Lexus launches all-new ES sedan in S. Korea with first all-electric variant

Lexus Korea launched the eighth-generation ES sedan in Korea on Tuesday, featuring a complete redesign of the luxury model first introduced in 1989. The new lineup includes five battery electric vehicle (BEV) variants and four hybrid electric vehicle (HEV) variants, with prices starting at 71.6 million won ($53,564) and reaching 84.9 million won. The all-electric ES 350e variant offers a driving range of up to 478 kilometers and can recharge from 10 percent to 80 percent in about 28 minutes.

Separately, senior diplomats from South Korea, the United States, and Japan held telephone consultations on Tuesday to discuss responses to North Korea’s recent ballistic missile launches. According to the South Korean foreign ministry, Baek Yong-jin spoke with U.S. State Department deputy assistant secretary David Wilezol and Japanese foreign ministry senior official Takashi Ariyoshi to share information.

This follows Monday missile launches toward the East Sea reported by the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff and a North Korean claim that a tactical ballistic missile was test-fired the previous day.

Brief written by urgent.news from The Korea Times, The Korea Times — 2 reports on this story. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.