It was a rainy afternoon, but a small classroom at a South Korea-sponsored Korean language school in Tehran was packed with 15 young people eager to learn a foreign tongue. The students were good enough to complete a few simple sentences although they were in the beginner's class. They looked quite serious while practicing conversation in Korean in pairs, such as, "How did you get to the King S...

U.S. President Barack Obama's planned visit to the Japanese city of Hiroshima is aimed at honoring the memory of not only Japanese victims of the 1945 U.S. atomic bombing, but also all innocents lost during the war, the White House said Thursday. Obama is scheduled to visit Hiroshima on May 27 in what the White House described as a "historic" trip that will make him the first sitting American pr...

The United States was against Japan's bid to gain world heritage status for a building damaged in the Hiroshima atomic bombing, records showed Thursday, as keen attention is being paid to U.S. President Barack Obama's upcoming visit to the city. On May 27, Obama will become the first sitting American president to visit Hiroshima since the U.S. dropped a nuclear bomb on the city on Aug. 6, 1945, ...

Cuban President Raul Castro sent a congratulatory message to North Korean leader Kim Jong-un for his recent appointment to the chairmanship of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea, the communist country's official news outlet said Thursday. Kim was elected chairman of the North's ruling party in the recent four-day party congress which closed on Monday. The move is expected to further consolidate ...

The policy of pursuing nuclear weapons in tandem with economic development by North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is doomed to fail, a state-run Chinese newspaper said Wednesday, calling the North's nuclear ambitions a "poison" for its economy. North Korea's just-concluded party congress officially endorsed Kim's "byeongjin" policy of simultaneously pursing both nuclear and economic development, das...

Republican presidential presumptive nominee Donald Trump had advocated a surgical strike against North Korea's nuclear facility, according to a book the real-estate tycoon published when he first ran for president in 2000. "What would I do in North Korea? Fair question. It's easy to point out the problem, but what should be done to solve it? Am I ready to bomb this reactor? You're damned right,"...

U.S. President Barack Obama will visit the Japanese city of Hiroshima later this month, making him the first sitting American president to do so since the U.S. dropped a nuclear bomb there to end World War II. Obama will make the "historic visit" with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to "highlight his continued commitment to pursuing the peace and security of a world without nuclear weapons," ...

China said Monday it would "faithfully" implement U.N. sanctions against North Korea's nuclear and missile programs, responding to remarks by the North's leader Kim Jong-un that Pyongyang will not use its nuclear weapons unless its sovereignty is jeopardized. The remarks by Kim, announced during a rare congress of North Korea's ruling Workers' Party and reported by the North Korean media on Sund...

The United States and its allies "will not stand unmoved" in the face of North Korea's nuclear and missile provocations, a senior American diplomat said, calling for the communist nation to forswear its weapons programs. Frank Rose, assistant secretary of state for arms control, verification and compliance, made the remark last week as he talked about U.S. efforts to strengthen missile defense, ...

South Korea's deputy foreign minister will visit Laos this week to prepare for a series of upcoming regional conferences and summits, the Foreign Ministry said Wednesday. Kim Hyoung-zhin is scheduled to fly to Luang Prabang, an ancient city situated in northern Laos, on Saturday to attend a series of senior officials meetings involving member nations of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations...

BOGOTA, (AFP) -- Colombia's widespread illegal mining is blamed for causing environmental damage and holding workers in slave-like conditions -- and now is also being blamed for a malaria outbreak. Critics point to stagnant water buildups at the clandestine sites and poor sanitary conditions at the workers' camps for an increase in mosquitos spreading the disease, which has quadrupled in jungle ...

BOULDER, Colo. (AP) -- A judge on Friday sentenced a Colorado woman who cut a baby from a stranger's womb to 100 years in prison, including the maximum penalties for attempted murder and unlawful termination of a pregnancy. Judge Maria Berkenkotter said the harshest sentences for the most serious charges were justified by the brutality of the 2015 attack, which she described as performing a cesa...

The foreign ministers of Russia and China on Friday called for North Korea to abstain from any new provocations, amid signs that the North may carry out a fresh nuclear test. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told a press conference after holding talks with his Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi, that they agreed that North Korea should refrain from taking "new and irresponsible measures." Wang ...