Professor Myers of Dongseo Univ. expects third nuclear test in 2011, but not direct assaultRelations between North and South Korea were not at a particularly low point when “The Cleanest Race: How North Koreans See Themselves and Why It Matters” hit bookstores at the end of 2009. In the summer before, former U.S. President Bill Clinton had gone to Pyongyang to successfully negotiate the release o

South Korea’s Army held a send-off ceremony Thursday for 350 troops set to depart for Lebanon to replace its military contingent serving as U.N. peacekeepers in the Middle East nation. The “Dongmyeong” (East Light) unit has been stationed in Lebanon since 2007 as part of the U.N. interim forces’ efforts to oversee a cease-fire and set up a buffer zone between Lebanon and Israel.About 1,200 people

The ruling party will push to organize a special legislative committee for a constitutional amendment during next month’s extraordinary parliamentary session, its floor leader said Thursday, a move aimed at putting the sensitive issue to an open public debate.The Grand National Party’s internal discussion about revising the Constitution to allow the president to seek re-election has recently gaine

Overriding the main opposition party’s strong resistance, President Lee Myung-bak on Thursday pressed ahead with the appointment of his new knowledge economy minister.Lee gave the letter of appointment to Choi Joong-kyung, a long-time financial bureaucrat, following a month of heated partisan strife over whether he is qualified for the post handling the government’s export and corporate policy.Cho

Five Somali pirates, captured in last week’s military operation that freed a hijacked South Korean freighter, could face up to life in prison if they are brought here and convicted in local courts for committing robbery and wounding sailors under the South Korean law, government officials here said Wednesday.The South Korean Navy commando last Friday killed eight pirates and captured five others d

An actor who confessed to smuggling in and using drugs was sentenced to two and a half years in jail by a Seoul court Monday. The prosecution had demanded four years.Kim Seong-min, 38, was arrested and indicted by prosecutors last month on charges of bringing in methamphetamines and marijuana from the Philippines on several occasions from April 2008 to August 2010 and consuming them at his residen

Posing in front of one of his anti-North Korea paintings ― this one depicting Dear Leader Kim Jong-il’s head atop the provocative body of Marilyn Monroe ― North Korean defector Song Byeok believes he is finally free from the communist brainwashing that has eaten into his soul.Song, 42, who escaped North Korea in 2002, had moments ago waved his hand and slipped away in refusal when he was asked to

North Korea’s state-run news agency Saturday belatedly reported the U.S.-China summit held in Washington last week but stopped short of commenting on the results of the discussions.The North’s Korean Central News Agency said Chinese President Hu Jintao and U.S. President Barack Obama exchanged views on international and regional issues, including the situation on the Korean Peninsula.“The China-U.

WASHINGTON (Yonhap News) ― The U.S. said Friday that the rescue earlier that day of a South Korean freighter hijacked by Somali pirates in the Arabian Sea is an example of international cooperation against pirates.“There’s a great deal of cooperation among countries,” State Department spokesman Philip Crowley said in a daily news briefing when asked about the operation by South Korean Navy command

The prosecution said Sunday that they will increase the number of cyber crime investigators in an effort to fight varied types of rapidly evolving crimes on the Internet.The Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office said they will assign an additional 25 investigators to its cyber crime investigation center, which is currently manned by only eight officials.The center is in charge of tracking dow

Such is the Korean Peninsula’s global profile that there are overseas experts on all aspects of Korea, from politics to literature, from martial arts to cuisine.In the mountains of the U.S. state of Colorado, one man has carved a particularly arcane niche: Joseph Bermudez, 56, is possibly the world’s top non-Korean expert on the North Korean People’s Army, or KPA, which ranks as the world’s fifth

BEIJING (AFP) ― China has denied it is in discussions with North Korea about stationing Chinese troops over the border in the isolated state, state media reported Monday.“China will not send a single soldier to other countries without the approval of the U.N.,” an official at the Defense Ministry, who refused to be named, was quoted as saying by the official Global Times newspaper.The Chosun Ilbo,

Japanese minister puts inter-Korean dialogue ahead of Tokyo-Pyongyang talksSouth Korean President Lee Myung-Bak said Saturday that North Korea’s new enriched uranium program should be dealt with by the U.N. Security Council, his spokeswoman said.“The issue of North Korea’s uranium enrichment program should be referred to the U.N. Security Council,” Lee was quoted as saying when he met with Japanes

Members of the nation’s Reserve Forces will be deployed to front-line areas for the first time during joint South Korea-U.S. military exercises later this year, officials said Sunday.“Two battalions of the Reserve Forces will be deployed close to the border with North Korea while participating in two South Korea-U.S. joint military drills ― the Key Resolve and Foal Eagle exercise in March and the

North Korea has drawn up a decade-long development plan and will establish a new government body to implement projects, in a move analysts here said is designed to revive the stalled economy.The North’s state-run Korean Central News Agency said Saturday the North Korean cabinet decided to adopt a “10-Year State Strategy Plan for Economic Development” and to set up a new agency called the State Gen

South Korea and a group of 10 Southeast Asian nations will hold a high-level workshop to discuss ways to set up a joint cyber college in July of next year, the Education Ministry said Sunday.The sides have pushed for the establishment of the school since the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations made a proposal during a special summit held on the South Korean resort island of Jeju in Ju

Japanese Foreign Minister Seiji Maehara will make a one-day trip to South Korea on Saturday for talks with his counterpart, instead of staying overnight from Friday as originally planned, an official said.Maehara called South Korean Foreign Minister Kim Sung-hwan on Thursday to ask if he could change the travel schedule, citing “various circumstances,” a ministry official said on condition of anon

PYEONGCHANG, Gangwon Province -- Matjaz Pungertar of Slovenia beat fellow countryman Zima Rok and Germany’s Julian Musiol to claim his first career title at the PyeongChang FIS Continental Cup title Wednesday.The 20-year-old had the day’s longest effort of 134.5 meters on the K-125 hill and followed up with a 128-meter leap to win the title with a total of 249.5 points at the Alpensia ski jump sta

WASHINGTON (Yonhap News) ― A human rights group here on Tuesday urged U.S. President Barack Obama to press China to stop repatriating North Korean refugees.“We urgently request that during your meetings next week with President Hu Jintao ... that you request China to end its current policy of repatriating North Korean refugees back to North Korea,” Suzanne Scholte, chairwoman of the North Korea Fr

WASHINGTON (Yonhap News) ― U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates on Tuesday called on North Korea to impose a moratorium on nuclear and missile testing to help revive international dialogue deadlocked for two years over the North’s provocations.Speaking to reporters in Beijing after meeting with Chinese President Hu Jintao, Gates also said that North Korea’s missiles and nuclear weapons will pose a