South Korea

SEOUL, Aug. 30 (Xinhua) -- Lawmakers of the South Korean main opposition Democratic Party on Wednesday held a protest rally against Japan's dumping of nuclear-contaminated wastewater into the ocean.

The lawmakers gathered in the square of a railway station in the country's southwest coastal city of Mokpo, shouting slogans of "We condemn Japan's dumping of Fukushima nuclear-contaminated wastewater into the ocean" together with citizens joining the demonstration.

SEOUL, Aug. 29 (Xinhua) -- Kim Jong Un, top leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), has instructed the Korean People's Army (KPA) Navy to rapidly develop its fighting capacity and make an all-out effort to get combat-ready, the official Korean Central News Agency reported Tuesday.

Kim made the instructions during his congratulatory visit to the KPA Navy Command on Sunday, one day before the country's Navy Day, in a high-profile move to celebrate the occasion and raise the morale of the country's naval force, said the report.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un called for his military to be constantly ready for combat to thwart its rivals’ plots to invade his country, state media said Tuesday, as the U.S., South Korea and Japan held a trilateral naval exercise to deal with North Korea’s evolving nuclear threats.

The U.S. and South Korean militaries have been separately holding summer bilateral exercises since last week. North Korea views such U.S.-involved training as an invasion rehearsal, though Washington and its partners maintain their drills are defensive.

SEOUL, Aug. 26 (Xinhua) -- Thousands of South Korean fishermen, activists and politicians held a protest rally in central Seoul on Saturday, condemning Japan's dumping of nuclear-contaminated wastewater into the ocean.

The participants shouted "Immediately stop dumping radioactive wastewater into the ocean" and "Japan must store nuclear-contaminated wastewater on its soil," urging the South Korean government to file a lawsuit with the International Tribunal against the Japanese government.

SEOUL, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- The second attempt for reconnaissance satellite launch by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) failed on Thursday, the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported.

The flights of the first and second stages of the rocket were normal, but the launch failed due to an error in the emergency blasting system during the third-stage flight, the KCNA reported.

SEOUL, Aug. 23 (Xinhua) -- Lee Jae-myung, chief of South Korea's main opposition Democratic Party, on Wednesday called Japan's decision to start dumping nuclear-contaminated wastewater on Thursday from the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant an "act of terror."

"Japan, which threatened the right to life of neighboring countries in the past with the imperialist war of aggression, is about to bring another irreversible disaster to South Korea and countries around the Pacific Ocean by discharging nuclear-contaminated wastewater," Lee said during a party meeting.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea said Thursday that its second attempt to launch a spy satellite failed again but vowed to make another attempt in October, demonstrating willingness to endure flops to acquire a key military asset coveted by leader Kim Jong Un.

The failed launch prompted neighboring Japan to issue brief a “J-alert” ordering some residents to evacuate to safe places as the North Korean rocket flew over its southernmost islands of Okinawa to the Pacific Ocean.

SEOUL, Aug 22 (Reuters) - North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has lashed out at top officials for their "irresponsible" response to flood damage, saying they had "spoiled" the national economy, state media reported on Tuesday.

Kim inspected a tideland on the west coast on Monday after seawater recently destroyed an embankment with inadequate drainage system, flooding more than 560 hectares of land, including over 270 hectares of rice paddies, news agency KCNA said.

SEOUL, Aug. 16 (Xinhua) -- The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) released the findings of an ongoing investigation into an American soldier crossing the border into the country last month, attributing his motivation to disillusion with the inequality of American society, reported state media on Wednesday.

According to the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), Travis King, a private second class of the U.S. military based in South Korea, "illegally intruded" into the territory of the DPRK on July 18.

GOHEUNG, South Korea, Aug. 16 (Xinhua) -- Over 1,000 South Korean fishermen in the southern coastal county of Goheung gathered on Wednesday as part of the recent rallies among domestic fishermen to oppose Japan's planned discharge of radioactive wastewater into the ocean.

The participants shouted slogan of "Dead against dumping Fukushima nuclear-contaminated wastewater into ocean," holding placards that read "The ocean belongs to all humankind" and "Nuclear-contaminated wastewater dumping is an irresponsible nuclear attack."