South Korea

SEOUL, July 10 (Xinhua) -- An opinion piece in the Korea Times on Thursday raised doubts about the U.S. demonization of China, saying it could be "a colossal strategic blunder."

"Is practically every China claim in the South China Sea wholly invalid? Is it invariably the case that China is always in the wrong?" said Tom Plate, author of the opinion piece and a professor at Loyola Marymount University in California.

SEOUL, July 9 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) said on Friday that it will tighten quarantine measures for U.S. service members for two weeks amid the surging number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in South Korea in recent days.

The USFK said in a statement that it will implement enhanced COVID-19 mitigation measures for two weeks through July 23 due to the recent rise of COVID-19 cases within the USFK and South Korea.

Regardless of vaccination status, all bars and clubs will be off-limits for all U.S. troops here for the two weeks.

SEOUL, July 8 (Reuters) - New photos confirm North Korea has demoted a military leader in a reshuffle that left the ruling party's top body dominated by civilians, possibly signalling leader Kim Jong Un's focus on the economy and frustration with bureaucratic failures, analysts said.

Last week, North Korea announced the latest in a series of leadership changes that may be the most significant reshuffle of top officials in years.

SEOUL, July 8 (Xinhua) -- Nuclear envoys of South Korea and the United States held phone talks early Thursday on the Korean Peninsula issue, according to Seoul's foreign ministry.

Noh Kyu-duk, South Korea's special representative for Korean Peninsula peace and security affairs, talked via phone with Sung Kim, U.S. special representative for the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) policy.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea on Wednesday reported 1,212 new cases, a steep rise in coronavirus infections unseen since the winter outbreak as it slips into another surge while most of its people are still unvaccinated.

Health experts say the government sent the wrong message by pushing for a premature easing of social distancing.

Packed restaurants, bars and stores and huge beer-drinking crowds at parks alongside Seoul’s Han River in recent weeks have illustrated how the country has let its guard down despite a slow vaccine rollout.

SEOUL/SYDNEY, July 2 (Reuters) - The highly contagious Delta variant of the coronavirus is surging through Asia this week, with record numbers of infections in Australia and South Korea, prompting some countries to tighten curbs and others to hasten vaccination.

The variant, first detected in India in December last year, has spread to about 100 countries and the World Health Organisation warned recently that it could soon become the dominant form of the virus. It is also driving a spike in cases in Japan, casting a pall over this month's Olympic Games.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said Thursday he’ll push to further upgrade relations with China, his main ally, as he struggles to navigate his country out of a deepening crisis linked to the pandemic.

Kim made the comments in a message to Chinese President Xi Jinping congratulating him on the 100th founding anniversary of the Chinese Communist Party, according to the official Korean Central News Agency.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un berated top officials for failures in coronavirus prevention that caused a “great crisis,” using strong language that raised the specter of a mass outbreak in a country that would be scarcely able to handle it.

The state media report Wednesday did not specify what “crucial” lapse had prompted Kim to call the Politburo meeting of the ruling Workers’ Party, but experts said the North could be wrestling with a significant setback in its pandemic fight.

SEOUL, June 28 (Reuters) - South Korea approved plans on Monday to pursue a $2.6-billion artillery interception system, similar to Israel's "Iron Dome", designed to protect against North Korea's arsenal of long-range guns and rockets, the defence acquisition agency said.

A large part of the area surrounding Seoul, the capital, is home to about half the population of 52 million, and lies within range of the neighbour’s long-range guns and multiple rocket launchers.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Heartbroken North Koreans have been worrying tearfully about leader Kim Jong Un’s “emaciated looks,” state media quoted a local resident as saying, in a rare acknowledgement of foreign speculation about his weight loss.

The comments were seen as an effort to boost domestic support for Kim’s efforts as he grapples with deepening economic hardships caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, mismanagement, U.N. economic sanctions and natural disasters, some experts said.