SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korean and U.S. troops will begin their large annual joint military drills next week to enhance readiness against North Korean threats, the allies announced Thursday, days after North Korea threatened high-profile provocations against what it called escalating U.S.-led aggression.

Every year on March 1, South Koreans commemorate the anniversary of the 1919 March 1 Movement, a nationwide uprising against Japanese imperial rule that galvanized the Korean independence movement.

A shift in societal norms could prove pivotal in a country that over the past decade has seen its birthrate plummet to the lowest in the world.

South Korea's Acting President Choi Sang-mok said on Tuesday that the government, parliament and the private sector should be united to respond to the U.S. "trade war".

In a reflection of the deep political divisions within Israel over the government’s approach to freeing the hostages held in Gaza, zero government officials were invited to the funeral of a mother and her two children,

South Korea's record-low birth rate rose in 2024, the country's statistics agency reported on Wednesday, marking the first increase in nine years in a slight respite from a looming demographic crisis.

Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. Vehicles are parked to be exported at a port next to Hyundai Motor’s manufacturing facility in Ulsan ...