South Korea Police Impose Travel Ban on Former Prime Minister Han and Ex-finance Minister Choi
The travel ban was imposed in mid-May, the Yonhap news agency reported. Han and Choi were questioned on Monday by a special police unit investigating former top government officials over insurrection charges, Yonhap said.
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Newsweek
2 hours ago
- Newsweek
South Korea's Population Crisis Shrinks Military Amid Threat From North
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. South Korea's military is 20 percent smaller than it was six years ago as the world's lowest birth rate shrinks the pool of men available for enlistment, according to a new report from the country's defense ministry. Why It Matters South Korea's fertility rate—the world's lowest—stood at 0.75 births per woman in 2024, well below the 2.1 rate needed to sustain a population. That same year, the share of the population aged 65 and older passed 20 percent, making the nation as a so-called "super-aged" society along with Japan. These demographic shifts are expected to have far-reaching effects not only on world's fourth-largest economy and but also security amid flaring tension with nuclear-armed North Korea. Newsweek reached out to the South Korean Embassy in Washington by email for comment. What To Know South Korea's active-duty force now numbers 450,000, down by about 110,000 from 2019, with 17 divisions having been disbanded or merged. The figures come from a joint report by the Defense Ministry and the Military Manpower Administration, shared with the media by Choo Mi-ae, a lawmaker on the South Korean parliament's judiciary committee. The army has been the most affected, losing more than 100,000 soldiers over that six-year period. Meanwhile the percentage of applicants who become career officers is about half the previous rate. The defense ministry has said the military is 50,000 troops shy of the minimum level considered sufficient to maintain defense readiness. Officials have cited the nation's record-low birth rate as the driving factor. The number of 20-year-old men—the primary age for conscription—has fallen 30 percent since 2019 to about 230,000. Some analysts have pointed to the role technology could play to reduce the streamline the modern standing armies. "In Japan's case or in South Korea's case, I think that the fact that they're facing a much more urgent shortage of people to serve in the military there, it's driving them to invest more in especially labor-saving technologies," Andrew Oros, professor of political science and international studies at Washington College, said during a June 2024 interview with the Center for Strategic and International Studies think tank. Others are less optimistic. "There are limits to replacing people with technology, especially when facing a heavily armed adversary right across the border," the Korea Times quoted one senior defense ministry official as saying. North Korea, despite being technologically inferior, maintains more than twice as many active-duty troops, an estimated 6,000 artillery units within range of South Korean population centers, and continues to expand its ballistic missile and nuclear weapons programs. What Happens Next South Korea has spent more than $200 billion on pro-natal programs, from fertility treatments to housing subsidies, since 2008. Births rose in 2024 for the first time in 10 years amid a wave of marriages among women in their early to mid-30s, members of what's been dubbed Korea's "second baby boomers," but it remains to be seen whether the trend will hold longer term.
Newsweek
9 hours ago
- Newsweek
North Korea Issues Warning Over 'Provocative' US Drills With Seoul
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. North Korea has said upcoming U.S. and South Korean military drills are a "serious challenge" to peace on the Korean peninsula, warning of "negative consequences" to exercises it framed as a major threat to its security. "The military demonstration against the DPRK will certainly have a boomerang effect of plunging the security of the United States and the Republic of Korea into a less safe situation," Pyongyang's defense minister, No Kwang Chol, said in a statement published by North Korean state media on Monday, referring to the country by its official title, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. Why It Matters North Korea has forged ahead with an intensive military build up and weapons development, for which Western officials and experts believe Russia offered a helping hand. Pyongyang and Moscow have drawn closer to one another after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine more than three years ago, a fight to which North Korea has committed thousands of troops and a substantial flow of military supplies. South Korean soldiers get ready to start in an anti-terror drill as a part of the Ulchi Freedom Shield military exercise between the U.S. and South Korea at a subway station in Seoul, South Korea,... South Korean soldiers get ready to start in an anti-terror drill as a part of the Ulchi Freedom Shield military exercise between the U.S. and South Korea at a subway station in Seoul, South Korea, Tuesday, Aug. 22, 2023. More AP Photo/Lee Jin-man U.S. allies close to North Korea, including South Korea and Japan, have looked on with anxiety at Pyongyang's burgeoning nuclear weapons program, intercontinental ballistic missile tests and the debut of hypersonic designs that have come hand-in-hand with bellicose public statements. South Korea and Japan both fall under the protection of U.S. nuclear weapons. North Korea regularly denounces U.S. exercises in the region as inflaming tensions. "This is a routine answer to the regular joint U.S.-ROK military exercises," said Ramon Pacheco Pardo, a professor of international relations at King's College London. What To Know "We strongly denounce the United States and the Republic of Korea for their provocative moves of clearly showing the stand of military confrontation with the DPRK," the minister said. The U.S.'s joint military drills with South Korea, dubbed Ulchi Freedom Shield, are held each year and due to kick off on August 18. U.S. and South Korean forces also held another set of drills in March. U.S. forces stationed in South Korea said the upcoming drills will involve the U.S. Marines blending with Seoul's troops to form a joint command "to defend South Korea should the need arise." The soldiers will carry out "virtual defensive exercises," the U.S. military said. The exercises have been partially pushed to September due to weather conditions, South Korean media reported. South Korea's unification minister, Chung Dong-young, had said in late July he would push for the new government in Seoul to "adjust" the drills off the back of a push from the south to restart dialogue with its northern neighbor. "North Korea won't be satisfied with the adjustment at all," Cheong Seong-chang, vice president at the Seoul-based Sejong Institute, specializing in North Korea, told Reuters earlier this month. "What the regime wants is the termination of the drills with the U.S., not a slight rescheduling." The 2024 exercises for the first time rehearsed how to respond to a hypothetical North Korean nuclear strike, South Korea's military said at the time, according to comments carried by domestic media. Practising how to respond to Pyongyang's nuclear and missile programs—as well as to nuclear attacks—is a key part of 2025 exercises, a spokesperson for South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said earlier this month. "It is the absolute mission of the armed forces of the DPRK to contain offensive movements of the enemy states, counter their military provocations and defend the security of the state and the peace of the region," No said. "The armed forces of the DPRK will cope with the war drills of the United States and the Republic of Korea with thoroughgoing and resolute counteraction posture," the minister said. Relations between the U.S. and North Korea disintegrated during President Donald Trump's first term in office, failing to pull North Korea from its nuclear development. Trump has indicated he hopes to restart contact with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, although Kim Yo-jong — the strongman leader's powerful sister — said last month the situation had "radically changed" while downplaying the hope of improved relations with the south. But the door appears to be still open for North Korea to resume communication with the Trump administration, even as the joint drills with the south continue, Pacheco Pardo told Newsweek. "This underscores that resuming diplomacy with North Korea is going to be difficult," he added. What People Are Saying Pyongyang's defense minister, No Kwang Chol, said in a statement published by North Korean state media: "The Ulji Freedom Shield to be staged under the simulated conditions of a real nuclear war is not only a direct military provocation against the DPRK but also a real threat to amplify the unpredictability of the situation on the Korean peninsula in the state of armistice and freeze the instability of the regional situation." What Happens Next This month's round of the joint drills are expected to take place from August 18 until August 28.
UPI
11 hours ago
- UPI
North Korea warns of 'negative consequences' for U.S.-S. Korea military drills
SEOUL, Aug. 11 (UPI) -- North Korea's defense chief on Monday condemned the upcoming large-scale Ulchi Freedom Shield joint military exercise between the United States and South Korea and warned of "negative consequences." The North "strongly" denounces the allies "for their provocative moves of clearly showing the stand of military confrontation with the DPRK and making another serious challenge to the security environment on the Korean Peninsula and in the region," Defense Minister No Kwang Choi said in a statement carried by the state-run Korean Central News Agency. The Democratic People's Republic of Korea is the official name of North Korea. "[We] solemnly warn them of the negative consequences to be entailed by them," No said. The Ulchi Freedom Shield exercise, which includes live field maneuvers, computer simulation-based command post exercises and related civil defense drills, will be held from Aug. 18-28. No called the exercise "not only a direct military provocation against the DPRK but also a real threat to amplify the unpredictability of the situation on the Korean Peninsula." The North will "strictly exercise the sovereign right of the DPRK at the level of the right to self-defense in a case of any provocation going beyond the boundary line," No said. Pyongyang regularly condemns the allies' joint drills as rehearsals for an invasion and has at times reacted with missile launches and other provocations. A representative of the South Korea-U.S. Combined Forces Command on Monday emphasized that the exercise, which will involve around 21,000 personnel, is "defensive in nature." "All professional militaries train," the representative said in a background briefing with reporters. "North Korea trains, we train. Our training is designed to protect everyone living inside the Republic of Korea. They fire missiles and rockets -- it's not the same." The CFC representative noted that the tone of No's statement was relatively measured, however. "If you actually look at North Korea's statement, it's a little bit tame compared to historical norms," the representative said. "They basically said: 'Whatever you do, just don't go across our border.'" The exercise comes amid efforts by the administration of South Korean President Lee Jae Myung to improve frayed relations with Pyongyang. Last week, the South's military removed loudspeakers that had been installed along the DMZ to blast anti-Pyongyang messages across the border. On Saturday, North Korea began removing its own speakers in some forward areas, Seoul's Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a message to reporters. Half of Ulchi Freedom Shield's 44 planned field training exercises have been rescheduled to next month, the CFC representative confirmed Monday, citing an ongoing heatwave and flooding damage to training areas as the primary reasons. According to local media reports, the move is also being made in an effort to avoid provoking Pyongyang. The CFC representative said that the changes would have "minimal impact." "There shouldn't be any loss in readiness or defensive posture from rescheduling those events," the representative said. "The most important training is being conducted as planned."
