South Korea

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — The South Korean government said Tuesday no unusual activity has been detected in North Korea after unconfirmed reports described leader Kim Jong Un as in fragile condition after heart surgery.

The presidential Blue House says it had no information about the rumors on Kim’s health. Speculation often surfaces about North Korea’s leadership based on attendance at important state events. Kim, who is in his mid-30s, missed the celebration of his late grandfather and state founder Kim Il Sung on April 15, the country’s most important holiday.

SEOUL (Reuters) - South Koreans are returning to work and crowding shopping malls, parks, golf courses and some restaurants as South Korea relaxes social distancing rules amid a continued downward trend in coronavirus cases.

A growing list of companies, including SK Innovation and Naver, has ended or eased their work from home policy in recent weeks, though many continue to apply flexible working hours and limit travel and face-to-face meetings.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea on Sunday dismissed as “ungrounded” President Donald Trump’s comment that he recently received “a nice note” from the North’s leader, Kim Jong Un.

Trump said during a press briefing on the coronavirus pandemic Saturday that “I received a nice note from him recently. It was a nice note. I think we’re doing fine.” Trump also defended now-stalled nuclear diplomacy with Kim, saying the U.S. would have been at war with North Korea if he had not been elected.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — As a doctor in North Korea during the SARS outbreak and flu pandemic, Choi Jung Hun didn’t have much more than a thermometer to decide who should be quarantined.

Barely paid, with no test kits and working with antiquated equipment, if anything, he and his fellow doctors in the northeastern city of Chongjin were often unable to determine who had the disease, even after patients died, said Choi, who fled to South Korea in 2012.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea reported fewer than 10 new coronavirus cases Sunday for the first time in two months as U.S. governors ease lockdowns amid pressure worldwide from businesses and the public to limit the pandemic’s economic damage.

In Brazil, hundreds of people protested in major cities against anti-virus lockdowns. France reported a decline in numbers of intensive care patients but its health agency warned the public to stick to strict isolation measures.

SEOUL, Apr 16 (NNN-YONHAP) – South Korean President, Moon Jae-in’s ruling Democratic Party, won a landslide victory, in parliamentary elections held amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Preliminary results from the National Election Commission showed on Thursday (today) that the Democratic Party secured 163 directly-contested constituency seats, while its sister Platform Party, gained 17 proportional representations (PR) slots.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — The ruling liberal party secured a resounding victory in South Korea’s parliamentary elections, which had the highest turnout in nearly three decades despite the coronavirus pandemic forcing social distancing at polling places.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korean voters wore masks and moved slowly between lines of tape at polling stations on Wednesday to elect lawmakers in the shadows of the spreading coronavirus.

The government resisted calls to postpone the parliamentary elections billed as a midterm referendum for President Moon Jae-in, who enters the final years of his term grappling with a historic public health crisis that is unleashing massive economic shock.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea fired several suspected cruise missiles off its east coast on Tuesday, South Korea said, the latest in a slew of weapons launches by the North despite worries about a possible coronavirus outbreak in the country.

South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement that the projectiles — presumed to be cruise missiles — were fired from the North’s eastern Kangwon province on Tuesday morning before flying toward its eastern sea.

SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea plans to send kits designed to run up to 600,000 coronavirus tests to the United States on Tuesday after an appeal from U.S. President Donald Trump, a Seoul official said.

Trump made the request in a telephone call with President Moon Jae-in on March 25, as the United States was grappling with fast-growing outbreaks in many states.

South Korean companies have previously shipped test kits to U.S. cities including Los Angeles, but this would mark the first bulk order from the U.S. federal government.