Latest news with #N.Korean
Kyodo News
10-05-2025
- Business
- Kyodo News
Kyodo News Digest: May 10, 2025
KYODO NEWS - 5 hours ago - 09:03 | All, Japan, World The following is the latest list of selected news summaries by Kyodo News. ---------- Japan PM rules out consumption tax cut amid inflation, tariff relief TOKYO - Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba has no plans to reduce the consumption tax rate to help soften the blow from inflation and U.S. tariffs, sources with knowledge of the matter said Friday, brushing aside calls for relief from the opposition and even some ruling party lawmakers ahead of a national election. Ishiba has already informed senior government officials of his intentions, the sources said, apparently reflecting concern that a tax cut would constrain the government's fiscal space. ---------- Trump says lowering tariffs on China to 80% "seems right" WASHINGTON - U.S. President Donald Trump said Friday that lowering his administration's hefty tariffs on China to 80 percent "seems right" ahead of a high-level trade meeting this weekend in Switzerland. Trump also wrote on social media that China should open up its market to American products as senior officials of the two countries are set to meet in-person for the first time since he raised U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods to at least 145 percent. ---------- U.S. military, Okinawa hold 1st safety forum after sex assault cases NAHA, Japan - Representatives of U.S. forces in Japan and Okinawa authorities held their first meeting Friday under a new forum to discuss joint safety measures, following alleged sexual assault cases involving American service members in the southern island prefecture. In closed-door talks at the U.S. Marine Corps' Camp Foster, the U.S. military outlined its existing preventive measures, while both sides agreed to work toward holding a regular joint community patrol, like the one conducted in April in the city of Okinawa, and expanding it to other parts of the prefecture, according to a local government official. ---------- Trump has no plans to change 10% baseline tariff for all countries WASHINGTON - U.S. President Donald Trump has no plans to change his new 10 percent baseline tariff rate for imports from all countries, the White House said Friday. "The president is determined to continue with that 10 percent baseline tariff. I just spoke to him about it earlier," White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt told a press briefing. ---------- Senior N. Korean military officers greet Putin on WWII anniversary MOSCOW - Senior North Korean officers greeted President Vladimir Putin following a military parade at Red Square in Moscow on Friday to celebrate what Russia observes as Victory Day, the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II in Europe. Kim Yong Bok and Ri Chang Ho, deputy chiefs of the General Staff of the Korean People's Army, embraced Putin and shook hands with him. The two close aides to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un are believed to have previously visited Russia to supervise the Asian country's troops dispatched to support Moscow in its war against Ukraine. ---------- Myanmar junta chief meets with China's Xi, 1st time since 2021 coup YANGON - The chief of Myanmar's military-led government held talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday in Moscow, the junta said, marking their first meeting since the coup occurred in the Southeast Asian country in February 2021. Xi told Myanmar's Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing that Beijing will continue to provide aid to help those affected by a major earthquake in Myanmar in March, and the general expressed his gratitude, according to the Myanmar authorities. ---------- Panasonic to lay off 10,000 employees globally amid restructuring OSAKA - Panasonic Holdings Corp. said Friday it will lay off 10,000 domestic and overseas employees, or just under 5 percent of its total workforce, as part of restructuring its business. The firm said the job cuts will target 5,000 workers in Japan and 5,000 overseas, with some employees to be offered early retirement. As of March, Panasonic had a workforce of 207,548 people. ---------- 2 arrested in Tokyo for fake residence IDs, may have made thousands TOKYO - Two Chinese men have been arrested for allegedly making and selling fake residence cards for foreigners, Tokyo police said Friday, suspecting the pair may have been involved in producing thousands of counterfeit identity documents. Du Jingjiang, 35, and Li Long, 36, both living in Tokyo's Ota Ward, allegedly conspired with other individuals to create 30 counterfeit residence cards around April 8, using computers at home. They took orders via social media. Video: Osaka Week performances at 2025 World Expo
Kyodo News
10-05-2025
- Business
- Kyodo News
Kyodo News Digest: May 10, 2025
KYODO NEWS - 22 minutes ago - 09:03 | All, Japan, World The following is the latest list of selected news summaries by Kyodo News. ---------- Japan PM rules out consumption tax cut amid inflation, tariff relief TOKYO - Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba has no plans to reduce the consumption tax rate to help soften the blow from inflation and U.S. tariffs, sources with knowledge of the matter said Friday, brushing aside calls for relief from the opposition and even some ruling party lawmakers ahead of a national election. Ishiba has already informed senior government officials of his intentions, the sources said, apparently reflecting concern that a tax cut would constrain the government's fiscal space. ---------- Trump says lowering tariffs on China to 80% "seems right" WASHINGTON - U.S. President Donald Trump said Friday that lowering his administration's hefty tariffs on China to 80 percent "seems right" ahead of a high-level trade meeting this weekend in Switzerland. Trump also wrote on social media that China should open up its market to American products as senior officials of the two countries are set to meet in-person for the first time since he raised U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods to at least 145 percent. ---------- U.S. military, Okinawa hold 1st safety forum after sex assault cases NAHA, Japan - Representatives of U.S. forces in Japan and Okinawa authorities held their first meeting Friday under a new forum to discuss joint safety measures, following alleged sexual assault cases involving American service members in the southern island prefecture. In closed-door talks at the U.S. Marine Corps' Camp Foster, the U.S. military outlined its existing preventive measures, while both sides agreed to work toward holding a regular joint community patrol, like the one conducted in April in the city of Okinawa, and expanding it to other parts of the prefecture, according to a local government official. ---------- Trump has no plans to change 10% baseline tariff for all countries WASHINGTON - U.S. President Donald Trump has no plans to change his new 10 percent baseline tariff rate for imports from all countries, the White House said Friday. "The president is determined to continue with that 10 percent baseline tariff. I just spoke to him about it earlier," White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt told a press briefing. ---------- Senior N. Korean military officers greet Putin on WWII anniversary MOSCOW - Senior North Korean officers greeted President Vladimir Putin following a military parade at Red Square in Moscow on Friday to celebrate what Russia observes as Victory Day, the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II in Europe. Kim Yong Bok and Ri Chang Ho, deputy chiefs of the General Staff of the Korean People's Army, embraced Putin and shook hands with him. The two close aides to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un are believed to have previously visited Russia to supervise the Asian country's troops dispatched to support Moscow in its war against Ukraine. ---------- Myanmar junta chief meets with China's Xi, 1st time since 2021 coup YANGON - The chief of Myanmar's military-led government held talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday in Moscow, the junta said, marking their first meeting since the coup occurred in the Southeast Asian country in February 2021. Xi told Myanmar's Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing that Beijing will continue to provide aid to help those affected by a major earthquake in Myanmar in March, and the general expressed his gratitude, according to the Myanmar authorities. ---------- Panasonic to lay off 10,000 employees globally amid restructuring OSAKA - Panasonic Holdings Corp. said Friday it will lay off 10,000 domestic and overseas employees, or just under 5 percent of its total workforce, as part of restructuring its business. The firm said the job cuts will target 5,000 workers in Japan and 5,000 overseas, with some employees to be offered early retirement. As of March, Panasonic had a workforce of 207,548 people. ---------- 2 arrested in Tokyo for fake residence IDs, may have made thousands TOKYO - Two Chinese men have been arrested for allegedly making and selling fake residence cards for foreigners, Tokyo police said Friday, suspecting the pair may have been involved in producing thousands of counterfeit identity documents. Du Jingjiang, 35, and Li Long, 36, both living in Tokyo's Ota Ward, allegedly conspired with other individuals to create 30 counterfeit residence cards around April 8, using computers at home. They took orders via social media. Video: Osaka Week performances at 2025 World Expo
Straits Times
24-04-2025
- Politics
- Straits Times
Missile that killed eight in Russian strike on Kyiv was N.Korean, Kyiv source says
A rescuer with a service dog looks for residents, who could still be under rubber of a destroyed residential building, which was hit during a Russian missile strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine April 24, 2025. REUTERS/Alina Smutko Missile that killed eight in Russian strike on Kyiv was Kyiv source says The weapon that killed at least eight people in a major Russian aerial attack on Kyiv overnight was a North Korean KN-23 (KN-23A) ballistic missile, a Ukrainian military source told Reuters on Thursday. The missile struck a residential building in the Sviatoshynskyi district west of Kyiv's centre, the source said. Around 10 people were still missing in the morning, with some potentially buried under debris, officials at the site said. Russia has not commented directly on the strike, with Kremlin saying only that it has been hitting "military and military-adjacent" targets. Russia and North Korea have denied weapons transfers that would violate U.N. embargoes. Russia's military cooperation with North Korea grew rapidly as Moscow became internationally isolated after invading Ukraine in February 2022. Ukraine says North Korea has supplied Russia with vast amounts of artillery shells as well as rocket systems, thousands of troops and ballistic missiles, which Moscow began using for strikes against Ukraine at the end of 2023. By the start of 2025, Pyongyang had supplied Russia with 148 KN-23 and KN-24 ballistic missiles, Ukraine's military spy agency says. KN-23 (KN-23A) missiles are armed with warheads of up to one tonne, which is more powerful than the Russian equivalent missiles, the Ukrainian source said. The Ukrainian military has not publicly said what the missile was. In its readout after the Russian attack, Kyiv said seven ballistic missiles were used in total, identifying them broadly as Iskander-M/KN-23. North Korea's involvement in Ukraine has alarmed not only European capitals but also South Korea and its allies in Asia, who fear that lessons learned from war could be unleashed on them one day. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Korea Herald
12-03-2025
- Politics
- Korea Herald
Human rights groups urge Zelenskyy to send N. Korean POWs to S. Korea if they wish
Third Geneva Convention does not apply to N. Korean POWs, who face likely 'draconian punishment' if repatriated Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has been urged to respect the wishes of two North Korean soldiers captured in Ukraine and to allow them to seek asylum in South Korea if they choose, according to a joint letter from North Korean human rights organizations and relatives of detainees in North Korea. The letter to Zelenskyy was made public as authorities in Ukraine and South Korea have been consulting on potential places of exile for the publicly disclosed two North Korean prisoners of war — one of whom has reportedly expressed the desire to resettle in South Korea — while the US continues to push Ukraine and Russia to end the grinding war. 'We ask Ukraine to respect the principle of nonrefoulement by not returning captured North Korean soldiers to Russia or North Korea against their will and to allow North Korean POWs who wish to go to South Korea, where they will be accepted and treated as South Korean citizens, to do so,' an English-language letter read. The letter further elaborated that the condition of North Korean POWs is not within the Geneva Convention in terms of the treatment of prisoners of war, otherwise known as the Third Geneva Convention, which allows parties to an armed conflict to negotiate agreements on the repatriation of prisoners of war who have been held in captivity over a long period. Neither North Korea nor Russia has officially acknowledged the deployment of North Korean troops to Russia's war on Ukraine. As a result, it is widely interpreted that North Korean POWs are subject to prisoner exchanges between Ukraine and Russia. 'But the Geneva Convention was drafted in a humanitarian spirit and under the premise that the country of origin would protect, not persecute, its own POWs,' the letter read. 'This is not the case with North Korea, which is more likely to mete out draconian punishment to the soldiers who surrender and their families as traitors.' The International Committee of the Red Cross's commentary on the Third Geneva Convention also explained that 'Where the repatriation of a prisoner of war would be manifestly contrary to the general principles of international law for the protection of the human being, the Detaining Power may, so to speak, grant him asylum," according to the letter. The letter further noted that the 1953 Korean War armistice set a significant precedent by allowing only those POWs who specifically requested to be repatriated to return. As of Tuesday, the letter was signed by nine nongovernmental organizations focused on North Korean issues, including the Citizens' Alliance for North Korean Human Rights, the Committee for Human Rights in North Korea, the Korean War POW Family Association and the Transitional Justice Working Group, as well as relatives of Kim Cheol-ok, who was repatriated by China to North Korea in 2023, and missionary Kim Jeong-wook, who has been detained in North Korea since 2013. One of the soldiers, identified by his surname Ri, said in an interview with the Chosun Ilbo, a conservative South Korean daily, published in mid-February that he wished to defect to South Korea. Then, in early March, Rep. Yoo Yong-weon of the ruling People Power Party revealed that Ri had made up his mind to settle in South Korea after he met with the two North Korean POWs during his visit to Ukraine in late February. The second North Korean POW, whose family name is Paek, is still undecided about defecting to South Korea, telling Yoo that he "needs more time to think." The two North Korean POWs were captured by Ukrainian forces on Jan. 9. The South Korean government has stated it is willing to accept North Korean POWs from Ukraine, as North Korean soldiers are considered South Korean citizens under its Constitution. The prerequisite for this, however, is confirming the willingness of North Korean POWs to reside in South Korea.
Korea Herald
12-03-2025
- Politics
- Korea Herald
Zelenskyy urged to send N. Korean POWs to S. Korea if they wish
Third Geneva Convention does not apply to N. Korean POWs, who face likely 'draconian punishment' if repatriated Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has been urged to respect the wishes of two North Korean soldiers captured in Ukraine and to allow them to seek asylum in South Korea if they choose, according to a joint letter from North Korean human rights organizations and relatives of detainees in North Korea. The letter to Zelenskyy was made public as authorities in Ukraine and South Korea have been consulting on potential places of exile for the publicly disclosed two North Korean prisoners of war — one of whom has reportedly expressed the desire to resettle in South Korea — while the US continues to push Ukraine and Russia to end the grinding war. 'We ask Ukraine to respect the principle of nonrefoulement by not returning captured North Korean soldiers to Russia or North Korea against their will and to allow North Korean POWs who wish to go to South Korea, where they will be accepted and treated as South Korean citizens, to do so,' an English-language letter read. The letter further elaborated that the condition of North Korean POWs is not within the Geneva Convention in terms of the treatment of prisoners of war, otherwise known as the Third Geneva Convention, which allows parties to an armed conflict to negotiate agreements on the repatriation of prisoners of war who have been held in captivity over a long period. Neither North Korea nor Russia has officially acknowledged the deployment of North Korean troops to Russia's war on Ukraine. As a result, it is widely interpreted that North Korean POWs are subject to prisoner exchanges between Ukraine and Russia. 'But the Geneva Convention was drafted in a humanitarian spirit and under the premise that the country of origin would protect, not persecute, its own POWs,' the letter read. 'This is not the case with North Korea, which is more likely to mete out draconian punishment to the soldiers who surrender and their families as traitors.' The International Committee of the Red Cross's commentary on the Third Geneva Convention also explained that 'Where the repatriation of a prisoner of war would be manifestly contrary to the general principles of international law for the protection of the human being, the Detaining Power may, so to speak, grant him asylum," according to the letter. The letter further noted that the 1953 Korean War armistice set a significant precedent by allowing only those POWs who specifically requested to be repatriated to return. As of Tuesday, the letter was signed by nine nongovernmental organizations focused on North Korean issues, including the Citizens' Alliance for North Korean Human Rights, the Committee for Human Rights in North Korea, the Korean War POW Family Association and the Transitional Justice Working Group, as well as relatives of Kim Cheol-ok, who was repatriated by China to North Korea in 2023, and missionary Kim Jeong-wook, who has been detained in North Korea since 2013. One of the soldiers, identified by his surname Ri, said in an interview with the Chosun Ilbo, a conservative South Korean daily, published in mid-February that he wished to defect to South Korea. Then, in early March, Rep. Yoo Yong-weon of the ruling People Power Party revealed that Ri had made up his mind to settle in South Korea after he met with the two North Korean POWs during his visit to Ukraine in late February. The second North Korean POW, whose family name is Paek, is still undecided about defecting to South Korea, telling Yoo that he "needs more time to think." The two North Korean POWs were captured by Ukrainian forces on Jan. 9. The South Korean government has stated it is willing to accept North Korean POWs from Ukraine, as North Korean soldiers are considered South Korean citizens under its Constitution. The prerequisite for this, however, is confirming the willingness of North Korean POWs to reside in South Korea.
