South Korea's government said Monday it has permitted the entry of 26 Syrians who are seeking refugee status here.The Ministry of Justice said out of 28 Syrians who have been staying at Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul, all except two have been allowed into the country. The two who were not given entry are being questioned about an alleged theft.The move came a few weeks after a local court ruled in favor of nine Syrians who filed a suit against the local immigration office for denyi

INCHEON (Yonhap) -- A 57-year-old executive of the South Korean unit of U.S. carmaker General Motors Co. has been indicted on charges of receiving some tens of millions of won in kickbacks in return for business favors, prosecutors said Wednesday.The Incheon District Prosecutors' Office said the executive in charge of labor management cooperation, whose identity was withheld, allegedly gave favors to a certain company when purchasing gifts for employees in 2015. Prosecutors suspect he received 3

TOKYO (AFP) -- The boss of SoftBank Group on Wednesday admitted his desire to hang on to power a little longer had pushed away the former Google executive seen as his heir apparent.Masayoshi Son told an annual shareholders meeting he had changed his mind about the timeline for stepping down to make way for right-hand man Nikesh Arora.The India-born executive quit the telecoms corporation Tuesday, just two years after being plucked from a high-profile job at the US tech giant, with SoftBank sayin

BAGHDAD (AFP) -- Iraqi forces in Fallujah are facing resistance from holdout Islamic State group fighters in just two northern neighbourhoods of the city, the operation's overall commander said on Wednesday."The northern and central parts of Fallujah have almost been cleared of Daesh," Lieutenant General Abdulwahab al-Saadi told AFP, using an Arabic acronym for IS."There are few IS fighters left, only in the Al-Muallemin and Jolan neighbourhoods in the north of the city," he said."The militants

BRUSSELS (AFP) -- The European Union has reached agreement to set up a new border and coastguard force that could intervene in front-line countries like Greece and Italy to curb the influx of migrants.Negotiators for the 28 EU member states and the European Parliament said Wednesday they had endorsed a proposal from the European Commission, the bloc's executive, to set up the force by the summer.The parliament is expected to vote on the issue in a key committee next week, and if it clears that h

TOKYO (AFP) -- Japan and Russia on Wednesday held talks aimed at resolving a territorial dispute dating back to World War II, which has prevented the neighbours from signing a peace treaty formally ending wartime hostilities. The two countries have diplomatic relations but ties have been strained by a dispute over four islands, known in Japan as the Northern Territories and in Russia as part of the Kuril Islands. Chikahito Harada, Japan's special envoy for Japan-Russia relations, and Russian Dep

TOKYO (AP) -- Campaigning for Japan's parliamentary election kicked off Wednesday, with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's ruling party seeking a mandate for his economic policies amid opposition criticism that the lives of ordinary people are not improving.  As more than 380 candidates took to the streets across the nation, pleading for votes from vans outside train stations and shopping arcades, Abe opened the campaign with a pledge to proceed with his "Abenomics" plan to revive the economy and pull

LONDON (AP) -- Campaigners on both sides of the crucial vote on whether or not Britain should remain in the European Union crisscrossed the country Wednesday, their last day to win support from the undecided.Prime Minister David Cameron outlined his vision for a future with Britain retaining its place in the 28-nation bloc, bristling at the notion that the country would be headed in the wrong direction if it stayed in. He flatly rejected the charge that the institution is moribund. "We are not s

North Korea endured international humiliation with five failed launches in about two months before it finally pulled off what appears to be a successful test of a powerful new midrange missile. Scientists managed to satisfy a direct order from an impatient strongman looking for a credible military backup to his repeated threats to strike his enemies in all corners of Asia.  The latest development came Wednesday, with back-to-back launches of what Seoul, Tokyo and Washington believe are Musudan m

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) -- Cambodia plans to send 21 Taiwanese arrested for suspected fraud to China instead of the self-ruled island this Friday, a Cambodian official said. Rights activists and Taiwan say the plan reflects the great influence Beijing exercises over Cambodia through aid and investment.Gen. Ouk Haiseila, chief of the Interior Ministry's Immigration Investigation Bureau, said Wednesday the Taiwanese citizens, along with 14 Chinese also arrested this month, will be sent to China

Golfer Rory McIlroy became one of the most high-profile sports stars to opt out of the Rio de Janeiro Olympics because of concerns about the Zika virus, saying Wednesday it is "a risk I am unwilling to take.""After speaking with those closest to me, I've come to realize that my healtheuroand my family's health comes before anything else," the four-time major winner said in a statement released by his management company. (Yonhap)The fourth-ranked McIlroy was scheduled to play for Ireland as golf

Outgoing FC Seoul boss Choi Yong-soo said Wednesday he decided to join the Chinese club Jiangsu Suning because he wanted a new challenge by facing top-class football coaches.FC Seoul announced Tuesday that Choi will leave the five-time K League Classic champions for Jiangsu in the Chinese Super League. (Yonhap)Before his last match as Seoul head coach Wednesday, Choi told reporters that he accepted Jiangsu's offer because he didn't want to miss another opportunity.Last July, Choi turned down Jia

The chief engineer of the French engineering company who was in charge of the feasibility study on building a new gateway airport in South Korea said Wednesday that expanding Busan's existing airport was the best choice in terms of geography.Jean-Marie Chevallier of ADPi said Gimhae International Airport will be able to become an efficient and convenient airport with a new 3,200-km-long runway and a passenger terminal.At present the airport has two runways with one being reserved for military pl

South Korea convened a session of the National Security Council on Wednesday after North Korea launched what appeared to be two Musudan intermediate-range ballistic missiles from its east coast earlier in the morning.Chaired by National Security Adviser Kim Kwan-jin, the gathering included the defense, unification and foreign ministers, as well as the head of the National Intelligence Service, Seoul's spy agency.During the meeting, the participants discussed various countermeasures in relation t

BEIJING (Yonhap) -- China's imports of North Korean goods fell 12.59 percent on-year in May, data showed Wednesday, amid tougher U.N. sanctions against Pyongyang's nuclear weapons and missile programs.Imports from North Korea declined to $175.6 million last month, compared to $200.9 million for the same month last year, according to Chinese customs data compiled by the Beijing unit of South Korea's Korea Trade and Investment Promotion Agency.Imports of North Korean coal, which accounts for nearl

BEIJING (Yonhap) -- A North Korean nuclear envoy attending a security forum in Beijing said Wednesday that the long-stalled negotiations on the North's nuclear weapons program are "dead," dashing hope that Pyongyang might change its course on its nuclear ambition. Choe Son-hui, deputy director for North American affairs at North Korea's foreign ministry and the North's deputy chief nuclear envoy, made the remarks during the closed-door forum, according to a diplomatic source who attended the for

South Korean firms suffering snowballing financial damage from the shutdown of an inter-Korean industrial complex four months ago urged the government on Wednesday to allow them to visit North Korea to check their remaining assets before the rainy season. Seoul shut down the Kaesong Industrial Complex in the North's border city on Feb. 10 in response to Pyongyang's January nuclear test and long-range rocket launch in February.With the Kaesong investors' losses mounting, the government last month

TOKYO (AFP) -- The governor of Tokyo resigned Wednesday over spending public money on lavish hotels and spa trips, the latest setback on the mega-city's troubled road to hosting the 2020 Olympics.Unpopular Yoichi Masuzoe fell on his sword just hours before facing a no-confidence vote, making him the city's second governor to quit since Tokyo was named host of the 2020 summer games.Masuzoe's predecessor Naoki Inose -- who led the capital's successful Olympic bid -- bowed out in late 2013 after al

HONOLULU (Yonhap) -- North Korea and the country's leader Kim Jong-un are the biggest sources of threat from the perspective of the United States' military command responsible for the Indo-Asia-Pacific region, a U.S. defense official said, vowing that Washington will not allow Kim to destabilize regional security.The comments were made by Rear Adm. Mark Montgomery, director for operations at the U.S Pacific Command in Honolulu, Hawaii, during his meeting with a group of South Korean journalists

TOKYO (AFP) -- A Chinese spy ship entered Japan's territorial waters on Wednesday as Tokyo conducted a joint exercise with the United States and India, Japanese officials said.Japan quickly voiced "concerns" over the intrusion as it came less than a week after another Chinese naval vessel sailed near islands at the centre of a Tokyo-Beijing sovereignty dispute in the East China Sea."The Chinese military vessel moved in after an Indian ship sailed into Japan's territorial waters as it participate