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Tag: South Korea government

  • North Korean satellite wasn’t advanced enough to conduct reconnaissance from space, Seoul says

    North Korean satellite wasn’t advanced enough to conduct reconnaissance from space, Seoul says

    SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — The satellite North Korea failed to put into orbit wasn’t advanced enough to conduct military reconnaissance from space as it claimed, South Korea’s military said Wednesday after retrieving and studying the wreckage.

    North Korea had tried to launch its first spy satellite in late May, but the long-range rocket carrying it plunged into the waters off the Korean Peninsula’s west coast soon after liftoff. The satellite was to be part of a space-based reconnaissance system North Korea says it needs to counter escalating security threats from South Korea and the United States.

    South Korea mobilized navy ships, aircraft and divers to recover debris from the rocket and satellite in a 36-day operation that ended Wednesday, the South’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement.

    The head of the U.N. atomic agency has toured Japan’s tsunami-wrecked Fukushima nuclear plant and said he is satisfied with still-contentious plans to release treated radioactive wastewater into the Pacific Ocean.

    Rafael Mariano Grossi, Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency, left, presents IAEA's comprehensive report on Fukushima Treated Water Release to Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, right, at the prime minister's office Tuesday, July 4, 2023 in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko, Pool)

    The U.N. nuclear agency has given its endorsement to Japan’s planned release of treated radioactive wastewater into the sea from the damaged Fukushima nuclear plant, saying it meets international standards and its environmental and health impact would be negligible.

    FILE - Children dressed as angels march during an Easter parade in Seoul, South Korea, on April 9, 2023. A new law that went into effect Wednesday, June 28, formalizes the international age-counting method as standard in administrative and civil laws and encourages people to tally their own ages accordingly. The country's previous age-counting method made people a year or two older than they really are. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man, File)

    South Korea has adopted a new law that changes how people count their ages. The country’s previous age-counting method made people a year or two older than they really are.

    In this photo provided by Japan's Finance Ministry, Japanese Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki, left, and South Korea's Economy and Finance Minister Choo Kyungho shake hands as they pose for a photo before their meeting at the finance ministry in Tokyo, Thursday, June 29, 2023. Japan and South Korea agreed Thursday to revive a currency swap agreement for times of crisis, in the latest sign of warming ties as the countries work to smooth over historical antagonisms dating back nearly a century. (Japan's Finance Ministry via AP)

    Japan and South Korea have agreed to revive a currency swap agreement for times of crisis. The move is the latest sign of warming ties as the countries work to smooth over historical antagonisms.

    “Numerous” and “key” parts of the rocket and the satellite were recovered and the South Korean and U.S. experts who jointly examined them concluded the satellite wasn’t capable of conducting military reconnaissance works at all, the statement said.

    North Korea didn’t immediately respond to the South Korean announcement.

    The day the launch failed, North Korea’s state media said the rocket lost thrust following the separation of its first and second stages, then crashed into the sea. At a ruling party meeting last month, North Korea called the failed launch “the most serious” shortcoming this year and harshly criticized those responsible.

    Top North Korean officials have repeatedly vowed to attempt a second launch after learning what went wrong with the failed launch.

    North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has said acquiring a military spy satellite is crucial to beef up his country’s defense capability. He’s said North Korea also needs to introduce other high-tech weapons systems such as multi-warhead nuclear missiles, solid-fueled intercontinental ballistic missiles and nuclear-powered submarines.

    Months before its failed satellite launch, North Korea launched a test satellite and publicized photos showing South Korean cities as viewed from space. Some civilian experts said at the time the photos were too crude for a surveillance purpose and that they were likely capable of only recognizing big targets like warships at sea or military installations on the ground.

    North Korea had responded to that skepticism by saying there was no reason to use a sophisticated camera for one test.

    The U.S., South Korea and others denounced North Korea’s rocket launch as a security risk and a violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions that ban the country’s use of ballistic missile technology. But further sanctions are unlikely since permanent council members Russia and China oppose new action.

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  • GM, Samsung plan new EV battery cell factory in US

    GM, Samsung plan new EV battery cell factory in US

    DETROIT (AP) — General Motors and South Korea’s Samsung SDI plan to invest more than $3 billion in a new electric vehicle battery cell plant in the United States, the companies said Tuesday.

    They did not announce the intended location of the new factory, which is expected to begin operations in 2026, GM and Samsung SDI said in a statement. GM and Samsung SDI plan to jointly operate the factory, which is expected to make nickel-rich prismatic and cylindrical cells. The companies said it was expected to create thousands of jobs.

    The project is GM’s fourth joint venture battery cell factory. It has announced three others with South Korea’s LG Energy Solution. A 900-worker factory near Warren, Ohio, is starting to build cells, while plants in Spring Hill, Tennessee, and Lansing, Michigan, are in the works.

    The announcement coincides with a visit to the United States by South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol. The two countries are marking the 70th anniversary of their alliance with a summit that was also feature announcements on new nuclear deterence efforts, cyber security and other areas of cooperation.

    Samsung was picked as the partner for the fourth plant after some Chevrolet Bolt batteries made by LG caught fire, forcing GM to recall about 142,000 vehicles due to a battery manufacturing problem. The recall cost GM about $1.9 billion, and the automaker said it was reimbursed for the cost by LG.

    “We will do our best to provide the products featuring the highest level of safety and quality produced with our unrivaled technologies to help GM strengthen its leadership in the EV market,” Samsung SDI President and CEO Yoon-ho Choi said in a statement.

    The new factory will have more than 30 gigawatt hours of capacity and will increase GM’s total U.S. battery cell capacity to about 160 gigawatt hours when it is at full production, the companies said.

    GM has pledged to sell only electric vehicles by 2035. It has said that because of its huge investment in battery plants and a North American EV supply chain, six of its current or upcoming electric vehicles are to be eligible for the full $7,500 U.S. federal EV tax credit. They are the Chevrolet Bolt and Bolt SUV, the Chevrolet Silverado electric pickup, the Cadillac Lyriq SUV and the upcoming Chevy Blazer and Equinox electric SUVs.

    Under the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act, EVs must be assembled in North America, and a certain percentage of their battery parts and minerals have to come from North America or a U.S. free trade partner to qualify for the full tax credit.

    Workers at the Ohio battery plant have voted to join the United Auto Workers union, which is pushing to organize the other factories and get top wages for the workers. Union officials have said they must organize the battery plants so that workers making engines and transmissions have a place to go when jobs making internal combustion vehicles are phased out.

    Electric vehicles have 30% to 40% fewer moving parts and require about 30% fewer labor hours to build them.

    ___

    In final paragraph, corrects sentence to say that electric vehicles have 30% to 40% fewer moving parts than gasoline vehicles. Associated Press writer Kim Tong-hyung in Seoul contributed.

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  • Biden to unveil new efforts to protect S. Korea from nukes

    Biden to unveil new efforts to protect S. Korea from nukes

    WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden will use this week’s celebratory state visit by South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol to underscore that the U.S. is ready to step up its efforts to deter a North Korean attack on South Korea, according to the White House.

    Biden will announce specific new nuclear deterrence efforts as well as a new cyber security initiative, economic investments and an educational partnership, part of an effort to highlight the breadth and depth of the two countries’ relationship as they mark the 70th anniversary of their alliance, White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said.

    White House officials say Biden hopes to put a particular emphasis on the United States’ “iron clad” commitment to deterring nuclear action by North Korea as Pyongyang has stepped up ballistic missile tests, including flight-testing a solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missile for the first time earlier this month. The recent test is seen as a possible breakthrough in the North’s efforts to acquire a more powerful, harder-to-detect weapon targeting the continental United States.

    Sullivan didn’t offer details on the new deterrence efforts ahead of the leaders’ announcement, but said that the U.S. is looking to send a clear message to Pyongyang about its increasingly aggressive rhetoric.

    “What I will say is that we believe that the statement will send a very clear and demonstrable signal of the United States’ credibility when it comes to its extended deterrence commitments to the Republic of Korea and to the people of Korea,” Sullivan said, using the formal name for South Korea.

    Biden also hopes to use the visit, which begins Tuesday, to underscore the importance of South Korea and Japan building on their security ties.

    Biden has sought opportunities to help the historic rivals improve their long, fraught relationship as the Indo-Pacific region becomes increasingly complicated. He held trilateral meetings with Yoon and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida that largely focused on the North Korea threat on the sidelines of the East Asia Summit in Cambodia last November and at the NATO summit in Madrid in June.

    Last month, South Korea announced a plan to compensate Koreans who performed forced labor during Tokyo’s colonial rule that doesn’t require Japanese companies to contribute to the reparations.

    Biden hailed the step as a “groundbreaking new chapter” in cooperation between the countries. Yoon followed up by visiting Tokyo later in March for talks with Kishida. It was the first summit between the two nations’ leaders in Japan since 2011.

    Sullivan said Biden also plans to highlight Yoon’s “determination and courage” in rapprochement with Japan during the visit.

    Ahead of the Yoon visit, the United States, South Korea and Japan conducted a joint missile defense exercise last week aimed at countering North Korea’s growing nuclear arsenal.

    Experts say North Korean leader Kim Jong-un wants to pressure the United States into accepting North Korea as a legitimate nuclear power and hopes to negotiate an easing of sanctions from a position of strength.

    The United States and South Korea conducted their biggest field exercises in years in March and have also held separate naval and aerial drills involving a U.S. aircraft carrier battle group and nuclear-capable B-52 bombers.

    South Korean officials said that the two leaders would discuss human rights concerns in North Korea. Experts believe the food situation in North Korea is the worst it has been under Kim Jong Un’s 11-year rule, but they still say they see no signs of imminent famine or mass deaths. Kim vowed to strengthen state control over agriculture and take a spate of other steps to increase grain production, according to North Korean state media.

    Meanwhile, the White House recently declassified and released intelligence findings that show that Russia is looking again to North Korea for weapons to fuel the war in Ukraine in a deal that would provide Pyongyang with needed food and other commodities in return. The White House previously said North Korea had provided the Wagner Group, a private Russian military company, with arms to help bolster its forces as they fight side-by-side with Russian troops in Ukraine.

    South Korean Foreign Minister Park Jin in a virtual speech at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington said there is a “dire human rights situation on the ground” and urged the international community to work together “to ease the anguish of ordinary North Korean people.”

    As part of his visit to Washington, Yoon is scheduled on Tuesday to tour NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center with Vice President Kamala Harris. The South Korean president will visit the Korean War Memorial with Biden and First Lady Jill Biden on Tuesday evening. The two leaders and aides will hold formal talks and a joint news conference on Wednesday before Yoon is honored with the state dinner.

    Yoon is to deliver a speech to the U.S. Congress on Thursday before traveling to Massachusetts where he is scheduled to speak at the Harvard Kennedy School.

    Biden has spent considerable time getting to know and consulting with Yoon since he took office.

    The Democratic administration has also been full of praise for Yoon’s leadership in the IndoPacific and beyond. South Korea has provided Ukraine with about $230 million in non lethal assistance since Russia’s invasion more than 14 months ago.

    The visit also follows just weeks after scores of highly classified documents were leaked which have complicated relations with allies, including South Korea. The papers viewed by The Associated Press indicate that South Korea’s National Security Council “grappled” with the U.S. in early March over an American request to provide artillery ammunition to Ukraine.

    The documents, which cited a signals intelligence report, said then-NSC Director Kim Sung-han suggested the possibility of selling the 330,000 rounds of 155 mm munitions to Poland, since getting the ammunition to Ukraine quickly was the United States’ ultimate goal.

    Seoul has also been supportive on U.S.-led sanctions and export controls targeting Russia since the start of the war. And South Korea has announced plans to invest more than $100 billion in the U.S. since the start of Biden administration, including a new Samsung advanced semiconductor factory in Texas and a Hyundai electrical vehicle plant in Georgia.

    Yoon in an interview with Reuters last week said that Seoul could potentially extend its support for Ukraine beyond humanitarian and economic aid if that eastern European nation were to face large-scale civilian attack by Russia.

    “The summit will also celebrate what we’ve been able to do under President Yoon’s leadership since he took over,” Sullivan said. “The ROK is stepping up around the world.”

    Yoon is the second ally to be honored by Biden with a state visit. French President Emmanuel Macron was honored with a state visit in December.

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  • North Korea opens New Year with missile launch

    North Korea opens New Year with missile launch

    SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea fired a short-range ballistic missile toward its eastern waters Sunday, entering 2023 with another weapons test after an unprecedented number of missile firings last year.

    South Korea’s military detected the launch from the North’s capital region around 2:50 a.m. Sunday, the Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement. It said the missile traveled about 400 kilometers (250 miles) before falling into the waters between the Korean Peninsula and Japan.

    The Joint Chiefs of Staff called the launch “a grave provocation” that hurts peace and security on the Korean Peninsula and around the world. It said South Korea closely monitors North Korean moves in coordination with the United States and maintains a readiness to deal with any provocations.

    The U.S. Indo-Pacific Command said in a statement that the launch highlights “the destabilizing impact” of North Korea’s unlawful weapons programs. It said U.S. commitments to the defense of South Korea and Japan “remain ironclad.”

    North Korea test-fired more than 70 missiles last year. Some experts say the country eventually aims to boost its weapons arsenals and increase greater pressures on its rivals to win concessions such as sanctions relief.

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  • N Korea fires 3 missiles amid tensions over drone flights

    N Korea fires 3 missiles amid tensions over drone flights

    SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea fired three short-range ballistic missiles toward its eastern waters in its latest weapons display on Saturday, a day after rival South Korea launched a solid-fueled rocket as part of its efforts to build a space-based surveillance capability to better monitor the North.

    Tensions between the rival Koreas rose earlier this week when South Korea accused North Korea of flying five drones across the rivals’ tense border for the first time in five years and responded by sending its own drones toward the North.

    South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement it detected the three launches from an inland area south of Pyongyang, the North’s capital, on Saturday morning. It said the three missiles traveled about 350 kilometers (220 miles) before landing in the waters between the Korean Peninsula and Japan. The estimated range suggests the missiles tested target South Korea.

    The Joint Chiefs of Staff called the launches “a grave provocation” that undermines international peace. It said South Korea closely monitors North Korean moves in coordination with the United States and maintains a readiness to “overwhelmingly” deter any provocation by North Korea.

    The U.S. Indo-Pacific Command said the launches highlight “the destabilizing impact” of North Korea’s unlawful weapons programs and that the U.S. commitments to the defense of South Korea and Japan “remain ironclad.” Earlier Saturday, Japan’s Defense Ministry also reported suspected ballistic missile firings by North Korea.

    It was North Korea’s first missile launch in eight days and came five days after South Korea said it detected the North Korean drones, all presumed to be small surveillance drones, south of the border.

    South Korea’s military on Monday scrambled warplanes and helicopters, but they failed to shoot down any of the North Korean drones before they flew back home or vanished from South Korean radar. One of the North Korean drones traveled as far as northern Seoul. That caused security jitters among many people in the South, for which the military offered a rare public apology Tuesday.

    South Korea still flew three of its surveillance drones across the border on Monday in an unusual tit-for-tat step against a North Korean provocation. South Korea on Thursday staged large-scale military drills to simulate shooting down drones.

    South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol has called for boosting his country’s air defense network and vowed to sternly deal with provocations by North Korea.

    Since taking office in May, Yoon’s government has expanded regular military drills with the U.S. in the face of increasing North Korean nuclear threats. North Korea has called such drills between its rivals an invasion rehearsal and argued its recent missile tests were a response to them. But some experts say North Korea is using the South Korea-U.S. training as a pretext to modernize its arsenal and increase its leverage in future dealings with the U.S.

    Before Saturday’s launches, North Korea had already test-fired more than 70 missiles this year. Many of them were nuclear-capable weapons designed to attack the U.S. mainland and its allies South Korea and Japan.

    On Friday, South Korea launched a solid-fueled rocket, a type of a space launch vehicle that it plans to use to put its first spy satellite into orbit in coming years.

    In March, South Korea conducted its first successful launch of a solid-fuel rocket, and defense officials said Friday’s launch was a follow-up test to the earlier launch. Friday’s unannounced launch triggered a brief public scare of a UFO appearance or a North Korean missile firing in South Korea.

    South Korea currently has no military reconnaissance satellites of its own and depends on U.S. spy satellites to monitor strategic facilities in North Korea.

    North Korea is also pushing to acquire its first military surveillance satellite. Earlier this month, North Korea said it used two old missiles as space launch vehicles to test a camera and other systems needed for a spy satellite and later released low-resolution satellite photos showing South Korean cities.

    Some South Korean experts said the North Korean satellite imagery was too crude for military reconnaissance purposes and that they are likely a disguised test of North Korea’s missile technology. Infuriated over such an assessment, Kim Yo Jong, the powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, issued crude insults against unidentified South Korean experts. She also dismissed some outside doubts over North Korea’s intercontinental ballistic missile technology and threatened to conduct a full-range, standard-trajectory ICBM test.

    This week, North Korea is under a major ruling party meeting in Pyongyang to review past policies and new policy goals for 2023. It’s highly unusual for North Korea to test-launch a missile when it holds a key meeting.

    In an indication that the plenary meeting of the Workers’ Party was being wrapped up, the North’s state media reported Saturday that its powerful Politburo decided to complete the draft resolution of the plenary meeting.

    Some observers said North Korea will likely publish details of the meeting on Sunday, which would carry Kim Jong Un’s vows to expand his nuclear arsenal and introduce sophisticated weapons in the name of dealing with what he calls U.S. hostility.

    ———

    Associated Press writer Yuri Kageyama in Tokyo contributed to this report.

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  • South Korea’s unannounced rocket launch causes UFO scare

    South Korea’s unannounced rocket launch causes UFO scare

    SEOUL, South Korea — South Korea’s military confirmed it test-fired a solid-fueled rocket Friday after its unannounced launch triggered brief public scare of a suspected UFO appearance or a North Korean missile launch.

    The Defense Ministry said in a statement that the rocket launch was part of its efforts to build a space-based surveillance capability and bolster its defense posture.

    It said it didn’t notify the general public of the launch in advance because it involved sensitive military security issues.

    A twisty tendril of vapor in white-to-red ombre could be seen snaking behind a bright white light in parts of South Korea’s sky Friday evening. South Korean social media and internet sites were abuzz with messages by citizens who said they saw a soaring object, rainbow-colored vapor trail or other mysterious lights. Some also posted photos and videos.

    “What is this? Is this a UFO? I’m scared,” said one Twitter user. Another said they suspected it was a North Korean missile launch and worried about a war, while a third said they believed a North Korean spy operating in South Korea was sending a signal back to the North. Others suspected it was a supernatural phenomenon.

    South Korean emergency offices and police received hundreds of citizens’ reports of witnessing of a suspicious flying object and mysterious lights across the country, according to local media.

    The South Korean rocket launch came four days after the South accused the North of flying five drones across the rivals’ border Monday for the first time in five years. South Korea’s military detected the drones but failed to shoot them down, causing security concerns about its air defense network. The military later offered a rare apology for that.

    South Korean officials said they plan to use a solid-fueled rocket to put the nation’s first spy satellite into orbit. In March, South Korea conducted its first successful launch of a solid-fuel rocket.

    Solid-fuel rockets reduce launch times, have simpler structures and are cheaper to develop and manufacture than liquid-fuel rockets, South Korean officials said.

    The Defense Ministry said Friday’s launch was a follow-up test of the March launch.

    North Korea is also pushing to develop its first military surveillance satellite and other high-tech weapons systems to cope with what it calls U.S. hostility. Earlier this year, North Korea performed a record number of missile tests in what experts call a bid to prefect its nuclear weapons technology and boost its leverage in future dealings with the United States.

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  • South Korea stages drills simulating downing of North drones

    South Korea stages drills simulating downing of North drones

    SEOUL, South Korea — South Korea staged large-scale military drills Thursday to simulate shooting down drones as a step to bolster its readiness against North Korean provocations, three days after the North flew drones into its territory for the first time in five years.

    South Korean warplanes and helicopters failed to bring down any of the five North Korean drones spotted south of the border Monday before they flew back home or vanished from South Korean radars. One of them traveled as far as northern Seoul. That caused security jitters among many people in the South, for which the military offered a rare public apology Tuesday.

    Thursday’s training involved land-based anti-air guns, drones playing the role of enemy drones, and a total of 20 fighter jets, attack helicopters and unmanned assets. While there was no actual live-fire, it was still the country’s first set of major anti-drone drills since 2017, according to military authorities.

    The drills near Seoul set up diverse scenarios of border infiltrations by small enemy drones, under which the mobilized South Korean military assets practiced how they could detect, track and shoot them down, the Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement.

    Also on Thursday, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol reiterated his push to build a stronger air defense and get tough on North Korean provocations. The North’s drone flights followed its record number of missile tests this year that some experts say is part of an effort to pressure the United States and its allies to make some concessions like sanctions relief.

    “Whether they have nukes or whatever weapons of mass destruction they have, we must send a clear message to those who repeat provocations. We must not be frightened of (their nukes) and we must not hesitate,” Yoon said during a visit to a weapons development agency. “To obtain peace, we must prepare for a war that (we can win) overwhelmingly.”

    Yoon said Tuesday his government will advance the planned establishment of a military drone unit and introduce high-tech stealth drones.

    North Korea’s state media hasn’t commented on South Korea’s announcement of its reported drone flights. But some observers say North Korea likely sent those drones to test South Korean and U.S. readiness. They say North Korea also likely assessed that drones could be a cheap yet effective method to trigger security concerns and an internal divide in South Korea.

    In response the North’s drone flying, South Korea said it sent three of its surveillance drones across the border in a rare tit-for-tat measure. North Korea didn’t make any reaction, according to South Korean defense officials.

    This week, North Korea is under a key ruling party meeting to review past projects and determine policy objectives for 2023. During its third day Wednesday, leader Kim Jong Un expressed hopes that local Workers’ Party officials would report successes on their jobs and duties to live up to the party’s trust in them, state media reported Thursday, without elaborating what their tasks are.

    In an earlier session, state media cited Kim as setting forth new goals to solidify his country’s military power, an indication that he would continue his run of weapons tests.

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  • Asian shares extend losses after Wall Street decline

    Asian shares extend losses after Wall Street decline

    BANGKOK — Shares slipped in Asia on Thursday after benchmarks fell more than 1% on Wall Street in the middle of a mostly quiet and holiday-shortened week.

    U.S. futures were mixed and oil prices declined.

    Investors are watching to see how China‘s relaxation of its stringent COVID-19 policies, and the outbreaks of infections that have followed, will affect business activity and travel.

    One concern is that the massive outbreaks could generate new, potentially vaccine resistant variants of the virus, “leading to knock-on virus surges across the globe, China’s reopening could still mark a positive step over the long run in light of past global attempts in bringing virus cases under control,” Yean Jun Rong of IG said in a commentary.

    The Hang Seng in Hong Kong shed 1.0% to 19,691.33, while the Shanghai Composite index was down 0.3% at 3,078.81.

    Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 index lost 0.9% to 26,093.67.

    The Kospi in Seoul sank 1.9% to 2,236.40 after the government reported South Korea’s industrial production fell 3.7% from a year earlier in November, worse than forecast and a bigger drop than the 1.2% decline in October. Retail sales were down 1.8% from the month before.

    Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 gave up 0.9% to 7,020.10. Bangkok’s SET index gained 0.3% and Mumbai’s Sensex was flat.

    The worst year since 2008 for the S&P 500 has been winding down with little in the way of data to drive trading. But later Thursday, the U.S. government was due to release jobless claims, a measure of employment that could provide insight into how the economy is faring as the Federal Reserve raises interest rates to quash inflation.

    The Fed has already raised its key interest rate seven times this year and is expected to continue raising rates in 2023. The key lending rate, the federal funds rate, stands at a range of 4.25% to 4.5%, and Fed policymakers forecast that the rate will reach a range of 5% to 5.25% by the end of 2023. Their forecast doesn’t call for a rate cut before 2024.

    On Wednesday, the S&P 500 fell 1.2%, with technology, energy and industrial stocks among the biggest weights on the benchmark index. It finished at 3,783.22.

    The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 1.1% to 32,875.71. The Nasdaq slid 1.4% to 10,213.29. The Russell 2000 gave up 1.6%, ending at 1,722.02.

    Bond yields were mixed. The yield on the 10-year Treasury, which influences mortgage rates, rose to 3.88% from 3.85% Tuesday. The yield on the two-year Treasury fell to 4.34% from 4.38% late Tuesday.

    With two more days of trading left in 2022, the S&P 500 is headed for a roughly 20% drop for the year, even as profits and margins for companies in the index have hit record heights this year. The Dow is on pace for a 9.5% drop, while the Nasdaq is doing much worse, on pace to plunge 34.7%.

    Southwest Airlines slid 5.2% as the carrier grappled with the fallout after cancelling thousands of flight cancellations. The airline’s CEO said it could be next week before the flight schedule returns to normal. Shares in other airlines also fell. Delta Air Lines dropped 2.8% and United Airlines fell 2.4%.

    Tesla rose 3.3% as it stabilized from steep losses it suffered after reports Tuesday that it temporarily suspended production at a factory in Shanghai.

    U.S. crude oil prices settled 0.7% lower and natural gas prices plunged 10.8%. That hurt energy stocks. Exxon Mobil fell 1.6%.

    Early Thursday, U.S. benchmark crude was down 54 cents at $78.42 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

    Brent crude, the pricing basis for international trading, gave up 57 cents to $83.42 per barrel in London.

    The U.S. dollar fell to 133.77 Japanese yen from 134.39 yen late Wednesday. The euro rose to $1.0617 from $1.0613.

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  • Asian shares mixed after tech-led decline on Wall Street

    Asian shares mixed after tech-led decline on Wall Street

    BANGKOK — Shares were mixed in Asia on Wednesday after a post-holiday retreat on Wall Street, as markets count down to the end of a painful year for investors.

    Shares fell in Tokyo, Shanghai and Seoul but rose in Hong Kong as the Chinese government took further steps to reopen to foreign travel after relaxing its stringent “zero-COVID” policies.

    Oil prices rose and U.S. futures inched higher.

    The Chinese government announced it will start issuing new passports in another major step away from anti-virus travel barriers. That sets up a potential flood of tourists out of China for next month’s Lunar New Year holiday, taking free-spending Chinese visitors to Asia, Europe and other destinations during what usually is the country’s busiest travel season.

    But governments in India and Japan have said they will impose extra precautions on those arriving from China due to widespread virus outbreaks there. U.S. officials also expressed concern and said they were considering taking similar steps.

    Hong Kong’s Hang Seng jumped 2% to 20,011.99. The Shanghai Composite index gave up early gains, losing 0.2% to 3,000.23.

    Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 lost 0.6% to 26,301.69 after the government reported that Japan’s industrial production fell for a third straight month in November and said it was likely to fall further in December. The Kospi in Seoul declined 2.2% to 2,282.26.

    In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 dropped 0.3% to 7,086.50.

    On Wall Street, the S&P 500 fell 0.4% to 3,829.25 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average eked out a 0.1% gain, closing at 33,241.56. The Nasdaq dropped 1.4% to 10,353.23.

    The Russell 2000 index dropped 0.7% to 1,749.52.

    Technology and communication services companies accounted for a big share of the decliners in the S&P 500. Apple fell 1.4% and Netflix lost 3.7%.

    Airlines stocks fell broadly. A massive winter storm caused widespread delays and forced several carriers to cancel flights over the weekend. Delta Air Lines closed 0.8% lower, American Airlines dropped 1.4% and JetBlue slid 1.1%.

    Southwest Airlines slid 6% after the company had to cancel roughly two-thirds of its flights over the last couple of days, which it blamed on problems related to staffing and weather. The federal government said it would investigate why the company lagged so far behind other carriers.

    Tesla fell 11.4% for the biggest decline among S&P 500 stocks. The electric vehicle maker temporarily suspended production at a factory in Shanghai, according to published reports.

    Treasury yields mostly rose as the U.S. bond market reopened from Christmas holidays. The yield on the 10-year Treasury, which influences mortgage rates, rose to 3.85% from 3.75% late Friday.

    Trading on Wall Street is expected to be relatively light this holiday-shortened week as investors look ahead to 2023 after a dismal year for stocks.

    Uncertainty about how far the Federal Reserve and other central banks would go to fight the highest inflation in decades has kept investors on edge. The Fed raised its key interest rate seven times this year and has signaled more hikes to come in 2023, even though the pace of price increases has been easing.

    The high rates, which weigh heavily on prices for stocks and other investments, have fueled concerns that the economy could slow too much and slip into a recession next year.

    The benchmark S&P 500 index set an all-time high at the beginning of January, but is now down nearly 20% for the year. The tech-heavy Nasdaq is down nearly 34%.

    In other trading Wednesday, U.S. benchmark crude oil added 5 cents to $79.58 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It lost 3 cents on Tuesday to $79.53 per barrel.

    Brent crude, the pricing basis for international trading, gained 14 cents to $84.82 per barrel.

    The U.S. dollar rose to 134.09 Japanese yen from 133.43 yen. The euro was trading at $1.0643, up from $1.0640.

    ———

    AP Business Writer Alex Veiga contributed.

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  • World shares mostly lower after tech-led fall on Wall Street

    World shares mostly lower after tech-led fall on Wall Street

    BANGKOK — Shares were mostly lower in Europe and Asia on Wednesday as markets were counting down to the end of a painful year for investors, with no end in sight to uncertainties stemming from the pandemic and the war in Ukraine.

    Shares fell in Frankfurt, Paris, Tokyo, Shanghai and Seoul but rose in London and Hong Kong as the Chinese government took further steps to reopen to foreign travel after relaxing its stringent “zero-COVID” policies.

    Oil prices fell back and U.S. futures inched higher.

    Not all world markets have ended the year on low notes. Britain’s FTSE 100 is at about the level it started 2022. Early Wednesday it was up 0.7% at 7,525.42.

    But most other markets have suffered as interest rate increases, waves of coronavirus infections, the war, supply chain disruptions and surging inflation took a toll on businesses and investments.

    Germany’s DAX lost 0.3% to 13,952.83. It’s down about 13% from the start of the year. The CAC 40 in Paris, which is about 9% below where it began the year, edged 0.1% lower, to 6,541.50.

    The future for the S&P 500 was barely changed, down 1 point. The future for the Dow Jones Industrial Average edged 0.1% higher.

    On Tuesday, the S&P 500 fell 0.4% and the Dow industrials eked out a 0.1% gain. The Nasdaq dropped 1.4%, while the Russell 2000 index dropped 0.7%.

    The benchmark S&P 500 index set an all-time high at the beginning of January, but is now down nearly 20% for the year. The tech-heavy Nasdaq is down nearly 34%.

    The Chinese government announced late Tuesday that it will start issuing new passports, a major step away from anti-virus travel barriers that likely will bring a flood of tourists out of China for next month’s Lunar New Year holiday.

    The return of free-spending Chinese visitors to Asia, Europe and other destinations during what usually is the country’s busiest travel season will be a welcome relief for countries like Thailand that depend heavily on tourism.

    But some governments have said they will impose extra precautions on people arriving from China given the widespread virus outbreaks there. U.S. officials, speaking on condition of anonymity to convey internal discussions, also expressed concern and said they were considering taking similar steps.

    With China in the midst of its most severe COVID wave so far, disruptions to manufacturing and transport will likely linger until the worst is past.

    “Investors are enthusiastic about China re-opening its economy. However, there are plenty of reports which suggest that COVID cases are on the rise in China, which really threatens the supply chain,” Naeem Aslam of Avatrade.com said in a commentary.

    In Asian trading, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng climbed 1.6% to 19,898.91 while the Shanghai Composite index dropped 0.3% to 3,087.40. Hong Kong’s benchmark is down 14% for the year, while Shanghai’s has lost slightly more so far, at 14.2%.

    Tokyo’s Nikkei 225, which has given up 8.6% this year, fell 0.4% to 26,340.50 after the government reported that Japan’s industrial production fell for a third straight month in November and was likely to fall further in December.

    The Kospi in Seoul declined 2.2% to 2,280.45, while Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 dropped 0.3% to 7,086.40. Bangkok’s SET gained 0.3%.

    Trading on Wall Street is expected to be relatively light this holiday-shortened week as investors look ahead to 2023 after a dismal year for stocks.

    Uncertainty about how far the Federal Reserve and other central banks would go to fight the highest inflation in decades has kept investors on edge, even as price increases have eased. The Fed raised its key interest rate seven times this year and has signaled more hikes to come in 2023.

    The high rates weigh heavily on prices for stocks and other investments and have raised worries they might slow the economy too much, tipping it into a recession.

    In other trading, U.S. benchmark crude oil shed 54 cents to $78.99 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It lost 3 cents on Tuesday to $79.53 per barrel.

    Brent crude, the pricing basis for international trading, declined 39 cents to $84.29 per barrel.

    The U.S. dollar rose to 134.01 Japanese yen from 133.43 yen. The euro was unchanged at $1.0641.

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  • North Korea’s Kim lays out key goals to boost military power

    North Korea’s Kim lays out key goals to boost military power

    SEOUL, South Korea — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un presented unspecified goals to further bolster his military power next year at a meeting of top political officials, state media reported Wednesday, in an indication he’ll continue his provocative run of weapons displays.

    Kim’s statement came as animosities with rival South Korea rose sharply this week as the South accused the North of flying drones across the rivals’ border for the first time in five years. This year, North Korea already performed a record number of missile tests in what experts call an attempt to modernize its arsenal and increase its leverage in future dealings with the United States.

    During the Tuesday session at the ongoing plenary meeting of the ruling Workers’ Party, Kim analyzed new security challenges in international politics and on the Korean Peninsula and clarified principles and directions to take in external relations and fights against enemies to protect national interests and sovereignty, according to the official Korean Central News Agency.

    Kim “set forth new key goals for bolstering up the self-reliant defense capability to be pushed ahead with in 2023 under the multilaterally changing situation,” KCNA said, without elaborating.

    Some observers say the new goals could be related to Kim’s push to expand his nuclear arsenal and introduce a spate of high-tech weapons systems such as multi-warhead missiles, a more agile long-range weapon, a spy satellite and advanced drones. They say Kim would eventually aim to use his boosted nuclear capability to force its rivals to accept the North as a legitimate nuclear state, a status he would think is essential in getting international sanctions on his country to be lifted.

    On Monday, South Korea’s military fired warning shots and launched fighter jets and helicopters, after detecting what it called five North Korean drones that violated the South’s airspace. South Korea also flown its own surveillance assets, in a likely reference to unmanned drones, across the border into North Korea in response.

    South Korea’s military said it had failed to shoot down the drones and offered a public apology over causing security concerns. President Yoon Suk Yeol called for strong air defense and high-tech stealth drones to better monitor North Korea.

    Some experts say the North Korean drone flights might have been designed to test South Korean and U.S. readiness and neutralize a previous inter-Korean tension-reduction agreement. They say North Korea likely assessed its drones as a cheap yet effective method to cause security jitters and a domestic divide in South Korea.

    Yoon, a conservative who took office in May, said Tuesday that South Korea has had little anti-drone trainings since 2017, a year when his liberal predecessor Moon Jae-in was inaugurated. In an apparent effort to blame the alleged lax air defense system to Moon’s engagement policy toward North Korea, Yoon said that “I think our people must have seen well how dangerous a policy relying on the North’s good faith and (peace) agreements would be.”

    Yoon’s comments triggered a backlash from Moon’s liberal opposition Democratic Party, which accused the president of trying to shift a responsibility for his government ’s security policy failure to someone else.

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  • Today in History: December 19, Bill Clinton impeached

    Today in History: December 19, Bill Clinton impeached

    Today in History

    Today is Monday, Dec. 19, the 353rd day of 2022. There are 12 days left in the year.

    Today’s Highlight in History:

    On Dec. 19, 1998, President Bill Clinton was impeached by the Republican-controlled House for perjury and obstruction of justice. (Clinton was subsequently acquitted by the Senate.)

    On this date:

    In 1777, during the American Revolutionary War, Gen. George Washington led his army of about 11,000 men to Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, to camp for the winter.

    In 1907, 239 workers died in a coal mine explosion in Jacobs Creek, Pennsylvania.

    In 1946, war broke out in Indochina as troops under Ho Chi Minh launched widespread attacks against the French.

    In 1950, Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower was named commander of the military forces of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

    In 1960, fire broke out on the hangar deck of the nearly completed aircraft carrier USS Constellation at the New York Naval Shipyard; 50 civilian workers were killed.

    In 1972, Apollo 17 splashed down in the Pacific, winding up the Apollo program of manned lunar landings.

    In 2001, the fires that had burned beneath the ruins of the World Trade Center in New York City for the previous three months were declared extinguished except for a few scattered hot spots.

    In 2002, Secretary of State Colin Powell declared Iraq in “material breach” of a U.N. disarmament resolution.

    In 2003, design plans were unveiled for the signature skyscraper — a 1,776-foot glass tower — at the site of the World Trade Center in New York City.

    In 2008, citing imminent danger to the national economy, President George W. Bush ordered an emergency bailout of the U.S. auto industry.

    In 2011, North Korea announced the death two days earlier of leader Kim Jong Il; North Koreans marched by the thousands to mourn their “Dear Leader” while state media proclaimed his youngest son, Kim Jong Un, a “Great Successor.”

    In 2016, a truck rammed into a crowded Christmas market in central Berlin, killing 12 people in an attack claimed by Islamic State. (The suspected attacker was killed in a police shootout four days later.) A Turkish policeman fatally shot Russian ambassador Andrei Karlov at a photo exhibit in Ankara. (The assailant was later killed in a police shootout.)

    Ten years ago: Four State Department officials resigned under pressure, less than a day after a damning report blamed management failures for a lack of security at the U.S. diplomatic mission in Benghazi, Libya, where militants killed the U.S. ambassador and three other Americans. Park Geun-hye (goon-hay), daughter of late South Korean President Park Chung-hee, was elected the country’s first female president.

    Five years ago: A bus carrying cruise ship passengers on an excursion to Mayan ruins in southeastern Mexico flipped over on a narrow highway, killing 11 travelers and their guide and injuring about 20 others; eight Americans were among those killed. U.S. health officials approved the nation’s first gene therapy for an inherited disease, a treatment that improves the sight of patients with a rare form of blindness. David Wright, a Massachusetts man who was convicted of leading a plot inspired by the Islamic State to behead conservative blogger Pamela Geller, was sentenced in Boston to 28 years in prison.

    One year ago: Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia said he could not support his party’s signature $2 trillion social and environment bill, dealing a seemingly fatal blow to President Joe Biden’s leading domestic initiative. (Congress would approve a smaller but still substantive compromise measure in August 2022.) The NHL and its players association temporarily clamped down on teams crossing the Canadian border and shut down operations of two more teams in hopes of salvaging the season as COVID-19 outbreaks spread across the league. Gabriel Boric, a leftist millennial who rose to prominence during anti-government protests, was elected Chile’s next president. Despite rising concerns over the omicron variant, “Spider-Man: No Way Home” achieved the third best opening of all time; studio estimates showed that the Sony and Marvel blockbuster grossed $253 million in ticket sales in North America.

    Today’s Birthdays: Actor Elaine Joyce is 79. Actor Tim Reid is 78. Musician John McEuen is 77. Singer Janie Fricke is 75. Jazz musician Lenny White is 73. Actor Mike Lookinland is 62. Actor Scott Cohen is 61. Actor Jennifer Beals is 59. Actor Robert MacNaughton is 56. Magician Criss Angel is 55. Rock musician Klaus Eichstadt (Ugly Kid Joe) is 55. Actor Ken Marino is 54. Actor Elvis Nolasco is 54. Actor Kristy Swanson is 53. Model Tyson Beckford is 52. Actor Amy Locane is 51. Pro Football Hall of Famer Warren Sapp is 50. Actor Rosa Blasi is 50. Actor Alyssa Milano is 50. Actor Tara Summers is 43. Actor Jake Gyllenhaal (JIH’-lihn-hahl) is 42. Actor Marla Sokoloff is 42. Rapper Lady Sovereign is 37. Journalist Ronan Farrow is 35. Actor Nik Dodani is 29.

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  • North Korea says rocket launch was test of 1st spy satellite

    North Korea says rocket launch was test of 1st spy satellite

    SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea said Monday it fired a test satellite in an important final-stage test for the development of its first spy satellite, a key military capability coveted by its leader Kim Jong Un along with other high-tech weapons systems.

    The North’s official Korean Central News Agency also released black-and-white photos showing a space view of the South Korean capital and Incheon, a city just west of Seoul, in an apparent attempt to show the North is pushing to monitor its rival with its advancing technologies.

    The rocket carrying the test satellite was launched Sunday to assess the satellite’s photography and data transmission systems, KCNA said.

    The country’s National Aerospace Development Administration called the test results “an important success which has gone through the final gateway process of the launch of reconnaissance satellite.” It said it would complete the preparations for its first military reconnaissance satellite by April next year, according to KCNA.

    “From the images released, the resolution does not appear to be so impressive for military reconnaissance,” Soo Kim, a security analyst at the California-based RAND Corporation, said. “I’d note, however, that this is probably an ongoing development, so we may see more improvements to North Korea’s military reconnaissance capabilities over time.”

    South Korea, Japan and U.S. authorities had said Sunday they had detected a pair of ballistic missile launches by North Korea from its northwestern Tongchang-ri area, where the North’s satellite launch pad is located. They said the two missiles flew about 500 kilometers (310 miles) at a maximum altitude of 550 kilometers (340 miles) before landing in the waters between the Korean Peninsula and Japan. This could mean North Korea might have fired a missile or two to send the test-piece satellite into space.

    A spy satellite was on a wish list of sophisticated military assets Kim announced during a ruling party meeting early last year, together with multi-warhead missiles, solid-fueled long-range missiles, underwater-launched nuclear missiles and nuclear-powered submarines. Kim has called for such high-tech weapons systems and an expanded nuclear arsenal to pressure the United States to abandon its hostile polices on North Korea, an apparent reference to U.S.-led sanctions and the U.S.-South Korean military drills that North Korea views as an invasion rehearsal.

    North Korea has since taken steps to develop such weapons systems. In February and March, North Korea said it conducted tests to check a camera and data transmission systems to be used on a spy satellite. In November, it test-launched its developmental, longest-range Hwasong-17 intercontinental ballistic missile, a weapon believed to be designed to carry multiple warheads. Last week, North Korea said it performed a “high-thrust solid-fuel motor” to be used for a new strategic weapon, an apparent reference to a solid-fueled ICBM.

    Ankit Panda, an expert with the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, said that North Korea will likely make a proper orbital launch for a reconnaissance satellite next April — probably around April 15, the birthday of Kim’s late grandfather and state founder Kim Il Sung. The day is one of the most important state anniversaries in North Korea.

    Earlier this year, North Korea test-launched a record number of missiles, many of them nuclear-capable missiles with varying ranges to reach the U.S. mainland and its allies South Korea and Japan. It also legislated a law authorizing the preemptive use of nuclear weapons on a broad range of scenarios, causing security jitters in South Korea and elsewhere.

    North Korea has avoided fresh U.N. sanctions for those moves, however, because U.N. Security Council permanent members Russia and China won’t support U.S. attempts to impose them.

    “Having codified his country’s nuclear law earlier this year, tested missiles of varying capabilities, and made it very clear he has no interest in diplomacy with the U.S. and South Korea, Kim has essentially paved the way for nuclearization,” Soo Kim, the analyst, said. “He’s lent the appearance that the only possible way out of this quagmire is for the international community to fold the conditions set forth by the regime.”

    She said a handful of other high-priority geopolitical concerns involving China and Russia “has allowed Kim to buy time and the grace of the international community to push forward with his plan.”

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  • US military creates space unit in SKorea amid NKorea threats

    US military creates space unit in SKorea amid NKorea threats

    SEOUL, South Korea — The U.S. military formally launched a space force unit in South Korea on Wednesday, a move that will likely enable Washington to better monitor its rivals North Korea, China and Russia.

    The activation of the U.S. Space Forces Korea at Osan Air Base near Seoul came after North Korea test-fired a barrage of nuclear-capable ballistic missiles designed to strike the U.S. mainland and its allies South Korea and Japan in recent months.

    “Just 48 miles north of us exists an existential threat; a threat that we must be prepared to deter, defend against, and – if required – defeat,” Lt. Col. Joshua McCullion, chief of the new space unit, said during the activation ceremony at Osan. He apparently refered to North Korea, whose heavily fortified border with South Korea is just an hour’s drive from Seoul, the South’s capital.

    The unit belongs to the U.S. Space Force, which was launched in December 2019 under then-President Donald Trump as the first new U.S. military service in more than 70 years.

    The Space Force was seen soberly as an affirmation of the need to more effectively organize for the defense of U.S. interests in space — especially satellites used for civilian and military navigation, intelligence and communication. A previous Pentagon report said China and Russia had embarked on major efforts to develop technologies that could allow them to disrupt or destroy American and allied satellites in a crisis or conflict.

    The U.S. Space Forces Korea is a subordinate of a bigger U.S. Space Force unit established within the Indo-Pacific command in Hawaii last month.

    Jung Chang Wook, head of the Korea Defense Study Forum think tank in Seoul, said the U.S. Space Force was created to bring together diverse surveillance assets including space-based satellites in one organization to manage and develop them in an effective, systemic manner. He said its unit in South Korea would work like a field unit while the other one in the Indo-Pacific Command would be its headquarters.

    “The U.S. Space Forces Korea would maintain, operate and asses related equipment. Simply speaking, I would say the actual U.S. space operations will be done at Osan Air Base,” Jung said. He said the main role of the U.S. Space Forces Korea would be receiving, processing and analyzing tremendous amount of data and information transmitted by U.S. satellites.

    “The U.S. military is faster, better connected, more informed, precise and lethal because of space,” Gen. Paul LaCamera, commander of the 28,500 U.S. troops in South Korea, said during the ceremony. “Specifically, the activation here today, of U.S. Space Forces Korea … enhances our ability to defend the homelands and ensure peace and security on the Korean Peninsula and in Northeast Asia.”

    Jung said the launch of a space unit in South Korea was primarily aimed at better monitoring North Korea, followed by China and then Russia.

    The United States and South Korea have expanded their regular military drills and pushed to further bolster their combined defense capability in the face of North Korea’s advancing nuclear program. North Korea has threatened to use nuclear weapons preemptively in potential conflicts with the United States and South Korea, and the U.S. military warned the North that the use of nuclear weapons “will result in the end of that regime.”

    ——

    Associated Press video journalist Kim Yong Ho in Osan, South Korea, contributed to this report.

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  • BTS member Jin begins military duty at front-line boot camp

    BTS member Jin begins military duty at front-line boot camp

    YEONCHEON, South Korea — Jin, the oldest member of K-pop supergroup BTS, began his 18 months of mandatory military service at a front-line South Korean boot camp Tuesday as fans gathered near the base to say goodbye to their star.

    Six other younger BTS members are to join the military in coming years one after another, meaning that the world’s biggest boy band must take a hiatus, likely for a few years. Their enlistments have prompted a fierce domestic debate over whether it’s time to revise the country’s conscription system to expand exemptions to include prominent entertainers like BTS, or not to provide such benefits to anyone.

    With lawmakers squabbling at Parliament and surveys showing sharply split public opinions over offering exemptions to BTS members, their management agency said in October that all BTS members would perform their compulsory military duties. Big Hit Music said that both the company and the members of BTS “are looking forward to reconvening as a group again around 2025 following their service commitment.”

    Jin, who turned 30 earlier this month, entered the boot camp at Yeoncheon, a town near the tense border with North Korea, for five weeks of basic military training together with other new conscript soldiers, the Defense Ministry said. After the training involving rifle shooting, grenade throwing and marching practices, he and other conscripts would be assigned to army units across the country.

    About 20-30 fans — some holding Jin’s photos — and dozens of journalists gathered near the camp. But Jin didn’t meet them as a vehicle carrying him moved into the boot camp without getting him out.

    “I want to wait (for) Jin and see him go into the military and wish him all the best,” Mandy Lee from Hong Kong said before Jin’s entrance to the camp.

    “Actually it’s complicated. I wanna be sad. I wanna be happy for him,” said Angelina from Indonesia. “Mixed feelings. He has to serve (for) his country.” Angelina, like many Indonesians, uses only one name.

    A couple dozen fans could be seen as a small turnout given Jin’s huge popularity. But Jin and his management agency had earlier asked fans not to visit the site and notified them there wouldn’t be any special event involving the singer, in order to prevent any issue caused by crowding.

    Authorities still mobilized 300 police officers, soldiers, emergency workers and others to maintain order and guard against any accidents, according to the army. Strict safety steps were expected as South Korea is still reeling from the devastating Halloween crush in October in Seoul that killed 158 people.

    Hours before entering the camp, Jin — whose real name is Kim Seok-jin — wrote on the on the online fan platform Weverse that “It’s time for a curtain call.” He posted a photo of himself Sunday with a military buzzcut and a message saying, “Ha ha ha. It’s cuter than I had expected.”

    By law, all able-bodied South Korean men must serve in the military for 18-21 months under a conscription system established to deal with threats from North Korea. But the law gives special exemptions to athletes, classical and traditional musicians, and ballet and other dancers if they have won top prizes in certain competitions and enhance national prestige. K-pop stars and other entertainers aren’t given such benefits even if they gain worldwide fame and win big international awards.

    “Though BTS members have opted to go to the military, there are still some sort of regrets,” said Jung Duk-hyun, a pop culture commentator. “Those in the pop culture sector experience little bit of disadvantages and unfairness, compared with those in the pure art sector or athletes. This will likely continue to be an issue of controversy so I wonder if it must be discussed continuously.”

    Exemptions or dodging of duties are a highly sensitive issue in South Korea, where the draft forces young men to suspend their studies or professional careers. Defense Minister Lee Jong-sup and Lee Ki Sik, head of South Korea’s enlistment office, previously said it would be “desirable” for BTS members to fulfill their military duties to ensure fairness in the country’s military service.

    Chun In-bum, a retired lieutenant general who commanded South Korea’s special forces, said the government must move to repeal any exemptions as the military’s shrinking recruitment pool is “a very serious” problem amid the country’s declining fertility rate. He called a debate over BTS’s military service “unnecessary” as it wasn’t raised by BTS members, who have shown willingness in carrying out their duties.

    BTS was created in 2013 and has a legion of global supporters who call themselves the “Army.” Its other members are RM, Suga, J-Hope, Jimin, V and Jungkook, who is the youngest at 25. The group expanded its popularity in the West with its 2020 megahit “Dynamite,” the band’s first all-English song that made BTS the first K-pop act to top Billboard’s Hot 100. The band has performed in sold-out arenas around the world and was even invited to speak at United Nations meetings.

    Hybe Corp., the parent company of Big Hit, said in October that each member of the band for the time being would focus on individual activities scheduled around their military service plans. In October, Jin released “The Astronaut,” a single co-written by Coldplay.

    Jung, the commentator, said sold projects could give BTS members much-needed time to develop themselves after working together as a group for many years. But Cha Woo-jin, a K-pop commentator, said it’s unclear if BTS would enjoy the same popularity as a group when they get together again after finishing their military duties in a few years.

    In August, Lee, the defense minister, said BTS members who are serving would likely be allowed to continue practicing and to join other non-serving BTS members in overseas group tours.

    Cha said K-pop’s global influence wouldn’t be hurt much because of BTS members’ enlistments as they “appear to represent K-pop but aren’t everything of K-pop.” Chung agreed, saying that other K-pop groups like BLACKPINK, Stray Kids and aespa could rise further.

    ———

    Kim reported from Seoul, South Korea.

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  • Dogs gifted by North’s Kim resettle in South Korean zoo

    Dogs gifted by North’s Kim resettle in South Korean zoo

    SEOUL, South Korea — A pair of dogs gifted by North Korean leader Kim Jong Un four years ago ended up at a zoo in South Korea after a dispute over who should finance the caring of the animals.

    Kim had given the two white Pungsan hunting dogs — a breed indigenous to North Korea — to then-South Korean President Moon Jae-in as a gift following their summit talks in Pyongyang in 2018. But liberal Moon gave up the dogs last month, citing a lack of financial support for the canines from the current conservative government led by President Yoon Suk Yeol.

    The dogs, named Gomi and Songgang, were moved to a zoo run by a local government in the southern city of Gwangju last Friday after a temporary stay at a veterinary hospital in the southeastern city of Daeju, zoo officials said.

    With Gwangju Mayor Kang Gijung in attendance, the dogs were shown off Monday with their nametags around their necks as journalists and other visitors took photos.

    “Gomi and Songgang are a symbol of peace and South-North Korean reconciliation and cooperation. We will raise them well like we cultivate a seed for peace,” Kang said, according to his office.

    The dogs have six offspring between them, all of them born after they came to South Korea. One of them, named Byeol, has been raised in the Gwanju zoo since 2019. The remaining five are in other zoos and a public facility in South Korea.

    Gwangju zoo officials said they’ll try to raise Byeol and her parent dogs together, though they’re currently kept separately as they don’t recognize each other.

    Gomi and Songgang officially belong to state property. While in office, Moon raised them at the presidential residence. After leaving office in May, Moon was able to take them to his private home thanks to a change of law that allowed presidential gifts to be managed outside the Presidential Archives if they were animals or plants.

    But in early November, Moon’s office accused the Yoon government of refusing to cover the cost for the dogs’ food and veterinary care. Yoon’s office denied the accusation, saying it never prevented Moon from keeping the animals and that the discussions about providing financial support were still ongoing.

    Moon, a champion of reconciliation with North Korea, was credited with arranging now-dormant diplomacy on North Korea’s nuclear program, but also faced criticism that his engagement policy allowed Kim to buy time and boost his country’s nuclear capability in the face of international sanctions. Yoon has accused Moon’s engagement policy “being submissive” to North Korea.

    In 2000, Kim’s late father, Kim Jong Il, gifted another pair of Pungsan dogs to then-South Korean President Kim Dae-jung after their meeting in Pyongyang, the first inter-Korean summit since their division in 1948. Liberal Kim Dae-jung gave two Jindo dogs — a breed native to a South Korean island — to Kim Jong Il. The North Korean dogs lived at a public zoo near Seoul before they died in 2013.

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  • South Korea’s truth commission to probe foreign adoptions

    South Korea’s truth commission to probe foreign adoptions

    SEOUL, South Korea — South Korea’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission will investigate the cases of dozens of South Korean adoptees in Europe and the United States who suspect their origins were falsified or obscured during a child export frenzy in the mid- to late-1900s.

    The decision Thursday opens what could be South Korea’s most far-reaching inquiry into foreign adoptions yet. Frustration over broken family connections and laundered child statuses and identities grew and demanded government attention.

    The adopted South Koreans are believed to be the world’s largest diaspora of adoptees. In the past six decades, about 200,000 South Koreans — mostly girls — were adopted overseas. Most were placed with white parents in the United States and Europe during the 1970s and ′80s.

    After a meeting Tuesday, the commission decided to investigate 34 adoptees who were sent to Denmark, Norway, the Netherlands, Germany, Belgium, and the United States from the 1960s to the early 1990s. The adoptees say they were wrongfully removed from their families through falsified documents and corrupt practices.

    They were among the 51 adoptees who first submitted their applications to the commission in August through the Danish Korean Rights Group, led by adoptee attorney Peter Møller. The applications filed by Møller’s group have since grown to over 300, and dozens of adoptees from Sweden and Australia are also expected to file applications on Friday, which is the commission’s deadline for investigation requests, Møller said.

    The investigation will likely expand over the next few months as the commission reviews whether to accept the applications submitted after August. Cases that are seen as similar will likely be fused to speed up the investigations, commission official Park Young-il said.

    The applications cite a broad range of grievances that allege carelessness and a lack of due diligence in the removal of scores of children from their families amid loose government monitoring.

    During that time, the country was ruled by a succession of military leaders who saw adoptions as a way to deepen ties with the democratic West while reducing the number of mouths to feed and removing the socially undesirable, including children of unwed mothers and orphans. South Korea was a rare country that enforced special laws aimed at promoting adoptions, which allowed profit-driven agencies to manipulate records and bypass proper child relinquishment.

    Most of the South Korean adoptees sent abroad were registered by agencies as legal orphans found abandoned on the streets, a designation that made the adoption process quicker and easier. But many of the so-called orphans had relatives who could be easily identified and found.

    Some of the adoptees say they discovered that the agencies had switched their identities to replace other children who died or got too sick to travel, which often made it impossible to trace their roots.

    The adoptees called for the commission to broadly investigate agencies for records falsification and manipulation and for allegedly proceeding with adoptions without the proper consent of birth parents.

    They want the commission to establish whether the government was responsible for the corrupt practices and whether adoptions were fueled by increasingly larger payments and donations from adoptive parents, which apparently motivated agencies to create their own supply.

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  • Seoul: North Korea fires ballistic missile toward sea

    Seoul: North Korea fires ballistic missile toward sea

    SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea launched a short-range ballistic missile Thursday toward its eastern waters, South Korea’s military said, hours after the North threatened to launch “fiercer” military responses to the U.S. bolstering its security commitment to its allies South Korea and Japan.

    South Korea’s military detected the launch from the North’s eastern coastal Wonsan area at 10:48 a.m., the South’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement. It said South Korea has boosted its surveillance of North Korea while maintaining a military readiness and a close coordination with the United States.

    It was North Korea’s first ballistic missile firing in eight days and the latest in its barrage of tests in recent months. North Korea previously said some of the tests were simulations of nuclear attacks on South Korean and U.S. targets. Many experts say North Korea would eventually want to enhance its nuclear capability to wrest bigger concessions from its rivals.

    Earlier Thursday, North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui warned that a recent U.S.-South Korea-Japan summit accord on the North would leave tensions on the Korean Peninsula “more unpredictable.”

    Choe’s statement was North Korea’s first official response to U.S. President Joe Biden’s trilateral summit with his South Korean and Japanese counterparts on the sidelines of a regional gathering Sunday in Cambodia. In their joint statement, the three leaders strongly condemned North Korea’s recent missile tests and agreed to work together to strengthen deterrence, while Biden reaffirmed the U.S. commitment to defend South Korea and Japan with a full range of capabilities, including its nuclear arms.

    “The keener the U.S. is on the ‘bolstered offer of extended deterrence’ to its allies and the more they intensify provocative and bluffing military activities on the Korean Peninsula and in the region, the fiercer (North Korea’s) military counteraction will be, in direct proportion to it,” Choe said. “It will pose a more serious, realistic and inevitable threat to the U.S. and its vassal forces.”

    Choe didn’t say what steps North Korea could take but said that “the U.S. will be well aware that it is gambling, for which it will certainly regret.”

    South Korea’s Defense Ministry responded later Thursday that the purpose of the trilateral summit was to coordinate a joint response to curb and deter advancing nuclear and missile threats by North Korea. Spokesperson Moon Hong Sik told reporters that security cooperation among Seoul, Washington and Tokyo was contributing to solidifying a U.S. extended deterrence to its allies.

    North Korea has steadfastly maintained its recent weapons testing activities are legitimate military counteractions to U.S.-South Korean military drills, which it views as a practice to launch attacks on the North. Washington and Seoul have said their exercises are defensive in nature.

    In recent months, South Korean and U.S. troops have expanded their regular exercises and resumed trilateral training with Japan in response to North Korea’s push to enlarge its nuclear and missile arsenals. Those drills involved a U.S. aircraft carrier and U.S. B-1B supersonic bombers for the first time since 2017. In the past several years, annual military training between Seoul and Washington had been scaled back or canceled to support now-dormant diplomacy with North Korea and guard against the COVID-19 pandemic.

    In her Thursday statement, Choe said “the U.S. and its followers staged large-scale war drills for aggression one after another, but they failed to contain North Korea’s overwhelming counteraction.”

    There have been concerns that North Korea might conduct its first nuclear test in five years as its next major step toward bolstering its military capability against the United States and its allies.

    U.S. and South Korean officials say North Korea has finished preparations to conduct a nuclear test explosion in its remote testing facility in the northeast. Some experts say the test, if made, would be meant to develop nuclear warheads to be placed on short-range missiles capable of hitting key targets in South Korea, such as U.S. military bases. They say North Korea would ultimately aim to use its boosted arsenal as a leverage to pressure the United States into making concessions in future negotiations and recognize it as a nuclear state.

    Thursday’s launch came a day after members the Group of 20 leading economies ended their summit in Indonesia. The summit was largely overshadowed with other issues like Russia’s war on Ukraine. But Biden and South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol used their bilateral meetings with Chinese President Xi Jinping to raise the issue of North Korea. The two had a trilateral summit with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and discussed North Korea before coming to Indonesia for the G-20 summit.

    In their respective bilateral talks with Xi, Biden noted all members of the international community have an interest in encouraging North Korea to act responsibly, while Yoon called for China to play a more active, constructive role in addressing the North Korean nuclear threats.

    China, the North’s last major ally and biggest source of aid, is suspected of avoiding fully enforcing United Nations sanctions on North Korea and shipping clandestine assistance to the North to help its impoverished neighbor stay afloat and continue to serve as a bulwark against U.S. influences on the Korean Peninsula.

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  • N. Korea fires more missiles as US flies bombers over South

    N. Korea fires more missiles as US flies bombers over South

    SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea added to its recent barrage of weapons demonstrations by launching four ballistic missiles into the sea on Saturday, as the United States sent two supersonic bombers streaking over South Korea in a dueling display of military might that underscored rising tensions in the region.

    South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said that the four short-range missiles fired from a western coastal area around noon flew about 130 kilometers (80 miles) toward the country’s western sea.

    The North has test-fired more than 30 missiles this week, including an intercontinental ballistic missile on Thursday that triggered evacuation alerts in northern Japan, and flew large numbers of warplanes inside its territory in an angry reaction to a massive combined aerial exercise between the United States and South Korea.

    The South Korean military said two B-1B bombers trained with four U.S. F-16 fighter jets and four South Korean F-35s jets during the last day of the “Vigilant Storm” joint air force drills that wraps up Saturday. It marked the first time since December 2017 that the bombers were deployed to the Korean Peninsula. The exercise involved around 240 warplanes, including advanced F-35 fighter jets from both countries.

    North Korea’s Foreign Ministry late Friday described the country’s military actions this week as an appropriate response to the exercise, which it called a display of U.S. “military confrontation hysteria.” It said North Korea will respond with the “toughest counteraction” to any attempts by “hostile forces” to infringe on its sovereignty or security interests.

    South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said the participation of the B-1Bs in the joint drills demonstrated the allies’ readiness to “sternly respond” to North Korean provocations and the U.S. commitment to defend its ally with the full range of its military capabilities, including nuclear.

    B-1B flyovers had been a familiar show of force during past periods of tensions with North Korea. The planes last appeared in the region in 2017, during another provocative run in North Korean weapons demonstrations. But the flyovers had been halted in recent years as the United States and South Korea stopped their large-scale exercises to support the former Trump administration’s diplomatic efforts with North Korea and because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

    The allies resumed their large-scale training this year after North Korea dialed up its weapons testing to a record pace, exploiting a divide in the U.N. Security Council over Russia’s war on Ukraine as a window to accelerate arms development.

    North Korea hates such displays of American military might at close range. The North has continued to describe the B-1B as a “nuclear strategic bomber” although the plane was switched to conventional weaponry in the mid-1990s.

    Vigilant Storm had been initially scheduled to end Friday, but the allies decided to extend the training to Saturday in response to a series of North Korean ballistic launches on Thursday, including an ICBM that triggered evacuation alerts and halted trains in northern Japan.

    Thursday’s launches came after the North fired more than 20 missiles on Wednesday, the most in a single day. Those launches came after North Korean senior military official Pak Jong Chon issued a veiled threat of a nuclear conflict with the United States and South Korea over their joint drills, which the North says are rehearsals for a potential invasion.

    South Korea also on Friday scrambled about 80 military aircraft after tracking about 180 flights by North Korean warplanes inside North Korean territory. The South’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said the North Korean warplanes were detected in various areas inland and along the country’s eastern and western coasts, but did not come particularly close to the Koreas’ border. The South Korean military spotted about 180 flight trails from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m., but it wasn’t immediately clear how many North Korean planes were involved and whether some may have flown more than once.

    In Friday’s statement attributed to an unidentified spokesperson, North Korea’s Foreign Ministry said the United States and South Korea had created a seriously “unstable atmosphere” in the region with their military exercises. It accused the United States of mobilizing its allies in a campaign using sanctions and military threats to pressure North Korea to unilaterally disarm.

    “The sustained provocation is bound to be followed by sustained counteraction,” the statement said.

    North Korea has launched dozens of ballistic missiles this year, including multiple ICBMs and an intermediate-range missile flown over Japan. South Korean officials say there are indications North Korea in coming weeks could detonate its first nuclear test device since 2017. Experts say North Korea is attempting to force the United States to accept it as a nuclear power and seeks to negotiate economic and security concessions from a position of strength.

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  • S. Korea police admit responsibility for Halloween tragedy

    S. Korea police admit responsibility for Halloween tragedy

    SEOUL, South Korea — South Korea’s police chief admitted “a heavy responsibility” for failing to prevent a recent crowd surge that killed more than 150 people during Halloween festivities in Seoul, saying Tuesday that officers didn’t effectively handle earlier emergency calls about the impending disaster.

    The admission came as the South Korean government faces growing public scrutiny over whether the crowd surge Saturday night in Seoul’s Itaewon district, a popular nightlife neighborhood, could have been prevented and who should take the responsibility for the country’s worst disaster in years.

    “I feel a heavy responsibility (for the disaster) as the head of one of related government offices,” Yoon Hee Keun, commissioner general of the Korean National Police Agency, told a televised news conference. “Police will do their best to prevent a tragedy like this from happening again.”

    Yoon said an initial investigation has found that there were many urgent calls by citizens notifying authorities about the potential danger of a crowd gathering in Itaewon, but officers who had received those calls didn’t respond to them in a satisfactory manner.

    Yoon said police have subsequently launched an intense internal probe to look deeper into the officers’ handling of the emergency calls and other issues like their on-the-spot response to the crowd surge in Itaewon at that night.

    The disaster — which left at least 156 people dead and 151 others injured — was concentrated in a downhill, narrow alley in Itaewon. Witnesses described people falling on one another, suffering severe breathing difficulties and falling unconscious. They also recalled rescuers and ambulances failed to reach the crammed alleys in time because the entire Itaewon area was extremely packed with slow-moving vehicles and a crowd of partygoers clad in Halloween costumes.

    During a Cabinet council meeting Tuesday, President Yoon Suk Yeol also acknowledged that South Korea lacks research on a crowd management. He called for using drones and other high-tech resources to develop an effective crowd control capability. He said the government will soon hold a meeting with experts to review overall national safety rules.

    The crowd surge is South Korea’s deadliest disaster since the 2014 ferry sinking that killed 304 people and exposed the country’s lax safety rules and regulatory failures. Saturday’s crowd surge has subsequently raised public questions about what South Korea has done to prevent human-made disasters.

    After the Itaewon disaster, police launched a 475-member task force to find its cause.

    Senior police officer Nam Gu-Jun told reporters Monday that officers have obtained videos taken by about 50 security cameras in the area and were analyzing video clips posted on social media. Nam said police have also interviewed more than 40 witnesses and survivors so far.

    Police said they had sent 137 officers to maintain order during Halloween festivities on Saturday, much more than the 34-90 officers mobilized in 2017, 2018 and 2019 before the pandemic. But some observers questioned whether the 137 officers were enough to handle the estimated 100,00 people gathered Saturday in Itaewon.

    Adding more questions about the role of police was the fact that they sent 7,000 officers to another part of Seoul earlier Saturday to monitor dueling protests involving tens of thousands of people. Police also acknowledged that the 137 officers dispatched to Itaewon were primarily assigned to monitor crime, with a particular focus on narcotics use — not the crowd control.

    The death toll could rise as officials said that 29 of the injured were in serious condition. The dead included some 26 foreign nationals from Iran, China, Russia, the United States, Japan and elsewhere.

    President Yoon asked officials to provide the same government support to the bereaved families of the foreign victims as to South Korean dead and injured people. He also thanked many world leaders for sending condolence messages over the disaster.

    The Itaewon area, known for its expat-friendly, cosmopolitan atmosphere, is the country’s hottest spot for Halloween-themed events and parties, with young South Koreans taking part in costume competitions at bars, clubs and restaurants. Saturday’s gathering of the estimated 100,000 people in Itaewon was the biggest Halloween celebration in the area since the pandemic began.

    Halloween festivities in Itaewon have no official organizers. South Korean police said Monday they don’t have any specific procedures for handling incidents such as crowd surges during an event that has no organizers.

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