About 130 South Korean nationals living in the Japanese prefecture of Miyagi, one of the areas hit hardest by a massive earthquake and tsunami, are unaccounted for because of power outages and inoperative phone lines, officials said Saturday.  South Korea's consulate in the Japanese city of Sendai, locatedwithin Miyagi, is trying to make contact with its nationals thereand assess any damages to so

Japan mobilised 50,000 military and other rescue personnel Saturday to spearhead a Herculean rescue and recovery effort, a day after being hit by its most devastating quake and tsunami on record.   Every wing of the Self Defence Forces was thrown into frantic service, withhundreds of ships, aircraft and vehicles headed to the Pacific coast area where at least 1,000 people were feared dead and enti

South Korea's air traffic to earthquake-hit Japan has mostly recovered as of early Saturday after one day of disruption, the land ministry and air carrierssaid.   Air travel between the two countries was partly suspended onFriday after Narita and Haneda airports, the two main gateways toJapan, were closed or partly suspended after an 8.9-magnitudeearthquake hit its northern coast. The most severe

The Korean Peninsula is experiencing its most "dangerous" period since the end of the 1950-53 Korean War in light of North Korean provocations last year, an international military report showed Wednesday.   The 2011 edition of the annual Military Balance, published bythe London-based think tank International Institute for StrategicStudies (IISS), said international tensions rose across the worldin

South Korea has seen a dramatic rise in suicides of economically strapped elderly people over the last two decades, a study revealed Wednesday, calling public attention to the dark aspects of the nation's rapidly aging society.   The suicide ratio for those aged over 65 jumped to 77 per100,000 population in 2009, an over five-fold surge from 14recorded in 1990, according to Hallym University's Ins

Growing inflationary pressure is adding uncertainties to South Korea's economic recovery, the nation's top economic policymaker said Wednesday, calling for the government to crank up efforts to keep prices under control.   "Inflation partly stems from supply-side shocks, such as higheroil prices and supply shortages of agricultural products caused byunseasonal cold spells and the foot-and-mouth di

U.S. President Barack Obama Tuesday called on the U.S. to benchmark South Korea in rebuilding the country through educational reform.   "In South Korea, teachers are known as 'nation builders,'" Obama said during a classroom visit at Tech Boston Academy in Massachusetts' capital city. "That's how they're described. Here in America, it's time we treated the people who educate our children with the

 South Korean stocks started higher on Wednesday as overnight gains on Wall Street lifted investor sentiment, analysts said.   The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) advanced 0.28 percent, or 5.56 points, to 2,001.88 in the first 15 minutes of trading.   A retreat in oil prices bolstered U.S. stocks on Tuesday. The Dow Jones industrial average rallied 1.03 percent and the tech-foc

The capital adequacy ratio of South Korean banks edged down in the fourth quarter of 2010 from three months earlier due to their payouts of year-end stock dividends, the financial regulator said Wednesday.   The average capital adequacy ratio of 18 local lenders, including top lender Kookmin Bank and Woori Bank, reached 14.6 percent as of the end of December, down 0.02 percentage point from end-Se