Pyongyang media remains silent as China confirms Kim’s tripNorth Korean leader Kim Jong-il is currently visiting an eastern Chinese city, local reports said Monday, as Pyongyang remained silent about the secretive trip posing potential influence over inter-Korean ties. A train carrying Kim and the 70-member delegation arrived at Yangzhou, west of the Chinese capital Beijing, late night Sunday, and

AP -- A tanker carrying oil for NATO forces in Afghanistan exploded Saturday in northwestern Pakistan as people tried to siphon off some of its fuel, and 15 were killed, an official said. Separately, 14 NATO tankers were damaged in a bombing at a nearby border town, but no one was hurt.The incidents underscored the dangers linked to the vehicles that carry non-lethal supplies for Western troops in

AP -- Former IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn was released from jail Friday to house arrest in a landmark apartment building near ground zero after the luxury apartment where he had arranged to stay fell through because the neighbors objected to the media frenzy.Prosecutors said he would stay temporarily in lower Manhattan while his family and lawyers look for more permanent housing for him to awa

North Korean leader Kim Jong-il arrived at a northeastern Chinese city on the second day of his secretive trip to the ally state, TV reports here said Saturday.Kim's special train arrived in Changchun around 8:20 a.m., and a convoy believed to be carrying an entourage accompanying the leader was seen heading toward the city's South Lake Hotel, according to reports citing unnamed sources there. A l

The United States said Friday it will send a delegation to North Korea next week to assess the food situation and discuss human rights conditions in the impoverished communist state.The mission, led by Robert King, special envoy for North Korean human rights issues, will travel to North Korea for five days from Tuesday for "food assessment" and to address "appropriate human rights issues," State D

South Korean President Lee Myung-bak made consolation visits to disaster-stricken Japanese regions on Saturday, expressing sympathy for victims of an earthquake, tsunami and nuclear accident and pledging to provide active support for recovery efforts.Lee made the visits to Sendai and Fukushima, which are among the hardest-hit regions, en route to Tokyo for an annual tripartite summit with Japanese

North Korea has vowed full disclosure of how donated food is distributed among its people, a senior World Food Program official said Thursday in an apparent bid to encourage Seoul to send food to the impoverished state. The comments by Claudia Von Roehl, director of the U.N. food agency in Pyongyang, come as Washington prepares to send its own delegation to North Korea to monitor the food conditio

The international community must work together on issues of climate change, food shortage and famine, parliamentary leaders from the world’s 20 major economies said Thursday, discussing global challenges during the conference in Seoul. The two-day meeting opened here Thursday, bringing together parliamentarians from the G20 nations, five non-G20 members ― Spain, Ethiopia, Singapore, Equatorial Gui

UNITED NATIONS (AP) ― China blocked the release Friday of a report by U.N. experts accusing North Korea of violating U.N. sanctions that ban the export and import of ballistic missile and nuclear-related items as well as conventional arms and luxury goods.China’s U.N. Ambassador Li Baodong told reporters after a closed-door meeting of the Security Council to discuss implementation of two rounds of

Civic groups call for resumption of food aid, tradeWhile stalling for time may have worked in the past, North Korea might have to come up with a different tactic this time as the South remains firm not to do it any favors until proper measures are taken in response to the casualties last year.Turning a blind eye to the growing international mood to make peace with the communist state, the Seoul go

The U.S. is likely to soon send a delegation to North Korea to examine its food shortages, but allies’ cooperation over the issue of resuming aid on a full-scale basis will not be undermined by the move, officials from Washington and Seoul said Tuesday. Stephen Bosworth, U.S. special envoy on North Korea policies, held talks with Seoul’s chief nuclear envoy Wi Sung-lac here as the two ally nations

N.K. likely to tie food assistance with dialogue with South KoreaWhile the rest of the world is growing more willing to provide North Korea with much-needed food, the South remains stubborn with last year’s deadly attacks fresh in its memory.It is becoming more difficult, however, for the conservative government in Seoul to maintain its stance as even its staunchest ally Washington is moving to re

The World Food Program will increase its personnel residing in North Korea to tighten monitoring of the distribution of donated food, a U.S.-funded radio station reported Tuesday. The plan comes as the U.N. agency prepares to launch an emergency operation to help feed 3.5 million starving North Koreans by providing 310,000 tons of food within the next year. The WFP plans to keep 59 agents in the N

In the run-up to the Nuclear Security Summit next year, South Korea and the U.S. agreed that “nuclear safety” should top the agenda of the multinational conference scheduled for Seoul, the Foreign Ministry here said Tuesday. As the host of the international conference usually plays an important role in setting the agenda, the North Korean nuclear issue was expected by analysts to be the main focus

A hijacked Singapore palm oil tanker was expected to reach Somalia Monday, where negotiations will begin with pirates over the release of its 25-member crew including four South Koreans, an official here said.Somali pirates seized the 21,000-ton MT Gemini as well as more than 28,000 tons of crude palm oil off the coast of Kenya the previous day, the vessel’s owner had announced in a statement. Acc

A South Korean diplomat has been caught allegedly attempting to smuggle expensive elephant tusks into the country upon his return from a post in Africa, the Foreign Ministry said Monday. Some 16 pieces of ivory, which is among the nation’s contraband goods, were found in the shipment of the diplomat who returned to the country in March and currently holds a high-ranking post at the central governm

For decades, labor movements in Korea were orchestrated by two umbrella groups, whose views often led to politicized activities rather than efforts for actual labor rights.Feeling the need for a new labor culture, some of their member unions are moving to create a “third labor alliance” that they say will focus less on politics and more on labor issues. Taking the lead, the Seoul Metro labor union

South Korea’s recent offer to simultaneously use the “East Sea” and the “Sea of Japan” to name the waters between the peninsula and Japan is drawing criticism from people here, who fear the decision will give the international community the wrong idea. The appellation for the body of waters, called the “East Sea” by Koreans and the “Sea of Japan” by the Japanese, has long been a source of tension

Experts say China moving from stance that inter-Korean talks should precede multilateral discussionNegotiations among regional powers over denuclearizing North Korea are likely to reopen at an early date, analysts and officials in Seoul said Wednesday, as a flurry of diplomatic events have been taking place on the divided peninsula this week.As part of regional efforts to bring the reclusive Pyong

Carter arrives in Pyongyang for possible talks with N.K. leaderChina and South Korea have managed to bridge their once divided views over how to revive the stalled peace dialogue with North Korea, a process that should begin with an earnest dialogue between the two Koreas, a senior official here said Tuesday. Chief nuclear envoys of the two neighboring countries held talks in Seoul Tuesday -- the