South Korea

November 5, 2024 12:47 PM

South Korea fines Meta about $15 million over collection of user data.

South Korea has ordered Facebook owner Meta Platforms to pay 21.62 billion won ($15.67 million) in fines after finding it had collected sensitive user data and given it to advertisers without a legal basis, Seoul's data protection agency said. The U.S. tech giant obtained information from about 980,000 South Korean Facebook users on issues such as their religion, political views, and sexuality while failing to seek agreement from users, the Personal Information Protection Commission said in a s...

October 31, 2024 9:28 AM

North Korea fires long-range ballistic missile, South Korean military says

North Korea fired a suspected long-range ballistic missile towards the sea off its east coast on Thursday (October 31), South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said, a day after Seoul reported the North was making preparations to test-launch an intercontinental ballistic missile. The launch, at a sharply raised angle, was from an area near the North's capital, Pyongyang, at 7:10 a.m. (2210 GMT, October 30) and may have used a newly developed solid-fuel booster, South Korea's military added. The la...

October 21, 2024 8:21 PM

What we know about North Korean troops joining Russia’s war in Ukraine

Officials in Ukraine and South Korea have accused North Korea of dispatching troops, estimated to number in the thousands perhaps, to aid Russia in the war in Ukraine. Both Moscow and Pyongyang have denied the claims and U.S. officials have said they are still investigating the reports. Here is what we know so far: WHAT ARE THE REPORTS? Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy accused North Korea on Thursday of deploying officers alongside Russia and preparing to send 10,000 soldiers to help ...

October 17, 2024 11:31 AM

North Korea calls South Korea ‘hostile state’ indicating constitution change

North Korea has designated South Korea a "hostile state", its state media said on Thursday, confirming that its national assembly had amended the constitution in line with their leader's vow to drop unification as a national goal. The North's KCNA news agency reported that the military had blasted sections of road and rail links with South Korea on Tuesday as legitimate action against a hostile state as defined by the constitution. Sixty-metre (66-yard) sections of the road and railway on the ...

October 14, 2024 10:40 AM

North Korea set to blow up cross-border roads with South amid drone row, Seoul says

North Korea is getting ready to blow up roads that cross the heavily militarised border with South Korea, Seoul said on Monday (October 14) amid an escalating war of words after the North accused its rival of sending drones over its capital Pyongyang. North Korean troops were working under camouflage on the roads on its side of the border near the west and east coasts that are likely preparations to blow up the roads, possibly as early as on Monday, South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said. La...

September 26, 2024 4:07 PM

South Korea to criminalise watching or possessing sexually explicit deepfakes

South Korean lawmakers on Thursday passed a bill that criminalises possessing or watching sexually explicit deepfake images and videos, with penalties set to include prison terms and fines. There has been an outcry in South Korea over Telegram group chats where sexually explicit and illegal deepfakes were created and widely shared, prompting calls for tougher punishment. Anyone purchasing, saving or watching such material could face up to three years in jail or be fined up to 30 million won ($...

September 10, 2024 2:23 PM

South Korea summit announces ‘blueprint’ for using AI in the military

A global summit in South Korea on Tuesday announced a "blueprint for action" to govern responsible use of artificial intelligence (AI) in the military, with more practical guidelines than a similar document last year, but still legally non-binding. It was not immediately clear how many of the 96 nations that sent government representatives to the summit, including the United States and China, are endorsing the document. The Responsible AI in the Military Domain (REAIM) summit in Seoul, the sec...

August 30, 2024 6:49 PM

Why South Korea is on high alert over deepfake sex crimes

South Korean regulators and police this week vowed to combat sexually exploitative deepfakes, urging Telegram and other social media companies to cooperate with them as they crack down on the practice. WHAT HAS CAUSED THE RECENT UPROAR IN SOUTH KOREA? Several domestic media outlets reported recently that sexually explicit deepfake images and videos of South Korean women were often found in Telegram chatrooms. Around the same time, South Korean feminist groups and international K-pop fans beca...

August 29, 2024 1:26 PM

South Korea to ask Telegram, other social media firms to help tackle digital sex crimes

South Korean authorities called on Telegram and other social media platforms on Wednesday to work together with them in deleting and blocking sexually explicit deepfake content, seeking to appease public and political outrage over the problem. The steps follow reports by several domestic media outlets that sexually explicit deepfake images and videos of South Korean women were often found in Telegram chatrooms. A 24-hour hotline for victims will also be set up and the number of regulatory pers...

July 12, 2024 10:07 AM

US, South Korea sign nuclear guideline strategy to deter and respond to North Korea

The U.S. commitment to deterrence against North Korea is backed by the full range of U.S. capabilities, including nuclear, U.S. President Joe Biden told South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol in a meeting on Thursday on the sidelines of a NATO summit. The two leaders also authorised a guideline on establishing an integrated system of extended deterrence for the Korean peninsula to counter nuclear and military threats from North Korea, Yoon's office said. The guideline formalises the deployment o...