https://sagire.online/topic/south-korea/ Articles and notes where South Korea is a central actor. en Thu, 05 Nov 2026 02:48:00 -0300 https://sagire.online/wire/17dc9df1/https://sagire.online/wire/17dc9df1/Wed, 04 Nov 2026 20:22:00 -0300The Cheonghae unit, currently in the Gulf of Aden, will have its area of operation extended northeast to waters south of Oman, in the Arabian Sea, officials told The Korea Herald, roughly doubling its radius to about 1,930 kilometers. The expansion adds 75 troops to the unit, bringing its strength to 395. A Defense Ministry official said operations will stay limited to open waters south of Oman and that the P-8A maritime patrol aircraft will be barred from watching Iranian territory or waters or the interior of the Strait of Hormuz. The government plans to send the revised mandate motion to the National Assembly after Cabinet endorsement next week, and South Korean law requires parliamentary consent to expand overseas missions.South KoreaStrait of HormuzThe GulfDefense https://sagire.online/wire/9f2bb33d/https://sagire.online/wire/9f2bb33d/Wed, 04 Nov 2026 19:24:00 -0300South Korean President Lee Jae Myung is pushing for a centralized cybersecurity agency after passport details and other personal information of 168 people, including the president, his wife and senior security officials, were reported to be accessible online for nearly five months, according to the South China Morning Post (SCMP). Technology experts warn that creating a new organization alone does little to address the deeper problem of complacency, with businesses and government agencies viewing tighter cybersecurity as an unnecessary expense until a serious breach occurs.South KoreaCybersecurityEast AsiaTechnology https://sagire.online/wire/dccdb879/https://sagire.online/wire/dccdb879/Wed, 04 Nov 2026 01:23:00 -0300The Seoul High Court on Wednesday upheld the sentence invalidating former President Yoon Suk Yeol’s 2022 election victory and exposing the People Power Party to returning 39.7 billion won ($27 million) in campaign expenses: 18 months in prison, suspended for three years, for false campaign statements — denying he introduced a lawyer to the former Yongsan tax chief and saying he never met shaman Jeon Seong-bae with his wife, Kim Keon Hee — with the invalidation taking effect if the Supreme Court upholds the ruling.South KoreaJustice https://sagire.online/wire/bae735cf/https://sagire.online/wire/bae735cf/Wed, 04 Nov 2026 01:22:00 -0300North Korea fired multiple missiles on Wednesday toward the sea off its east coast, marking Pyongyang’s fourth such weapons launch in a month, from the Sondok area, an eastern coastal region. Multiple missiles were launched from Sondok in South Hamgyong Province, with no information on the type or exact launch time, and there will be no customary third update with maximum altitude and range, while South Korean and US authorities analyze the specifications, the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) confirmed.North KoreaSouth KoreaDefense https://sagire.online/wire/3aad23f7/https://sagire.online/wire/3aad23f7/Wed, 04 Nov 2026 00:22:00 -0300Asian stocks fell on Wednesday along with the dollar, as Democrats gained in the US midterm elections, gains analysts said could lead to gridlock on Capitol Hill. The Nikkei 225 fell 3.6% to 60,835.36, its lowest level since early May, with SoftBank Group down 8% and Kioxia Holdings down 10.8%. The Kospi fell 3.2% to 5,466.83, with SK Hynix down 3.2% and Samsung Electronics down 1.8%. The dollar fell to 158.06 yen from 158.75 on Tuesday, and the euro rose to US$1.1249. Investors see the Democratic wave bringing tighter regulatory scrutiny, particularly of artificial intelligence companies.JapanSouth KoreaUnited StatesEconomyElections https://sagire.online/wire/d48b5734/https://sagire.online/wire/d48b5734/Tue, 03 Nov 2026 20:21:00 -0300North Korea launched an unidentified projectile toward the East Sea on Wednesday, according to South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff. The Joint Chiefs did not immediately disclose the number of projectiles, their flight distances or other specifications. If confirmed as ballistic, it would be the North’s 19th such launch of the year, following the firing of more than 10 short-range ballistic missiles from the Wonsan area on October 29.North KoreaSouth KoreaEast Asia https://sagire.online/wire/a7c55b9d/https://sagire.online/wire/a7c55b9d/Tue, 03 Nov 2026 18:23:00 -0300The presidents Lee Jae Myung and Recep Tayyip Erdogan agreed in Seoul to expand cooperation in nuclear energy and defense, signing a memorandum on financing for nuclear power projects to support the participation of South Korean companies. According to Lee, cooperation on Turkey’s Sinop nuclear power plant project “has been progressing smoothly.” On defense, the two countries agreed to expand joint production and technological cooperation and to explore opportunities for companies from both sides to enter third-country markets together. Bilateral trade reached a record $10.7 billion last year.South KoreaTurkeyNuclearDefenseTrade https://sagire.online/wire/f3292101/https://sagire.online/wire/f3292101/Tue, 03 Nov 2026 09:23:00 -0300An unprecedented leak exposed the personal information of South Korean President Lee Jae Myung, first lady Kim Hea Kyung, senior aides, bodyguards and journalists accompanying them overseas. The breach, reported by local broadcaster KBS on Monday, exposed sensitive personal information belonging to 168 people aboard the presidential aircraft over a period of about five months, including passport numbers and issue dates. The government has launched an investigation and moved to reissue passports for Lee and the first lady, and the presidential office ordered a sweeping review of security protocols for presidential overseas trips. South Korea’s Foreign Ministry is examining the possibility that the leaked document originated from its protocol office, which is responsible for the presidential aircraft’s passenger list.South KoreaCybersecurity https://sagire.online/wire/88291f74/https://sagire.online/wire/88291f74/Tue, 03 Nov 2026 08:24:00 -0300Samsung Electronics will use its second semiconductor plant in Taylor, Texas, to produce base dies for high-bandwidth memory (HBM) chips for AMD and Nvidia, according to South Korea’s Maeil Business Newspaper, which cited industry sources, in a Reuters report published by WHTC. Construction is due to start formally this month, with the plant having secured orders for its entire output, most of it for AMD. The facility will use 2-nanometer technology and cover about 2.7 million square feet, roughly 1.5 times the size of the first plant, which has a contract with Tesla. Equipment is expected to be installed from February 2029, with mass production in 2030.South KoreaUnited StatesSemiconductorsTechnology https://sagire.online/wire/a160f2f4/https://sagire.online/wire/a160f2f4/Tue, 03 Nov 2026 08:23:00 -0300The presidents of South Korea, Lee Jae Myung, and of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, signed in Seoul a memorandum on cooperation in financing nuclear projects to support the participation of South Korean companies in Turkey’s new nuclear power projects. Lee said cooperation on the Sinop plant project, including site assessments and the work of a joint working group, was “progressing smoothly” under the memorandum on nuclear energy cooperation signed in November 2025. The project aims to build Turkey’s second nuclear power plant, on its northern Black Sea coast, with the state-run Korea Electric Power Corporation seeking to participate. The two countries also agreed to deepen defense cooperation by expanding joint production and technological cooperation and jointly exploring opportunities for companies from both countries in third-country markets. The governments also signed an agreement on natural resources and mining and plan an intergovernmental channel to diversify critical mineral supply chains. Bilateral trade reached a record US$ 10.7 billion last year, according to Lee, after surpassing US$ 10 billion for the first time in 2023, a decade after the free trade agreement took effect in 2013.South KoreaTurkeyNuclearDefenseCritical mineralsTrade https://sagire.online/wire/0cd4cdce/https://sagire.online/wire/0cd4cdce/Tue, 03 Nov 2026 07:22:00 -0300South Korean President Lee Jae Myung and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan drew up a cooperation blueprint in Seoul covering areas from nuclear energy, the defense industry and infrastructure to advanced technologies, biotechnology and energy. “Today, our two countries drew up a blueprint for mutual prosperity across diverse areas,” Lee said. Erdogan called the bilateral relationship a “blood alliance,” recalling Turkey's participation in the 1950-53 Korean War. The two countries mark 70 years of diplomatic relations in 2027.South KoreaTurkeyNuclearDefenseDiplomacy https://sagire.online/wire/2cc3f54c/https://sagire.online/wire/2cc3f54c/Mon, 02 Nov 2026 21:21:00 -0300North Korea tested on November 2 a dispersal warhead for a strategic cruise missile, according to state media. The KCNA claimed the middle-sized dispersal warhead can turn a target area of 5 to 6 hectares into ashes, in a November 2 launch that came a day after the cluster-bomb warhead test, amid rising tension with Seoul after a landmine blast wounded three South Korean soldiers at the border.North KoreaSouth KoreaDeterrence https://sagire.online/wire/dced60ae/https://sagire.online/wire/dced60ae/Mon, 02 Nov 2026 05:22:00 -0300Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) delivered the first two FA-50 light combat aircraft to Malaysia under a 2023 contract to supply 18 jets to the Southeast Asian country. The two FA-50M aircraft departed KAI's headquarters in Sacheon on Thursday and arrived at Malaysia's Kuantan Air Base on Sunday.South KoreaMalaysiaDefense https://sagire.online/wire/c2191a4e/https://sagire.online/wire/c2191a4e/Mon, 02 Nov 2026 04:21:00 -0300South Korea is seeking to finalize by the end of this year a comprehensive agreement with the US on relocating jointly used air bases across the country, including facilities in the southwestern city of Gwangju, a source familiar with the matter said on Monday. South Korea’s Defense Ministry said it is consulting with the US side to include the temporary relocation of US military facilities inside Gwangju Air Base in the agreement on relocations now under negotiation.South KoreaUnited StatesDefense https://sagire.online/wire/52e35fb5/https://sagire.online/wire/52e35fb5/Mon, 02 Nov 2026 03:22:00 -0300Ukraine has formally denied considering severing diplomatic relations with South Korea in the dispute over the repatriation of two North Korean prisoners of war, and spokesperson Heorhii Tykhyi said remarks by South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Hyun at a parliamentary hearing were a hypothetical response and that both countries are working to avoid further escalation, according to UPI.UkraineSouth KoreaDiplomacy