South Korean lawmakers vote to lift hunger striking opposition leader's immunity to arrest

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — In a surprise outcome, South Korea’s opposition-controlled parliament on Thursday voted to pass a motion submitted by the government that allows the potential arrest of the country’s leading opposition figure, Lee Jae-myung, who faces a widening investigation over...

North Korea says Kim Jong Un is back home from Russia, where he deepened 'comradely' ties with Putin

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has returned home from a trip to Russia where he deepened “comradely fellowship and friendly ties” with President Vladimir Putin, state media reported. During Kim’s six-day trip to Russia, his longest foreign travel...

Thousands of South Korean teachers are rallying for new laws to protect them from abusive parents

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Thousands of South Korean school teachers and staff rallied in Seoul on Saturday for more legal protection from bullying by parents, a rising problem in a country known for its brutally competitive school environments. The weekend demonstrations in the...

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un visits Russian airbase where he was shown nuclear-capable bombers, Russian media reports

North Korean state media confirms leader Kim Jong Un departed for Russia

China will send delegation to North Korea to celebrate its founding as the nations foster ties

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — A Chinese delegation led by Vice Premier Liu Guozhong will visit North Korea to participate in celebrations for its 75th founding anniversary, which is on Saturday, the North’s state media said Thursday. The report came amid speculation that North...

Eric Nam's global pop defies expectations. On his latest album, 'House on a Hill,' he relishes in it

LOS ANGELES (AP) — In an entertainment industry bent on categorization, Eric Nam finds an audience in fluidity. A decade into his career, he's still a challenge to describe: Do you label him a pop star? Or a K-pop idol? Is there a difference? Is he an actor? A singer-songwriter? An interviewer? A...

K.C. Hwang, AP correspondent in Seoul for 30 years, dies at age 99

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — K.C. Hwang, whose six-decade-long journalism career included 30 years chronicling South Korea’s tumultuous modern history for The Associated Press, including as Seoul bureau chief, has died at age 99. Hwang died Thursday of chronic ailments after...

U.S. envoy visits Fukushima to eat fish, criticize China's seafood ban over wastewater release

TOKYO (AP) — The U.S. ambassador to Japan visited a city in Fukushima on Thursday and had a seafood lunch with the mayor, talked to fishermen and stocked up on local produce to show they are safe after the release of treated radioactive wastewater from the wrecked Fukushima nuclear plant into the...

Fukushima nuclear plant will start releasing treated radioactive water to sea as early as Thursday

TOKYO (AP) — The Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant will start releasing treated and diluted radioactive wastewater into the Pacific Ocean as early as Thursday — a controversial step that the government says is essential for the decades of work needed to clean up the facility that had...