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(ATTN: ADDS Japanese exhibition case in last 4 paras; CHANGES dateline) BERLIN/TOKYO, Aug. 4 (Yonhap) -- Japan has allegedly pressured a German museum to remove a statue of a girl representing victims of Japan's World War II-era sexual slavery from display, a South Korean civic group said Sunday amid escalating political and trade tensions between the two neighboring countries. According to Korea Verband, a nonprofit association based in Berlin, its chairperson Han Jung-hwa donated a small statue of a girl to Ravensbruck Memorial, located in Brandenburg, northern Germany, in 2017. The German museum, which was built to commemorate the largest concentration camp for women on German soil during World War II, had exhibited the statuette since then. But last year, the Japanese embassy demanded the state government of Brandenburg and the memorial hall withdraw the bronze figurine from display. "I heard that the Brandenburg government and the museum have been under pressure fro

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SEOUL, July 31 (Yonhap) -- North Korea on Wednesday fired multiple unidentified projectiles off its east coast, the Joint Chiefs of Staff said. The projectiles were launched from the Hodo peninsula in South Hamgyong Province on the country's east coast, the JCS said, adding that it is monitoring the situation in case of additional launches and maintaining a readiness posture. The launches come six days after North Korea fired two short-range ballistic missiles into the East Sea in its first provocation since May, raising questions about the prospects for denuclearization talks between the U.S. and North Korea.

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SEOUL, Aug. 4 (Yonhap) -- Typhoon Francisco, the season's eighth typhoon, is forecast to land on South Korea's southern coast on Tuesday night, the weather agency said Sunday. The typhoon was moving northwest at a speed of 25 kilometers per hour from about 1,310 kilometers east-southeast of Kagoshima, Japan, as of 9 a.m., the Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA) said. Francisco was classified as "small" with a central pressure of 990 hectopascals (hPa). The maximum sustained wind speed near its center was 86 kilometers per hour or 24 meters per second. The tropical storm is expected to be about 560 kilometers east-northeast of Kagoshima at 9 a.m. Monday, about 140 kilometers northwest of Kagoshima at 9 a.m. Tuesday and to land on South Korea's southern coast at night. It is then forecast to be about 70 kilometers north-northeast of the southwestern city of Jeonju at about 9 a.m. Wednesday before exiting the peninsula toward the East Sea near Sokcho, Gangwon Provinc

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(ATTN: UPDATES with decision of two S. Korean artists to shut down display of their works) BERLIN/TOKYO, Aug. 4 (Yonhap) -- Japan has allegedly pressured a German museum to remove a statue of a girl representing victims of Japan's World War II-era sexual slavery from display, a South Korean civic group said Sunday amid escalating political and trade tensions between the two neighboring countries. According to Korea Verband, a nonprofit association based in Berlin, its chairperson Han Jung-hwa donated a small statue of a girl to Ravensbruck Memorial, located in Brandenburg, northern Germany, in 2017. The German museum, which was built to commemorate the largest concentration camp for women on German soil during World War II, had exhibited the statuette since then. But last year, the Japanese embassy demanded the state government of Brandenburg and the memorial hall withdraw the bronze figurine from display. "I heard that the Brandenburg government and the museum have been

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SEOUL, Aug. 7 (Yonhap) -- The South Korean national volleyball federation said Wednesday it will lodge a complaint against a Russian women's team coach for his racist gesture following a recent match. Russia defeated South Korea 3-2 (21-25, 20-25, 25-22, 25-16, 15-11) in the final Group E match of the FIVB Women's Volleyball Intercontinental Olympic Qualification Tournament at DS Yantarny in Kaliningrad, Russia, on Sunday (local time). With that victory, Russia earned direct qualification for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. In post-match celebration, Sergio Busato, an Italian-born assistant coach for Russia, was photographed making the slant-eye, racist gesture. Russian website Sport 24 carried a photo of Busato with his two index fingers on his eyes. The accompanying blurb simply said the coach "did not hide his positive emotions" and showed a gesture depicting narrow eyes, with no mention of the gesture's implications. FIFA bans this and other discriminatory gestures under it

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SEOUL, Aug. 9 (Yonhap) -- Olympic short track speed skating champion Lim Hyo-jun has been suspended for one year for sexually harassing a male teammate. The Korea Skating Union (KSU) reached the decision Thursday evening, saying Lim, who won a gold medal in the men's 1,500m at the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics, will be banned from all skating-related activities until Aug. 7, 2020. During training on June 17, Lim pulled down the pants of a younger teammate with female skaters present at Jincheon National Training Center in Jincheon, 90 kilometers south of Seoul. As an initial punishment, the Korean Sport & Olympic Committee (KSOC) decided to ban all 14 skaters on the national men's and women's teams from the Jincheon training center for a month. The KSU said it had spoken with Lim and the male teammate, plus other skaters who witnessed the incident, and also studied CCTV footage to determine its punishment. jeeho@yna.co.kr

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GWANGJU, July 28 (Yonhap) -- A foreign swimmer participating in the FINA World Championships in Gwangju was arrested Sunday for alleged sexual harassment. Gwangju Seobu Police Station in the southern metropolitan city said it has arrested the swimmer, 22, on charges of sexually harassing an 18-year-old woman at a club around 3 a.m. Sunday. The woman called police immediately and the swimmer, whose identity was withheld, was arrested on the spot. The swimmer, accompanied by an attorney from his native country, is said to be denying all allegations. Police said they will seek a travel ban on the swimmer, a bronze medalist from the 2016 Olympics. The incident took place about 24 hours after a loft at a Gwangju nightclub collapsed, killing two and injuring 16, including eight foreign athletes competing at the championships. The competition began July 12 and will end Sunday night. jeeho@yna.co.kr

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SEOUL, Aug. 6 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's weather forecasters on Tuesday revised the expected route of Typhoon Francisco, the eighth of the season, saying the small-scale typhoon will land on the country's southern coast between Busan and nearby Geoje Island late at night. The Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA) said Francisco is forecast to make landfall in the Busan-Geoje region between 9 p.m. and midnight Tuesday before weakening to a tropical storm near Andong, a North Gyeongsang Province city, 268 kilometers southeast of Seoul. Earlier this week, the KMA issued forecasts that the typhoon would land on the southern coast near Yeosu, South Jeolla Province, on Tuesday night and pass through the middle of the Korean Peninsula before exiting South Korea via Sokcho, Gangwon Province, toward the East Sea. According to the weather agency, Typhoon Francisco was moving northwest at a speed of 29 kilometers per hour from an area about 140 km north of Japan's Kagoshima as o

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