South Korea

SEOUL, Aug 11 (Reuters) - China and South Korea clashed on Thursday over a U.S. missile defence shield, threatening to undermine efforts by the new government in Seoul to overcome longstanding security differences.

The disagreement over the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system installed in South Korea emerged after an apparently smooth first visit to China by South Korea's foreign minister this week.

SEOUL, Aug. 10 (Xinhua) -- Nine people have been confirmed dead and seven others went missing as South Korea's capital Seoul and its surrounding areas were battered by heavy rainfall that started on Monday, Yonhap news agency reported Wednesday citing the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters.

Over 500 millimeters of rain fell in Seoul until Wednesday morning, while the western port city of Incheon, Gyeonggi province, which surrounds Seoul, and Gangwon province next to Gyeonggi were also pounded by torrential rain.

SEOUL, Aug. 9 (Xinhua) -- Eight people were killed and six others went missing as South Korea's metropolitan region was pounded by heavy rains, the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters said Tuesday.

Over 100 millimeters per hour of rains hit the capital Seoul, the western port city of Incheon and Gyeonggi province, which surrounds Seoul, on Monday night.

The per-hour precipitation in Dongjak district of Seoul reached 141.5 millimeters at one point, marking the highest since August 1942.

SEOUL, Aug 8 (Reuters) - South Korea foreign minister Park Jin is set for his first visit to China on Monday as President Yoon Suk-yeol's government seeks to reassure Beijing about their relationship despite stronger ties with the United States and tensions over Taiwan.

Park is scheduled for a three-day stay in the eastern port city of Qingdao, during which he will hold talks with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, Seoul's foreign ministry said. Park is the first high-level official to travel to China since Yoon took office in May.

SEOUL, Aug 5 (NNN-YONHAP) – Five people were killed, and 37 others were injured, in a South Korean fire accident, that took place at a hospital building in Icheon, around 50 km south-east of the capital, Seoul.

The fire broke out at 10:17 a.m. local time (0117 GMT), yesterday, from the four-story building, which houses a hospital for dialysis patients, on the fourth floor, offices on the second and third floors, and restaurants on the first floor.

SEOUL, Aug 4 (Reuters) - North Korea warned it will "never tolerate" the United States' criticism of the isolated country's nuclear programme, calling Washington the "kingpin of nuclear proliferation" and saying it would not allow any encroachment of its sovereign rights.

North Korea has conducted missile tests at an unprecedented pace this year and international experts believe it is readying its seventh nuclear test, the first since 2017.

SEOUL, Aug. 3 (Xinhua) -- South Korea's daily new COVID-19 cases hit the highest in 110 days, bringing the total number of infections to over 20 million, official data showed Wednesday.

The country reported 119,922 new COVID-19 cases for the past 24 hours as of midnight Tuesday, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA).

It was the highest daily figure in 110 days since mid-April amid a rapid spread of the new COVID-19 sub-variant.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea on Saturday reported no new fever cases for the first time since it abruptly admitted to its first domestic COVID-19 outbreak and placed its 26 million people under more draconian restrictions in May.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un warned he’s ready to use his nuclear weapons in potential military conflicts with the United States and South Korea, state media said Thursday, as he unleashed fiery rhetoric against rivals he says are pushing the Korean Peninsula to the brink of war.

SEOUL, July 27 (Xinhua) -- South Korea reported 100,285 new COVID-19 cases as of midnight Tuesday compared to 24 hours ago, raising the total number of infections to 19,446,946, the health authorities said on Wednesday.

The daily caseload was up from 99,327 the previous day, and higher than 76,379 tallied a week earlier, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA).

For the past week, the daily average number of confirmed cases was 72,735.

Among the new cases, 532 were imported from overseas, lifting the total to 42,683.