(AP) The operator of Japan's tsunami-wrecked nuclear power plant said a contract worker in his 60s died Saturday after collapsing at the facility's waste disposal building, adding that his body showed no signs of dangerous levels of radioactivity.   The man was carrying equipment at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant when he collapsed. He died later in hospital, said Tokyo Electric Power Co. sp

 The government is reportedly considering choosing Daejeon as the site for the envisioned international science-business belt, which many other provincial governments have strenuously sought to have for their regional interests. Chiefs of provincial governments angrily responded to the reports that Daejeon is the most likely candidate site, saying that the government evaluation process was not fai

WASHINGTON, May 13 (Yonhap) -- A U.S. trade panel Friday ruled in favor of Whirlpool Corp. in its antidumping petitions against South Korean rivals Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics for their alleged sale of refrigerators in the U.S. at a discount.   The U.S. International Trade Commission said in a statement that it "today determined that there is a reasonable indication that a U.S. industry

 WASHINGTON, May 13 (Yonhap) -- The U.S. point man on North Korea will travel to South Korea next week to discuss North Korea's nuclear ambitions and other issues of mutual concern, the State Department said Friday.   "Special Representative for North Korea Policy Ambassador Stephen Bosworth will travel to the Republic of Korea May 16-18," the department said in a statement. "He will meet with sen

The number of North Korean defectors coming to South Korea topped the 21,000 mark in April in the five months since November last year, government officials said Saturday. According to the Unification Ministry, the number of North Koreans defecting to South Korea came to 21,165 as of April 17.The number of North Korean defectors in South Korea breached the 20,000 mark for the first time in Novembe

A rocket fell just outside a base in Afghanistan, where South Korean aid workers and troops are stationed, early Saturday, but there were no reports of injuries, officials at the Foreign Ministry said. The RPG-7 rocket appears to have landed about 200 meters away from the base in Charikar City in the northern Afghan province of Parwan, according to them. The attack was the seventh one apparently a

 MOSCOW (Yonhap) -- South Korean figure skater Kim Yu-na ranked first in the ladies' short program with 65.91 points at the ongoing world championships here Friday.   After performing to music from the ballet "Giselle" at Megasport Arena, Kim took a slim 0.33-point lead over Miki Ando of Japan before free skating scheduled for Saturday. The champion will be determined on combined scores.South Kore

 North Korea proposed joint inter-Korean cooperation in dealing with the naming dispute over the East Sea in which a South Korean organization responded positively, an official said Friday.   The North sent a notification on Wednesday that historians of the two Koreas join hands in coping with the naming dispute of the East Sea, a government official said.   Upon the request, the South's Northeast

 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's Marine Corps said Friday that it will launch a large-scale landing drill next month as part of efforts to sharpen its combat capabilities against North Korea.   About 3,000 marines and an unidentified number of troops from the Army, Navy and Air Force will be mobilized for the drill set to take place in Pohang, 374 kilometers southeast of Seoul, in late May, it said.   "

(Yonhap) -- A tourist bus overturned in Vietnam Friday, leaving 10 South Korean tourists injured, Seoul's foreign ministry said.   The accident took place in Uongbi, Quang Ninh Province, in the northeastern region of Vietnam at around 2:30 p.m. (local time), according to the ministry.   The injured tourists were moved to nearby hospitals and are not in life-threatening condition, it said.   South

(Yonhap) -- South Korea and the United States are conducting a joint study on Seoul's own missile defense system amid high tensions following North Korea's two deadly attacks last year, sources said Friday.   South Korea is aiming to complete the building its own missile defense system by 2015 that is designed to intercept ballistic missiles from North Korea.   South Korea, which has ruled out joi

    TOKYO (AFP) - Japan may raise the severity of its nuclear accident to seven -- the top level on an international scale -- from five, the Kyodo news agency reported Tuesday, as workers battled to contain the crisis.   Kyodo said preliminary figures from the country's Nuclear Safety Commission  revealed the battered Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant had released up to 10,000 terabecquerels of radi

U.N. Command says Yeonpyeong shelling a “planned attack” The United Nations Command in South Korea has concluded North Korea's attack on a South Korean border island last year was a planned provocation, dismissing the communist nation's claim the attack was part of a self-defensive measure, the foreign ministry said Wednesday.   The UNC, overseeing the armistice between the divided Koreas since th

The Navy and Air Force plan to select female officers through a college-based training program for the first time this year, following the Army in giving women more opportunities in the military, officials said Wednesday.   The Navy and Air Force will pick a total of 10 female cadets for the Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) program, while the Army will recruit 250 female ROTC cadets this year

  South Korea on Wednesday decided to ban its nationals from traveling to or staying in Libya amid intensifying violence between protesters and government forces there, the foreign ministry said.   The ban will take effect early next week for a period of one month after undergoing necessary procedures. Those who do not comply will face punishment of up to one year in prison or at least 3 million w

South Korean Foreign Minister Kim Sung-hwan was set to leave on Saturday for a six-day visit to the United Arab Emirates and Algeria, where cooperation in the energy sector is expected to be high on the agenda, Kim's office said.    The Feb. 5-10 trip includes talks with UAE Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed al-Nahayan and Algeria's Foreign Minister Mourad Medelci, officials at the foreig

South Korea has confirmed three additional cases of foot-and-mouth disease in the country's central region, after initial vaccination of all livestock in the country has been completed, the government said Saturday.   The additional cases bring the total number of officially confirmed FMD outbreaks to 144, after animals started showing symptoms in late November, the Ministry of Food, Agriculture,

The five Somali pirates, captured during a navy commando raid on a hijacked South Korean freighter in the Arabian Sea last month, have confessed to hijacking the ship and shooting its captain, police said Saturday.   The five Somali bandits, aged from 19 to 25, have been questioned by maritime police since Jan. 31, when they were airlifted to this southern port city. They are the first pirates ope

 WASHINGTON (AP) -- Embracing an Egyptian future without Hosni Mubarak, President Barack Obama on Friday pressed the embattled leader to consider his legacy and leave his office in a way that would give his country a true chance for peace and democracy. Obama tried to rally world pressure on Mubarak to make ``the right decision'' but did not call for his immediate resignation.   ``I believe that P

(Yonhap) -- The injured South Korean captain shot by Somali pirates last month was put back on a respirator early on Friday with signs of pneumonia complications, hospital officials said, one day after regaining his consciousness.  Seok Hae-kyun, the captain of the Korean freighter Samho Jewelry, sustained multiple gunshot wounds during a Jan. 21 rescue operation in the Arabian Sea and received su