Free Republic

North Korea is seeking to arrest those responsible for the failed launch of its second naval destroyer, as it denied the warship suffered major damage — a claim quickly met with outside skepticism. A statement from North Korea on its handling of the botched launch came after leader Kim Jong Un expressed fury over the incident that he said was caused by criminal negligence. The main military committee said Friday that those responsible would be held accountable for their “unpardonable criminal act.” Satellite imagery on the site showed the vessel lying on its side and draped in blue covers, with...

A launch ceremony for a new North Korean naval destroyer went horribly wrong in front of 'supreme' leader Kim Jong Un, according to state media. Kim watched on in horror as the 5,000-ton ship was severely damaged after failing to launch properly. He declared the mishap a 'criminal act caused by absolute carelessness' that 'could not be tolerated'. Kim has ordered the destroyer to be restored before a June party meeting, according to the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). The outlet confirmed that during the ceremony on Wednesday 'a serious accident occurred'. In a statement KCNA said: 'Due to...

Every year, thousands flock to the southern tip of South Korea to partake in the Jindo Miracle Sea Road Festival. The event celebrates a natural phenomenon in which the Jindo Sea opens up to expose a 1.8 mile long stretch of sand that connects two of the country’s islands. While legend has it that the extraordinary happening is the work of the god of the sea, science suggests it is essentially a perfect storm of gravitational forces. For the time that the path is visible during the festival days – in addition to the two or three other times the...

New Delhi: A genetic study has found that Indians are the ancestors of the Chinese and other East Asian populations. The study, a joint project of 10 Asian countries, found that India received a wave of migration from Africa 60,000-70,000 years ago and these early humans subsequently moved to East and Southeast Asia. The earlier belief was that humans from Africa reached India and East and Southeast Asia separately. The study has important implications, especially in the understanding of human migratory patterns and in the investigation of genetics and disease. The findings of the five-year study -- conducted by a...

The European Union on Friday threatened to target US steel and textile exports in retaliation for Washington's restrictions on steel imports, unless the Bush administration agree to its demands for compensation. In an aggressive riposte to last week's White House decision to levy duties of up to 30 per cent on steel imports, the European Commission confirmed it was drawing up a list of US goods worth about $2bn which could face increased EU tariffs. The $2bn relates to the value of EU steel exports affected by the US tariffs. "The overall amount we'll be looking for is close to...

US military airlifters flew over 70 cargo loads of equipment from the Pacific to the Middle East, moving a Patriot air defense battalion from a priority theater to the tense region, a top commander said on Thursday. The recent relocation of the high-profile air defense system comes amid a broader build-up of US military assets in the Middle East, including aircraft and warships. Tensions with Iran and the Houthi rebels in Yemen are running high. During testimony to the Senate Armed Services Committee, Adm. Sam Paparo, who leads US Indo-Pacific Command, was asked about the military's capability gaps that exist...

South Korea’s Constitutional Court on Friday removed impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol, four months after he declared martial law, sending the East Asian country into turmoil. The court issued its verdict more than three months after the opposition-controlled National Assembly voted to impeach him. South Korea must hold a national election within two months to find a new president. Surveys show Lee Jae-myung, leader of the main liberal opposition Democratic Party, is the early favorite to become the country's next president. Yoon’s declaration on Dec. 3 lasted only six hours before the liberal opposition-controlled legislature quickly voted it down. The...

Shares sagged Thursday in Asia, apart from China, after President Donald Trump announced he will slap 25per cent tariffs on imported cars. Trump said he was raising duties on auto imports to encourage more manufacturing in the US, but the impact will be complicated since US automakers and even foreign manufacturers with factories in the U.S. Source many of their components from around the world. Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 lost 1per cent to 37,662.36. Toyota Motor Corp stock dove 3.2per cent, while Honda Motor Co stock dipped 2.8per cent. Nissan was down 2.6per cent. Mazda Motor Corp shares dropped 6.5per...

SEOUL, South Korea — Han Jong-Hee, a senior Samsung Electronics executive credited with elevating the company’s television business, died Tuesday, the company said. He was 63. Han, a co-chief executive who oversaw the company’s consumer electronics and mobile devices businesses, died at a hospital after being treated for a heart attack, Samsung said. Han joined Samsung in 1988 and spent most of his career in TV-related divisions, during which the company became the world’s leading TV manufacturer. He was appointed co-vice chairman and CEO in 2022.

DONALDSONVILLE — Hyundai is planning a nearly $6 billion investment in Louisiana, Gov. Jeff Landry, President Donald Trump and other officials announced at the White House on Monday. The South Korean car manufacturer will be opening its first North American steel facility in Donaldsonville, the governor said during the afternoon announcement. According to Louisiana Economic Development, the $5.8 billion facility will be located on 1,700 acres of sugarcane fields in the RiverPlex MegaPark industrial center. The facility is expected to create 1,300 direct jobs and 4,100 indirect jobs in the capital region. “Hyundai’s decision to invest nearly $6 billion in...

Hyundai plans to invest $20 billion to bring manufacturing operations to the U.S., a White House official confirmed to FOX Business. Part of the investment from the South Korean automaker will go toward building a next-generation steel plant. The materials will be used in two of its U.S. plants and will employ 1,500 people. The rest of the money will be earmarked to expand manufacturing in the U.S. The automaker is the latest among a growing number of companies announcing plans to increase investment in the U.S. under the Trump administration, which has been using tariffs to encourage companies to...

WASHINGTON, March 17 (Yonhap) -- A U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) laboratory contractor employee was terminated after attempting to board a flight to South Korea with export controlled information on nuclear reactor design software, a report showed Monday. Idaho National Laboratory (INL) terminated the person during the reporting period from Oct. 1, 2023 through March 31 last year, the DOE Office of the Inspector General (OIG)'s report to Congress said, as questions persist over why South Korea was placed in the lowest category of the DOE's "Sensitive and Other Designated Countries List (SCL)" in early January. The information in question...

Air raid alerts across Ukraine... FBI Director Kash Patel says two active-duty US Army soldiers and one former soldier are under arrest... Space X's Starship spacecraft exploding after launch... In Australia a 17-year-old with a shotgun tackled by airline passengers as he got on board... 26 of 27 European leaders have agreed on more assistance for Ukraine... US officials say that Israel deliberately leaked information about direct talks between the United States and Hamas... Ontario Premier Doug Ford says electricity exported to three US states will carry a 25 percent... Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky says that US and Ukrainian negotiating...

South Korean fighter jets accidentally dropped bombs on a civilian area during a live-fire training exercise with the U.S. on Thursday, injuring multiple people and damaging multiple buildings, including three houses and a Catholic church. The MK-82 bombs "abnormally" released by the KF-16 fighter jet fell outside a firing range, causing unspecified civilian damages, the air force said in a statement. Reports of the number of people injured varied, but South Korea’s Yonhap news agency put the number at 15, including civilians and soldiers. Two of the injured were serious but not life-threatening, the outlet reported. At least seven buildings...

An Air Force fighter jet on Thursday misdropped eight bombs outside a training range during live-fire drills, injuring civilians in the area, officials said. The KF-16 fighter jet taking part in a live-fire exercise 'abnormally' released eight MK-82 bombs outside the training range in Pocheon, 42 kilometers northeast of Seoul at 10:04 a.m....

SGT David Eugene Hardy was born on Nov 1, 1928 and died on Feb 28, 1951 as a POW at Camp 5, Pyoktong, North Korea. Under Operation Glory his remains were exchanged in 1954. The Central Identification Unit at Kokura, Japan was unable to associate remains with Sargent Hardy and the remains were sent to Honolulu for burial as Unknown in the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, in Honolulu, Hawaii, in 1956. In 2019 his remains were disinterred and sent to Hickam AFB for analysis. SGT David E. Hardy was ultimately identified on 27 September 2024. David's father and...

U.S. Secretary of State nominee Marco Rubio on Wednesday accused “rough states” and “dictators” in North Korea, Russia and Iran of sowing “chaos” and “instability,” and China of having “lied, cheated and stolen” its way into a global superpower status at the expense of the United States. -snip- “In Moscow, in Tehran, in Pyongyang, dictators and rogue states now sow chaos and instability, and align with and they fund radical terror groups, and they hide behind their veto power at the U.N. Security Council or the threats of nuclear war,” he said in his opening statement. -snip- “We welcomed the...

Summary South Korean authorities have arrested President Yoon Suk Yeol, who faces charges of insurrection following an attempt to impose martial law Yoon is now at the Corruption Investigation Office (CIO) - he said he agreed to the interrogation "even though it is an illegal investigation, in order to prevent any unsavoury bloodshed" Authorities served the warrant after an hours-long standoff with his security staff and supporters, which saw investigators using ladders and wirecutters to enter Yoon's residence Yoon had been holed up for weeks - investigators tried to arrest him earlier this month but failed This marks the first...

THE black box on the Jeju Air jet that crashed in South Korea stopped recording data just minutes before the disaster, officials said. The crash at Muan International Airport on December 29 killed 179 people on board after the plane hit a wall at the end of the runway after an emergency landing and exploded into a fireball. As authorities investigate the worst airline disaster on South Korean soil, the transport ministry revealed that flight data and cockpit voice recorders stopped processing data four minutes before the crash. The ministry is now investigating how the aircraft's black boxes - which...

The flight data and cockpit voice recorders on the Jeju Air jet that crashed on Dec. 29 stopped recording about four minutes before the airliner hit a concrete structure at South Korea’s Muan airport, the transport ministry said on Saturday. Authorities investigating the disaster that killed 179 people, the worst on South Korean soil, plan to analyze what caused the “black boxes” to stop recording, the ministry said in a statement. The voice recorder was initially analyzed in South Korea, and, when data was found to be missing, sent to a US National Transportation Safety Board laboratory, the ministry said....