South Korean lawmakers have passed a law banning the possession and watching of deepfake porn, with prison time or a heft fine for violators.

South Korea's National Assembly has passed a law that criminalises the possession and viewing of sexually explicit deepfake content. The legislation, awaiting President Yoon Suk Yeol's signature, imposes penalties of up to three years in prison or fines of around $22,

The former head of a local police station in Seoul has been sentenced to three years in jail over a deadly 2022 Halloween crowd crush, making him the highest-ranking law enforcement official to be held criminally liable over the disaster.

SEOUL (Reuters) - A South Korean court on Monday sentenced the former police chief of a district of Seoul to three years in prison for a botched response to a deadly Halloween crowd crush in the capital's Itaewon nightlife district in 2022.

Lee Im-jae, a former district chief, is the most senior official to be convicted in connection with the 2022 disaster that killed nearly 160 Halloween partygoers.

South Korea's factory output in August beat market expectations and increased by the most in a year, led by production of cars and chips, government data showed on Monday. The industrial output index rose 4.

Korea's industrial output saw a monthly upturn for the first time in four months in August, driven by the growth in auto and chip production, data showed Monday.