Prosecutors will summon the president of Korea Kumho Petrochemical Co., the petrochemical unit of Kumho Asiana Group, sometime next week for questioning over allegations that his company raised billions of won in slush funds through illicit transactions, officials said Thursday.Park Chan-koo, a younger brother of Kumho Asiana Group Chairman Park Sam-koo, is suspected of having created the slush fu

WASHINGTON (Yonhap News) ― North Korea will not abandon its nuclear weapons as it views them not only as a deterrent against regional interference but as a tool to attract international attention and economic aid, the commander of U.S. forces in Korea said Tuesday.“I do not see that he will give up his nuclear capability,” Gen. Walter Sharp told the Senate Armed Services Committee, referring to No

WASHINGTON (AFP) ― The U.S. State Department has confirmed an American is being held in North Korea, though declined to identify the individual as it called for the detainee’s release on humanitarian grounds.Swedish officials, who represent the U.S. in the absence of diplomatic ties between Pyongyang and Washington, “have been able to visit” the detained individual, State Department spokesman Mark

South Korea’s military will complete building its own missile defense system by 2015 that is designed to intercept ballistic missiles from North Korea, the Defense Ministry said Tuesday, amid high tensions following the North’s two deadly attacks last year. South Korea, which has ruled out joining the U.S.-led global missile defense system, has gradually built the independent, low-tier missile def

South Korea’s military plans to create a new top commander to coordinate operations of its armed forces as part of its efforts to enhance the interoperability among the Army, Navy and Air Force, the defense minister said Tuesday.A four-star general will be appointed as vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, a group of military leaders from each branch of the armed services. The vice JCS chair

With the official campaigns for the April 27 by-elections to kick off Thursday after a two-day candidacy registration, opposition parties have successfully moved to form a united front against the ruling party.In the Bundang-B constituency in Seongnam, Lee Jin-hee of the minority New Progressive Party withdrew from the race Monday, making the contest a showdown between candidates from the ruling G

Ruling and opposition lawmakers raised a total of 47.7 billion won ($44 million) in political donations last year with the ruling party drawing more funds than the competition, the election watchdog said Monday.While the total amount increased by 16 percent from 41.1 billion won in 2009, it came short of the 63.4 billion won collected in 2008 when a nationwide general election was held, according

South Korea censured North Korea on Monday for terminating an exclusive tourism deal with a South Korean company that has been unable to operate in the communist state for years amid strained inter-Korean relations.North Korea said Friday it has terminated exclusive tourism rights for Hyundai Asan at Mount Geumgang, a resort on its east coast, voicing skepticism over the resumption of the joint ve

Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter will be accompanied by as many as three former heads of state on his visit to North Korea slated for April 26-28, a diplomatic source here said Sunday.Former Finnish President Martti Ahtisaari will join Carter’s delegation to North Korea, said the source, noting that the group has already been known to include former Irish President Mary Robinson and former Norwe

WASHINGTON (Yonhap News) ― The U.S. on Friday denounced North Korean leader Kim Jong-il for ruling the reclusive communist state under an absolute dictatorship replete with extrajudicial killings and prison camps.North Korea is “a dictatorship under the absolute rule of Kim Jong-il, general secretary of the Korean Workers’ Party and chairman of the National Defense Commission,” the State Departmen

The Foreign Ministry is reviewing all of its past foreign treaties and agreements for translation errors after taking the blame recently for similar mistakes in a free trade deal with the European Union, an official said Sunday.The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade has come under fire for making more than 200 errors and omissions in the Korean-language text of the EU deal scheduled to take eff

Traces of radioactive particles were detected in air samples from seven out of 12 test areas throughout South Korea but they posed no immediate health risks to humans, a state agency on nuclear safety said Saturday.Minuscule traces of iodine-131 were found in seven areas including Seoul, while traces of cesium-134 and cesium-137 were detected in five others, according to the Korea Institute of Nuc

Korea is working to launch a committee that will deal exclusively with disasters and accidents caused by disasters, such as the radiation leak from a nuclear power plant in Japan, a government official said Saturday.The committee will be set up within the National Science and Technology Commission that governs policies on high-tech industries and investment, Lee Seok-rae, a commission official, sa

The number of Korean high school students choosing to study a second foreign language fell sharply last year, after education authorities decided it was no longer required, government data showed Sunday.According to data released by the state-run Korean Educational Development Institute, the number of high school students learning a second foreign language totaled 596,044 as of April 2010, marking

Teokbokki, a rice cake snack marinated with red pepper paste, was selected as the favorite street food among foreigners. According to a survey by Kyung Hee University’s Institute of International Education of 455 foreigners from 62 countries residing in Korea, teokbokki topped the list with 31.1 percent. It was followed by dakkochi, skewered chicken; sundae, blood sausage; and tempura, deep-fried

North Korea remains adamant that it will never apologize for the deadly sinking of a South Korean warship last year, according to an academic who visited the communist nation this month.South Korea says the North must admit it torpedoed the Cheonan with the loss of 46 lives before dialogue can resume to ease months of tensions. “North Korea says it cannot apologize for what it has not done and thi

Seoul to set up task force to handle Tokyo’s release of radioactive waterHeavy rains, expected to fall Thursday, will not contain radioactive materials released directly from the crippled Japanese nuclear plant, Korea’s weather agency said Wednesday.Citizens here have expressed concerns over “radioactive rainfall” that would continue for a prolonged period following the widening nuclear crisis in

South Korean police said Wednesday that North Korea was behind the massive cyber attacks that severely slowed and disrupted dozens of South Korean government and business websites last month.The sites of about 30 key South Korean government agencies, including the presidential office Cheong Wa Dae, and financial institutions came under a so-called distributed denial-of-service attack on March 4, w

WASHINGTON (Yonhap News) ― South Korean Ambassador Han Duck-soo on Tuesday exchanged a memorandum of understanding with Gov. Bob McDonnell of Virginia that will exempt holders of a South Korean drivers license from taking tests.The “Driver’s License Reciprocity Arrangement” will allow holders of a South Korean drivers license to get a Virginia license without taking a written and driving test.Unde

WASHINGTON (Yonhap News) ― The Obama administration said Tuesday it has not yet found enough evidence to relist North Korea as a state sponsor of terrorism.“There’s a very specific procedure, though, to designating someone as a state sponsor of terror, with specific criteria that need to be met,” State Department spokesman Mark Toner said.“There’s a legal process to doing that. And I’m not aware t