South Korea

SEOUL, Jan. 14 (Xinhua) -- South Korea's top court upheld a 20-year prison sentence on former President Park Geun-hye Thursday in a retrial of the corruption scandal that led to the impeachment of the former head of state.

The Supreme Court sentenced Park to 15 years in prison for bribery and another five years for other charges with a fine of 18 billion won (16.4 million U.S. dollars) and a forfeit of 3.5 billion won (3.2 million U.S. dollars), upholding the high court's ruling in July last year.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un vowed all-out efforts to bolster his country’s nuclear deterrent during a major ruling party meeting where he earlier laid out plans to work toward salvaging the broken economy.

Separately, Kim’s powerful sister criticized South Korea’s military for saying it had seen an apparent military parade taking place in Pyongyang. Kim Yo Jong, who was described last year as being in charge of inter-Korean relations, said in a statement Wednesday that such close tracking proved Seoul’s “hostile approach” toward its rival.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un was given the new title of general secretary of the ruling Workers’ Party, a designation formerly held by his late father and grandfather, state media reported Monday, in a move apparently aimed at bolstering his authority amid growing economic challenges.

Giving Kim the new title was the latest in a series of steps that North Korea has taken during its ongoing ruling party congress, the first of its kind since 2016.

SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korean leader Kim Jong Un called for more advanced nuclear weapons and said the United States is “our biggest enemy,” state media said on Saturday, presenting a stark challenge to President-elect Joe Biden just days before he takes office.

Washington’s hostile policies would not change regardless of who occupies the White House but dropping those policies would be key to North Korea-U.S. relations, Kim said, according to state news agency KCNA.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un threatened to expand his nuclear arsenal as he disclosed a list of high-tech weapons systems under development, saying the fate of relations with the United States depends on whether it abandons its hostile policy, state media reported Saturday.

Kim’s comments during a key meeting of the ruling party this week were seen as applying pressure on the incoming administration of President-elect Joe Biden, who has called Kim a “thug” and has criticized his summits with President Donald Trump.

SEOUL, Jan 8 (NNN-AGENCIES) — A South Korean delegation left for Iran on Thursday to negotiate the early release of an oil tanker and its crew seized in strategic Gulf waters this week.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said it had seized the South Korean- flagged Hankuk Chemi — which it said was carrying 7,200 tonnes of “oil chemical products” — for infringing maritime environmental laws.

The Guards said the arrested crew were from South Korea, Indonesia, Vietnam and Myanmar.

SEOUL (Reuters) - A South Korean court on Friday ordered Japan to compensate 12 women who were forced to work in its wartime brothels, a ruling that drew a strong rebuke from Tokyo and threatened to rekindle a diplomatic feud between the two countries.

Reminders of Japan’s 1910-45 colonial rule of the Korean peninsula are contentious for both sides, with many surviving “comfort women” - a Japanese euphemism for the sex abuse victims - demanding Tokyo’s formal apology and compensation.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un underscored the need to drastically improve his nation’s ties with the outside world as he addressed a major political conference for the third consecutive day.

State media said Kim also reviewed relations with rival South Korea but didn’t elaborate on what steps he said he wanted to take. Observers had expected Kim to use the first congress of the ruling Workers’ Party in five years to send conciliatory gestures toward Seoul and Washington as he faces deepening economic troubles at home.

06 Jan 2021; MEMO: A South Korean delegation is heading to Iran on Wednesday to seek the release of a chemicals tanker and its 20-member crew seized in Gulf waters by Iranian forces, Yonhap news agency reported.

SEOUL (Reuters) - A South Korean delegation is heading to Iran on Wednesday to seek the release of a chemicals tanker and its 20-member crew seized in Gulf waters by Iranian forces, Yonhap news agency reported.

Iran denied on Tuesday it was using the ship and its crew as hostages, a day after it seized the tanker near the Strait of Hormuz while pressing a demand for Seoul to release $7 billion in funds frozen under U.S. sanctions.