Day: March 25, 2024

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has visited a tank unit bearing “Seoul” in its name for being the first to enter the South Korean capital during the Korean War, praising the unit as a “model for the entire army,” state media said Monday.

Kim visited the Seoul Ryu Kyong Su Guards 105th Tank Division and the affiliated First Tank Armored Infantry Regiment on Sunday, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said.

“The division … was the first to charge into Seoul and fly the flag of the DPRK on the puppet capitol building and performed distinguished feats in many battles during the past Fatherland Liberation War, thus adding the title of guards and Seoul to its brilliant name,” the KCNA said.

Kim touted the unit as “the symbol of the heroic and brave spirit of” the North’s military, saying it “should hold high the banner as befitting a model of the entire army in the ongoing struggle witnessing the intensive training for finishing war preparations.”

“He set forth important tasks, guidelines for strengthening
in every way the combat preparations and combat efficiency of the unit including the issue of arming the tank crews with overwhelming ideological and moral strength and thoroughly training them in military technical and physical aspects and getting combat technical equipment always ready for action,” the KCNA said.

During the visit, Kim was also briefed on the unit’s attack and defense operation plans and looked around its facilities, such as its cafeteria and medical wards, it added.

The visit came as the North has been ramping up tensions after defining South Korea as a “primary foe and invariable principal enemy” and codifying its commitment to “completely occupying” the South in the event of a war in the country’s constitution.

Last week, North Korea fired short-range ballistic missiles in violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions and conducted a ground jet test of what it said was a solid-fuel engine for a new type of intermediate hypersonic missile.

Source: Yonhap News Agency

Health Minister Cho Kyoo-hong said Monday relevant ministries have swiftly begun work to hold talks with the medical community, a day after President Yoon Suk Yeol called for a “flexible” measure over the government’s move to suspend licenses of defiant trainee doctors.

Prospects of talks between the government and the medical community over a prolonged walkout by junior doctors were raised as Yoon instructed officials to seek dialogues with doctors, with the walkout disrupting medical services at major hospitals for nearly five weeks.

“Related ministries have immediately launched working-level preparations to hold talks with the medical community,” Cho told a government response meeting. “We will arrange a meeting between the government and the medical community as soon as possible.”

More than 90 percent of the country’s 13,000 trainee doctors have been on strike in the form of mass resignations since Feb. 20 to protest the government’s decision to increase the medical school enrollment quota by 2,000 se
ats.

The health ministry had warned it would begin suspending licenses of trainee doctors who defied the government’s order to return to work from this week.

However, Yoon’s instruction came shortly after ruling People Power Party chief Han Dong-hoon met with representatives of the Medical Professors Association of Korea on Sunday.

Still, it is unclear whether potential talks with the medical community could produce tangible results as the government allocated the additional 2,000 admission seats to universities last week, in an indication that the government would not back down from the plan.

Cho welcomed the association’s willingness to hold “constructive” talks with the government, but stressed completing the medical reform based on an increase of the medical school enrollment quota.

“We will discuss flexible measures with the party, regarding the administrative measure for junior doctors departing from workplaces, to minimize the impact of the medical vacuum,” Cho said.

Source: Yonhap News Agency

South Korean stocks started a tad higher Monday on gains from tech and battery shares.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) added 8.46 points, or 0.31 percent, to 2,757.02 in the first 15 minutes of trading.

Tech and battery heavyweights led the upbeat start.

Samsung Electronics, the world’s No. 1 memory chipmaker, rose 0.51 percent and its rival SK hynix increased 1.53 percent.

Leading battery maker LG Energy Solution edged up 0.12 percent, and Samsung SDI went up 2.75 percent.

But top online portal operator Naver fell 0.9 percent, and leading retailer Lotte Shopping lost 0.81 percent.

The local currency was trading at 1,343.5 won against the U.S. dollar, down 5.1 won from the previous session’s close.

Source: Yonhap News Agency

A Seoul court has sentenced a man to two months in prison for calling police several times and saying he would kill the president, judicial sources said Monday.

The 61-year-old, only identified by his surname Kim, was indicted for calling the 112 emergency call service five times on July 7 and making comments like “I should kill the president” and “I will leave this world.”

Five police officers were sent to where Kim called, but no signs of suicide attempts were found.

The Seoul Northern District Court said it sentenced Kim to prison because he committed a crime again after being convicted of similar charges in 2020 and 2023, though his mental health is not in a good state due to his dependence on alcohol.

Source: Yonhap News Agency

A senior North Korean official has called for further strengthening ties with China, North Korea’s state media said Monday, the latest in a series of meetings with senior Chinese officials.

Kim Song-nam, director of the international department at the Workers’ Party, made the comments in a meeting with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Beijing on Saturday, noting this year marks the year of the North Korea-China friendship, according to the North’s official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

This year marks the 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between North Korea and China, the North’s longtime ally and largest economic benefactor.

In response, Wang said he is certain their friendly ties will advance under the strategic leadership of their leaders and said Beijing will bolster communication and cooperation with Pyongyang to guard their common interests, the KCNA said.

Kim also met with Wang Huning, a member of the standing committee of the political bureau of the Chinese Communi
st Party, and Liu Jianchao, the minister of the party’s international liaison department Thursday.

Kim was in Beijing for the first leg of his three-nation trip, which will also take him to Vietnam and Laos.

The trip came as North Korea appears to be resuming diplomatic activity with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), following years of Pyongyang’s COVID-19 border shutdowns.

Laos plans to host the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) and other ASEAN-related meetings as this year’s chair country. The annual ARF is the sole regional forum joined by North Korea.

ASEAN comprises Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Thailand, Singapore and Vietnam.

Source: Yonhap News Agency

Health Minister Cho Kyoo-hong said Monday relevant ministries have swiftly begun work to hold talks with the medical community, a day after President Yoon Suk Yeol called for a “flexible” measure over the government’s move to suspend licenses of defiant trainee doctors.

Prospects of talks between the government and the medical community over a prolonged walkout by junior doctors were raised as Yoon instructed officials to seek dialogue with doctors, with the walkout disrupting medical services at major hospitals for nearly five weeks.

“Related ministries have immediately launched working-level preparations to hold talks with the medical community,” Cho told a government response meeting. “We will arrange a meeting between the government and the medical community as soon as possible.”

More than 90 percent of the country’s 13,000 trainee doctors have been on strike in the form of mass resignations since Feb. 20 to protest the government’s decision to increase the medical school enrollment quota by 2,000 sea
ts.

The health ministry had warned it would begin suspending licenses of trainee doctors who defied the government’s order to return to work from this week.

However, Yoon’s instruction came shortly after ruling People Power Party chief Han Dong-hoon met with representatives of the Medical Professors Association of Korea on Sunday.

Still, it is unclear whether potential talks with the medical community could produce tangible results as the government allocated the additional 2,000 admission seats to universities last week, in an indication that the government would not back down from the plan.

Cho welcomed the association’s willingness to hold “constructive” talks with the government, but stressed completing the medical reform based on an increase of the medical school enrollment quota.

“We will discuss flexible measures with the party, regarding the administrative measure for junior doctors departing from workplaces, to minimize the impact of the medical vacuum,” Cho said.

In support of the junior docto
rs’ walkout, medical professors started tendering their resignations Monday, although they pledged to remain at work.

Also on Monday, the association of medical professors called for the government to scrap the plan to increase the number of medical students.

“Unless the government scraps the plan to increase the number of medical school freshmen and withdraws the allocation of seats, the ongoing crisis cannot be settled,” the association said.

The association said medical professors will also go ahead with their plan to reduce their weekly work hours to 52 hours by adjusting surgeries and other medical treatments.

Source: Yonhap News Agency

South Korea’s industry ministry said Monday it has discussed ways to broaden its industrial partnership with Romania focusing on the nuclear energy and defense sectors.

Industry Minister Ahn Duk-geun met his Romanian counterpart, Stefan Radu Oprea, in Seoul to share ideas on expanding cooperation in trade and investment, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.

During the meeting, the two countries shared a consensus on seeking carbon neutrality, with Romania vowing support for South Korea’s Carbon-Free Energy initiative, or CFE, proposed by President Yoon Suk Yeol during his keynote speech at the United Nations General Assembly in September.

South Korea also emphasized that Asia’s No. 4 economy will stand as the most optimal partner for Romania in the nuclear energy sector, offering competitive prices, quality and timely delivery.

In June, South Korea’s Korea Hydro and Nuclear Power Co. secured a deal with Romania’s nuclear energy company SNN to build a tritium removal facility, meant to
extract tritium from heavy water and store it in a safe form.

South Korea also expressed hopes to strengthen ties with the Eastern European nation in the defense sector, emphasizing that its advanced defense systems can significantly contribute to the modernization of Romania’s military.

The ministry added that the two countries can enhance their ties in the defense sector through investment, technology transfer and jointly pursuing exports to third-party nations.

Source: Yonhap News Agency

President Yoon Suk Yeol’s approval rating fell for a fourth consecutive week to 36.5 percent, while support for his ruling People Power Party (PPP) also slid just about two weeks before the parliamentary elections, surveys showed Monday.

The positive assessment of Yoon’s performance declined 2.1 percentage points from the previous week, while the negative assessment advanced 1.7 percentage points to 60.1 percent, according to a survey by Realmeter conducted from Monday to Friday last week.

Yoon’s approval rating has taken a downturn after reaching 41.9 percent in the fourth week of February, the pollster said. The survey was commissioned by the Energy Economy News Daily and has a margin of error of plus or minus 2 percentage points.

In a separate poll of parties conducted Thursday to Friday last week, the ruling PPP had a support of 37.2 percent, falling behind the main opposition Democratic Party (DP) with 42.8 percent.

The latest ratings mark a 0.8 percentage-point drop for the PPP and a 2 percentage-p
oint jump for the DP.

Among minor parties, the New Reform Party, led by former PPP leader Lee Jun-seok, took the lead with 3.8 percent.

The share of voters who do not support any political party stood at 5 percent, down 1.1 percentage points.

On proportional representative votes, 29.8 percent said they preferred to vote for the PPP’s satellite party, while 20.1 percent chose the DP’s satellite party.

The Korea Innovation Party, created by the disgraced former Justice Minister Cho Kuk, received 27.7 percent of support.

The survey has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points.

Source: Yonhap News Agency

A leader of the Korean Medical Association (KMA), the country’s biggest doctors’ group, appeared before police Monday for another round of questioning over suspicions of instigating a mass walkout by trainee doctors.

Joo Soo-ho, the chief KMA spokesperson, arrived at the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency in Seoul to undergo questioning, his third police questioning connected to the walkout.

He is one of five former and current KMA leaders against whom the government has filed a police complaint, accusing them of instigating the mass walkout by trainee doctors.

The collective action has continued for over a month in protest against the government’s expansion of the medical school enrollment quota by 2,000 seats starting next year, causing delays and cancellations of surgeries and emergency medical treatment.

Before entering the police office, Joo denounced the government’s ongoing moves to facilitate dialogue with the medical industry as “two-faced,” saying that any dialogue with the government is “unneces
sary.”

After President Yoon Suk Yeol called for flexibility in the government’s moves to suspend the medical licenses of striking trainee doctors the previous day, the government said it is reaching out to the medical industry to explore the possibility of dialogue.

“On one hand, the government is putting on a show by offering dialogue, but on the other hand, one of the KMA’s emergency committee members was questioned again yesterday as a witness,” he said.

“There’s no need for dialogue with a government that displays such two-faced behavior,” he noted.

Joo also accused the government of triggering the walkout and urged a parliamentary investigation to find those responsible.

Source: Yonhap News Agency