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NoneSouth Korea's opposition-led parliament on Saturday rejected a bill proposing a special counsel investigation into First Lady Kim Keon-hee, reported Reuters. The opposition introduced the bill into parliament concerning allegations against the First Lady of stock price manipulation and poll result tampering through a power broker. 102 out of 300 lawmakers voted against the bill, reported Bloomberg . Also Read: South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol apologises for martial law attempt Kim Keon-hee was acquitted in the case of stock manipulation linked to Deutsche Motors as the court ruled in favour of the defence, claiming that she was unaware of her account being used for transactions by an external manager, reported Korean daily Hankyoreh . However, links between her and self-proclaimed political consultant Myung Tae-Kyun have been called into question, as he is currently facing an investigation regarding the nomination of candidates to top positions in the government, reported The Korea Times . Also Read: Who is South Korea's first lady Kim Keon-hee and what are the charges against her? Kim Keon-hee has been at the centre of several controversies which have led to calls for investigations into her and her art exhibition company Covana Contents as well. She also faced the ire of the public after a secretly recorded video was released on YouTube, showing her accepting a Dior luxury handbag worth $2,200 from a pastor, in violation of Korean law, which prohibits public officials from accepting gifts worth more than $750. Also Read: ‘Go back in’: South Korean protesters urge lawmakers to be part of impeachment vote While Kim Keon-hee will not be required to face a special probe, President Yoon Suk Yeol still faces an impeachment vote in the National Assembly. Several ruling party members have walked out of parliament, which left too few members to pass the measure. However, the Speaker urged the parliament to vote as it is essential to democracy. The South Korean public also surrounded the parliament in protest against the ruling party, calling for the president's impeachment in light of his declaration of “emergency martial law” in the country on Tuesday. The declaration of martial law was swiftly overturned in 2 hours after a unanimous vote in parliament.

NoneArticle content SEOUL, South Korea — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un vowed to implement the “toughest” anti-U.S. policy, state media reported Sunday, less than a month before Donald Trump takes office as U.S. president. Trump’s return to the White House raises prospects for high-profile diplomacy with North Korea. During his first term, Trump met Kim three times for talks on the North’s nuclear program. Many experts however say a quick resumption of Kim-Trump summitry is unlikely as Trump would first focus on conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East. North Korea’s support for Russia’s war against Ukraine also poses a challenge to efforts to revive diplomacy, experts say. During a five-day plenary meeting of the ruling Workers’ Party that ended Friday, Kim called the U.S. “the most reactionary state that regards anti-communism as its invariable state policy.” Kim said that the U.S.-South Korea-Japan security partnership is expanding into “a nuclear military bloc for aggression.” “This reality clearly shows to which direction we should advance and what we should do and how,” Kim said, according to the official Korean Central News Agency. It said Kim’s speech “clarified the strategy for the toughest anti-U.S. counteraction to be launched aggressively” by North Korea for its long-term national interests and security. KCNA didn’t elaborate on the anti-U.S. strategy. But it said Kim set forth tasks to bolster military capability through defence technology advancements and stressed the need to improve the mental toughness of North Korean soldiers. The previous meetings between Trump and Kim had not only put an end to their exchanges of fiery rhetoric and threats of destruction, but they developed personal connections. Trump once famously said he and Kim “fell in love.” But their talks eventually collapsed in 2019, as they wrangled over U.S.-led sanctions on the North. North Korea has since sharply increased the pace of its weapons testing activities to build more reliable nuclear missiles targeting the U.S. and its allies. The U.S. and South Korea have responded by expanding their military bilateral drills and also trilateral ones involving Japan, drawing strong rebukes from the North, which views such U.S.-led exercises as invasion rehearsals. Further complicating efforts to convince North Korea to abandon its nuclear weapons in return for economic and political benefits is its deepening military cooperation with Russia. According to U.S., Ukrainian and South Korean assessments, North Korea has sent more than 10,000 troops and conventional weapons systems to support Moscow’s war against Ukraine. There are concerns that Russia could give North Korea advanced weapons technology in return, including help to build more powerful nuclear missiles. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said last week that 3,000 North Korean troops have been killed and wounded in the fighting in Russia’s Kursk region. It was the first significant estimate by Ukraine of North Korean casualties since the North Korean troop deployment to Russia began in October. Russia and China, locked in separate disputes with the U.S., have repeatedly blocked U.S.-led pushes to levy more UN sanctions on North Korea despite its repeated missile tests in defiance of UN Security Council resolutions. Last month, Kim said that his past negotiations with the United States only confirmed Washington’s “unchangeable” hostility toward his country and described his nuclear buildup as the only way to counter external threats.

NetApp Inc. stock outperforms competitors despite losses on the daySouth Korean politics is in turmoil as former Defence Minister Kim Yong-hyun faces arrest following President Yoon Suk Yeol's controversial martial law declaration. Yoon, who narrowly escaped impeachment, is now under investigation alongside Kim for treason, as reported by Yonhap News Agency. The political landscape shifted dramatically when Yoon attempted to employ martial law to eliminate what he termed as 'anti-state forces,' only to revoke the order six hours later. This abrupt action prompted three minority opposition parties to file a treason complaint against Yoon and his key aides. Observers view this development as South Korea's most significant political crisis in decades, threatening its status as a democratic stronghold and putting internal stability at risk. The national police and prosecutors continue to probe the events, with Kim facing restricted travel during ongoing investigations. (With inputs from agencies.)“Wanted” posters with the names and faces of health care executives have been popping up on the streets of New York. Hit lists with images of bullets are circulating online with warnings that industry leaders should be afraid. The apparent targeted killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson and the menacing threats that followed have sent a shudder through corporate America and the health care industry in particular, leading to increased security for executives and some workers. In the week since the brazen shooting , health insurers have removed information about their top executives from company websites, canceled in-person meetings with shareholders and advised all employees to work from home temporarily. An internal New York Police Department bulletin warned this week that the online vitriol that followed the shooting could signal an immediate “elevated threat.” Police fear that the Dec. 4 shooting could "inspire a variety of extremists and grievance-driven malicious actors to violence," according to the bulletin, which was obtained by The Associated Press. “Wanted” posters pasted to parking meters and construction site fences in Manhattan included photos of health care executives and the words “Deny, defend, depose” — similar to a phrase scrawled on bullets found near Thompson’s body and echoing those used by insurance industry critics . Thompson's wife, Paulette, told NBC News last week that he told her some people had been threatening him and suggested the threats may have involved issues with insurance coverage. Investigators believe the shooting suspect, Luigi Mangione , may have been motivated by hostility toward health insurers. They are studying his writings about a previous back injury, and his disdain for corporate America and the U.S. health care system. Mangione’s lawyer has cautioned against prejudging the case. Mangione, 26, has remained jailed in Pennsylvania, where he was arrested Monday . Manhattan prosecutors are working to bring him to New York to face a murder charge. UnitedHealthcare’s parent company, UnitedHealth Group, said this week it was working with law enforcement to ensure a safe work environment and to reinforce security guidelines and building access policies, a spokesperson said. The company has taken down photos, names and biographies for its top executives from its websites, a spokesperson said. Other organizations, including CVS, the parent company for insurance giant Aetna, have taken similar actions. Government health insurance provider Centene Corp. has announced that its investor day will be held online, rather than in-person as originally planned. Medica, a Minnesota-based nonprofit health care firm, said last week it was temporarily closing its six offices for security reasons and would have its employees work from home. Heightened security measures likely will make health care companies and their leaders more inaccessible to their policyholders, said former Cigna executive Wendell Potter. “And understandably so, with this act of violence. There’s no assurance that this won’t happen again,” said Potter, who’s now an advocate for health care reform. Private security firms and consultants have been in high demand, fielding calls almost immediately after the shooting from companies across a range of industries, including manufacturing and finance. Companies have long faced security risks and grappled with how far to take precautions for high-profile executives. But these recent threats sparked by Thompson's killing should not be ignored, said Dave Komendat, a former security chief for Boeing who now heads his own risk-management company. “The tone and tenor is different. The social reaction to this tragedy is different. And so I think that people need to take this seriously,” Komendat said. Just over a quarter of the companies in the Fortune 500 reported spending money to protect their CEOs and top executives. Of those, the median payment for personal security doubled over the last three years to just under $100,000. Hours after the shooting, Komendat was on a call with dozens of chief security officers from big corporations, and there have been many similar meetings since, hosted by security groups or law enforcement agencies assessing the threats, he said. “It just takes one person who is motivated by a poster — who may have experienced something in their life through one of these companies that was harmful," Komendat said. Associated Press reporters Wyatte Grantham-Philips in New York and Barbara Ortutay in San Francisco, contributed to this report. The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

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Companies tighten security after a health care CEO's killing leads to a surge of threats