After three weeks away from the public eye, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has resurfaced. According to state media, he was spotted attending a celebration at a factory in the city of Sunchon on Friday. Before this, he had last been seen publicly on April 11, fuelling further rumours when […]
At the end of March, the U.K. government published an article on its healthcare technology blog titled ‘The power of data in a pandemic’. The post outlined plans to aggregate data from across the National Health Service (NHS). This included 111 online/call centre data from NHS Digital and COVID-19 test […]
In efforts to curb the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic and balance the fallout of the crisis, governments are forced to find new ways to keep populations safe and reduce further transmission of the virus. This includes offsetting the economic consequences of reducing world business and avoiding as much strain […]
Nearly 97 people have been arrested in South Korea for their connection to the ‘nth rooms.’ These chatrooms located on the messaging app Telegram have created a cycle of pornography, where individuals would share videos of girls performing depraved sexual acts in return for payments via cryptocurrency. The girls featured […]
On Saturday 21 March, while the rest of the world sought to deal with the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, North Korea continued in its attempts to project strength to the world. The rogue state fired two short-range ballistic missiles into the sea off the east coast of the Korean peninsula, drawing […]
On Monday March 9th, North Korea “fired at least three unidentified projectiles,” over the Sea of Japan. These projectiles were detected by South Korea’s Defense Ministry, who reported that each “had a maximum flight distance of 200 kilometers (124 miles) and maximum altitude of 50 kilometers (31 miles).” The ministry […]
The figurehead of a religious group in South Korea is under investigation by the government in several recent deaths related to the novel coronavirus. The local government in Seoul, the capital of South Korea, has asked the prosecution to charge Lee Man-hee, the founder of Shincheonji Church, along with at […]
Earlier this week, the World Health Organisation (WHO) announced that countries should be “in a phase of preparedness,” highlighting that it was still too early to call the COVID-19 outbreak a pandemic. Head of WHO’s health emergencies programme, Mike Ryan, added that now is the time to “do everything you […]
South Korea has rapidly transformed itself into a major player on the international stage in a matter of decades. It’s a nation of rapid growth, innovation and ever-increasing life expectancy, studied in business schools around the world as a model of rapid upskilling, and technological innovation. Currently the 4th largest […]
Building new “smart cities” could help solve two major current problems: rapid urban population growth and unsustainable living practices, including inefficient water and electricity use. These problems are pressing, as the biggest threat to human kind is global climate change, and smart cities bring new technologies that offer a bold, […]
On Saturday, the foreign ministers of Japan and South Korea agreed to hold formal peace talks between Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and President Moon Jae-in. Japan Times reported that the talks are set to take place in China during the Japan-China-South Korea trilateral meeting scheduled for next month. The summit […]
On Sunday 17 November, the United States and South Korea announced that they would be postponing upcoming joint military drills. Representatives from the two nations hope that doing so will bolster peace efforts in the region. However, the move has already been criticized, with many commentators concerned that the Trump […]
News of another ominous development in the tenuous diplomatic situation on the Korean Peninsula arrived Wednesday. According to National Public Radio, North Korea test-launched a new ballistic missile from the port city of Wonsan, towards the south. The missile was reported to have landed within the Sea of Japan, […]
The Takeshima/Dokdo group of islets have been a flashpoint in South Korean-Japanese relations since 2001, when the islets were included in Japan’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ), as well as in Japanese history, geography, and civics textbooks, regardless of the fact that South Korea had maintained effective control over the disputed […]
Last week Russia and China conducted their first joint air force drills in the Asia-Pacific region. The exercises involved two Chinese H-6K jet bombers, two Russian Tu-95MS bombers, and one Russian A-50 surveillance aircraft. The Chinese and Russian aircraft flew over the Sea of Japan and into the contested air […]
On July 5th, Japan’s prime minister imposed new restrictions on exports that could hit South Korea’s tech industry. The limitation of the export products has caused a lot of issues in the relationship between the two countries. South Korea also responded with multiples restrictions which had gotten the public to […]
On Tuesday, July 23, a Russian military plane flew close to a group of islands claimed by both South Korea and Japan during a joint air patrol with the Chinese, inciting South Korea and Japan to scramble fighter jets in response. South Korea fired flares and warning shots near the […]
Japan moved to tighten controls on exports of hi-tech materials to South Korea this month, a move that has caught Seoul off guard. These materials are vital to the production of smartphones and other technologies, and South Korean tech giants, such as Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix and LG Display, are likely to be […]
The world is experiencing unprecedented biodiversity loss; dubbed the Sixth Mass Extinction, with 60 per cent of animal populations wiped out since 1970. Human activity has significantly affected three-quarters of land; with agriculture, urbanization, industry and climate change decimating ecosystems and biodiversity. In response, a growing conservation movement – ‘rewilding’ […]
President Donald Trump plans to visit South Korea this weekend in hopes of resuming talks with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to shut down North Korea’s nuclear program. President Trump will also meet with South Korean president Moon Jae-in and foster “in-depth discussions on ways to work together to […]
