All posts tagged: South Korea

South Korea nominates Han Seongsook to be next prime minister

South Korea nominates Han Seongsook to be next prime minister

Published by Sam Flores

Election officials sort through ballots at a counting station for the local elections in Seoul on June 3, 2026. (Photo by Pedro Pardo / AFP via Getty Images) Pedro Pardo | Afp | Getty Images South Korean President Lee Jae Myung has chosen Han Seongsook, the country’s minister for small and midsize businesses and startups, to be prime minister, the presidential office said on Sunday. If approved by parliament, Han would become South Korea’s first female prime minister in 20 years. Han, who had also previously served as chief executive of South Korean internet giant Naver, is expected to lead the country’s AI transformation, South Korea’s presidential chief of staff Kang Hoon-sik said at a press briefing. “Han will be able to transform South Korea’s economic growth – driven by the semiconductor boom and rising exports – into inclusive growth that reaches everyone, including small and medium-sized enterprises,” Kang said. The role of prime minister is largely ceremonial and administrative under South Korea’s presidential system. Choose CNBC as your preferred source on Google and never …

South Korea Lee’s Ruling Party Sweeps Local Elections, but Loses Seoul Mayor Race

South Korea Lee’s Ruling Party Sweeps Local Elections, but Loses Seoul Mayor Race

Published by Sam Flores

By Kyu-seok Shim and Joyce Lee SEOUL, June 4 (Reuters) – South Korean President Lee ⁠Jae ⁠Myung’s ruling Democratic Party swept most major local ⁠races in elections held on Wednesday, but suffered a symbolic setback as the opposition conservative incumbent ​Oh Se-hoon won another term as Seoul mayor. The Democratic Party won 12 of the 16 major mayoral and provincial contests nationwide, while the conservative People Power ‌Party won four, a result that gives ‌Lee’s party broad control of local governments a year into his presidency. The loss of Seoul, South Korea’s largest city and its most politically prized ⁠mayoralty, however, tempered ⁠the ruling party’s victory and gives conservatives a key foothold as they seek to rebuild ​after the scandal over former President Yoon Suk Yeol’s failed 2024 martial law bid and subsequent impeachment. Speaking on the one-year anniversary of his inauguration, President Lee said the government would “humbly accept the will of the people”, and work actively with local governments regardless of their party affiliation. Democratic Party leader Jung Chung-rae thanked voters ​for what …

Unastella, a South Korean rocket startup that launched from home, raises M

Unastella, a South Korean rocket startup that launched from home, raises $24M

Published by skeptic

As SpaceX counts down to what could be the largest IPO in history, the race to build the next generation of launch vehicles is heating up. Asia wants in. Startups across Australia, India, Japan, and South Korea are racing to establish themselves in a market long dominated by the U.S. and China. One of them is Unastella, a four-year-old South Korean startup that just closed a $24 million Series B, bringing its total funding to $44 million. The company launched its own rocket, the Una Express-I, from South Korean soil in May 2025. The Seoul-based rocket startup is developing its own launch vehicles and engines, with an initial focus on small satellite launch services. Unastella’s near-term focus is validating its technology and business model through orbital launches, with crewed suborbital spaceflight as a longer-term goal, founder and CEO Jae Park told TechCrunch. Unastella uses a kerosene and liquid oxygen propulsion system, one of the most proven combinations in rocket history, and one that is also used by SpaceX’s Falcon series. On top of that, the …

At least 5 die in horror blast at South Korean defence company plant | World | News

At least 5 die in horror blast at South Korean defence company plant | World | News

Published by Sam Flores

Five people have died and two others were injured on Monday after an explosion and fire at a defense company in South Korea, official said. The incident took place on production line at a factory for rocket propellant operated by Hanwha Aerospace 012450.KS, located in the city of Daejeon. The cause of the explosion is not currently known. Emergency official Yoon Seong-su said that the area is a government-designated security facility. At least one of the people injured is in critical conditions, medical official Kim Ju-yeon said. It is understood the victims have not been identified yet. The five dead included two temporary workers in their 20s and all were employed by Hanwha, the company said. The company’s chief executive officer Son Jae-il said “we bow our heads in apology to the victims and their bereaved families”. Seoul immediately stopped operations at the security facility and deployed a massive Level 1 emergency response to the incident. The site is one of Hanwha Aerospace’s key facilities where it develops large-sized propellants and surface-to-surface weapons systems, according …

The strait may reopen, but global confidence may not return | Opinions

The strait may reopen, but global confidence may not return | Opinions

Published by Sam Flores

United States President Donald Trump’s claim that a deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz has been largely negotiated may calm markets temporarily. But the deeper significance of the current crisis lies elsewhere. The issue is no longer only whether trade routes remain open but who has the power to condition access to them. The specific terms of any agreement may evolve, and any diplomatic arrangement may still be delayed, contested or revised. But the broader pattern is already visible: Strategic trade routes are becoming more politically managed, commercially exposed and geopolitically contested. The danger is not necessarily that diplomacy fails. The more important risk is that it succeeds just enough to disguise a weaker order as stability. Temporary calm is not the same as strategic stability. Calm can be negotiated; stability must be trusted. The most important shift, therefore, is not from war to peace but from disruption to governance. Iranian plans for an authority to manage the Strait of Hormuz and exert greater influence over routing decisions and possible transit tolls show that …

North Korean POWs: Political pawns in Russia’s war on Ukraine? | Kim Jong Un

North Korean POWs: Political pawns in Russia’s war on Ukraine? | Kim Jong Un

Published by Sam Flores

101 East investigates the plight of two North Korean POWs in Ukraine and the campaign to transfer them to South Korea. In January 2025, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced to the world the capture of two North Korean soldiers. It was the first hard evidence that Kim Jong Un had secretly deployed some 15,000 special forces troops to support the Russian invasion of Ukraine in exchange for billions of dollars worth of military technology and cash for Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons programme. But posting the POWs’ images online and opening their prison doors to media caused alarm, with international human rights organisations arguing that such exposure breaches the Geneva Convention and puts the soldiers and their families in North Korea in grave danger. As Russia’s war on Ukraine continues, 101 East investigates whether North Korean POWs are being used as political pawns and the challenges of bringing them to safety in South Korea. Published On 30 May 202630 May 2026 Click here to share on social media share-nodes Share googleAdd Al Jazeera on Googleinfo Source link

Starbucks faces South Korean backlash following campaign echoing 1987 massacre

Starbucks faces South Korean backlash following campaign echoing 1987 massacre

Published by Sam Flores

It’s a scandal that just won’t go away for Starbucks in South Korea. The chairman of the coffee chain’s local corporate majority owner was compelled to issue a second public apology in the wake of the company’s disastrous “Tank Day” promotion launched earlier this month. Many Koreans saw the campaign’s name as a reference to a deadly 1980 crackdown in which hundreds of pro-democracy protesters were killed by the country’s military dictatorship. The campaign was quickly scrapped, but it hasn’t quelled public furor. Keywords for this article Source link

Seoul court hearing set for YouTuber over claims against top actor

Seoul court hearing set for YouTuber over claims against top actor

Published by Sam Flores

SEOUL: A YouTuber accused of using AI-generated material to falsely claim a top South Korean actor dated a late actress while she was a minor is due in court next week, the court’s spokesperson told AFP on Saturday (May 23).  YouTuber Kim Se-eui allegedly used manipulated screenshots of messenger conversations and AI-generated audio files to make false claims about actor Kim Soo-hyun, according to South Korean media reports.  The reports said prosecutors sought an arrest warrant for the YouTuber at the request of police over allegations he illegally circulated fabricated material. A spokesperson for the Seoul Central District Court told AFP that YouTuber Kim’s warrant hearing is scheduled for 10:30 am (0130 GMT) on May 26.  YouTuber Kim, a former TV journalist widely regarded as a far-right figure, shared on his YouTube channel what he said was the prosecution’s arrest warrant. The document shared to Kim’s channel said that the YouTuber had publicly played an AI-manipulated audio file using the deceased actress’s voice.  It also said actor Kim was currently receiving psychiatric treatment due to …

South Korean actor Kim Soo-hyun falsely accused of dating late Kim Sae-ron as a minor

South Korean actor Kim Soo-hyun falsely accused of dating late Kim Sae-ron as a minor

Published by Sam Flores

Police in South Korea have concluded that evidence used to accuse actor Kim Soo-hyun of dating the late actress Kim Sae-ron while she was a minor was false and had been manipulated, according to local media reports on Thursday (May 21). The allegations had circulated in early 2025 through the YouTube channel HoverLab, run by journalist-turned-YouTuber Kim Se-eui alongside lawyer Kang Yong-suk. The channel is known for exploring far-right political commentary and sensationalist gossip surrounding local celebrities. According to police documents reviewed by local media, the materials that were published by Kim Se-eui’s side – including explicit images of Kim Soo-hyun, KakaoTalk screenshots and an audio recording allegedly involving Kim Sae-ron – were found to have been altered or fabricated using AI.  Kim Sae-ron’s family had previously claimed through HoverLab that her relationship with Kim Soo-hyun started when she was 15 and he was 27, and ended in 2021. Kim Soo-hyun denied the allegation, stating that the two dated only between 2019 and 2020, after Kim Sae-ron had become an adult. Kim Sae-ron, known for …

South Korean ministry to shun Starbucks vouchers in ‘Tank Day’ campaign backlash

South Korean ministry to shun Starbucks vouchers in ‘Tank Day’ campaign backlash

Published by Sam Flores

SEOUL: South Korea’s Interior Minister said his ministry would stop offering products from companies that “make light” of the country’s democratic history, after a public outcry over a Starbucks Korea marketing campaign that evoked a brutal 1980 military crackdown on pro-democracy protesters. The coffee chain launched its “Tank Day” campaign on the same day as the anniversary of the May 18 Gwangju uprising, when the then-military government sent in troops and tanks to suppress mass rallies for democracy. “Conduct that makes light of that history or consumes it as commercial material is an issue that can never be taken lightly,” Yun Ho-jung wrote on X late on Thursday (May 21), expressing deep regret over what he called Starbucks Korea’s “anti-historical conduct” and saying the Ministry of the Interior and Safety would no longer offer products from companies that made light of the history and value of democracy or used it as commercial material. Shinsegae Group, the coffee chain’s South Korean licensee, fired Starbucks’ local chief executive this week over the campaign, saying it was inappropriate. …