intended to set new political and economic priorities, reshuffle top officials and review past projects.

SEOUL (Reuters) - American troops stationed in South Korea received the first doses of coronavirus vaccine to be administered in the country on Tuesday, as health officials in Seoul reported a daily record of 40 deaths amid a surge in new cases.

U.S. Forces Korea (USFK), which includes around 28,500 American military personnel as well as thousands of other workers and family members, gave the first doses to military and civilian healthcare workers and first responders in the force as well as USFK’s top officers, the command said in a statement.

SEOUL, Dec 28 (NNN-YONHAP) – South Korea’s health authorities said today that, it detected the country’s first cases of more transmissible COVID-19 variant infections from entrants from Britain.

The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA), said that, three South Korean nationals, who stayed in London and arrived here on Dec 22, tested positive for the new COVID-19 strain.

The three were confirmed with the virus when they took tests on arrival, and have been under quarantine.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Coronavirus restrictions that have significantly limited his public appearances. Warning signals for an economy battered by pandemic-related border closings and natural disasters. The impending departure of a U.S. president who said he “fell in love” with him.

As North Korean leader Kim Jong Un grapples with the toughest challenges of his nine-year rule, he’s set to open a massive ruling Workers’ Party congress next month to try to muster stronger public loyalty to him and lay out new economic and foreign policies.

Seoul, Dec 26 (AP-PTI) South Korea had seemed to be winning the fight against the coronavirus: Quickly ramping up its testing, contact-tracing and quarantine efforts paid off when it weathered an early outbreak without the economic pain of a lockdown. But a deadly resurgence has reached new heights during Christmas week, prompting soul-searching on how the nation sleepwalked into a crisis.

The 1,241 infections on Christmas Day were the largest daily increase. Another 1,132 cases were reported Saturday, bringing South Korea's caseload to 55,902.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea had seemed to be winning the fight against the coronavirus: Quickly ramping up its testing, contact-tracing and quarantine efforts paid off when it weathered an early outbreak without the economic pain of a lockdown. But a deadly resurgence has reached new heights during Christmas week, prompting soul-searching on how the nation sleepwalked into a crisis.

The 1,241 infections on Christmas Day were the largest daily increase. Another 1,132 cases were reported Saturday, bringing South Korea’s caseload to 55,902.