S Korea

The Defence Ministry in Seoul renewed the warning after Pyongyang's Defence Minister Kang Sun-nam slammed the arrival of the USS Kentucky, an 18,750-tonne Ohio-class nuclear ballistic missile submarine (SSBN), in South Korea and the inaugural meeting of the South Korea-US Nuclear Consultative Group (NCG) this week, reports Yonhap News Agency.

The three leaders are expected to discuss ways to strengthen deterrence against North Korea's nuclear and missile threats during the summit at the US presidential retreat in Maryland, reports Yonhap News Agency. The presidential office acknowledged in a notice to reporters that the summit will take place in the US "sometime in August", but added the exact date and place will be announced soon following coordination between the three sides.

The drills took place as the three countries have been reinforcing security coordination amid Pyongyang's firing of a Hwasong-18 solid-fuel ICBM last Wednesday. The exercise featured three Aegis-equipped destroyers -- the South's ROKS Yulgok Yi I, the US' USS John Finn and the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force's JS Maya, Yonhap news agency reported, citing the South Korean armed service.

"In response to North Korea's long-range ballistic missile launch that threatens the peace and safety of the Korean Peninsula and the international society, the government has decided to impose unilateral sanctions against four individuals and three organisations involved in nuclear and missile developments and funding," the foreign ministry said.

The Ohio-class SSGN, USS Michigan, entered a key naval base in Busan, 320 km southeast of Seoul, after North Korea fired two short-range ballistic missiles toward the East Sea on Thursday in apparent protest against the massive live-fire drills that ended earlier in the day, reports Yonhap News Agency. It marks the first time the US has sent an SSGN to South Korea since October 2017.

Shortly before the launch, a spokesperson for the North's defence ministry issued a statement denouncing what it called the "provocative and irresponsible" drills, Yonhap news agency reported. Seoul's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said it detected the launches from the Sunan area in Pyongyang between 7:25 p.m. and 7:37 p.m..

South Korea, Algeria, Guyana, Sierra Leone, and Slovenia were elected non-permanent members of the UN Security Council for a two-year term. South Korea, Algeria, Guyana, and Sierra Leone were running unopposed on Tuesday. Slovenia and Belarus contended the one seat for Eastern Europe. The five newly elected members will replace.

South Korea, which last sat on the council in 2013-2014, aims to return to the council for 2024-2025, and the UN will vote on the bid on Tuesday, reports Yonhap News Agency.

The Ministry of Health and Welfare said it had conducted the poll on a sample of 9,471 single-member households from November to December last year to check their circumstances that could possibly lead to a lonely death in the future, reports Yonhap News Agency.

According to the KBS report on Thursday, logging work began in March on a hill in downtown Changwon, about 300 km southeast of the capital Seoul, and the shooting range will be completed in two years. However, as apartment complexes with over 1,100 units, shopping centres and industrial parks are concentrated within a radius of 1.5 km.