Foreign ministers of South Korea and China made little progress in narrowing differences over how to deal with North Korea's uranium-based nuclear program, with Beijing sticking to its opposition to bring the issue to the U.N. Security Council, sources said.The nuclear issue was a key topic at the talks in Beijing between South Korean Foreign Minister Kim Sung-hwan and Chinese Foreign Minister Yan

A large number of underground water sources near livestock burial sites nationwide have shown high rates of organic contaminants, the Environment Ministry said Tuesday, raising concern over widespread environmental pollution caused by livestock disease and culling.The ministry and a state water research center said they have jointly examined water quality at about 3,000 underground water sources w

The Justice Ministry will ease visa regulations for South Asian visitors, who have become a major group for the Korean tourist industry, according to officials Tuesday.Under regulations to come into effect next week, nationals from 11 major South Asian countries will be issued a double-entry visa, which allows them to freely revisit Korea within six months, in between or after transits to other co

North Korea's state-run media said Monday that the North's Red Cross sent a message of sympathy to its Japanese counterpart, a rare move considering the communist state has remained quiet on the earthquake and tsunami that devastated Japan."Jang Jae-on, chairman of the DPRK Red Cross Society, Monday sent a message of sympathy to Konoe Tadateru, president of the Japan Red Cross Society," said the N

Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi was due in Seoul on Wednesday for talks on North Korea and bilateral relations as the two countries differ over how to cope with Pyongyang's new nuclear program based on enriched uranium.Yang's two-day visit coincides with a U.N. Security Council meeting, set for Wednesday in New York, which is expected to debate over whether to adopt an experts' report that th

  KABUL (AP) -- A suicide bomber blew himself up at the entrance to an Afghan government office Monday, killing at least 30 people, many who were waiting in line to obtain government identification cards, police said.   The attack occurred around noon in Imam Sahib district of Kunduz province in northern Afghanistan where there has been a sharp slide in security in recent months, said district pol

COPENHAGEN (AP) -- Danish shipper and oil group A.P. Moller-Maersk A/S says it has signed a $1.9 billion contract for 10 giant container vessels, expected to be the largest of any known type of ship in operation.   Maersk says each ship, to be built by South Korea's Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering, will cost $190 million and that it has an option for 20 more vessels.   The Copenhagen-base

  The commander of the United States Navy's largest forward deployed fleet said Monday the U.S. maritime alliance with South Korea has become stronger following North Korea's recent provocations.   "The improvements in (the fleet's) capability have been made even stronger by a deepening of our alliances and partnerships around the region," Vice Admiral Scott Van Buskirk, who visited Hong Kong this

MANILA (AFP) -- Thousands of people in the Philippines fled their homes as a volcano erupted on Monday, sending a spectacular column of ash high into the sky, residents said.   The eruption of Bulusan, a 1,559-metre volcano, turned mid-morning into night for about 20 minutes across largely farming areas around its slopes, regional army spokesman Major Harold Cabunoc told AFP.   "There was a major

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- Casting about for innovative job-creation ideas, President Barack Obama is naming one of his critics to an advisory council responsible for finding new ways to promote economic growth and bring jobs to the U.S.   Obama will name Intel Corp. CEO Paul Otellino to the jobs and competitiveness council during a visit to the company's semiconductor manufacturing facility in Hillsbo

  South Korean Prime Minister Kim Hwang-sik visited PyeongChang on Friday to give support to its bid for the 2018 Winter Olympic Games amid an ongoing on-siteinspection by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), the prime minister's office said.   Kim hosted an official dinner for the 14-member IOC delegation on Friday evening in PyeongChang, located about 180 kilometers east of Seoul in Gangwo

LONDON (AFP) -- WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange appeared in aBritish court on Monday to fight his extradition to Sweden, with leaked detailsshedding new light on the rape and molestation accusations he faces.   The two-day hearing at a high security London court will examine a Swedisharrest warrant for the 39-year-old Australian, who won worldwide notoriety forhis website's release of thousands o