Seoul: President Lee Jae Myung on Thursday called for stern punishment for those who glorify state-led atrocities or defame victims of such violence. Lee made the remarks during a meeting with senior aides, citing the spread of "malicious fake news" claiming that North Korean forces were involved in the 1980 democratization movement in Gwangju as an act deserving punishment.
According to Yonhap News Agency, a group of shareholders of Samsung Electronics Co. on Thursday called the tentative wage deal struck between the company and its labor union illegal, vowing to take legal action against it. Late Wednesday, Samsung and its largest labor union reached a last-minute wage agreement over performance-based bonuses, averting a planned 18-day strike that had been scheduled to begin Thursday.
A Seoul court on Thursday sentenced former National Intelligence Service (NIS) Director Cho Tae-yong to 1 1/2 years in prison for making false testimony in connection with former President Yoon Suk Yeol's brief imposition of martial law in December 2024. The Seoul Central District Court handed down the sentence for Cho, finding him guilty of making false testimonies at the Constitutional Court by saying he had not received martial law-related documents from Yoon.
South Korean stocks spiked more than 8 percent Thursday on tech gains, after Samsung Electronics averted a strike and strong earnings from Nvidia, along with optimism over its robotics business outlook, boosted investor sentiment. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) gained 606.64 points, or 8.42 percent, to close at 7,815.59, after rising as high as 7,819.23. The local currency gained ground against the U.S. dollar.