South Korea

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South Korean Workers Are Back Home After US Detention

Plane carrying more than 300 workers lands near Seoul

(Newser) - A plane carrying more than 300 South Korean workers released after days of detention in Georgia landed in South Korea on Friday, the AP reports. TV footage showed the charter plane, a Boeing 747-8i from Korean Air, landing in Incheon International Airport, just west of Seoul, on Friday. They were...

South Korean President Warns of Hyundai Raid's Ripple Effect

Detained workers on their way home, after Trump explored idea of having them train US workers

(Newser) - Hundreds of South Korean workers who were arrested at a Hyundai plant in Georgia last week began their journey home Thursday and are expected to arrive on Friday, reports NBC News . But South Korea's president is warning that the incident may have long-lasting implications:
  • President Lee Jae-myung said
...

South Korean Plane Arrives to Return Workers but Can't Leave

Foreign minister tells Rubio he doesn't want to see detainees in handcuffs

(Newser) - A South Korean charter plane has arrived in Atlanta to take home Korean workers detained in an immigration raid in Georgia last week, but airport officials said the return flight with the workers on board planned for Wednesday had been canceled. After a high-level meeting between US and South Korean...

Woman's 1964 Conviction After Tongue-Biting Is Tossed

South Korea's Choi Mal-ja had been found guilty of bodily harm after biting off part of attacker's tongue

(Newser) - Choi Mal-ja is celebrating, after a long-awaited acquittal was granted to her more than six decades after she bit off part of the tongue of a man who sexually assaulted her. Per the BBC , the 79-year-old heard during her retrial Wednesday in a court in Busan, South Korea, that her...

Lawyer: Detained Koreans Had Skills for Short-Term Jobs

Raid at Georgia Hyundai plant causes shock, feelings of betrayal in South Korea

(Newser) - A lawyer for several workers detained at a Hyundai factory in Georgia says many of the South Koreans rounded up in the immigration raid are engineers and equipment installers brought in for the highly specialized work of getting an electric battery plant online. Atlanta immigration attorney Charles Kuck, who represents...

Deal to Send 300 Workers Held in Hyundai Raid to South Korea

Government to send a plane to pick up 300 citizens arrested at Hyundai plant in Georgia

(Newser) - South Korea and the US have struck a deal to release about 300 South Korean workers detained last week in an immigration raid at a Hyundai plant in Georgia. The Seoul government said Sunday that it will send a plane to the US to bring the workers home, the...

Immigration Raid Unfolds at Hyundai Plant in Georgia

Hundreds of South Koreans are detained

(Newser) - Some 475 people were detained during an immigration raid at a sprawling Georgia site where South Korean auto company Hyundai manufactures electric vehicles, according to a Homeland Security official. Steven Schrank, Special Agent in Charge, Homeland Security Investigations, said at a news briefing Friday that the majority of the people...

'LED Bulb' Shipment Was Really $500K in Fake Labubus

CPB seizes falsely labeled shipment from South Korea in Seattle

(Newser) - A shipment claiming to be light bulbs was intercepted at Seattle's airport, revealing more than 11,000 counterfeit Labubu dolls worth over $500,000—and raising new alarms over the booming trade in fake collectibles. The shipment, which arrived at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport from South Korea labeled as...

South Korea's Young Doctors End Their 18-Month Strike

Return follows admission quota rollback

(Newser) - South Korea's longest-ever doctors' strike is finally winding down after 18 months, as interns and residents begin trickling back to their hospital posts. The mass walkout, involving over 10,000 young doctors and thousands of medical students who abandoned their classes, kicked off in February last year in...

Wife of South Korea's Jailed Ex-President Arrested
Wife of South Korea's
Jailed Former Prez Indicted
UPDATED
Aug 29, 2025 12:30 AM CDT

Wife of South Korea's Jailed Former Prez Indicted

Some speculate Yoon's actions were motivated by allegations against his wife

(Newser) - South Korea's former first lady Kim Keon Hee and former Prime Minister Han Duck-soo were indicted Friday as part of investigations into the administration of ousted President Yoon Suk-Yeol and his attempt to overcome opposition by declaring martial law, the AP reports. A team led by Special Prosecutor Min...

South Korea Outlaws Phone Use During Class

New ban will kick in this coming March

(Newser) - South Korea is taking a firm stance on smartphone use in schools—or non-use, more specifically. The country on Wednesday passed a nationwide ban on mobile devices during class that will be effective in March 2026. The bill, which cleared the country's National Assembly with a strong majority,...

Trump Praises Kim to South Korea's President

White House meeting follows posts criticizing visitor's country

(Newser) - President Trump welcomed South Korean President Lee Jae Myung with a critical Truth Social post on Monday before he even reached the White House, then repeatedly praised North Korea's dictator during their talks. The post seemed to refer to the way Lee came into office this year: winning an...

Kim's Sister Says South Korea Is Lying to Public

Kim Yo Jong disputes claim that North's loudspeakers were taken down

(Newser) - The powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on Thursday dismissed South Korean claims the North is removing some of its loudspeakers along the inter-Korean border, mocking the government in Seoul for clinging to hopes of renewed diplomacy between the war-divided rivals, per the AP . South Korea's...

South Korea: Fine, We'll Take Down the Propaganda Speakers

It's a small conciliatory gesture toward the North

(Newser) - South Korea's military said Monday it had begun removing loudspeakers along its border with rival North Korea in a move aimed at reducing tensions. The speakers had previously been used to blast anti-North Korean propaganda across the border, but the South's new liberal government halted the broadcasts in...

As Deadline Nears, Trump Notches Another Trade Deal

President says South Korea will be subject to a 15% tariff

(Newser) - With his Aug. 1 deadline rapidly approaching, President Trump announced another trade deal on Wednesday. In a post on Truth Socia l, the president said the US has "agreed to a Full and Complete Trade Deal" with South Korea. The agreement will impose a 15% tariff, instead of the...

Kim Jong Un's Sister Shuts the Door on South Korea

Kim Yo Jong: 'There is neither a reason to meet nor an issue to be discussed with' the South

(Newser) - The influential sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un rebuffed an appeasement overture by South Korea's new liberal government, saying Monday that North Korea has no interest in talks with South Korea no matter what proposal its rival offers. Kim Yo Jong's comments suggest again that North...

Now It's South Korea Facing Deadly, Torrential Rain

At least 14 are dead, and a dozen missing

(Newser) - Torrential rains that slammed South Korea for five days have left at least 14 people dead and 12 others missing, per the AP . One person was killed on Sunday after their house collapsed during heavy rain and another person was found dead after being swept by a swollen stream in...

After Months Stuck in the South, 6 North Koreans Go Home

Pyongyang didn't make it easy for the fishermen to return

(Newser) - South Korea has returned six North Korean fishermen who drifted into its waters after engine failures, in what appears to be a gesture of good will under new President Lee Jae Myung. The repatriation occurred Wednesday near the maritime border on the peninsula's east coast, with the fishermen...

Markets Fall as Trump Hits Japan, S. Korea With Tariffs

He also warns them not to retaliate

(Newser) - It's expected to be a busy week on the tariffs front, and President Trump just announced his first two moves. Trump sent letters to South Korea and Japan informing them that the US would start collecting a 25% tariff on all goods they ship to the US, effective Aug....

Man Guided Out of DMZ in 20-Hour Operation

North Korean man was detected around 3am Thursday

(Newser) - A North Korean man made a rare direct crossing into South Korea this week, the South's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) announced Friday. He was spotted by military surveillance equipment between 3am and 4am Thursday close to a shallow stream within the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ). According to the...

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