SEOUL, July 10 (Yonhap) -- Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon was found dead in northern Seoul, police said Friday, after he was reported missing by his family. Park's daughter had told police that her father's phone was turned off after he left their home after leaving a message that sounded like a will.

View Option

SHARE LIKE

BUSAN, July 6 (Yonhap) -- Dozens of foreigners presumed to be American citizens or soldiers created disturbances by setting off firecrackers at a renowned beach in Busan on Saturday night apparently in celebration of Independence Day in the United States, resulting in the brief detention of a soldier, police said Monday. The foreigners shot numerous rounds of firecrackers into the sky and even towards citizens for two hours, beginning around 7 p.m., on and around Haeundae Beach in the southern port city in an apparent Fourth of July party, according to the Busan Metropolitan Police Agency. Police received more than 70 reports of complaints from Busan citizens concerned about wild and dangerous acts by foreign people not wearing face masks particularly amid the ongoing social distancing campaign to stem the spread of the coronavirus outbreak. The foreigners, whom the police presumed to be American soldiers on vacation to celebrate the Fourth of July, were accused of shoot

View Option

SHARE LIKE

SEOUL, June 21 (Yonhap) -- North Korea keeps sending small groups of troops to border sentry posts for bush clearance and road maintenance, a government source said Sunday, amid concerns it could deliver on its threat of military action against South Korea. The North has sent groups of up to five soldiers with shovels and sickles to small stakeout boxes in the Demilitarized Zone separating the two Koreas. But Seoul does not see the move as a step to make good on Pyongyang's threat of military action, the source said. In anger over propaganda leaflets sent from the South, the North threatened to redeploy troops to the now-shuttered joint industrial complex in its border city of Kaesong and the Mount Kumgang tourist zone on its east coast, and restore border guard posts removed under a 2018 tension-reduction deal. "Guard posts and stakeout boxes are obviously facilities for military utility," the source said on condition of anonymity. "So it is natural that there are such mil

View Option

SHARE LIKE

(ATTN: MODIFIES headline; UPDATES with details from 9th para; ADDS photo, byline) By Lee Chi-dong SEOUL, June 22 (Yonhap) -- The office of President Moon Jae-in on Monday strongly criticized former White House National Security Adviser John Bolton for his "distorted" account of what happened in brisk summit diplomacy last year involving the leaders of the United States and the two Koreas. Chung Eui-yong, director of national security at Cheong Wa Dae, said in a statement that "A considerable portion of it is distorted." He played it down as based on what Bolton had seen from his "own viewpoint," not "accurate facts," accusing him of unilaterally disclosing details of diplomatic consultations based on trust among relevant governments. Chung said it represents a violation of the basic principle of diplomacy, which could harm the sincerity of future negotiations "very seriously." He added such an "inappropriate" act could also undermine the allies' efforts to advance joi

View Option

SHARE LIKE

By Lee Haye-ah WASHINGTON, June 21 (Yonhap) -- U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to pull American troops from South Korea if Seoul did not pay US$5 billion under a defense cost-sharing deal, his former National Security Adviser John Bolton said in his memoir. In "The Room Where It Happened," set to be published Tuesday, Bolton recalled an Afghanistan-related meeting that took place last August ahead of the start of Special Measures Agreement negotiations between South Korea and the United States. "Get out of there if we don't get the five billion-dollar deal (for South Korean support of U.S. bases)," Trump was quoted as saying. "We lose $38 billion in trade in Korea. Let's get out." Trump's initial demand for $5 billion has been widely reported as the two countries remain deadlocked over how much Seoul should pay for the upkeep of 28,500 American troops stationed on the peninsula. Trump's recent decision to reduce troop levels in Germany has led to speculation he may do

View Option

SHARE LIKE

SEOUL, June 15 (Yonhap) -- A concert streamed by K-pop giant BTS on Sunday became the world's biggest paid online music event in terms of number of viewers, the band's management company said Monday. Big Hit Entertainment announced that "Bang Bang Con: The Live," which was streamed over around 100 minutes remotely from a studio in Seoul on Sunday, drew some 756,000 viewers from across the world. Fans from 107 countries or regions, including South Korea, United States, China, Britain and Japan, logged in to view the online event, the company added. Big Hit said that the size of Sunday's online crowd roughly amounted to the combined audience of 15 stadium concerts. "Despite the difficulties the concert industry is going through due to COVID-19, BTS is being evaluated as opening new possibilities through its online concert," Big Hit said. The concept of "Bang Bang Con" revolved around "rooms," with "bang" being the Korean word for "room." Throughout the show, the s

View Option

SHARE LIKE

By Chang Dong-woo SEOUL, June 14 (Yonhap) -- For a global streaming event, BTS' first online concert, Bang Bang Con: The Live, held live on Sunday, couldn't have felt more private and intimate. With the new coronavirus pandemic hampering live entertainment around the globe, the K-pop industry, which saw a string of canceled overseas promotions and tours, was quick to seek ways to turn the misfortune into opportunity, by launching online streaming concerts to connect with fans across the world. “We desperately want to see you guys”: BTS’ online concert Bang Bang Con: The Live amazed the world[https://youtu.be/qPFnYLS06pU] SuperM of SM Entertainment first hosted a paid interactive online concert at the height of the global pandemic on April 26. According to SM, the concert drew about 75,000 fans from around the world. Though no official data has been released, BTS' Bang Bang Con: The Live, which ran for about 90 minutes, apparently drew as much as 753,000 viewers near the en

View Option

SHARE LIKE

SEOUL, July 1 (Yonhap) -- South Korean university students and civic groups declared a boycott of the movie "Mulan" on Wednesday in support of the democracy protests in Hong Kong. Several student and civic groups held a rally in front of Walt Disney Co. Korea in southern Seoul, asking the company to scrap its plan to release the movie here. The protesters criticized lead actress Liu Yifei for the pro-Chinese comments she wrote on social media while democracy protests were rife in Hong Kong. "As someone who contributed to suppressing the people of Hong Kong, she cannot become the protagonist of Mulan, which is a story about overcoming discrimination," they said. The 33-year-old Chinese-American actress, also known as Crystal Liu, had stirred controversy last year after expressing her support for the Hong Kong police force during the protests. "There is no slot for a movie that turns a blind eye to national violence in the movie scene in this country, which had supporte

View Option

SHARE LIKE

(END)

View Option

SHARE LIKE

(ATTN: ADDS info no signs of military presence detected yet) By Yi Wonju SEOUL, June 19 (Yonhap) -- North Korea issued no new statements against South Korea for the second day Friday as state media reported that people from all walks of life in the communist nation are exploding with anger at the South. The North has sharply ratcheted up tensions in anger over anti-Pyongyang leaflets flown from the South. It has made a series of bellicose threats and rhetoric that culminated with Tuesday's shocking demolition of the inter-Korean liaison office in its border city of Kaesong. Pyongyang has also vowed to cut off all cross-border communication lines, redeploy troops to joint economic zones near the border, restore guard posts removed from the Demilitarized Zone and restart military exercises near the border. Kim Yo-jong, sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, issued a harshly worded statement against South Korean President Moon Jae-in, saying his recent speech urging the

View Option

SHARE LIKE