Smoking accounted for more than 80% of in-flight illegal acts reported by South Korea's 10 carriers in the past five years; under South Korean law, a fine of up to 10 million won ($7,500) is imposed for in-flight smoking, including e-cigarettes

For the first time since 2017 South Korea did not experience a typhoon landfall this summer, while powerful storms hit the country in the past two years; experts explain it was due to a North Pacific high pressure system that caused extreme heat in August

A large crowd attended a rally against antidiscrimination legislation and legalization of same-sex marriage; organizers - an ad hoc committee of Communion of Churches and Protestant groups - claim "over a million" participated, police estimated 120.000

South Korea demanded the immediate pullout of North Korean troops allegedly deployed in Russia as it summoned the Russian ambassador to protest deepening military cooperation between Pyongyang and Moscow