
The South Korean foreign ministry held a meeting with diplomatic missions in Europe to coordinate safety measures for South Korean nationals amid widespread protests over the rising cost of living and housing prices.
AI-generated summary
Protests have erupted across Europe due to the rising cost of living and soaring housing prices.
SEOUL, Oct. 20 (Yonhap) -- The foreign ministry said Tuesday it held a joint meeting with diplomatic missions in Europe to discuss ways to ensure the safety of South Koreans amid large-scale protests across the region.
The meeting brought together officials from eight South Korean diplomatic missions in Europe, including those in France, Italy, Spain and Belgium, according to the ministry.
The ministry urged the officials to closely monitor developments and take necessary measures to ensure the safety of South Koreans in the region.
A series of protests have erupted across Europe recently, with demonstrators protesting against the rising cost of living and soaring housing prices.

The Italian government is deploying 500 military troops in response to violent and looting protests in Milan and is considering expanding preventive detention of minors and curfew measures. Recently, protests against rising prices have intensified, leading to increased security and logistics disruptions.

Japan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs has decided to provide an unmanned aerial vehicle response system worth 1.65 billion yen to the Malaysian Navy through Security Capability Enhancement Assistance (OSA). This is the first case of Japan supporting drone response equipment through this system.

At a joint Korea-China academic conference held in Beijing, China, Chinese experts diagnosed that denuclearization has become realistically difficult due to North Korea's advancement in nuclear capabilities. However, he drew the line that China's principled stance on denuclearization remains unchanged.

Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) claimed that two oil tankers that violated regulations collided with mines in the Strait of Hormuz and halted operations, and warned that oil companies will pay a greater price if the arbitrary actions of the United States continue.

South Korea is partially withdrawing diplomatic staff from Ukraine due to an unresolved dispute over the disclosure of North Korean POW transfers and continuous Russian airstrikes that threaten safety.

North Korea harshly criticized Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's offering of offerings to the Yasukuni Shrine and politicians' mass visits as 'disgraceful acts that raise the specter of militarism' and called for an apology and compensation for past events.