Tag - korea

 
 

KOREA

Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta Platforms, in Menlo Park, California, on Sept. 27, 2023.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 26, 2024
Mark Zuckerberg’s Asia tour to focus on AI
The Meta Platforms’ CEO is in Japan with his family on a ski trip, and is set to meet with his developers in Tokyo to discuss virtual-reality and AI.
South Korean doctors take part in a protest against the government medical policy in front of the Presidential office in Seoul on Sunday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Society
Feb 26, 2024
Overworked and unheard, South Korean doctors on mass walkout say
"The current medical system in South Korea, which is a great one, is run by making cheap trainee doctors keep grinding."
South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol speaks during an interview at the Presidential Office in Seoul on Feb. 4. Yoon has been working to cheer domestic retail investors, who have been heavy sellers of Seoul shares.
BUSINESS / ANALYSIS
Feb 23, 2024
Seoul hopes Japan stock playbook can narrow 'Korea discount'
Reforms floated last month by South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol may not continue to boost the Seoul bourse, analysts say.
An emergency vehicle outside Severance Hospital in Seoul on Thursday. Almost two-thirds of the country's young doctors have walked off the job to protest a government plan to admit more students to medical schools.
ASIA PACIFIC
Feb 23, 2024
South Korea health alert raised to 'severe' amid doctor walkout
The doctors taking part in the protest say the real issue is pay and working conditions, not the number of physicians.
The Blue Jays' Ryu Hyun-jin throws during a game against the Rays in September.
BASEBALL
Feb 22, 2024
Former Blue Jays pitcher Ryu returns to South Korea with Hanwha
The 36-year-old left-hander's deal with the Eagles, where Ryu played from 2006 to 2012, includes the most guaranteed money ever for a KBO player.
A government worker destroys counterfeit cigarettes in Durban, South Africa.
ASIA PACIFIC / Crime & Legal
Feb 21, 2024
Chinese man held in Australia for U.S. over North Korea smuggling scheme
Jin Guanghua is suspected of having purchased tobacco for companies owned by North Korea that was then used to make counterfeit cigarettes for sale.
South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol (center) speaks during a cabinet meeting at the presidential office in Seoul on Tuesday. South Korean hospitals turned away some patients and delayed surgeries on the day, as hundreds of trainee doctors stopped working in a protest against medical training reforms.
ASIA PACIFIC / Society
Feb 21, 2024
Nearly 8,000 South Korean doctors walk out over plan to boost numbers
While the labor action has caused only minor disruptions so far, the junior medics play a key role in providing emergency care.
Doosan Bears fans during a game in Seoul in April 2022
SPORTS
Feb 21, 2024
Women outnumber men in South Korea’s sports stadiums
Women in South Korea make up 55% of fans at professional sporting events, including baseball, basketball, soccer and volleyball.
South Korea plans to increase the number of slots in university medical school programs by 2,000 from the current 3,058 next year to alleviate a shortage of doctors.
BUSINESS / Tech
Feb 19, 2024
For South Korea’s top students, medical school beats chips
Students are enticed by what many see as better job security and higher pay in the medical field.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has in recent months repeatedly touted his openness to “unconditional” talks with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, calling for “a bold step to change the status quo.”
JAPAN / Politics / ANALYSIS
Feb 19, 2024
North Korea eyes well-worn playbook with Japan summit hints
Pyongyang's offer of repairing ties with Japan may be concealing what may be a more likely motivation — to drive a wedge between Tokyo and its partners.
South Korea has one of the lowest ratios of doctors to population in the developed world, according to data from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, which shows 2.6 doctors per 1,000 people.
ASIA PACIFIC
Feb 18, 2024
South Korean doctors warn of ‘catastrophe’ if punished for strike
About 2,700 interns and residents at five major general hospital groups plan to walk off the job.
Pedestrians in Seoul in January. A survey showed that the percentage of South Korean people who have a good impression of Japan hit a record high of 44% in 2023.
JAPAN
Feb 18, 2024
Record 44% of South Koreans have good impression of Japan, survey says
The figure rose 4.1 percentage points from the previous year, thanks to improvements in Japan-South Korean ties, the Japan Press Research Institute said.
Kim Yo Jong, the powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, said on Thursday that a visit by Prime Minister Fumio Kishida to Pyongyang could materialize, but only if Tokyo met several caveats.
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 16, 2024
North Korea-Japan summit push gains steam after remarks by Kim’s sister
A visit by Prime Minister Fumio Kishida to Pyongyang could materialize, but only if Tokyo met several caveats, Kim Yo Jong said.
Medical school students discuss striking against the government's medical policies, in Seoul in August 2020. The proposal at the time was shelved after intense opposition.
ASIA PACIFIC / Science & Health
Feb 16, 2024
South Korean trainee doctors quit to protest plan to add more physicians
Doctors throughout the country held rallies on Thursday, calling on the government to scrap the plan.
Donald Trump's recent remarks on defense spending by allies, which were highly criticized, highlight the complexities of U.S. foreign policy.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 16, 2024
Trump's defense spending critiques: Valid concerns or political rhetoric?
Do U.S. allies need to step up defense spending? What do the numbers really say?
Shohei Ohtani is expected make his regular-season debut with the Dodgers in Seoul on March 20.
BASEBALL
Feb 16, 2024
Seoul mayor hopes interest in Shohei Ohtani and MLB brings more games to South Korea
The Seoul Series will be a chance for South Korea and MLB to work together to revive professional baseball’s popularity in the nation.
U.S. Special Envoy on North Korean Human Rights Issues Julie Turner speaks to media at the U.S. embassy in Tokyo on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 15, 2024
U.S. supports Japan's push for talks with North Korea, envoy says
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida told parliament last week that he wants to hold a summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
Police officers guard the site of a crowd crush in Seoul, on Oct. 30, 2022. Two police officers were sentenced on Wednesday for destroying evidence linked to the disaster on Oct. 29, 2022.
ASIA PACIFIC
Feb 14, 2024
Two Seoul police officers convicted over deadly Halloween crush
The pair "deleted or arbitrarily destroyed internal reports written prior to the accident and destroyed evidence," a court said.
Kim Jong Un gives a speech in Pyongyang on Feb. 8. The North Korean leader has reportedly sent new batches of his workers overseas since relaxing pandemic border controls and launched a fresh crackdown on his people.
ASIA PACIFIC
Feb 14, 2024
North Korea sending new batches of workers abroad: U.S. envoy
North Korea has sent workers to Russia and China for years, where they earn hard currency needed by Pyongyang.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un visits the North Korean Ministry of National Defense on the occasion of the 76th anniversary of the founding of the Korean People's Army, in Pyongyang in this picture released on Feb. 9.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Feb 14, 2024
North Korean arms trade is China’s problem too: U.S. official
Jung Pak's comments reflect long-running frustration in Washington over China’s unwillingness to help influence Pyongyang’s behavior.

Longform

Construction takes place on the Takanawa Gateway Convention Center in Tokyo, slated to open in 2025.
A boom for business tourism in Japan?