SEOUL, Sept. 25 (Yonhap) -- All seven members of the K-pop sensation BTS have renewed contracts with their agency, BigHit Music, for the second time, music industry sources said Monday. The sources said all seven members -- RM, Jin, Suga, J-Hope, Jimin, V and Jungkook -- have recently signed the new contracts with the agency. The signing comes after Hybe, the parent company for BigHit, announced in a regulatory filing Wednesday that its board has approved a plan to renew contracts with the group. Industry experts say the smooth renewal of contracts eliminated Hybe's biggest "risk" factor or uncertainty by clearing the way for BTS' plan to reunite as a group in 2025 after taking a hiatus to complete its members' mandatory military service. BTS debuted under Big Hit Entertainment, the predecessor of Hybe, in 2013. The members first renewed their contracts in October 2018. BTS has become the first K-pop act to top the U.S. Billboard's Hot 100 main singles chart and t

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SEOUL, Sept. 28 (Yonhap) -- The top nuclear envoys of South Korea, the United States and Japan on Thursday denounced North Korea's constitutional amendment to enshrine its policy on nuclear force, Seoul's foreign ministry said. South Korea's chief nuclear negotiator, Kim Gunn, and his U.S. and Japanese counterparts, Sung Kim and Hiroyuki Namazu, respectively, held a conference call to discuss the outcome of Pyongyang's key parliamentary meeting and their joint responses to its growing nuclear threat. North Korea has stipulated the policy of strengthening its nuclear force in the constitution at the 14th Supreme People's Assembly held on Tuesday and Wednesday. During the meeting, leader Kim Jong-un said trilateral security cooperation between South Korea, the U.S. and Japan poses "the worst actual threat" and vowed to bolster the country's nuclear capability. The nuclear envoys strongly condemned North Korea's continued pursuit of nuclear weapons while ignoring the cr

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(ATTN: RECASTS lead; ADDS more info, minor details in paras 4, 7) SEOUL, Sept. 23 (Yonhap) -- A family of five has been found dead in three different locations in and around Seoul, and police are investigating connections into their deaths, police said Saturday. Police received a report at 7:29 a.m. of a 40-year-old woman having jumped off an apartment building in Songpa in eastern Seoul, officials said. She was sent to a hospital in cardiac arrest but later pronounced dead. While police were checking the woman's whereabouts in the lead-up to her death, they discovered her husband, mother- and sister-in-law dead in a residence in the same district. Police then found the couple's teenage daughter dead at a hotel in Gimpo, just west of Seoul. Police said a note was found at one of the scenes that indicated a conflict over money. Police said they believe four of them, excluding the daughter, took their own lives, and an autopsy will be carried out on her to figur

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(ATTN: CHANGES headline, lead; UPDATES with military parade throughout; REPLACES, ADDS photos) By Chae Yun-hwan SEOUL, Sept. 26 (Yonhap) -- Missiles, tanks and other military hardware paraded through central Seoul together with troops and ordinary people Tuesday as the country held the first such military procession in 10 years to mark Armed Forces Day. President Yoon Suk Yeol joined the procession in the rain, walking together with Defense Minister Lee Jong-sup and military commanders behind a military brass band, and waving to people lining the street. At the end of the parade, Yoon gave a brief remark as troops and cadets surrounding him cheered. It marked the first parade of its kind since 2013, as Seoul has recently stepped up efforts to bolster its military's capabilities amid Pyongyang's continued push to develop nuclear and other weapons of mass destruction. South Korea has usually held a military parade every five years in time for Armed Forces Day, which falls on

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SEOUL, Sept. 25 (Yonhap) -- North Korea will allow the entry of foreigners to the country from Monday, Chinese state media reported, lifting its border closure to foreign nationals for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic. China's state broadcaster CCTV reported Pyongyang authorities said they will allow foreigners to enter the country after a two-day quarantine period upon arrival, without specifying the source of the announcement. North Korean state media has not yet reported on the move. North Korea has slowly been easing its border curbs imposed at the start of the pandemic in early 2020 by allowing delegations from China and Russia in July and allowing the re-entry of North Koreans from abroad last month. Earlier this month, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un led a delegation of high-ranking officials to visit Russia for a summit with President Vladimir Putin and sent North Korean athletes to the 2023 Asian Games which opened in China's Hangzhou on Sunday.

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(ATTN: ADDS opposition leader's remark in paras 4-5; CHANGES photo) By Park Boram SEOUL, Sept. 27 (Yonhap) -- A Seoul court on Wednesday rejected an arrest warrant sought for opposition leader Lee Jae-myung over corruption charges, a decision that averted the biggest crisis yet for the former presidential candidate. The Seoul Central District Court made the decision following a hearing attended by Lee, chair of the Democratic Party (DP). It marked the first time the leader of South Korea's main opposition party has attended an arrest warrant hearing. "In comprehensive consideration of the degree to which the defendant's right to defense is needed and the extent of concerns about the possible destruction of evidence, it is difficult to see the rationale and need for his arrest to the extent that the principle of investigation without detention should be ruled out," a court judge said. Soon after the court's rejection, Lee expressed his appreciation to the judiciary for "man

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By Kim Boram HANGZHOU, China, Sept. 26 (Yonhap) -- South Korean tennis star Kwon Soon-woo has been thrust into the spotlight after smashing his racket and refusing a post-match handshake following a shocking upset in the second round of the 19th Asian Games. In a second-round men's singles match at Hangzhou Olympic Sports Centre in Hangzhou, China, on Monday, Kwon, who ranked 112th in the world, lost to No. 636 Kasidit Samrej of Thailand 3-6, 7-5, 4-6 to crash out of medal contention. It was one of the biggest upsets in tennis at the Hangzhou Asiad as the 25-year-old Korean tennis player had been considered a strong gold medal hopeful in the men's singles for his career of two ATP titles and a third-round finish at a Grand Slam tournament. He has been ranked as high as world No. 52. After the loss, Kwon slammed his racket against the court repeatedly and did not stop smashing it while walking toward his changeover chair. He then refused to shake hands with Samrej wh

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By Chae Yun-hwan SEONGNAM, South Korea, Sept. 26 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's military showcased "high-power" missiles and other key weapons systems Tuesday to mark the 75th founding anniversary of its armed forces in an apparent warning against North Korea's nuclear and military threats. A total of nine transporter erector launchers carrying Hyunmoo surface-to-surface missiles paraded through a runway at Seoul Air Base in Seongnam in a ceremony marking the landmark anniversary as Seoul seeks to bolster its response capabilities against Pyongyang's evolving nuclear and missile threats. South Korea has developed a series of Hyunmoo missiles, including ballistic and cruise-type ones, as centerpieces of Korea Massive Punishment and Retaliation (KMPR), an operational plan to incapacitate the North Korean leadership in case of a major conflict. KMPR is a pillar of the country's three-axis deterrence structure that includes the Kill Chain preemptive strike platform and the Korea Air

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NEW YORK, Sept. 23 (Yonhap) -- Russia's top diplomat said Saturday he will visit North Korea next month as part of follow-up measures to the rare summit between their leaders earlier this month. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov made the remarks during a press conference at the U.N. headquarters in New York, saying that the upcoming visit follows the agreement between North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and Russian President Vladimir Putin. Kim and Putin held the summit at a Russian spaceport on Sept. 13, raising speculation North Korea may have reached a deal to supply ammunition for Russia's war in Ukraine in exchange for food aid and the transfer of weapons technology. Observers say Putin's visit to North Korea could be discussed during Lavrov's trip, as the Russian leader earlier accepted Kim's invitation extended to him at the summit.

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SEOUL, Sept. 22 (Yonhap) -- An arrest warrant hearing for opposition leader Lee Jae-myung will be held Tuesday, judicial officials said Friday, following the National Assembly's passage of his arrest motion earlier this week. The hearing, set to begin at 10 a.m. at the Seoul Central District Court, will be presided over by Judge Yoo Chang-hoon, they said. If the hearing proceeds as scheduled, the court's decision on whether to detain Lee will likely be made late Tuesday night or early Wednesday morning, they said, though the schedule can be changed due to a possible deterioration in Lee's health caused by his prolonged hunger strike. The arrest motion presented by the prosecution accusing the chairman of the main opposition Democratic Party of breach of trust, bribery and other charges related to a development scandal, and a North Korean remittance case was approved by parliament in a 149-136 vote Thursday. The prosecution accuses Lee of committing breach of trust worth

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