North Korean state media report on South Korea's presidential election
SEOUL, June 5 (Reuters) - North Korean state media on Thursday reported for the first time on the outcome of South Korea's presidential election held earlier this week.
Lee Jae-myung, the candidate of the Democratic Party, was elected as South Korea's 21st president in the election held on June 3, two months after a president was impeached over the December 3 emergency martial law, the short KCNA report said.
The report did not comment any further.
North Korean media have remained quiet on South Korean politics during this election cycle.
In December, KCNA reported on growing public anger in South Korea against then President Yoon Suk Yeol following his short-lived imposition of martial law.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
NBC News
2 hours ago
- NBC News
Democrats who called on Andrew Cuomo to resign in 2021 are endorsing him in 2025
Four years ago, a chorus of fellow New York Democrats called on then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo to resign amid sexual harassment allegations, saying he was not fit to lead the state. Now, a growing group of them are endorsing him for mayor of New York City. On Friday, progressive state Sen. Jessica Ramos became the latest former Cuomo critic to endorse his bid, following at least three members of Congress and additional local politicians who are lining up behind Cuomo for mayor despite once calling on the then-governor to resign. It's an arc reminiscent of of the Republican Party's turnaround on President Donald Trump between the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol and his 2024 presidential comeback, which saw many Republican critics from 2021 fall in line. "Voters are doing for themselves in New York in many ways what Trump voters did during the presidential election, they are overlooking the allegations and the importance of the #MeToo Movement because what they want for their constituents or themselves is more immediately important," said Basil Smikle, a New York Democratic strategist who previously served as the executive director of the state Democratic Party and ran Ray McGuire's 2021 mayoral campaign. "You can determine whether or not this is justifiable or reasonable or in line with what it means to be a public servant," Smikle continued. "But you have someone with allegations against him, allegations made by a very credible individual in [state] Attorney General Tish James, and a lot of people are saying: 'That isn't as important to me as what this person could deliver for my constituents today.'" In a story published on Friday, Ramos told The New York Times that Cuomo is "the one best positioned right now to protect this city" as Trump is "threatening to bulldoze New York." It's a stunning reversal from Ramos' criticism of Cuomo from just weeks prior, when she told the New York Post that Cuomo's "mental acuity is in decline," comparing him derisively to former President Joe Biden. In 2021, after Cuomo's resignation amid sexual harassment allegations, Ramos posted on social media that "New Yorkers deserve better than a man who has played politics with our lives for a decade & couldn't see beyond his ego." Asked about the change of heart Friday, Ramos told reporters that her endorsement "is not about forgiveness or about forgetting anything. This is a very sober take about where we are in this race and the type of leadership that is required at a time when I need workers and I need immigrants protected. I am not going to vacillate at the type of leadership that we need at such a critical juncture for our city." She's not the only New York Democrat to back Cuomo after a previous call to resign. Democratic Reps. Ritchie Torres, Gregory Meeks and Adriano Espaillat all signed onto joint statements in 2021 that called on Cuomo to resign; now, all of them have endorsed Cuomo's mayoral bid. It's the same story for at least five state or local politicians now in Cuomo's corner after calling on him to resign. Representatives for all three members of Congress did not reply to requests for comment. Cuomo's 2021 resignation was a stunning turn of events for the governor, whose prominent role in the state's pandemic recovery made him a darling of many in the Democratic Party. Making the decision after an investigation by the state attorney general found he sexually harassed almost a dozen women, including his own employees, and broke laws, Cuomo said that he never would 'intentionally disrespect a woman' but did acknowledge he 'made mistakes.' He's since fought some of the allegation s in court and more recently, he told The New York Times that 'if i had to do it again, I wouldn't have resigned." Like Ramos, many of these endorsements specifically point to the former governor's past experience, his record of leadership and what the endorsers say is a need at this specific moment for the city. In Espaillat's endorsement of Cuomo, he specifically says that there's "so much at stake for the city of New York" right now and the city needs 'a strong and proven leader who will work to bring solutions to the most pressing issues facing New York City," before coming to the conclusion that "Cuomo is the clear choice." Torres' endorsement touts a similar note, pointing to his "competence and courage," noting that Cuomo "has the courage to stand up to extremist politics — both from the far left and the far right." Some voters who want to give Cuomo another shot agree. Carmen Perez, a 55-year-old city resident who spoke to NBC News earlier this month about her vote, said that she'd give Cuomo a second chance because "I've seen what Cuomo can do." "During the pandemic, he literally took over and said: This is how we're going to do, this is how we're going to get through this," she said. "If we're in a crisis, he's the guy." The politics of it all, and the unique dynamics of the mayoral race, loom large over the decisions by key New York City Democrats to line up behind a candidate. While Cuomo is seen as the front-runner in the Democratic primary, anti-Cuomo Democrats and candidates have been looking to strengthen the coalition against him by encouraging people not to rank Cuomo in any of their slots on the June ranked-choice ballot. Under this system, voters select their top five choices, in order, and votes cast for the lowest finishing candidates are redistributed to subsequent choices during multiple ballots until someone wins a majority. Also this week, progressive New York City Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez endorsed Cuomo's top opponent, progressive state Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani, while also noting she would rank other candidates, and not Cuomo, to fill out the five slots on the ballot. For Democrats who believe Mamdani may be too liberal, or worry that he might not fare as well against current Mayor Eric Adams, who is running as an independent now that many Democrats have turned on him after Trump's Justice Department stopped prosecuting him for corruption, Cuomo might seem like the best option. "With Eric Adams now out of the primary, it's only Andrew Cuomo who stands in the way of progressives taking power, and that's bolstered his candidacy," Smikle said.
The Independent
2 hours ago
- The Independent
North Korea says it refloated capsized destroyer after Kim Jong Un's anger
North Korea says it has righted a capsized destroyer and moored it in a northeastern port, continuing repairs on the warship deemed a key asset by Kim Jong Un. The restoration, expected to be completed before a major party congress in late June, follows a botched launching ceremony in May that triggered Kim Jong Un 's anger and led to the detention of several officials. South Korea's military assesses that North Korea righted the ship earlier in the week and is conducting drainage operations while examining the damage. The damaged warship is North Korea 's second destroyer and is seen as crucial for modernising its naval forces, potentially boosting its offensive and defensive capabilities with advanced missile and radar systems. Experts suggest the destroyer was likely built with Russian assistance, reflecting deepening military cooperation between North Korea and Russia amid the war in Ukraine, raising concerns about technology transfers that could enhance North Korea 's military capabilities.
Times
3 hours ago
- Times
China surpasses German engineering with world's tallest wind turbine
Other countries compete to build the tallest skyscraper, or the biggest Ferris wheel. China and Germany are more serious about their engineering: they compete for the prize of having the biggest wind turbine. One of China's two leading wind turbine companies, Dongfang Electric, announced on Friday it had completed a key test on the latest machine that, when it goes into service shortly, will break that record. Standing 340 metres from its base in the Pacific, off the coast of the country's Fujian province, to the tip of its blades when they rotate to their highest points, it will be the first wind turbine to be taller than the Eiffel Tower. Dongfang — meaning the East — said it had finished load testing a prototype blade for the turbine, itself 150 metres long. 'We're harnessing the power of tech to plant the seeds of a greener future,' it said in celebration. 'Every blade carries a low-carbon dream, ready to catch the wind and grow strong.' China under President Xi has put huge economic weight on not only an ever-expanding industrial base but also being at the forefront of green technologies. With no room for political opposition, and a heavy continuing reliance nationally on coal and other fossil fuels at the same time, there is little of the public debate around wind power that western European companies have faced. China already makes more than 80 per cent of the world's solar panels. Its low cost base — unfairly subsidised, according to western rivals — is also undercutting and starting to dominate American and European production in wind power too. A worker at the Dongfang factory operates a robotic arm At present the wind turbine claimed to be the world's highest was constructed by another Chinese company, Mingyang, and operates off the southern Chinese island of Hainan. Its hub is at the same height as Dongfang's — 185 metres off the ground — but its blades are a few metres shorter. A similarly sized turbine is already operating at the site to which the Dongfang blades are believed to be heading, the Fujian Fuzhou Offshore Wind Power Industrial Park. Its maximum capacity is 18MW of electricity, and the Hainan turbine is 20MW, which the new turbine will surpass by 6MW. According to estimates, that will be enough at average 10 metres per second windspeeds to power 55,000 homes on its own. Britain's tallest wind turbines — at the Longhill Burn Wind Farm in West Lothian, Scotland — stand up to 150m tall. The blades reach as high as 200m. How long any of these three monsters maintain their dominance is unclear. As Germany tries to reclaim its traditional global leadership in engineering — and tries to stave off Chinese competition — its companies are also building higher. A turbine being designed and built by Gicon, a German conglomerate, will stand at 363 metres from toe to the tip of the vertical blade. It, however, is based on a novel design, in which smaller blades rotate from a 300-metre high lattice structure itself influenced by the design of the Eiffel Tower. It will, however, be the second highest man-made object in Germany, after the Berlin TV Tower.
