60s movie star Kim Ji-mee dies in US SEOUL, December 10 (AJP) - Veteran actress Kim Ji-mee, one of the biggest stars of South Korean cinema in the 1960s and 1970s, died of age-related complications in the U.S., film industry sources said Wednesday. She was 85. Born in 1940 in South Chungcheong Province, the prolific actress appeared in around 700 films since making her screen debut in director Kim Ki-young's 1957 film "Twilight Train," with her career spanning from the 1950s through the 1990s. Her personal life was as dramatic as her on-screen roles, with multiple high-profile marriages and divorces to prominent figures and top stars that often drew comparisons to Hollywood star Elizabeth Taylor. At the age of 18 in 1958, she married film director Hong Seong-gi, who was 16 years her senior, but the couple divorced in 1962. Later that year, she made headlines when she was arrested on adultery charges involving actor Choi Mu-ryong. She remarried him the following year, but their scandalous marriage also ended in 1969. She later lived with then-popular singer Na Hoon-a from 1976 to 1982, before marrying a doctor in 1991 in her fourth and final marriage, which also ended some 11 years later. After retiring from acting in the late 2000s, Kim moved to the U.S., settling near Los Angeles, California. Details about her funeral service have not been disclosed, but the Federation of Korean Filmmakers here said it will hold a memorial service in Seoul, honoring her legacy and cinematic achievements in South Korean film history. 2025-12-10 11:31:06

Lee hails citizens' courage on first anniversary of martial law debacle SEOUL, December 3 (AJP) - President Lee Jae Myung on Wednesday consoled and praised South Korean people, highlighting the country's resilient democracy, one year after disgraced former President Yoon Suk Yeol's martial law debacle. In his nationwide address at the presidential office in Seoul, he praised the people, saying, "I am convinced that South Koreans, who overcame an unprecedented democratic crisis in world history through peaceful means, are fully deserving of the Nobel Peace Prize." "If they were to receive the Nobel Peace Prize for preserving democracy, restoring peace, and demonstrating the greatness of democracy to the world, it would serve as a major turning point for all nations shaken by conflict and division," he elaborated. "In the 21st century, it was the first time such a occurred in a democratic country like South Korea. But it was also the first time in world history that unarmed citizens bravely and peacefully stopped it," he said. It "demonstrated our citizens' profound sense of sovereignty and the remarkable resilience of South Korean democracy to the world." Calling the people's protest the "revolution of light," as citizens took to the streets with lights to defend democracy against Yoon's Dec. 3 declaration of martial law, Lee also proposed designating the day as a national observance to honor the courage and actions of the people who fought to protect their sovereignty. Lee then sternly said he will ensure those responsible for the debacle are held accountable to "ensure no one ever dares dream of a coup again." He also vowed "strict punishment for those involved whose audacity led them to destroy constitutional order for personal ambitions and even plot a war." Yoon's botched martial law declaration, the first of its kind in modern South Korean history, was short-lived as lawmakers swiftly voted to lift it within hours. About 10 days later, they voted to impeach him, and Yoon was subsequently ousted from office in April this year. He has since been on trial on charges of insurrection and abuse of power. In the following 60-minute press conference, attended by more than 80 foreign journalists and broadcast live, Lee cited Washington's support for building nuclear-powered submarines, along with its nod to reprocess spent nuclear fuel and enrich uranium, as the "biggest achievement" of the country's comprehensive trade and security agreement recently concluded with the alley. When asked whether South Korea would back Japan in its diplomatic row with China over Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's recent comments that Tokyo could take military action if Beijing attacked Taiwan, Lee said South Korea would prefer to serve as a "mediator" rather than take sides. "Taking sides would only escalate the conflict," Lee said. Later in the day, Lee is scheduled to join a civic rally commemorating the day and participate in a march around 7 p.m. In a rare move for a sitting president, this is seen as an effort to highlight that citizens were the driving force behind overcoming last year's debacle. 2025-12-03 09:52:41

National Assembly passes arrest motion for PPP's former floor leader SEOUL, November 27 (AJP) - The National Assembly on Thursday passed a motion to arrest Choo Kyung-ho, the main opposition People Power Party (PPP)'s former floor leader over his alleged involvement in disgraced former President Yoon Suk Yeol's martial law debacle in December last year. The motion, proposed by independent prosecutors investigating the debacle, comfortably passed with 172 votes in favor, four against, two abstentions, and two invalid votes at the parliamentary session, with the ruling Democratic Party (DP) holding the majority of seats. All PPP lawmakers including Choo boycotted the vote. Choo has been accused of interfering with parliamentary efforts to lift the martial law declared by Yoon on Dec. 3. By law, sitting lawmakers are immune from arrest while parliament is in session and can only be arrested with a majority vote from the National Assembly. A court is now set to hold a hearing to decide whether to issue an arrest warrant for Choo. 2025-11-27 17:35:50

North Korea likely to pursue talks with US early next year, spy agency speculates SEOUL, November 5 (AJP) - North Korea will likely respond to U.S. President Donald Trump's repeated overtures after all, South Korea's spy agency believes. According to lawmakers who were briefed in a closed-door parliamentary audit at the National Intelligence Service (NIS)'s headquarters in southern Seoul on Tuesday, Pyongyang is expected to "pursue dialogue" with Washington sometime in March next year when South Korea conducts its annual joint military exercise with the U.S. But the NIS later clarified that it did not predict a summit at that time. It instead speculated that a turning point for the talks could come in March, coinciding with the exercise, as North Korea may want to leverage its close ties with Russia and improved relations with its traditional ally of China. Backing up this assessment, the NIS said it detected several signs that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un had been preparing for a meeting with Trump until the last minute just ahead of last week's Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Gyeongju, although their much-anticipated first rendezvous since Trump's inauguration for his second term did not ultimately materialize. Trump had repeatedly expressed his desire to meet Kim during his trip to South Korea on the sidelines of the multilateral gathering, but Kim remained silent, and Trump's overtures were met only with a couple of missile launches. "North Korea stressed its close relationship with Trump, suggesting that it considered a summit until the very last moment and may pursue talks later once conditions are met," said Park Sun-won of the ruling Democratic Party (DP), quoting the NIS. "Evidence obtained through various channels and sources suggests that North Korea had apparently been preparing for talks with the U.S. behind the scenes," added Lee Seong-kweun of the main opposition People Power Party (PPP). Since late September, North Korea has deliberately refrained from claiming its "nuclear power" status, a shift in its rhetoric and stance, while hinting at an intention to engage in talks with the U.S., provided that denuclearization is not included on the agenda, according to the NIS. Pyongyang has also been gathering intelligence on senior officials and other key figures involved in North Korean affairs in Washington, another signal of possible talks, although it still remains to be seen. Trump met Kim three times during his first term -- their historic first meeting in Singapore in June 2018, a second summit in Hanoi in February 2019 that ended in failure, and a brief, largely symbolic meeting at the border truce village of Panmunjom four months later. Since then, Trump has claimed on several occasions that he maintains a "good relationship" with Kim. 2025-11-05 10:16:08