South Korea

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During Pandemic, This Nation's Economy Takes Top Billing

Switzerland is No. 1 on WIPO's Global Innovation Index for 132 economies around the world

(Newser) - To get through something like a pandemic, countries have had to innovate—especially when it comes to keeping their economies humming. And there are "reasons to be optimistic" on that front, according to one of the editors of the World Intellectual Property Organization's annual Global Innovation Index , which...

South Korea May Side With Dogs Over Tradition

President suggests it's time to prohibit the consumption of dog meat

(Newser) - South Korea's president is a dog guy, and he wants the country to follow suit. Moon Jae-in said Monday the government should consider banning the consumption of dog meat, reports Bloomberg . "Hasn't the time come?" Moon asked during a weekly briefing with Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum, per...

N. Korea Responds to Call to End Korean War

Kim's sister says 'hostile policies' must end first

(Newser) - North Korea rebuffed South Korea’s push for a declaration to end the 1950-53 Korean War as a way to restore peace, saying Friday such a step could be used as a "smokescreen covering up the US hostile policy" against the North. In a speech at the UN General...

His Case Helped Oust a President. Now He's Free on Parole

Samsung's Lee Jae-yong out of prison after 18 months of 30-month sentence

(Newser) - Samsung leader Lee Jae-yong walked out of prison Friday a year early, in a parole decision showing the conglomerate's outsize influence in South Korea. Lee left the prison near Seoul to a barrage of camera flashes and bowed in apology over the anger ignited by his case, related to...

Romania&#39;s Olympians Were Welcomed With a Dracula Pic
Broadcaster Says Sorry for
'Inexcusable' Gaffe at Olympics
in case you missed it
Jul 31, 2021 1:40 PM CDT

Broadcaster Says Sorry for 'Inexcusable' Gaffe at Olympics

Among stereotypical pics used in opening ceremonies: Chernobyl for Ukraine, pizza for Italy

(Newser) - Ukrainians tuning in to the opening ceremonies of the Tokyo Olympics on Friday were likely looking forward to catching a glimpse of the athletes representing their country, not a photo of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster that wreaked havoc within its borders in 1986. If they happened to watch the sporting...

'Big Stride' Made in Relationship Between Koreas

Nations restore dormant communication channels after letters between Kim Jong Un, Moon Jae-in

(Newser) - North and South Korea exchanged messages Tuesday in communication channels that have been dormant for more than a year and agreed to improve ties—positive steps, but ones that still leave any resumption of stalled negotiations to rid the North of its nuclear weapons a long way off. Liaison officials...

First Disabled Man to Scale 14 Tallest Peaks Lost on Descent

Kim Hong-bin believed to have fallen into crevasse on Broad Peak in China

(Newser) - In reaching the summit of Broad Peak on the border of Pakistan and China on Sunday, 57-year-old Kim Hong-bin became the first disabled person—and 44th person overall—to climb the world's 14 tallest mountains , reports the Korea Herald . "As I could do it as a disabled person,...

North Korea Has a Weird New Crackdown

Pyongyang has a problem with citizens using South Korean slang

(Newser) - In the wake of a new law banning skinny jeans , mullets , and other trends from Western culture, North Korea on Sunday warned citizens against using slang from South Korea. Along with the fashions, hairstyles, and music of South Korea, slang from the country is banned under the new law, violations...

Seoul's New COVID Rules Target Gym Music

Songs in group exercise classes can't exceed 120bpm, to prevent the 'spatter' of saliva, sweat

(Newser) - Seoul has seen a recent spike in COVID cases, but the government's latest health measure in the South Korean capital to try to contain them has prompted a fair amount of head-scratching. Gymgoers in Seoul won't be able to rely on hard-driving music to get their hearts pumping...

Building Collapse Buries Bus, Killing 9

Search for survivors underway after S. Korea disaster

(Newser) - At least nine people were killed in South Korea when a building suddenly collapsed during the demolition process, sending debris onto a busy street. Authorities say the collapse of the five-story building buried a bus carrying 17 people, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation reports. Nine people on the bus died, and...

Seoul's Wastewater Holds Unexpected Amount of Viagra

Scientists detected particularly high levels of Phosphodiesterase-5 inhibitors

(Newser) - Seoul may be a Viagra capital of the world, according to a new study, which found high traces of drugs used to treat erectile dysfunction in the South Korean capital's sewers. "An astonishingly large amount of Viagra was detected in wastewater," Kim Hyunook, co-author of the study...

Samsung Heirs to Pay Truly Staggering Inheritance Tax
Samsung Heirs to Pay Truly
Staggering Inheritance Tax
in case you missed it
May 2, 2021 12:00 PM CDT

Samsung Heirs to Pay Truly Staggering Inheritance Tax

That's a lot of zeroes...

(Newser) - An estate tax bill with 10 zeroes in it? It's apparently possible, and being levied in South Korea, where the family of Samsung Electronics chair Lee Kun-hee is settling his estate following his October death . South Korea's inheritance tax rate of 50% is second only to Japan's...

Surviving WWII Sex Slave 'Dumbfounded' by Ruling

S. Korean judge rejects earlier ruling on compensation for 'comfort women'

(Newser) - In January, Amnesty International praised a South Korean court ruling as the first time Japan had been held accountable by a court for forcing hundreds of thousands of women and girls into sexual slavery during World War II. There was shock and dismay Wednesday as another judge in the same...

Iran Frees South Korean Ship It Held for Months

Move comes hours before talks on nuclear deal

(Newser) - A South Korean oil tanker held for months by Iran amid a dispute over billions of dollars seized by Seoul was freed and sailed away early Friday, just hours ahead of further talks between Tehran and world powers over its tattered nuclear deal. MarineTraffic.com data showed the MT Hankuk...

Oops: Gallery Visitors Dab Paint on $440K Artwork

They thought it was allowed on JonOne's large canvas in South Korea

(Newser) - A young couple admiring a large work by American artist JonOne at a gallery in South Korea added a few brushstrokes of their own in the mistaken belief it was allowed. The best part: The work "Untitled" is valued at $440,000, reports ABC News . JonOne, real name John...

Kim Jong Un's Sis Attacks World Leader: 'Parrot Raised by America'

Kim Yo Jong slams S. Korean President President Moon Jae-in after backlash on missile tests

(Newser) - The sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is again throwing around insults . Kim Yo Jong referred to South Korea's leader as a "parrot raised by America" on Tuesday following critiques of the North's ballistic missile launches . President Moon Jae-in said the "undesirable" actions, in...

Harvard Academic Claims 'Comfort Women' Chose to Be Sex Workers

J. Mark Ramseyer's article condemned by governments, historians

(Newser) - Historians agree that Japan forced many thousands of women into sexual slavery in World War II, euphemistically calling them "comfort women." Harvard law professor J. Mark Ramseyer, however, has caused an uproar by claiming that the women were actually sex workers who had chosen to work in military...

Army Booted Her for Being Transgender. Now She's Dead

South Korea's Byun Hui-su had been fighting to get reinstated

(Newser) - She was declared unfit to serve in her country's army after having sex reassignment surgery, the first active-duty soldier to have such a procedure. Now, Byun Hui-su is dead, her body found Wednesday at her residence in Cheongju, South Korea, per the Yonhap News Agency . Emergency responders found the...

North Korean Defector Used Tunnel Unknown to South

Alarms were ignored as man swam ashore, wandered for 6 hours

(Newser) - The North Korean man found in South Korea last week appeared eight times on surveillance cameras without anyone noticing, according to a report from South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff. Alarms sounded twice after the man came ashore around 1:05am on Feb. 16, but the soldier in charge...

Latest South Korean Embarrassment: Guy in Flippers

Possible North Korean defector reportedly swam across border, crawled through beach drain pipe

(Newser) - Soldiers came upon a North Korean man wearing a wetsuit and flippers walking down a road in South Korea on Tuesday. It was "the second embarrassing breach for the South Korean military's border security in recent months" after a North Korean defector traversed the Demilitarized Zone, reaching a...

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