Anthony Kuhn

After months of keeping COVID-19 in check, and despite the public's cooperation with well-prepared health authorities, South Korea is battling a new upsurge in cases that could dwarf earlier ones.

Officials believe church gatherings in the greater Seoul region are largely responsible for a sudden increase in COVID-19 infections. South Korea had been praised for its control of the virus.

COVID-19 cases among U.S. military personnel on the Japanese island of Okinawa have caused tensions with local residents. A public outcry has caused the military to make some minor concessions.

With a view to reaching English-speaking and South Korean audiences, the videos show glimpses of Pyongyang, highlight consumerism and try to dispel notions that life is restricted and people are poor.

North Korea is taking to YouTube and Twitter to spruce up its image overseas, showing off the burgeoning consumerism of Pyongyang's elites.

Parts of Asia that seemed to have COVID-19 under control have witnessed fresh outbreaks. China, Japan and Vietnam, which had few or no cases in the past month or so, are seeing a resurgence.

Her political star has risen since Kim Jong Un took power in 2011, leading to speculation that she could one day become the country's first female leader — if North Korea's patriarchy would allow it.

Seoul's mayor was found dead in a park Friday. A fierce debate has erupted in South Korean capital about how to view the mayor and his death after allegations of sexual harassment against him emerged.

Mayor Park Won-soon's daughter told police he left a verbal message similar to a will, and later turned off his mobile phone. His body was found in a wooded park early Friday, police say.

Privacy advocates warn the government has kept the information from 2015 MERS patients beyond a justified emergency period.

South Korea conscripted more than 30,000 soldiers between the ages of 14 and 17 for the war. An estimated 3,000 of them died. One survivor prays daily for their souls.

Some 30,000 child soldiers fought for South Korea during the Korean War, which began on this date 70 years ago. Some of the child soldiers say they never received the recognition they deserved.

South Korean health authorities say they are storing personal data of 2015 MERS outbreak patients. Privacy advocates say this is illegal and a flaw in a mostly successful contact tracing system.

Pyongyang says forces will be sent to Kaesong, an inter-Korean industrial park along the border where a liaison office was blown up by North Korea earlier this week.

The office, north of the Demilitarized Zone, appears to have been empty when it was destroyed. The act follows threats from Pyongyang, and experts say provocations from the North will likely continue.

The destruction appears to signal that after two years of diplomacy and summits involving the two Koreas and the U.S., it's back to a period of confrontation and provocations.

In a statement marking the summit's anniversary, North Korea accused the Trump administration of using the historic meeting to score political points and to isolate Pyongyang.

The U.S. is trying to rally its main allies in Asia to confront China on COVID-19, Hong Kong, trade and other issues. It puts Japan and South Korea, who share deep trade ties with China, in a bind.

Japan's COVID-19 death rate places the country among nations with a more successful coronavirus response. But many Japanese seem to be dissatisfied with their government's handling of the outbreak.

Both countries eased some of their intensive rules after new cases slowed to a trickle. But clusters have cropped up again this month, and authorities are ramping up testing to try to curb the spread.