South Korea

World News

North Korea has notified Japan it plans to launch a satellite in the coming days

2:45am May 29, 2023

by The Associated Press

North Korea said that it plans to launch a satellite, which may be an attempt to put its first military reconnaissance satellite into orbit. It said the launch window is from May 31 to June 11.

The Muslim community at Kyungpook National University mostly comprises students from Pakistan, Nigeria, Bangladesh and other countries with large Muslim populations. Here some members of the community pray at the Dar ul Emaan Kyungpook Islamic Center, in Daegu, South Korea.

Muslims in South Korea want to build a mosque. Neighbors protest and send pig heads

5:00am May 24, 2023

by Se Eun Gong

The tensions are a test of the nation's tolerance of increasing diversity, when South Korea is looking to immigration to bolster its aging and shrinking workforce.

Queue Listen Now

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, center, leaves after meeting with business leaders at a hotel in Seoul, South Korea, Monday, May 8, 2023.

World News

Leaders from Japan and South Korea vow better ties following summit

4:40am May 08, 2023

by The Associated Press

Japan's prime minister expressed sympathy toward Koreans forced into industrial slavery during Japan's colonial rule as the leaders from the two countries vowed to strengthen cooperation.

An iteration of Maurizio Cattelan's "Comedian" has previously sold for $120,000, most famously at Art Basel Miami in 2019. A college student who recently viewed the art in a Seoul museum said he ate the banana after skipping breakfast.

The guy who ate a $120,000 banana in an art museum says he was just hungry

12:09pm May 01, 2023

by Bill Chappell

The banana installation by artist Maurizio Cattelan evokes everything from slapstick comedy to global trade. But to a college student, it was a reminder of how very hungry he was.

A TV screen shows an image of President Joe Biden and South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol in Washington, at the Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, South Korea, on Thursday. Biden and Yoon unveiled a new plan Wednesday to counter North Korea's nuclear threat. The words read "The South Korea-U.S. summit and adoption of the Washington Declaration."

The U.S.-South Korea Washington Declaration meets with criticism in Seoul

9:25am April 28, 2023

by Anthony Kuhn

An outpouring of criticism has focused on concerns that Seoul gave more than it got, and that the Washington Declaration might even make South Korea's neighborhood a more dangerous place.

A screen on Wednesday shows a file image of U.S. President Biden, left, and South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol marking the 70th anniversary of the South Korea-U.S. alliance in Seoul, South Korea.

Biden says that a nuclear attack from North Korea would mean 'the end' of its regime

4:28pm April 26, 2023

by Anthony Kuhn

The U.S. and South Korea announced steps on Wednesday to try to deter North Korea from using nuclear weapons, as South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol made a state visit to Washington.

Surveillance footage of the moment a North Korean soldier defects, shown at a press briefing by the United Nations Command at the Defense Ministry in Seoul on Nov. 22, 2017. A North Korean soldier crossed the border into the South in breach of a 1953 armistice agreement, as he pursued a defector who was shot last week, the United Nations Command said.

World News

North Korean defectors may face deportation by China as COVID border controls ease

5:02am April 25, 2023

by Anthony Kuhn

China usually sends defectors back to North Korea, but Pyongyang wouldn't let them in during the pandemic. That may soon change, and has led to concern among human rights advocates.

Queue Listen Now

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov chairs a United Nations Security Council meeting on defending the principles of the U.N. Charter in New York Monday.

Latest on Ukraine: Russia runs U.N. Security Council as China runs damage control

4:50pm April 24, 2023

by NPR Staff

Catch up on key developments and the latest in-depth coverage of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Moon Bin, a member of K-Pop group ASTRO, poses for photos on the red carpet for the 2021 Asia Artist Awards in Seoul, South Korea, Dec. 2, 2021.

The K-pop star Moon Bin is found dead at his home at the age of 25

10:43am April 20, 2023

by The Associated Press

Police are investigating the death of the singer for the boy band Astro, but have so far found no signs of foul play, according to South Korea's Yonhap news agency.

Visitors look at an exhibition of South Korean soldiers' records from the Vietnam War at the War Memorial of Korea in Seoul, Feb. 17.

World News

A Vietnam War massacre case from 1968 forces a new reckoning in South Korea

5:02am April 12, 2023

by Anthony Kuhn

A Vietnamese woman sued South Korea's government over a wartime massacre in her village by South Korean soldiers. A Seoul court recently ruled in her favor but the government will appeal the decision.

Queue Listen Now