South Korea

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea said Wednesday leader Kim Jong Un observed the test-launch of a super-large multiple rocket launcher, the latest in a series of weapons tests performed amid stalled diplomacy over the North’s nuclear program.

Tuesday’s rocket launcher test was made hours after North Korea said it was willing to resume nuclear negotiations with the United States in late September. While offering talks, North Korea still warned its dealings with the U.S. may end if Washington fails to come to the negotiating table without new acceptable proposals.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea said Wednesday it will initiate a complaint to the World Trade Organization over Japan’s tightened export controls on key materials South Korean companies use to make computer chips and displays.

South Korea, which has accused Tokyo of weaponizing trade to retaliate over political disputes, will formally request bilateral consultations with Japan on Wednesday as the first step in the WTO dispute settlement process, said Yoo Myung-hee, a senior official at South Korea’s Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea launched at least two unidentified projectiles toward the sea on Tuesday, South Korea’s military said, hours after the North offered to resume nuclear diplomacy with the United States but warned its dealings with Washington may end without new U.S. proposals.

The North’s projectile launches and demand for new proposals were apparently aimed at pressuring the United States to make concessions when the North Korea-U.S. talks restart.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Typhoon winds toppled trees, grounded planes and left thousands of South Korean homes without electricity on Saturday as a powerful storm system brushed up against the Korean Peninsula.

Strong winds and rain from Typhoon Lingling caused power outages in more than 31,000 homes on the southern resort island of Jeju and in southern mainland regions, South Korea’s Ministry of the Interior and Safety said. The Ministry of the Interior and Safety said there were no immediate reports of typhoon-related injuries.

SEOUL, Sept 6 (NNN-YONHAP) — A powerful typhoon is quickly moving upward to South Korea, with strong winds and heavy rain expected to pound the country soon, Yonhap news agency reported, quoting South Korea’s weather agency on Friday.

Typhoon Lingling, this year’s 13th typhoon, passed seas northwest of Okinawa, Japan, at a speed of 20-30 kph at 7 am, according to the Korea Meteorological Association.

The weather agency warned that the wind speed may peak at 55 meters per second, or 200 kph, in some island areas.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — A senior North Korean diplomat on Saturday berated U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo over his comments describing North Korean behavior as “rogue” and said Pyongyang’s hopes for talks with Washington are fading.

In a statement carried by state media, North Korean First Vice Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui said Pompeo’s “thoughtless” comments increased North Korean people’s animosity toward Americans and made it harder for working-level nuclear negotiations between the countries to resume.

SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea’s decision to scrap a military intelligence-sharing pact with Japan has led to an increasingly public split with the United States, just when the allies face rising tensions with North Korea and new competition from China and Russia.

South Korean First Vice Foreign Minister Cho Sei-young met U.S. Ambassador Harry Harris on Wednesday and asked that the United States’ tone down its public criticism of South Korea’s decision not to renew the General Security of Military Information Agreement (GSOMIA) with Japan, according to a diplomatic source.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korean President Moon Jae-in on Thursday berated Japan for carrying out its plan to downgrade South Korea’s trade status and reiterated that Tokyo was weaponizing trade to retaliate over political rows stemming from the countries’ wartime history.

Moon said in a Cabinet meeting that Japan is being dishonest by insisting that its trade curbs weren’t retaliation over historical issues, including South Korean court rulings that called for Japanese companies to offer reparations to aging South Korean plaintiffs for forced labor during World War II.

SEOUL, Aug. 25 (Xinhua) -- South Korea's military on Sunday launched two-day maritime defense drills in the East Sea, just three days after ending the General Security of Military Information Agreement (GSOMIA) with Japan.

The South Korean navy said in a statement that it would stage the "territory defense exercises" in the East Sea from Sunday to Monday.

Participating in the maritime drills in the eastern waters would be battleships from the navy and the coast guard, warplanes from the navy and the air force, and service members from the army and the marine corps.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea said Sunday leader Kim Jong Un supervised the test-firing of a “newly developed super-large multiple rocket launcher,” another demonstration of its expanding weapons arsenal apparently aimed at increasing its leverage ahead of a possible resumption of nuclear talks with the U.S.

The North’s Korean Central News Agency said Saturday’s weapons test was successful and cited Kim as saying the rocket launcher is “indeed a great weapon.”