South Korea

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un called for his military and diplomats to prepare unspecified “offensive measures” to protect the country’s security and sovereignty, the North’s state media said on Monday, before his end-of-year deadline for the Trump administration to make major concessions to salvage a fragile nuclear diplomacy.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea has opened a high-profile political conference to discuss how to overcome “harsh trials and difficulties,” state media reported Sunday, days before a year-end deadline set by Pyongyang for Washington to make concessions in nuclear negotiations.

The ruling Workers’ Party meeting is a focus of keen attention as some observers predict North Korea might use the conference to announce it would abandon faltering diplomacy with the U.S. and lift its moratorium on major weapons test.

SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea’s Constitutional Court dismissed on Friday an appeal by a group of women forced to work in Japan’s wartime military brothels to strike down an agreement signed by the two countries to settle claims over the abuse.

The ruling is expected to have little impact on the 2015 agreement as it has been effectively abandoned by South Korean President Moon Jae-in, who has called it seriously flawed and inadequate to resolve the issue that has been for many years a source of rancor between the neighbors.

SEOUL, Dec. 27 (Xinhua) -- South Korean Unification Minister Kim Yeon-chul on Friday stressed a need for an interim deal in denuclearization talks between the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) and the United States as part of efforts to keep the dialogue momentum alive.

Kim made the remark during a press conference with local reporters, saying a tentative agreement as the stepping stone to a final agreement, that is to say a "wisdom of modus vivendi," would be necessary to keep situations from worsening and revive the negotiations momentum.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — A new satellite image of a factory where North Korea makes military equipment used to launch long-range missiles shows the construction of a new structure.

The release of several images from Planet Labs comes amid concern that North Korea could launch a rocket or missile as it seeks concessions in stalled nuclear negotiations with the United States.

North Korea has warned that what “Christmas gift” it gives the U.S. depends on what action Washington takes.

SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea lashed back at the United States for taking issue with its human rights record on Saturday, saying Washington’s “malicious words” would only aggravate tensions on the Korean Peninsula, state news agency KCNA reported.

The KCNA statement, attributed to a foreign ministry spokesperson, warned that if the United States dared to take issue with the North’s system of government by citing human rights problems, it would “pay dearly”.

New Delhi, Dec 17 (PTI) Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday said he met South Korea Prime Minister Lee Nak-yon during a visit to the country and held discussions on wide-ranging issues.

His visit to South Korea came amid protests over the amended citizenship law in India.

SEOUL, Dec 17 (NNN-YONHAP) – South Korean President, Moon Jae-in, today named Chung Sye-kyun, former National Assembly speaker, as new prime minister, for the latter half of his single five-year presidency.

Moon made the announcement, at the press centre of the presidential compound, saying, what matters for the pick of Chung to the second-highest administrative position was the ability to pull off people’s integration and harmony, while respecting opposition parties in time of fierce political strife.

SEOUL, Dec. 16 (Xinhua) -- South Korea posted trade surplus for 94 straight months through November despite the continued fall in export, customs office data showed Monday.

The revised figure for trade surplus reached 3.3 billion U.S. dollars in November, staying in the black for 94 months since February 2012, according to Korea Customs Service.

Export, which takes up about half of the export-driven economy, declined 14.4 percent over the year to 44.1 billion U.S. dollars last month, while import dived 13.0 percent to 40.7 billion U.S. dollars.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — A senior U.S. diplomat said Monday that Washington won’t accept a year-end deadline set by North Korea to make concessions in stalled nuclear talks and urged Pyongyang to return to a negotiating table immediately.