(Yonhap) -- North Korean delegations will visit Russia this week, the North's official news media said Friday, where they are thought likely to discuss economic cooperation with their ally.   Delegations from the DPRK-Russia Friendship Association and the General Bureau of Diplomatic Corps Affairs left North Korea Friday to visit the Amur Region, the (North) Korean Central News Agency said in a br

(Yonhap) -- A possible end to the currency swap line with Japan would not have a significant impact on the financial market here as Seoul has made headway in strengthening its safety net designed to absorb shocks from unexpected global turmoil, analysts said Friday.   South Korea expanded its currency swap line with Japan from US$13 billion to $70 billion last year in a bid to secure foreign excha

(Yonhap) -- North Korea may be preparing to conduct a nuclear or missile test in the near future, a government report submitted during a meeting with ruling party lawmakers showed Friday.   "The defense ministry claimed that the communist country was prepared to carry out tests with little preparation time," said a senior Saenuri official, who declined to be identified.   The party official said w

A South Korean inspector of the International Atomic Energy Agency was killed in a rollover accident in central Iran on Tuesday morning, the Islamic Republic’s state media reported. The Islamic Republic News Agency reported that a car carrying him turned over near a heavy water reactor under construction. A Slovakian inspector was wounded in the accident.  By Song Sang-ho (sshluck@heraldm.com)

 A series of cars were stranded on Jeju after heavy rains hit the southern resort island on Saturday. At around 11:05 a.m., six cars carrying some 30 passengers drifted away in surging waters. All of them were pulled out of the cars some 40 minutes after the rescue staff was dispatched to save them.Three other cars carrying a total of nine people were also stranded on the day on two separate locat

(Yonhap) -- North Korea completed construction on a taekwondo center in its capital city to better showcase the merits of the traditional martial art, a state-run newspaper said Saturday.   The Rodong Shinmun, picked up in Seoul, said the center has been built in downtown Pyongyang.   The center houses a training center, library, international conference hall, history museum and other amenities, w

Gyeonggi Governor Kim Moon-soo has apparently made up his mind to run in the Dec. 19 presidential election on the ruling Saenuri Party’s ticket, and is weighing whether and when to resign from the gubernatorial post, according to news reports. Following his official announcement for his Blue House bid, other ruling party hopefuls such as Rep. Chung Mong-joon are expected to declare their participa

  (AP) -- Pakistan blocked the head of an airline whose jet crashed near the capital from leaving the country as it began an investigation Saturday into the country's second major air disaster in less then two years.   The Bhoja Air passenger jet crashed Friday as it tried to land in a thunderstorm at Islamabad's main airport, killing all 127 people on board. The small domestic airline, which resu

South Korea announced a plan Friday to provide US$15 billion to the International Monetary Fund, which seeks to expand its lending capacity.The move comes as spring meetings of the IMF and G-20 are under way here. South Korea's finance minister, Bahk Jae-wan, and the Bank of Korea chief, Kim Choong-soo, are attending the sessions.In a joint statement with Australia, Singapore and the United Kingdo

(Yonhap) -- A South Korean civic group held a rally in downtown Paris to urge the International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) to formally adopt the East Sea name for the body of water between the Korean Peninsula and the Japanese archipelago, organizers said Saturday.   The Dokdo Network in Seoul said the rally was held in Place Du Trocadero near the Eiffel Tower on Friday with participants made

(Yonhap) -- North Korea is believed to be gearing up for a nuclear test, an intelligence official said Sunday, a move certain to fuel the already high tensions over its planned long-range rocket launch.   Satellite images show the communist nation digging a new tunnel underground in the Punggye-ri nuclear test site in the country's northeast, where it conducted two previous nuclear tests, first in

The Cabinet has passed a new ordinance on war preparation to allow the military to mobilize some reservists and civilian vehicles in case of localized provocations, officials said Thursday.This move comes as South Korea is striving to reform its armed forces and bolster defense capabilities in the wake of North Korean provocations including the sinking of the corvette Cheonan and the artillery att

Marine Corps Commander Yoo Nak-joon has said that he would take responsibility for his fault concerning the recent shooting rampage that killed four marines, officials said Thursday.His remarks were interpreted as his intention to step down. A marine public affairs officer said he did offer to resign. Another later said that the official made a “mistake,” confusing the media. (Yonhap News)In the w

An Army private first class died in an apparent suicide last Thursday, officials said Wednesday. The 21-year-old PFC, surnamed Lee, was transported to a nearby hospital right after he was found to have hanged himself at an Army regiment-level unit last Monday. He died on Thursday. Investigators are not ruling out the possibility of him opting to take his own life due to mental or physical abuses b

President Lee Myung-bak awarded South Korea's highest order of national security merit to the outgoing chief of U.S. forces in Korea and the chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff at a ceremony Wednesday, participants said.   Gen. Walter Sharp and Adm. Michael Mullen were given the Tong-Il Medal of the Order of National Security Merit for their contributions to the defense of South Korea, part

North Korea is supposed to have discharged water from a dam near the border with the South on Wednesday without advance notification, the state water agency said.The water level on the Pilseung Bridge near the border reached 5.8 meters as of 8:25 p.m. and is increasing by 25 centimeters every hour, officials at the Korea Water Resources Corp. said.The bridge near the Imjin River, which flows from

(Yonhap) -- South Korea's food safety watchdog said Wednesday that two imported Taiwanese food products have been found to contain a potentially health-threatening environmental hormone.   The products, manufactured by Taiwanese firms Yungshin Pharm and Tosaka International, were taken off shelves immediately for containing DEHP, according to the Korea Food and Drug Administration.   The KFDA, how

　The Korea Deposit Insurance Corporation is investigating some 570 employees at a special purpose company of the distressed Busan savings bank group to find out whether they are responsible for its financial troubles, officials said Wednesday.　It has also discovered some 4,000 real estate properties owned by the employees and plans to seize them should they be found to have committed any wrongdoin

  PARIS -- President Lee Myung-bak on Saturday discussed the G20 summit, regional integration, North Korea’s nuclear program and green growth with renowned scholars of France such as former foreign minister Hubert Vedrine.  President Lee Myung-bak talks with renowned French scholars during a breakfast meeting in Paris on Saturday. Yonhap News  Also attending the 90-minute breakfast meeting here wi

South Korea denied a Japanese news report Saturday that it has agreed to hold next week's summit with Japan and China at Japan's tsunami-hit area of Fukushima where a nuclear crisis is continuing despite months of efforts to curb it. In a message to reporters, Seoul's foreign ministry said the Kyodo news agency report is wrong and that the government is still considering whether to agree to Japan'