Smoke rises at the scene of a fire in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Jan. 16, 2026.
| Photo Credit: AP

South Korean actress Kim Sae Ron, known for her notable roles in K-dramas such as ‘Listen to My Heart’, ‘The Queen’s Classroom,’ and ‘Hi! School-Love On’ was found dead in her home on February 16, 2025. She was 24 years old. According to reports, emergency services were dispatched to her residence after a friend, who was supposed to meet her, discovered her unresponsive body and alerted the authorities. The police have stated that there were no signs of forced entry, but an investigation is ongoing to determine the cause of her death, the Korea Herald reported. 

The news has sent shockwaves through the South Korean entertainment industry, with colleagues, friends, and fans expressing their deep sadness and condolences. 

About Kim Sae Ron

Kim Sae-Ron, born on July 31, 2000, began her acting journey at the age of nine. She quickly gained recognition for her performances in acclaimed films like ‘A Brand New Life’ (2009) and ‘The Man From Nowhere’ (2010). As she entered her teenage years, Kim took on leading roles in notable projects, including ‘A Girl at My Door’ (2014) and the television series ‘Secret Healer’ (2016). 

However, despite her early success, Kim faced significant personal and professional challenges in recent years. In May 2022, she was involved in a high-profile drunk driving incident in Seoul, which resulted in substantial property damage and led to legal repercussions. Following the incident, Kim issued a public apology and stepped back from her acting career.

She subsequently faced financial difficulties, which led her to take on part-time jobs to make ends meet. The actress had also been working to revive her acting career, with plans to return to the stage in a theatrical play in May 2024, but had to drop out due to health concerns. ‘Bloodhounds,’ released in 2023, was her last work.

South Korea lifts President’s martial law

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The Hindu

Hours after imposing martial law in South Korea, President Yoon Suk Yeol lifted it early on December 4. This was after a tense night of political drama in which troops surrounded the parliament and lawmakers voted to reject military rule.

Mr. Yoon had declared martial law late on December 3, vowing to eliminate “anti-state” forces. He has been struggling against an opposition that controls the country’s parliament and that he accuses of sympathising with North Korea.

Less than three hours after imposing martial law, parliament voted to lift the declaration, with National Assembly Speaker Woo Won Shik declaring that the martial law was “invalid”.

Seoul:

The lawmakers of South Korea’s opposition coalition on Wednesday moved a motion in the Asian country’s Parliament to impeach President Yoon Suk Yeol after his shocking imposition of martial law that brought thousands of protesters to the streets.

Seoul:

Authorities in South Korea’s capital city Seoul plan to spend 451.3 billion won (around $327 million) in the next five years to tackle “lonely deaths” – a crisis that sees thousands of its citizens, mostly middle-aged men, dying alone every year after getting unnoticed by their family and friends.

Known as ‘godoksa’ in Korea, these deaths are part of a larger problem of loneliness and isolation in the country, as the government is making all possible efforts to fight it. Sometimes, it takes days and even weeks for the authorities to find these bodies, CNN reported.

Seoul authorities, while announcing the $327 million initiative this week, stated that they want to “create a city where no one is lonely.”

Apart from this, they will provide loneliness counsellors on a 24/7 hotline and an online platform for similar counselling, besides other follow-up measures like in-person visits and consultations.

In an official release, Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon said the city authorities will mobilise all its municipal capacity to help the people feeling lonely to heal and “return to society”. “Loneliness and isolation are not just individual problems, but tasks that society must solve together,” Oh Se-hoon said.

The city also plans to introduce several other measures like expanded psychological services, green spaces, nutritional meal plans for middle-aged and elderly people as well as a dedicated “search system” for identifying the isolated residents who are seeking help.

Also, there will be activities carried out to encourage people to venture outside and connect with others. Among these are sports, gardening, book clubs and more, the CNN report said.

As per the latest figures by South Korea’s Ministry of Health and Welfare, the number of “lonely deaths” reached 3,661 last year, significantly higher from 3,559 in 2022 and 3,378 in 2021.

However, part of that increase might be due to the broader definition of “lonely death” by the ministry concerned. To qualify as a ‘lonely death,’ a body had to be found only after a certain amount of time earlier, but the term now is applied to any individual, who stays in social isolation, away from family and relatives and dies by suicide or illness.

South Korea’s demographic crisis could be another factor behind this rise. A downtrend in the birth rate and ageing population shows that there have been consistently more deaths in the country than births in recent years. The overall death rate in South Korea, including “lonely deaths,” is rising. Also, men in their 50s and 60s made up over half the total group.

Seoul:

North Korea on Tuesday blew up sections of the deeply symbolic roads connecting it to the South, Seoul’s military said, adding it had conducted a “counter-fire” operation in response.

Pyongyang’s military last week vowed to permanently seal its southern border after spending months laying mines and building anti-tank barriers in the wake of leader Kim Jong Un’s declaring the South his country’s “principal enemy”.

Last week, North Korea accused Seoul of using drones to drop anti-regime propaganda leaflets on the capital Pyongyang, with Kim convening a security meeting to direct a plan of “immediate military action” in response, state media reported Tuesday.

“North Korean has detonated parts of the Gyeongui and Donghae roads north of the Military Demarcation Line,” the Joint Chiefs of Staff said Tuesday, referring to inter-Korean infrastructure that once connected the two countries.

“There has been no damage to our military, and our forces conducted counter-fire in areas south of the MDL,” it added.

The roads have long been shuttered, but destroying them sends a clear message that Kim is not prepared to negotiate with the South, experts said.

“This is a practical military measure related to the hostile dual-state system that North Korea has frequently mentioned,” Yang Moo-jin, president of the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul, told AFP.

The North may also be looking to erect more physical barriers along the border, Yang said, adding that the road detonations could be “preparatory work for its construction of those walls”.

Drones?

Seoul’s military initially denied sending drones north but has subsequently declined to comment, even as Pyongyang has blamed them directly, warning it would consider it “a declaration of war” if another drone was detected.

Activist groups have long sent propaganda northwards, typically by balloon, and enthusiasts are also known to have flown small, hard-to-detect drones into the North.

Unlike conventional drones made of metal, the devices they used were constructed from expanded polypropylene, similar to Styrofoam, allowing them to go undetected by both South and North Korean authorities, according to enthusiasts who spoke to local media.

At Kim’s meeting Monday, officials heard a report on the “enemy’s serious provocation”, said KCNA, adding Kim had “expressed a tough political and military stand”.

The North has said the United States, which has a military alliance with South Korea, should also be held responsible.

North Korea has itself sent drones southwards — in 2022, five of Pyongyang’s drones crossed the border, prompting the South Korean military to fire warning shots and deploy fighter jets.

The jets failed to shoot down any of the drones.

In July, Seoul said it would deploy drone-melting lasers this year, saying the South’s ability to respond to provocations would be “significantly enhanced”.

The new laser weapons — dubbed the “StarWars Project” by the South — shoot an invisible, silent beam that costs just 2,000 won ($1.45) per use, according to the Defense Acquisition Program Administration.

Relations between the two Koreas are at their lowest point in years, with the North’s army saying last week it would permanently shut the southern border by “completely cutting off roads and railways” connected to the South and building “strong defence structures”.

Following Kim’s meeting in Pyongyang, “attention is turning to whether North Korea will respond by sending drones into the South or take strong action if drones infiltrate its territory again”, said Cheong Seong-chang of the Sejong Institute.

“North Korea is likely to engage in strong provocations along the border if there is a recurrence of drone infiltrations,” Cheong told AFP.

(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)