Person

Lee Jae Myung

1. 13-hour fire at Guryong Village, Seoul's last shanty town in Gangnam, leaves 107 people homeless

   A fire broke out at about 3:50pm local time on Tuesday, Oct 27, in a temporary building in Section 2 of Guryong Village in Seoul's Gangnam district, spreading on strong winds to parts of Sections 1, 3 and 7; firefighters declared it fully extinguished at 4:40am on Wednesday, about 13 hours later. The fire left 77 households and 107 residents without homes, and a woman in her 30s suffered a minor leg injury. Authorities briefly issued a national fire mobilisation order and deployed more than 940 firefighters, police and district staff and six firefighting helicopters; President Lee Jae Myung ordered an all-out rescue effort and Seoul's mayor cancelled his schedule to go to the scene. The village also had a major fire in January, and the cause of this one is under investigation.

   Oct 28, 2026 Morning
2. South Korean President Lee Jae-myung vows to push life in prison without parole for violent offenders

   After chairing an inter-ministerial meeting on rising violent crime on Oct 23, South Korean President Lee Jae-myung pledged on social media to speed up the introduction of life imprisonment without parole for violent offenders and to set up special police units to patrol around victims' homes. The presidential office said the National Police Agency had briefed the president on the patrol units, and the Justice Ministry said it would actively push the sentence to permanently separate the most serious offenders from society.

   Oct 25, 2026 Morning
3. German Chancellor Merz to visit Japan and South Korea next week, meeting PM Takaichi on Oct 28 and President Lee Jae-myung in Seoul from Oct 29

   NHK reported that German Chancellor Friedrich Merz will visit Japan next week for a summit with Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi on cooperation including economic security. South Korean media said Merz will then make a two-day visit to South Korea from Oct 29 for a summit with President Lee Jae-myung in Seoul. KBS said it will be his first visit to South Korea as chancellor, and he will also attend the 19th Asia-Pacific Conference of German Business in Seoul.

   Oct 24, 2026 Afternoon
4. Follow-up: Seoul vows 'resolute punishment' if North Korea acts on border threats

   South Korea's Defense Ministry said on Oct 20 it was gravely concerned by North Korea's threats to deploy more tactical strike forces on the border and resume loudspeaker broadcasts into the South, warning it would 'punish resolutely' further provocations and urging Pyongyang to stop 'groundless claims' and Military Demarcation Line crossings. It called ROK loudspeaker warnings and warning shots near the MDL 'legitimate defensive measures'. Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Jin Young-seung inspected the front line and ordered operations to strengthen initiative. The threats echoed recent remarks by Kim Yo-jong and risk undoing diplomatic easing after President Lee Jae Myung took office.

   Oct 20, 2026 Afternoon
5. Kim Yo-jong says North Korea mulls resuming loudspeaker broadcasts and adding strike assets on border

   In a statement carried by KCNA on Oct 19, Kim Yo-jong, sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, said the situation on the southern border was 'very unstable' and that Pyongyang was considering resuming loudspeaker propaganda broadcasts into South Korea and deploying additional tactical strike assets on the border. She said that from Oct 15 to 17 South Korean troops issued about 350 loudspeaker warnings and fired about 60 warning shots at North Korean troops reinforcing the border, and that the Lee Jae Myung government's schemes to provoke confrontation surpass those of the Yoon Suk Yeol administration.

   Oct 20, 2026 Morning