Seoul

A South Korean ruling party lawmaker was struck on the head with a rock on a street in Seoul's upscale Gangnam district on Thursday by an unidentified assailant, Yonhap news agency reported.

Bae Hyun-jin, 40, was taken to hospital, the report said, adding her condition was "not life threatening".

Barely two weeks into 2024, tensions on the Korean Peninsula are rapidly escalating, as IFIMES Institute was periodically writing.

North Korea said Friday that it had tested an "underwater nuclear weapon system" in response to joint naval exercises by Washington, Seoul and Tokyo that involved a U.S. nuclear-powered aircraft carrier.

Kim Jong Un threatened South Korea with war if "even 0.001 mm" of the North's territory is violated, as Pyongyang abolished agencies that oversaw cooperation and reunification, state media said Tuesday.

North Korea said Monday it had successfully test-fired a new ballistic missile tipped with a hypersonic manoeuvrable warhead, the latest breakthrough in its pursuit of advanced weaponry to threaten South Korean and U.S. targets.

Oscar-winning "Parasite" filmmaker Bong Joon-ho and other South Korean stars called for an investigation on Friday into police and media conduct in the days leading to actor Lee Sun-kyun's death.

Lee, best known globally for his starring role in Bong's 2019 film "Parasite", was found dead in a car in Seoul last month, after a two-month police investigation over suspected drug use.

North Korea fired more than 200 artillery shells near two South Korean islands on Friday, Seoul's defence ministry said, warning the actions threatened peace and it would respond.

Residents on the two islands were ordered to evacuate, in one of the most serious military escalations between the two Koreas since the North fired a barrage of shells at one of the islands in 2010.

South Korean opposition leader Lee Jae-myung was recovering in intensive care after he was stabbed in the neck on Tuesday by a man who pushed through a crowd pretending to be his supporter, his party said.

Lee was surrounded by journalists when a man lunged and struck him on the left side of his neck, Busan police official Son Je-han said at a press briefing.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un told his top military officers to use maximum force against South Korea and the United States if they initiate a military confrontation, state media reported Monday.

Seoul and Washington have ramped up defence cooperation in the face of a record-breaking series of weapons tests by Pyongyang over the past year.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un wrapped up the year with fresh threats of a nuclear attack on Seoul and orders for a military arsenal build-up to prepare for a war that can "break out any time" on the peninsula, state media reported Sunday.