Latest Seoul News

The US and South Korea reach new deal on costs for the American troop presence

Oct. 04, 2024 13:52 PM EDT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The United States and South Korea have tentatively agreed to a new deal covering the costs of maintaining the American military presence there, the U.S. State Department and South Korean foreign ministry announced Friday. The agreement, which must still be...

South Korea unveils its most powerful missile, which could reach North Korea's underground bunkers

Oct. 01, 2024 06:32 AM EDT

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea unveiled its most powerful ballistic missile and other weapons that could target North Korea during a massive Armed Forces Day ceremony on Tuesday, as the South's president warned the North's regime would collapse if it attempts to use nuclear weapons. ...

81-year-old South Korean falls short in a bid to become oldest Miss Universe contestant

Oct. 01, 2024 00:41 AM EDT

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — An 81-year-old model fell short in her bid to become the oldest Miss Universe contestant after competing in the South Korean pageant against much younger rivals. Dressed in a beaded white gown, the silver-haired Choi Soon-hwa strutted across the stage and...

3 police officers sentenced to prison over the Halloween crush in South Korea that killed nearly 160

Sep. 30, 2024 22:36 PM EDT

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — A South Korean court gave three police officers prison sentences on Monday over their botched handling of a 2022 Halloween crush in a Seoul nightlife district that killed nearly 160 people. It was the first conviction of officials over the failure by...

North Korea has enough uranium to build a 'double-digit' number of bombs, Seoul's spy agency says

Sep. 26, 2024 01:51 AM EDT

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea has likely enriched enough uranium to build a “double-digit” number of bombs and is making progress in its efforts to develop more powerful and accurate missiles targeting rival South Korea, Seoul’s spy agency told lawmakers on Thursday. ...

North Korea test-fired ballistic missiles in latest military display, neighbors say

Sep. 18, 2024 07:20 AM EDT

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea on Wednesday test-fired multiple ballistic missiles toward its eastern seas, the South Korean and Japanese militaries said, adding to its military demonstrations as tensions with Washington and neighbors escalate. The launches come days after...

South Koreans are starkly divided over North Korea's nuclear threat

Sep. 12, 2024 21:39 PM EDT

POHANG, South Korea (AP) — There are two Koreas, North and South. But there's also more than one South Korea, with the nation split into camps with polar opposite views on the danger posed by the nuclear-armed neighbor to the north. This division in South Korean sentiment has...

South Korean truth commission says it found more evidence of forced adoptions in the 1980s

Sep. 09, 2024 04:28 AM EDT

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — A South Korean commission found evidence that women were pressured into giving away their infants for foreign adoptions after giving birth at government-funded facilities where thousands of people were confined and enslaved from the 1960s to the 1980s. The...

Japan's leader makes a farewell visit to Seoul and reaffirms sympathy for Korean colonial victims

Sep. 06, 2024 11:32 AM EDT

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Less than a month before leaving office, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida visited Seoul and reaffirmed his sympathy for the suffering of Koreans during Japan’s colonial rule, as he and his South Korean counterpart Friday underscored the need to maintain warming...

South Korea says North Korea has again launched trash-carrying balloons across the border

Sep. 05, 2024 12:09 PM EDT

PAJU, South Korea (AP) — North Korea is flying more trash-carrying balloons toward South Korea, officials said Thursday, in the latest round of Cold War-style psychological warfare between the rivals. South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said it detected balloons launched from...