South Korea

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea’s president called for deeper security cooperation with the U.S. and Japan to address North Korean nuclear threats, saying Tuesday that his upcoming summit with the U.S. and Japanese leaders at Camp David will “set a new milestone in trilateral cooperation.”

SEOUL, Aug. 14 (Xinhua) -- Kim Jong Un, top leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), inspected some major munitions factories on Friday and Saturday, and urged the country's armed forces to step up war preparations, the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported Monday.

During the inspection, Kim asked the tactical missile factory to drastically boost its existing capacity, and urged the factory that produces tactical missile transporter-erector-launchers to speed up the production of modern and highly efficient launching vehicles, said the report.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un again toured major munitions factories and ordered a drastic increase in production of missiles and other weapons, state media said Monday, as the South Korean and U.S. militaries announced they will begin major drills next week to hone their joint capability against the North’s evolving nuclear threats.

Kim’s push to produce more weapons also comes as U.S. officials believe Russia’s defense minister recently talked with North Korea about selling more weapons to Russia for its war with Ukraine.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un ordered his military to sharpen its war plans and signed off on expanding combat operations of frontline units, state media said Thursday, as the United States and South Korea prepare for a large-scale combined military exercise.

BUSAN, South Korea (AP) — A strong tropical storm slammed into South Korea’s southern coastal regions Thursday, bringing intense rains and winds that toppled trees, ripped off roofs and turned roads into chocolate-colored rivers as it slowly plowed north toward major urban centers near the capital.

There were no immediate reports of storm-related deaths or injuries as of 11 a.m., according to the Ministry of the Interior and Safety. More than 10,000 people, mostly in southern coastal areas, were forced to evacuate from their homes and the number was expected to grow.

SEOUL, Aug 9 (NNN-YONHAP) – Two men were confirmed dead and four others were injured, as the top floor of a building under construction in South Korea collapsed today.

The ninth floor of the nine-story building under construction, in Anseong, some 60 km south-east of Seoul, collapsed onto the eighth floor at about 11:49 a.m. local time (0249 GMT).

The accident left two Vietnamese workers buried and four others wounded.

The Vietnamese men were rescued in cardiac arrest before being taken to a hospital, but they were confirmed dead later.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Buses began moving tens of thousands of Scouts to inland venues Tuesday ahead of a tropical storm, bringing an effective end to a World Scout Jamboree that had already struggled with heat, hygiene and land use controversies.

Known for its insatiable desire to host international events, the South Korean government scrambled to keep the Jamboree going as thousands of British and American Scouts departed over the weekend because of an extreme heat wave that caused some attendees to be hospitalized.

SEOUL, Aug. 4 (Xinhua) -- U.S. soldiers in South Korea had been caught smuggling drugs through military mail and distributing them here, local broadcaster MBC has reported.

The police in Pyeongtaek, about 70 km south of the capital Seoul, apprehended a South Korean woman in her 20s on charges of distributing synthetic cannabis in April after receiving intelligence from the U.S. Forces Korea (USFK).

The investigation continued against a U.S. serviceman who had been dating the arrested South Korean woman.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korean police detained a man suspected of stabbing a high school teacher with a knife Friday in the city of Daejeon. The stabbing follows a separate, apparently random attack on Thursday in which 14 people were wounded near a busy subway station in Seongnam.

Officials at the Daejeon Metropolitan Police Agency didn’t immediately release the personal details of the suspect in the Friday morning attack on the teacher at Songchon High School, describing him only as a man in his late 20s.

SEOUL, Aug 3 (Reuters) - A man in a South Korean commuter town rammed his car into passers-by on Thursday then got out and stabbed some, killing one person and injuring another 12, police and media said.

The unexplained attack in the commuter town of Seongnam near the capital Seoul came days after another rare stabbing attack which killed one person and wounded three others.