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East Asia
Seoul to increase operations of electric city buses
The number of electric city buses on the roads of Seoul will increase to 143 this year, the metropolitan government said Friday. Beginning in November, an additional 114 electric city buses will be deployed on 19 routes throughout Seoul under the municipal government’s bid to reduce its fine dust pollution…
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East Asia
Fate of S. Korea-Japan military pact in doubt amid escalating export row
A rancorous diplomatic spat between South Korea and Japan is casting doubts over the fate of a military intelligence-sharing pact seen as a rare symbol of their trust and a key platform for trilateral security cooperation involving the United States. The tussle that started from a simmering row over Japan’s…
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East Asia
Discussions on sanctions exemptions under way for Seoul’s food aid for N. Korea
Discussions are currently underway with the United States to get sanctions exemptions for South Korea’s plan to send food aid to North Korea, a government source here said Thursday. The Seoul government and the World Food Programme (WFP) are trying to secure ships that will be used to transport 50,000…
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East Asia
Kyrgyz university launches degree program for Korean language
A prominent state university in Kyrgyzstan has launched a Korean language degree program to meet the growing demand for learning the language among students in the country. Kyrgyz National University in Bishkek held a ceremony marking the establishment of the new department Wednesday. South Korean Prime Minister Lee Nak-yon, Kyrgyz…
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East Asia
Asean wary of being used as pawn in Washington-Beijing jostling
[Singapore] Despite the personal rapport between Donald Trump and Xi Jing-ping, Sino-US rivalry has been escalating over trade, technology, and security issues. As Trump puts it: “I am President of United States and Xi is President of China”. National interest trumps friendship. And the businessman-turned-politician has made it clear that in the…
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East Asia
BTS makes Time’s list of 25 most influential people on internet
K-pop superstars BTS has made it on Time magazine’s list of the 25 Most Influential People on the Internet for the third year in a row. The K-pop septet was among the 25 people the U.S. magazine unveiled Tuesday (U.S. time) for this year, which included U.S. President Donald Trump,…
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East Asia
Disney’s ‘The Lion King’ poised to debut at No. 1 in South Korea
Disney’s latest movie, “The Lion King,” is expected to dominate the South Korean box office as it accounted for about 70 percent of all advance ticket sales on the first day of its release, data showed Wednesday. The film had sold more than 337,000 presale tickets as of 1:50 p.m.,…
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East Asia
Moon warns Japan will suffer more damage from export curbs against S. Korea
President Moon Jae-in on Monday vowed not to succumb to Japan’s economic pressure, warning that the neighboring country will suffer greater economic damage should their trade stand-off continue. He stressed that Tokyo’s tougher export restrictions, which target firms here, will be counterproductive and eventually backfire due to the “united power”…
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East Asia
U.S. officials share concern about Seoul-Tokyo tensions: NSC official
U.S. officials have expressed concern that tensions between South Korea and Japan over Tokyo’s export restrictions against Seoul are not conducive to trilateral cooperation between the three countries, Seoul’s deputy national security adviser said Saturday. Kim Hyun-chong, deputy chief of Cheong Wa Dae’s National Security Office, made the remark to…
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East Asia
S. Korea embraces deepening trade row as Japan considers additional measures
Trade tensions between South Korea and Japan are escalating as Tokyo seems to be preparing to expand the scope of its export controls beyond high-tech materials to a wide spectrum of areas, which could disrupt the global supply chain, industry watchers said Monday. Japan began applying stricter export rules on…
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