Tag: Yoon Suk-yeol

A Spy Cam. A Dior Pouch. And South Korea’s First Lady.

The president was grappling with a slowing economy, a deadly crowd crush and nuclear threats from a belligerent neighbor. Then came a much more personal scandal: spy cam footage that showed his wife accepting a $2,200 Dior pouch as a gift. It has quickly escalated into one of the biggest political crises for President Yoon […]

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South Korean Politician Is Attacked in Seoul

A person struck a South Korean lawmaker in the head with a blunt object in Seoul on Thursday, causing injuries that were not life-threatening, according to her staff and physicians. Bae Hyunjin, of the ruling People Power Party, is the second South Korean politician to be physically assaulted while in public in less than a […]

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​North Korea Says It No Longer Wants to Reunify With South Korea

North Korea’s approach toward South Korea has swayed widely over the past decades. While it has often called the South its “sworn” and “principal enemy” and threatened to “annihilate” it with nuclear weapons, at times it has also engaged in dialogue and discussed a possible reunification. But, according to state media reports on Tuesday, North […]

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South Korea Bans Dog Meat, a Now-Unpopular Custom

South Korea’s lawmakers on Tuesday outlawed the breeding, slaughter and sale of dogs for human consumption, a centuries-old practice that is unpopular and rare today. Dog meat was once more common, and remained so in the decades after the Korean War when the country was destitute and meat was scarce. It is used in a […]

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Attack on Opposition Leader Raises Alarms in Divided South Korea

The man accused of stabbing Lee Jae-myung, the leader of South Korea’s main opposition party, in the neck had been stalking him in recent weeks, including attending a political event where Mr. Lee was present on Dec. 13, apparently captured on video there wearing a blue paper crown, the police say. At a rally on […]

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Death of ‘Parasite’ Star Highlights South Korea’s Crackdown on Drugs

Lee Sun-kyun, the “Parasite” actor who was found dead on Wednesday, was far from the only celebrity entangled in South Korea’s latest antidrug crackdown. Yoo Ah-in, the actor known for his roles in the 2018 film “Burning” and the 2021 Netflix series “Hellbound,” is facing trial after testing positive for propofol, marijuana, ketamine and cocaine, […]

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In South Korea, Hard Line on Drugs Strains Suspected Users

Lee Sun-kyun, the “Parasite” actor who was found dead on Wednesday, was far from the only celebrity entangled in South Korea’s latest antidrug crackdown. Yoo Ah-in, the actor known for his roles in the 2018 film “Burning” and the 2021 Netflix series “Hellbound,” is facing trial after testing positive for propofol, marijuana, ketamine and cocaine, […]

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The 71 Most Stylish People of 2023

The “people” on this list — who are presented in no particular order — reflect the ways that the Styles desk defines its coverage: high and low; fun and serious; curious and open-minded; reveling in characters; appreciating the material world; inviting everyone to the party. Many were recognized for being Styles-ish, others for being stylish. […]

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Korean President’s Battle Against ‘Fake News’ Alarms Critics

Allies of President Yoon Suk Yeol are attacking what they see as an existential threat to South Korea, and they are mincing few words. The head of Mr. Yoon’s party has called for the death sentence for a case of “high treason.” The culture ministry has vowed to root out what it called an “organized […]

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South Korea’s Crowd Crush Disaster Prompts No Changes at the Top

From the beginning, with the grief still raw and anguished questions unanswered, the South Korean government distanced itself from the disaster that unfolded last year on a Halloween weekend in Seoul. Nearly 160 revelers were crushed to death in a narrow alleyway in the Itaewon neighborhood, after huge throngs had amassed with no police officers […]

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What South Korea’s Frequent Protests Say About Its Politics

A recent rally in Seoul carried the sound of a rock festival — high-amp speakers throbbing with the K-pop hit “Gangnam Style” — if not the look of one. The crowd of mostly elderly people waved South Korean and American flags to the song’s revised refrain: “Anti-communist style!” When speaker after speaker revved up the […]

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South Korean Prosecutors Want to Arrest Hunger-Striking Opposition Leader

Prosecutors on Monday asked a Seoul court to issue an arrest warrant for South Korea’s leading opposition figure, Lee Jae-myung, on corruption charges, 18 days after Mr. Lee began a hunger strike to protest President Yoon Suk Yeol’s foreign and domestic policies. Mr. Lee, the leader of the Democratic Party, was taken to a hospital […]

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Now the Koreas Are the Ones Supplying Weapons

Washington and Moscow flooded the Korean Peninsula with arms and aid as they fueled the war between South and North seven decades ago. Now, in a fateful moment of history turning back on itself, Russia and the United States are reaching out to those same allies to supply badly needed munitions as the powers face […]

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