South Korea's Supreme Court has upheld a ruling sentencing a man to a year and half in prison for exchanging emails with an alleged North Korean spy and praising Pyongyang on his website.Spokesman Lee Hyun-bok said Tuesday the court cited the National Security Law in its ruling earlier this month against a 45-year-old South Korean identified only as Lee.The law prohibits glorifying North Korea or contacting North Korean spies. Park could have received 10 years in prison.The spokesman said the co

미군 내 성범죄 발생빈도가 하루 평균 71건에 달하는 것으로 조사됐다.미 국방부는 최근 보고서에서 작년 한해에만 2만6천여건의 성폭행과 성추행 사건이 발생한 것으로 추산했다. 이는 전년 대비 37% 증가한 수치다.비난 여론이 거세지자 버락 오바마 대통령은 16일(현지시간) 군 수뇌부를 백악관으로 소환했다.오바마 대통령은 이날 주재한 회의에서 군내 성폭력 문제가 국가안보에 위험요소로 작용할 수 있다고 지적했다.그는 이 문제는 “범죄이며, 수치스러울 뿐 아니라 우리 군대를 덜 효율적으로 만들어 왔다”고 말했다. 회의 참석자들은 군내 성폭력이 한 팀으로 일하는 남녀 군인 서로의 신뢰를 무너뜨리는 행위라는 데에 의견을 같이 했다.지난 15일 텍사스주 포트 후드 기지에 배속된 육군 중사는 성매매 알선과 성폭력 혐의 등으로 수사기관의 조사를 받고 있다. 이 중사는 성폭력 예방 프로그램 조정관으로 복무해 온 것으로 알려졌다.또 이달 초엔 공군에서 성폭력 예방 프로그램을 담당했던 크루진스키 중령이

President Barack Obama said U.S. military leaders told him they are "ashamed'' of their failure to end sexual abuse in the armed services. Obama pledged to take all efforts to halt the abuse, which he said undermines the trust the military needs to be effective."They care about this, and they are angry about it,'' Obama said at the White House after he summoned Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Martin Dempsey and other leaders to discuss the problem. A Pentagon report

The dire manners and “uncivilized behavior” of some Chinese tourists abroad are harming the country's image, said a top official who lamented their poor “quality and breeding,” according to state-run media.Wang Yang, one of China’s four vice premiers, singled out for condemnation “talking loudly in public places, jay-walking, spitting and willfully carving characters on items in scenic zones.”Such "uncivilized behaviors" were "often criticized by the media and have damaged the image of Chinese p

European car sales rose for the first time in 19 months, on gains in the U.K. and a rebound in Germany, amid signs that governments may take measures to stem a contraction in the economy of the countries using the euro.Registrations in April increased 1.8 percent to 1.08 million vehicles from 1.06 million cars a year earlier, the Brussels-based European Automobile Manufacturers Association, or ACEA, said today in a statement. Four-month sales fell 7 percent to 4.18 million vehicles.European poli

The country's first trauma center is expected to be built by 2015 to treat patients with severe external injuries, the defense ministry said Friday.Under the plan, the ministry and Seoul National University Bundang Hospital will jointly operate the center to be built inside the Armed Forces Medical Command in Seongnam, just south of Seoul.The center is expected to be equipped with 160 beds and treat both military and civilian patients, the ministry said."Officials from the defense ministry, the

President Park Geun-hye on Friday called for national unity, saying the country will be able to overcome any crisis if the people come together as one.Park made the remarks in a message marking Buddha's birthday, which this year fell on Friday under the lunar calendar."Buddha said that all rivers, each with their own flavor, flow into the sea and become one flavor," she said in the remarks read by Culture Minister Yoo Jin-ryong at Jogye Temple in Seoul."If our people, each with their own circums

 북한군이 최대 200대가량의 이동식 탄도미사일 발사대를 보유했다는 주장이 공식문건을 통해 제기됐다.미국 국방부가 최근 의회에 제출한 '북한 군사력 증강 보고서'에 따르면 북한은 이동식 탄도미사일 발사대를 최대 200여대 보유한 것으로 추산된다.한미 군 당국은 그간 북한군이 보유한 TEL의 규모를 외부에 공개되는 문서에 밝히지 않고 내부 자료에 추정치로만 명기해왔다. TEL 규모가 공식 문건에 공개된 것은 이번이 처음이다.해당 보고서에 따르면 KN-02와 스커드-ER 단거리 미사일은 100대 이하, 노동 미사일 50대 이하, 무수단 중거리 미사일(IRBM) 50대 이하 등이다. 이는 우리 군과 정보당국이 추산한 최대 94대의 2배가 넘는 규모다.현재 우리 정보당국은 스커드-B/C/ER의 발사대는 최대 40대, 노동미사일 최대 40대, 무수단 미사일 14대 등으로 분석하고 있다.전문가들은 이 보고서가 미국 국방부의 정책차관보실 등이 주도해 작성했다는 점에서 북한의 군사력에 대한 권위

A remote Alaska volcano continues to erupt, spewing lava and ash clouds.The Alaska Volcano Observatory said Thursday a continuous cloud of ash, steam and gas from Pavlof Volcano has been seen 20,000 feet above sea level. The cloud was moving to the southeast Thursday.John Power, the U.S. Geological Survey scientist in charge at the observatory, estimates the lava fountain rose several hundred feet into the air.Onsite seismic instruments are picking up constant tremors from the eruption at Pavlof

Almost two-thirds of Europe's lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community are still afraid to show their sexuality in public and most feel discriminated against, an EU report said Friday, the International Day Against Homophobia."Fear, isolation and discrimination are everyday phenomena for the LGBT community in Europe," the director of the European Union's Agency for Fundamental Rights, Morten Kjaerum, wrote in the report.The online survey, described as the largest of its kind, questioned

North Korea could have as many as 200 mobile missile launchers, a report showed Friday, nearly double the number previously estimated by Seoul authorities.According to the report submitted to the U.S. Congress by the Pentagon, North Korea appears to have accumulated up to 200 so-called transporter erector launchers, including up to 100 for short-range Scud missiles, 50 for medium-range Nodong missiles and 50 for long-range Musudan missiles, the state-run Korea Institute for Defense Analyses said

Faced with Japan's unexpected move to engage North Korea this week, U.S. officials have notably emphasized the importance of staying close with regional powers in dealing with the nuclear-armed communist nation.The U.S. has also been cautious in characterizing the ongoing trip by a top Japanese official to Pyongyang, while South Korea publicly disapproved."I should say (it's) impossible for me to speak to that without knowing the specifics on the purpose of the visit," State Department spokeswom

China will this year put forward a plan for allowing yuan capital-account convertibility as part of measures to loosen control over its currency and interest rates, the nation’s cabinet said.The yuan plan will also include creating a mechanism that allows investments overseas by individuals, the State Council said in a statement today after a meeting led by Premier Li Keqiang on the focus of economic reforms in 2013.Other measures include improving controls on risks from local government debt, e

Giulio Andreotti personified the nation he helped shape, the good and the bad. One of Italy's most important postwar figures, he helped draft the country's constitution after World War II, served seven times as premier and spent 60 years in Parliament. But the Christian Democrat who was friends with popes and cardinals was also a controversial figure who survived corruption scandals and allegations of aiding the Mafia: Andreotti was accused of exchanging a “kiss of honor” with the mob's longtime

Israeli raids on Syrian targets at the weekend killed at least 15 soldiers, a watchdog said Monday, as UN chief Ban Ki-moon led calls for restraint to prevent the war spilling over borders.UN human rights investigator Carla del Ponte, meanwhile, said that rebels have used the deadly nerve agent sarin in their fight to oust Syria's regime."At least 15 soldiers were killed, and dozens more are missing" after the Israeli strikes near Damascus, said Rami Abdel Rahman of the Syrian Observatory for Hu

　The Financial Supervisory Service ordered Woori Investment & Securities to dismiss two stockbrokers, including a branch manager, engaged in embezzlement, regulatory officials said Sunday.　The regulator said it has uncovered incidences of embezzlement of 1.39 billion won ($1.24 million) committed at two branches in Seoul and Busan of Woori Investment.　The manager of Woori Investment’s Suyeong branch in Busan pocketed 665 million won from five customers’ accounts two years ago, FSS officials said

TOKYO (AFP) -- U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry told Japan on Sunday the United States would protect it from North Korea's threats, after securing a commitment from China to rein in the unpredictable regime.After a meeting with Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida in Tokyo, where Patriot missiles have been deployed in anticipation of a missile launch by the North, Kerry pledged the U.S. would backstop its ally."The United States is fully committed to the defense of Japan," Kerry told a join

TOKYO (AP) -- The United States and Japan on Sunday offered new talks with North Korea to resolve the increasingly dangerous standoff over its nuclear and missile programs, but said the reclusive communist government first must lower tensions and honor previous agreements.North Korea has a clear course of action available to it, and will find "ready partners'' in the United States if it follows through, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry told reporters.Japan's foreign minister, Fumio Kishida, wh

A teenager lost his hand and a man was burned on Sunday when their clumsy attempt to make a homemade rocket from a firecracker ended in failure, police said.A 16-year-old boy and a 35-year-old man, who met through an Internet Web site, bought firecrackers at a stationary store in Guri, south of Seoul, to use them as propellant for a small rocket and tried to test it at a park, officials said.When they put the gunpowder that they had collected from several squibs into a glass container, it explod

South Korean speed skater Mo Tae-bum captured a surprising silver medal in men's 1,000 meters Friday at the world championships in Russia. Mo finished second in the race at 1:09.24, 0.10 second behind the gold medalist, Denis Kuzin of Kazakhstan, at the World Single Distances Championships in Sochi. Shani Davis of the U.S. was third at 1:09.30. Mo's silver is the best showing by a South Korean skater in 1,000ｍ at the single distances championships. Jegal Sung-yeol in 1996 and Lee Kyou-hyuk in 20