[Newsmaker] Trump returns to spotlight in trial — but not on his terms

His rallying cry to supporters has been dissected. His videos, press conferences and calls to Fox News have played on loop. His Twitter account is once again dominating news coverage, his missives read aloud in the Senate chamber. More than three weeks removed from the White House, Donald Trump’s voice is again permeating the nation’s capital — but not on his terms. Stripped of his social media megaphone, the former president has watched the searing opening days of his hist

World NewsFeb. 12, 2021

[Newsmaker] Mori to resign Tokyo Olympics over sexist remarks: reports

The long saga of Yoshiro Mori appears to be near the end. Japan's Kyodo news agency and others reported on Thursday citing unnamed sources that Yoshiro Mori will step down on Friday as the president of the Tokyo Olympic organizing committee. The move follows his sexist comments about women more than a week ago, and an ensuing and rare public debate in Japan about gender equality, A decision is expected to be announced on Friday when the organizing committee's executive board meets. The execu

World NewsFeb. 11, 2021

[Newsmaker] South Korea approves AstraZeneca vaccine for all adults

South Korea has approved the emergency use of AstraZeneca’s adenoviral vector COVID-19 vaccine for all adults, including those aged 65 and older, the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety said Wednesday. The efficacy of the AstraZeneca vaccine for seniors had been a matter of contention, given the dearth of clinical data presented by AstraZeneca in regards to the aged cohort. Authorities here have decided to proceed with vaccination for all, on the condition that AstraZeneca follows up with fu

IndustryFeb. 10, 2021

[Newsmaker] Big Hit, YG, UMG, Kiswe eye global market with online concert platform VenewLive

YG Entertainment and Universal Music Group have joined hands with Big Hit Entertainment and Kiswe to grow VenewLive into a global-scale digital livestreaming platform. YG Entertainment and Universal Music Group announced Wednesday that they had invested an undisclosed amount in KBYK Live, a joint venture founded last year by Big Hit Entertainment and Kiswe. KBYK Live created digital livestreaming concert service platform VenewLive last year, to much success, emphasizing the use of cutting-edge

K-popFeb. 10, 2021

[Newsmaker] Trump trial begins but Republicans signal likely acquittal

WASHINGTON (AFP) -- Donald Trump's second impeachment trial began Tuesday with harrowing video footage of his supporters' assault on Congress, but Republican senators made clear how difficult it will be to win a conviction. Senators voted 56-44 in favor of the constitutionality of the historic trial, rejecting a bid by Trump's lawyers to throw it out on grounds that a former president cannot be tried by lawmakers. The vote, held before the main part of the trial was to get underway Wednesday,

World NewsFeb. 10, 2021

[Newsmaker] Arrest warrant denied for ex-energy minister on nuclear reactor closure

A local court on Tuesday rejected an arrest warrant for former Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Paik Un-gyu for his role in the controversial closure of South Korea’s second-oldest nuclear reactor. The Daejeon District Court on Tuesday denied the prosecution’s request for an arrest warrant made Thursday against Paik on charges of abuse of power and obstruction of business. The court said the prosecution’s arguments are insufficient to prove Paik’s criminal involve

Social AffairsFeb. 9, 2021

[Newsmaker] Warrant sought for former energy minister over nuclear plant closure

Former Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Paik Un-gyu on Monday faced potential arrest for his role in the controversial closure of South Korea’s second-oldest nuclear reactor. The Daejeon District Court on Monday afternoon started an arrest warrant hearing for Paik on charges of abuse of power and obstruction of business following a request from the prosecution on Thursday. Paik is under investigation for allegedly abusing his authority to negatively influence the viability assessme

Social AffairsFeb. 8, 2021

[Newsmaker] S. Korea reports another suspected case of bird flu, total now at 87

South Korea said Monday it is currently investigating yet another suspected case of highly pathogenic bird flu, with the country's total confirmed infections staying unchanged at 87. The latest suspected case of the deadly H5N8 strain of avian influenza was reported from an egg farm in Pocheon, 46 kilometers north of Seoul, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. The test result is expected to come out within three days. The farm was raising 160,000 chickens. Since l

Social AffairsFeb. 8, 2021

[Newsmaker] NK to convene party meeting this week

North Korea is set to convene a meeting of top ruling party officials to finalize policy plans for this year set forth at last month’s Workers’ Party congress, state media said Sunday.   　 The second plenary meeting of the eighth Central Committee of the Workers’ Party of Korea will take place within the first 10 days of this month, according to the official Korea Central News Agency. The state media did not specify an exact date in the report, but considering the disclo

North KoreaFeb. 7, 2021

[Newsmaker] Myanmar anti-coup protests grow as army broadens internet crackdown

YANGON (AFP) -- Myanmar saw its largest anti-coup protests yet on Saturday with young demonstrators spilling on to the streets to denounce the country's new military regime, despite a nationwide internet blackout aimed at stifling a growing chorus of popular dissent. Soon before nearly all lines of communication in and out of the country went dark, an Australian advisor to ousted civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi told media he had been detained. The shutdown did not stop thousands of demonstrat

World NewsFeb. 7, 2021

[Newsmaker] Tokyo Olympics chief in hot water over sexist remarks

The chief of the Tokyo Olympics organizing committee has apologized for making derogatory comments about women, but refuses to resign amid the ongoing controversy. “The Education Ministry has been very insistent about choosing female directors,” former Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori said Wednesday during a Japanese Olympic Committee board of directors meeting. “But a board meeting with plenty of women will make it drag on.” Describing women as having a “strong sen

Olympic GamesFeb. 5, 2021

[Newsmaker] National Assembly impeaches judge accused of power abuse

South Korea on Thursday impeached a sitting judge for the first time in its history, as lawmakers voted to remove Lim Seong-geun, a senior judge at the Busan High Court for meddling in a number of politically controversial trials during the Park Geun-hye administration. During the extraordinary session of the National Assembly, 179 lawmakers voted to impeach Lim while 102 voted against it, marking the first time a judge has been removed from the post while in service. There were two motions in

PoliticsFeb. 4, 2021

[Newsmaker] Supreme Court chief justice in hot water over judge impeachment

Supreme Court Chief Justice Kim Myeong-su acknowledged that he had considered politicians’ plans to impeach Lim Seong-geun, a senior judge at the Busan High Court, when he refused to accept Lim’s resignation in May. Kim said in a statement to reporters Thursday that he regretted making the erroneous claim that he had never mentioned anything about impeachment during the conversation he had with Lim at the time. “I apologize for responding falsely based on uncertain memories o

PoliticsFeb. 4, 2021

[Newsmaker] S. Korea culls 25.4m poultry amid bird flu outbreak

South Korea's agricultural ministry said Thursday it has completed culling 25.4 million poultry amid the outbreak of avian influenza among local farms, with the confirmed caseload reaching 85. The latest case of the malign H5N8 strain of bird flu was reported from a duck farm in Chungju, about 150 kilometers south of Seoul, the previous day, the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs said. Since the country reported the first highly pathogenic bird flu case traced to poultry farms in

Social AffairsFeb. 4, 2021

[Newsmaker] Ruling camp bigwigs clash over COVID-19 relief funds

Tensions flared between South Korea’s fiscal chief and the ruling party leader on Wednesday, as they publicly disagreed over the timing of an additional release of COVID-19 relief funds and who should benefit. Prime Minister and Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki struck a defiant tone against the idea pitched by the ruling Democratic Party Chairman and a leading potential contender for 2022 presidential race Lee Nak-yon to begin discussions on a fourth round of emergency handouts to all househo

EconomyFeb. 3, 2021

[Newsmaker] Jeff Bezos, Amazon's founder, will step down as CEO

NEW YORK (AP) -- Jeff Bezos, who founded Amazon as an online bookstore and built it into a shopping and entertainment behemoth, will step down later this year as CEO, a role he's had for nearly 30 years, to become executive chairman, the company announced Tuesday. Bezos, 57, will be replaced in the summer by Andy Jassy, who runs Amazon's cloud-computing business. In a blog post to employees, Bezos said he planned to focus on new products and early initiatives being developed at Amazon. He

World BusinessFeb. 3, 2021

[Newsmaker] Cheong Wa Dae rules out disclosing USB handed over to North during 2018 summit

Cheong Wa Dae on Tuesday ruled out disclosing the contents of a flash drive containing a broad cross-border economic cooperation vision that President Moon Jae-in handed over to North Korean leader Kim Jong-un during their first summit meeting in 2018. “It is an irresponsible request,” Choi Jae-sung, the president’s senior secretary for political affairs, said in a radio interview in response to the opposition bloc’s demand for a full disclosure of the contents of the

PoliticsFeb. 2, 2021

[Newsmaker] Ruling party will seek extra budget to prepare 4th round of COVID-19 relief fund: chief

The ruling Democratic Party (DP) will seek an extra state budget to provide the fourth round of a COVID-19 relief fund, party Chairman Rep. Lee Nak-yon said Tuesday. "(The DP) will prepare the fourth round of the disaster assistance fund. It will draw up a sufficient supplementary budget," the party chief said in his parliamentary speech marking the recent launch of a monthlong extra parliamentary session. Since May last year, the government has distributed more than 31 trillion won

PoliticsFeb. 2, 2021

[Newsmaker] Cheong Wa Dae denounces ‘ideological offensive’ over ministry documents

Cheong Wa Dae condemned what it called an outdated ideological offensive surrounding documents the Energy Ministry deleted, which allegedly indicated plans to help North Korea build a nuclear power plant at the time of the 2018 inter-Korean summit. “They crossed the line,” a ranking Cheong Wa Dae official said Monday in response to main opposition People Power Party leader Kim Chong-in accusing the government of “benefiting the enemy.” “It is a ridiculous insti

PoliticsFeb. 1, 2021

[Newsmaker] Myanmar's Aung San Suu Kyi, other senior figures detained in late-night raid: ruling party

Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi and other senior figures from the ruling party have been detained in anearly morning raid, the spokesman for the governing National League for Democracy (NLD) said on Monday. The move came after days of escalating tension between the civilian government and the powerful military that stirred fears of a coup in the aftermath of an election the army says was fraudulent.  Spokesman Myo Nyunt told Reuters by phone that Suu Kyi, President Win Myint and othe

World NewsFeb. 1, 2021