South Korea's Supreme court on Thursday overturned part of an appeals court ruling in the bribery case of Samsung Group's de facto chief Jay Y. Lee, who had been given a two-and-a-half-year suspended sentence for seeking favour from the country's ex-leader.The Supreme Court said the interpretation by the Seoul High Court on what constituted bribes by Samsung to then-President Park Geun-hye was too narrow. The case centred on whether three horses donated by Samsung Group for the training of the c

Politics Aug. 29, 2019

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- The United States hopes a damaging row between the leaders of US allies South Korea and Japan has hit rock bottom but believes recent military exercises by Seoul have not helped, a senior State Department official said on Tuesday.Briefing reporters in Washington, the official said that both Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and South Korean President Moon Jae-in had made "unhelpful" choices in the dispute, which has taken relations between Seoul and Tokyo

Foreign Affairs Aug. 28, 2019

Amid growing international criticism over the wildfires raging through the Amazon, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro on Thursday admitted farmers could be illegally setting the rainforest ablaze but told foreign powers not to interfere.French President Emmanuel Macron and United Nations Secretary General António Guterres both took to Twitter to express concern about the fires that have reached a record number this year, devastating vast swathes of forest considered a vital bulwark agains

World News Aug. 23, 2019

BUDAPEST (Reuters) -- Three South Korean citizensdied in Hungary in an accident late on Wednesday, when the carin which they were travelling was hit by a train, local policesaid on Thursday.The crash happened at a rail crossing at the Danube Bend, a tourist spot about 60 kilometres (37 miles) north of the Hungarian capital Budapest, when the car ignored a red light and drove onto the tracks. The accident comes less than three months after 26 South Korean tourists died in a boat crash on the Danu

Social Affairs Aug. 23, 2019

MADRID (Reuters) -- A Spanish businessman has bought a statue symbolizing women forced to work in Japanese military brothels which was removed from an exhibition in Japan after organizers received threats over the piece. The “Statue of a Girl Of Peace” symbolizes the “comfort women”, a euphemism referring to women, many of them Korean, forced into the brothels before and during World War II. Estimates vary, but historians say thousands of women may have been involved

Arts & Design Aug. 15, 2019

HONG KONG (Reuters) -- Metro stations in Hong Kong resumed regular service on Monday and streets were being cleaned of debris as the city recovered from another night of violent clashes between anti-government protesters and police, with more protests planned this week.Police fired volleys of tear gas at protesters across the territory on Sunday and staged baton charges in flashpoints in downtown Hong Kong and in working class districts. Protesters threw two petrol bombs, which police said

World News Aug. 12, 2019

NEW YORK (Reuters) -- Disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein was found dead on Saturday after an apparent suicide in the New York jail cell where he was being held without bail on sex-trafficking charges, and a source said he was not on suicide watch at the time of his death.Epstein, 66, was found unresponsive in his cell in the Special Housing Unit of the Metropolitan Correctional Center (MCC) and taken to a hospital where he was pronounced dead, the Federal Bureau of Prisons, which operates the l

World News Aug. 11, 2019

A 6.0-magnitude earthquake struck off Taiwan's northeastern coastal city of Yilan on Thursday, the island's weather bureau said, with no immediate reports of damage.A Reuters witness said the quake shook buildings in the capital, Taipei. The quake had a depth of 22 km (13 miles). No other details were immediately available. Taiwan, a self-ruled island that China considers its own, lies near the junction of two tectonic plates and is prone to earthquakes. More than 100 people were killed in

World News Aug. 8, 2019

A gunman armed with a rifle killed 20 people at a Walmart in El Paso, Texas, on Saturday and wounded more than two dozen before being arrested, authorities said, after the latest US mass shooting sent panicked shoppers fleeing.Many of those in the busy store were buying back-to-school supplies when they were caught up in the rampage, which came just six days after a teenage gunman killed three people at a food festival in Northern California.“On a day that would have been a normal day for

World News Aug. 4, 2019

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is unlikely to meet South Korean President Moon Jae-in during the United Nations general assembly in September, the Sankei newspaper reported, the latest sign of frosty relations between the key US allies.Abe will not hold talks with Moon unless Seoul takes constructive steps over World War-Two era forced labourers and other issues, the Japanese daily said on Monday.Abe will also forgo meeting Moon during other opportunities, including an Association of Southea

Foreign Affairs July 29, 2019

At least one of the two missiles North Korea test fired on Thursday was a newly developed design and flew some 690 km (428 miles), an official at South Korea's defence ministry told Reuters.The other missile travelled about 430 km (267 miles) before coming down in the sea off North Korea's east coast, the official said, adding that a detailed analysis was being done to verify if the two missiles were the same model. (Reuters)

North Korea July 25, 2019

TOKYO (Reuters) -- Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s ruling bloc won a solid majority in an upper house election on Sunday but his coalition and allies fell short of a two-thirds majority needed to begin revising the pacifist constitution, public broadcaster NHK said.Abe, who took office in December 2012 pledging to restart the economy and bolster defense, is on track to become Japan’s longest-serving premier if he stays in office until November, a stunning comeback after he abrup

World News July 22, 2019

WASHINGTON/SEOUL (Reuters) -- US President Donald Trump on Friday offered to help ease tensions in the political and economic dispute between Japan and South Korea, which threatens global supplies of memory chips and smartphones.Lingering tension, particularly over the issue of compensation for South Koreans forced to work for Japanese occupiers during World War Two, took a turn for the worse this month when Japan restricted exports of high-tech materials to South Korea.The United States has bee

Foreign Affairs July 21, 2019

A top South Koreanofficial on Saturday said a US-South Korean military exercisewould go ahead as planned next month, denying Pyongyang'scharges that holding it would breach an agreement made between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un."The nature of the exercise is not offensive ... and is forstrengthening the alliance," Choi Jong-kun, the secretary forpeace planning to South Korean President Moon Jae-in, told the Aspen Institute's annual strategic forum.Later

Foreign Affairs July 21, 2019

South Korea's An Byeong-hun roared up the British Open leaderboard as he picked up three strokes by the halfway stage of his third round on Saturday.With the leading pairs still to tee off on a pleasant day on the Antrim coast, An made headway as he got himself to five under, just three off the lead held jointly by Ireland's Shane Lowry and American J.B. Holmes.An, who carded a four-under 67 on Friday, gathered birdies at the second, fourth, fifth and eighth to jump 20 places up the leaderboard

Golf July 21, 2019