Tzuyu, shown in the photo, of K-pop girl group TWICE will temporarily suspend appearances in China after she became mired in a controversy for waving the Taiwanese national flag in an online broadcast in South Korea, according to her agency in Seoul on Jan. 14, 2016. She waved the flag while appearing in a popular TV show “My Little Television” in November last year, the portion of which was not aired on the terrestrial channel but was seen belatedly by online viewers in China. Her agency, JYP Entertainment, said it does not promote political agendas and expressed regret over the controversy. Tzuyu is a Taiwanese native in the multinational, nine-member girl group. (Photo provided by JYP Entertainment) (Yonhap)
North Koreans who contributed to the alleged success of a hydrogen bomb test board the luxurious cruise ship “Rainbow” in this photo published by the country’s official daily Rodong Sinmun on Jan. 14, 2016. Reports said people who contributed to the success, ranging from scientists to laborers, were allowed to visit Pyongyang on Jan. 8-13 for a tour of landmarks and to enjoy rest aboard the cruise ship and at a waterpark. North Korea carried out the nuclear test on Jan. 6, but experts dispute that it involved a hydrogen bomb as asserted by Pyongyang. (Yonhap)
Lee Boo-jin (L), the elder daughter of Samsung Group’s owner family, and Im Woo-jae are officially divorced after a local court on Jan. 14, 2016, accepted the claim filed by Lee, ending their marriage of 17 years. The two received much press about their marriage of an heir to a mega-conglomerate and an ordinary man she met when he was an employee at a Samsung-affiliated company. Im had climbed up the success ladder at Samsung Electro-Mechanics Co., also a Samsung affiliate, after the marriage to executive vice president before stepping aside in 2015 to become a company adviser. He had contested the divorce. (Yonhap)
Members of the Ship Salvage Unit, special forces under the Navy in charge of rescue missions during maritime accidents, jump into the sea in a winter exercise at Changwon, 398 kilometers southeast of Seoul, on Jan. 11, 2016. (Yonhap)
People sleep next to a bronze statue of a girl symbolizing the so-called “comfort women’ issue in front of the site of the Japanese Embassy in Seoul on Jan. 12, 2016, as they stage a sit-in protest to oppose a recent landmark deal between South Korea and Japan over women who were forced to work in Japan’s military brothels during World War II and Japan’s demand that the statue be removed. (Yonhap)
Dejan Damjanovic, a former striker for Beijing Guoan, smiles during a press conference in Seoul on Jan. 7, 2016, on his return to South Korean club FC Seoul. Commonly called Dejan, the Montenegrin came to Korea in 2007 and signed with FC Seoul, launching a successful career as one of the top scoring players. He switched to China in late 2013 but decided to return, accepting a pay cut. (Yonhap)
A South Korean citizen offers a flower to the statue of a girl who symbolizes the hundreds of thousands of Korean women who were mobilized as sex slaves for Japan’s World War II soldiers, in front of the Japanese Embassy in Seoul on Jan. 9, 2016. (Yonhap)
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un makes a congratulatory visit to the Ministry of People’s Armed Forces for the new year, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reports on Jan. 10, 2016. Kim said the hydrogen bomb test carried out last week was an act of self-defense, according to the report. (KCNA-Yonhap)
