북한은 28일 남한의 당국자들이 기업인들과 함께 방북해 개성공단 정상화 관련 협의를 할 의사를 표시했으나 통일부는 당국간 실무회담이 우선이라는 입장을 견지했다. 북한의 대남기구인 조국평화통일위원회는 대변인 담화에서 “우리는 공업지구 기업가들의 방문을 이미 승인한 상태이며 그들이 들어오면 제품반출 문제를 포함하여 공업지구 정상화와 관련한 어떠한 협의도 진행할 것”이라고 말했다.담화는 특히 “남조선 당국은 신변안전과 같은 공연한 걱정은 하지 않아도 된다”며 “그래도 안심이 되지 않으면 개성공업지구관리위원회 성원들을 함께 들여보내면 될 것”이라고 밝혔다.이는 남측이 우려하는 기업인들의 신변을 이유로 내세우긴 했지만 공단관리위원회 관계자들의 동행 방북도 사실상 허용, 개성공단 정상화를 위한 좀 더 적극적인 움직임을 보인 것으로 해석된다.관리위의 상당수는 남측의 관련 부처 공무원과 퇴직 공무원으로 구성되어 있다.조평통은 “공업지구 사업이 재개되고 정상화되면 원자재와 제품 반출문제는 애당초 제

TOKYO (AFP) -- Four researchers were exposed to radiation in an accident at a Japanese nuclear physics laboratory this week, officials said Saturday.The accident occurred on Thursday at a laboratory in Tokaimura, 120 kilometres northeast of Tokyo, the Japan Atomic Energy Agency said.The researchers were carrying out an experiment to generate particles by firing a proton beam at gold when the accident happened, it said.There was no widespread radiation leak and none of the researchers required me

South Korean stocks are likely to rise next week by shaking off concerns of a possible end to the U.S. quantitative easing and the plunge in Japan's stock market, analysts said Saturday.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index closed at 1,973.45 this week, down 0.67 percent from 1,986.81 a week earlier.The analysts said the KOSPI is expected to advance as the U.S. was unable to terminate its quantitative easing due to weaker-than-expected economic data and the more than 7 percent drop in

MOSCOW (AFP) -- Russia's announcement that the Damascus regime has agreed to attend an international peace conference on the Syrian crisis has been met by scepticism among the fractured opponents of President Bashar al-Assad.Russian foreign ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich said Friday that Moscow had received the Damascus government's assurance it would take part in the talks, during a visit this week by Syria's Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Muqdad."We note with satisfaction that we hav

MOUNT VERNON, Washington (AP) -- Authorities searched for a temporary span after a key bridge linking the U.S. and Canada collapsed, dumping a handful of vehicles and people into the icy water.All three people who fell into the Skagit River in northwestern Washington state escaped with only minor injuries.The four-lane Interstate 5 bridge collapsed about halfway between Seattle and Vancouver, British Columbia, after an oversize truck hit the span, the Washington State Patrol chief said.Officials

South Korea is skeptical of a suggestion made by North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's special envoy that his communist regime is willing to re-join long-suspended six-party talks, a Seoul official said Saturday.Choe Ryong-hae, the director of the General Political Bureau of North Korea's People's Army, met Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing on Friday, during which he conveyed Pyongyang's willingness to open dialogue on the issue with "concerned parties." He also conveyed North Korea's plan to

ULSAN (Yonhap News) -- Hyundai Motor Co., South Korea's largest carmaker, resumed weekend production at some of its assembly lines on Saturday, a move that could help the company make up for production shortfalls and resolve unfilled orders.The resumption marked the first time Hyundai employees returned to the assembly lines in Ulsan for weekend work since March 4 when the carmaker ended its decades-long practice of running a graveyard shift.The weekend work stoppage prevented the carmaker from

Former Vice Justice Minister Kim Hak-ui has been asked to appear for questioning by police sometime next week on suspicions that he received sexual favors from a local contractor in return for business favors, according to an officer Saturday.The sex bribery scandal centers around allegations that a number of high-profile figures, such as former and incumbent high-ranking government officials including Kim and the head of a hospital, received sexual services from about a dozen women hired by the

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- News Corp. said its board of directors has approved plans to split its entertainment and publishing businesses into two separate companies. The company also adopted a shareholder-rights plan designed to prevent a hostile takeover in the volatile trading period after the split is complete.The New York-based media conglomerate also said Friday that the target date for the split is June 28. The company holding its TV and movie properties will be 21st Century Fox. The new News Co

Kara M. Stein and Michael S. Piwowar, both senior U.S. Senate aides, were nominated today by President Barack Obama to join the Securities and Exchange Commission. Stein would replace Elisse B. Walter as a Democratic commissioner and Piwowar would succeed Troy A. Paredes as a Republican appointee on the five-member commission that oversees the country’s capital markets, according to a news release issued by the White House. Stein has served as a top aide to Senator Jack Reed, a Rhode Island Demo

TORONTO (AP) -- Qatar has abandoned its bid to relocate the United Nations civil aviation agency from Canada to the tiny emirate, ending a bitter fight between the two nations, both countries said Friday.Canada had accused Qatar, which has been trying to burnish its international presence, of trying to buy the U.N. agency located in Montreal. Canadian Foreign Minister John Baird said he received a call from Qatar's prime minister on Thursday."I'm going to be generous. I appreciate the call," Bai

TORONTO (AP) -- Toronto Mayor Rob Ford denied Friday that he smokes crack cocaine and said he is not an addict after a video purported to show him using the drug. The mayor of Canada's largest city did not say whether he has ever used crack.Ford did not take questions from reporters at a news conference at City Hall held after a week of silence and after close allies released a letter urging him to address the video. The video apparently shows Ford smoking crack."I do not use crack cocaine, nor

LONDON (AP) -- Both of the suspects accused of butchering a British soldier during broad daylight on a London street had long been on the radar of Britain's domestic spy agency, though investigators say it would have been nearly impossible to predict that the men were on the verge of a brutal killing.Still, counter-terrorism officials said they are reviewing what -- if any -- lessons can be gleaned from the information they had leading up to the slaying Wednesday.Authorities in the U.S. have sim

STOCKHOLM (AFP) -- Stockholm experienced a sixth straight night of riots early Saturday, with cars torched in several immigrant-dominated suburbs, as Britain and the United States warned against travelling to the hotspots.Nearly a week of unrest, which spread briefly Friday night to the medium-sized city of Oerebro 160 kilometers west of Stockholm, have put Sweden's reputation as an oasis of peace and harmony at risk.The unrest has also sparked a debate among Swedes over the integration of immig

WASHINGTON (AFP) -- After a landmark visit by Myanmar's leader, the United States is looking to a new phase of greater cooperation to encourage reform with the former pariah state as it runs out of major symbolic steps.President Thein Sein, a former general who startled observers by ushering in a wave of change when he took office in 2011, met with President Barack Obama on a four-day trip that would have been unimaginable just a few years ago.In a sign of growing normalization, Senate Republica

PARIS (AFP) -- IMF chief Christine Lagarde avoided immediate charges on Friday but was named an "assisted witness" after French prosecutors grilled her for two days over a state payout to a disgraced tycoon when she was finance minister.Lagarde was questioned for a total of 24 hours by prosecutors working for a court that probes cases of ministerial misconduct over her 2007 handling of a row that resulted in 400 million euros ($515 million) being paid to controversial business figure Bernard Tap

BEIJING (AP) -- A top North Korean envoy has delivered a letter from leader Kim Jong Un to Chinese President Xi Jinping and told him Pyongyang would take steps to rejoin stalled nuclear disarmament talks, in an apparent victory for Beijing's efforts to coax its unruly ally into lowering tensions.North Korean Vice Marshal Choe Ryong Hae's three-day visit was seen as a fence-mending mission after Pyongyang angered Beijing with recent snubs and moves to develop its nuclear program. Choe returned to

WASHINGTON (Yonhap News) -- A close partnership between the air forces of South Korea and the United States will continue regardless of which model Seoul picks for its next-generation fighter jets, a senior U.S. official said Friday."They are strong partners and allies and I think will remain so in any situation going forward," Secretary of the Air Force Michael Donley said in a Pentagon press briefing.South Korea is in the process of selecting a contractor for the supply of 60 advanced jets to

정부는 16일 당국간 실무회담 제의을 비난한 북한에 강한 유감을 표시하면서도 대화를 통한 개성공단 사태 해결 의지를 다시 한번 강조했다. 북한의 담당 실무기관인 중앙특구개발지도총국 대변인은 전날 우리 정부의 제안을 “교활한 술책”이라고 비난하며 “남측이 진정으로 개성공업지구 사업을 정상화할 의향이 있다면 그 무슨 통신타발이나 물자반출 문제와 같은 겉발림의 대화 타령을 할 것이 아니라 근본문제를 푸는 데로 나서야 하며 우리에 대한 도발적인 망발과 대결 망동을 그만둬야 한다“고 주장했다. 김형석 통일부 대변인은 이날 브리핑에서 ”기업이 처한 절박한 상황을 조금이라도 완화하려면 우선 원•부자재와 완제품 반출이 무엇보다 시급한 상황“이라면서 ”이런 상황을 감안한 우리 측의 진심 어린 제안에 북한이 어제 일방적 주장으로 회담 제의를 폄훼한 것에 대해 대단히 유감스럽게 생각한다“고 말했다. 김 대변인은 ”근본 문제 해결 등 개성공단과 무관한 주장을 반복하기보다는 투자와 자산을 보장하기 위한 약

LONDON (AP) -- The role of central banks in shoring up the global economic recovery is set to be a key point of discussion among top financial officials from the world's seven leading economies when they gather in the UK this weekend.The Japanese yen's continuing weakness is also expected to come under discussion now that the dollar has breached the 100 yen mark for the first time in a little over four years.In a statement Friday ahead of the Group of Seven's two-day meeting at a country house a