North Korea reopened its Red Cross hotline with South Korea at their joint truce village Wednesday as promised, an official said, as the communist state continues to appeal for talks with Seoul in an apparent bid to draw much-needed assistance.Liaison officials of the two countries made their first contact in nearly eight months on the hotline installed at Panmunjeom, a Unification Ministry offici

The Czech Republic Embassy in Korea has set up a book of condolences in memory of former Czechoslovak Foreign Minister Jiri Dienstbier, who was a key player behind the establishment of diplomatic relations between Czechoslovakia and South Korea.Dienstbier was the first post-communist and democratic minister of foreign affairs of Czechoslovakia as well as the leading personality of the Czechoslovak

South Korea may have a new customer for its nuclear power plant technology.The Philippines, a longtime ally to Korea, expressed interest during a three-day visit by their Foreign Minister Alberto Romulo.While the details are still being discussed in Manila, the Southeast Asian nation believes that nuclear technology is an ideal option to replace fossil fuels and help protect their environment.“We

Pyongyang slams Seoul's rejection of dialogueSEOUL/WASHINGTON ― The U.S. affirmed Monday that Pyongyang should take concrete steps to renounce provocations if it is committed to “constructive” dialogue.“There are still things that North Korea must do to make it clear that that kind of dialogue would be productive,” said State Department spokesman Philip Crowley.“I would say that first and foremost

WASHINGTON (Yonhap News) ― U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates on Tuesday called for closer cooperation with China in defusing tensions on the Korea Peninsula and denuclearizing North Korea.Speaking to reporters in Beijing after meeting with Chinese Defense Minister Liang Guanglie, Gates stressed the need for “maintaining peace and security on the Korean Peninsula by facilitating engagement betwee

The Defense Ministry is seeking to make a revision to a law governing the military pension system that would eventually increase pay-ins while keeping payouts at the current level, officials said Tuesday.The revision is aimed at repairing the military pension system as it struggles with chronic deficits because more money is needed to meet payouts for a growing number of retired military officers

President Lee Myung-bak vowed Monday to provide more institutional support for younger people here seeking to launch their own startups in the knowledge-based sector, saying he hopes that South Korea will produce world-renowned business leaders like Mark Zuckerberg, an American computer scientist who founded the social networking service Facebook.“Mark Zuckerberg launched Facebook at the age of 20

The Unification Ministry is to start Internet broadcasts on issues relevant to the unification of the divided Korean Peninsula this year, a ministry official said. The project aims to help the public gain better understanding of unification issues and comes under a ministry goal this year to prepare for the rejoining of the two Koreas. The peninsula has remained divided since the end of the three-

North Korea is expected to celebrate the upcoming birthday of its leader-in-waiting in a fashion as low-profile as last year even though he has since been appointed to political and military posts, a South Korean official said Thursday.The North Korean ruling party and military celebrated the Jan. 8 birthday of Kim Jong-un last year with athletic meetings, propaganda music recitals and other “inte

In an apparent bid to facilitate its hereditary power succession, North Korea has rewritten major regulations governing its ruling party, allowing its leader-in-waiting to take full control of the state with greater ease, a government source said Thursday.The revisions were approved at the landmark convention of the top Workers’ Party delegates in September, during which Kim Jong-un, the youngest

MONTEVIDEO (Yonhap News) ― South Korean Prime Minister Kim Hwang-sik on Wednesday cautioned against “welfare populism,” as domestic politicians from both ruling and opposition circles have competitively embraced populist tones in public welfare spending ahead of the presidential and parliamentary elections, both slated for next year.“It is not desirable for politicians to engage in excessive debat

BUSAN (Yonhap News) ― A former U.S. diplomat was sentenced to two years in prison in South Korea on Thursday for swindling a Korean woman out of nearly $200,000 with false promises of lucrative investment opportunities in the Philippines.A court in Busan handed the prison sentence to Dario Tomas, convicting the Filipino-American of charges that he defrauded the woman of 215 million won from 2007 t

Expert says NLL has been effective, practical maritime border for six decadesOn Dec. 12, 2010, The New York Times published an opinion piece entitled “Drawing a Line in the Water.” It caused a commotion, in part because of its simplistic and inaccurate approach to a complex problem.  Jack PritchardThe thrust of Selig Harrison’s argument in his op-ed was that there was an inequality in the manner t

South Korea’s Navy and Marine Corps will hold joint maneuvers this week to strengthen their ability to detect and repel a potential infiltration by North Korea into one of five islands near the tense Yellow Sea border, officials said Tuesday. The maneuvers, the first of their kind, will be held on Friday and Saturday with an unspecified number of personnel and military assets taking part, official

North Korean leader Kim Jong-il conducted the largest number of public activities last year since he inherited the communist country from his father in 1994, according to figures aggregated by the South Korean government.The 68-year-old appeared in North Korea’s official media a total of 161 times, the Unification Ministry said Tuesday in a release that suggested Kim was trying to tamp down outsid

Taekwang Group chairman Lee Ho-jin appeared before prosecutors Tuesday to face questioning over his alleged slush fund and stock price manipulation.Prosecutors have been investigating the 49-year-old on his suspected involvement in creating tens of billions of won in a secret fund to lobby influential figures to get business favors and manipulating stock prices to evade inheritance taxes in transf

A local court ordered a Seoul hospital to pay 40 million won ($35,500) in compensation to the family of a patient who died last year after winning the country’s first legal battle for the right to “die with dignity,” court officials said Monday.The 78-year-old woman fell into a vegetative state after suffering brain damage from heavy loss of blood while undergoing a bronchial endoscopy in February