SEOUL– South Korea voiced deep regret Monday over Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s ritual offering to a war-linked shrine in Tokyo that is regarded as a symbol of Japan’s militaristic past. The government “expresses deep disappointment and regret” that Japan’s “responsible” leaders have once again sent offerings, or paid respects, to the Yasukuni Shrine, which … Read more
SEOUL– Kakao Corp., the operator of South Korea’s dominant messaging app KakaoTalk, said Monday that it is working for a full recovery of its services disrupted by a fire at a data center over the weekend. “Most functions of KakaoTalk and other Kakao services are being normalized,” an official from Kakao said. “Some of the … Read more
SEOUL– Detection dogs can sniff out only six main kinds of illegal drugs smuggled into South Korea, making it hard for customs authorities to detect the smuggling of other newly emerging drugs into the country, a lawmaker said Monday. Citing a report from the Korea Customs Service, Rep. Yang Ki-dae of the Democratic Party said … Read more
SEOUL– Movers have begun to carry boxes out of President Yoon Suk-yeol’s home to the new presidential residence in Seoul’s Hannam-dong as Yoon and first lady Kim Keon-hee prepare to move at the end of this month, officials said Monday. Yoon has been commuting to the new presidential office in Yongsan from his private residence … Read more
SEOUL– Lee Chan-hyuk of AKMU released his first solo album Monday, eight years after he debuted as one-half of the brother-sister K-pop duo. “I didn’t expect to drop my first individual project so early,” the duo’s brother said during a press conference at his agency YG Entertainment’s headquarters in Seoul to promote the album. “Early … Read more
SEOUL– South Korea’s military is keeping close tabs on North Korea’s movements and maintaining an emergency response posture amid concerns of additional provocations during an ongoing defense exercise in the South, an official here said Monday. The annual Hoguk drills kicked off earlier in the day after a series of provocations by the North in … Read more
SEOUL– The ruling and main opposition parties lashed out at tech giant Kakao Corp. on Monday, branding a massive service disruption that occurred over the weekend as a “digital platform disaster” and summoning its founder to a parliamentary audit. On Saturday afternoon, a fire started at a SK C&C building that houses the data center … Read more
SEOUL– An average of more than 200 cases of crimes committed by those high on drugs have been reported annually over the past four years, a lawmaker said Monday. The number of such crimes totaled 221 in 2018, 236 in 2019, 182 in 2020 and 230 last year, showing a yearly average of 217, Rep. … Read more