U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken will travel to South Korea, Japan and France from Jan. 4-9, the State Department said on Friday, amid a political crisis in Seoul. South Korea's presidential guards and military troops on Friday prevented authorities from arresting impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol,

The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency said Friday that flu cases are rising sharply in South Korea, marking the biggest flu outbreak in that nation since 2016.

A standoff between the impeached president’s security team and officials seeking to detain him was echoed on the streets outside the presidential residence.

When Yoon was impeached three weeks ago, he was supposedly stripped of his power. So to have law enforcement officers trying to carry out an arrest - which they have legal warrant for - only to be blocked by Yoon's security team raises serious and uncomfortable questions about who is in charge here.

The government has little to show for the hundreds of billions of dollars spent on pro-natal policies over nearly two decades.

Fire officials received reports of the fire around 4:40 p.m. in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, and were at the scene within an hour, fire officials said. About 300 people were said to be in the building at the time of the blaze.

The impeached president faces an attempt by authorities to arrest him over his short-lived Dec. 3 martial law.

Grieving relatives of people killed in a plane crash in South Korea have visited the site to pay respects to their loved ones on New Year’s Day. Only two of the 181 people aboard the Boeing 737-800 operated by Jeju Air survived.

South Korea's political leadership was in uncharted territory Saturday after the sitting president resisted arrest over a failed martial law decree days before the warrant expires.The South Korean president was impeached and suspended last month after the bungled martial law declaration -- a political move swiftly overturned by parliament -- with a separate warrant later issued for his arrest.

SEOUL: United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken will visit South Korea for talks next week, the two countries announced on Friday (Jan 3), with Seoul mired in political turmoil as its impeached president resists arrest.

By Hyunsu Yim, Eduardo Baptista and Minwoo Park SEOUL (Reuters) -Supporters of impeached South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol are adopting "Stop the Steal" slogans popularised by U.S. President-elect Donald Trump supporters and said they hoped the incoming president would help their embattled leader.