The International Telecommunications Union (ITU) on Wednesday passed a South Korea-led resolution that specifies targets in connecting the world via the Internet.The "Connect 2020" resolution aims to foster access to and use of ICT, bridge the digital divide, manage challenges resulting from ICT development, and adapt to the changing technology environment to eventually connect the world via a global network.Specifically, it targets having 55 percent of households across the world gain access to

Senior diplomats from South Korea, China and Japan agreed on Thursday to ramp up their trilateral cooperation to patch up relations strained over history and territorial rows, Seoul officials said.The meeting brought together Seoul's Deputy Foreign Minister for Political Affairs Lee Kyung-soo, Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Liu Zhenmin and their Japanese counterpart, Shinsuke Sugiyama, they said.The high-level talks, the first since November, dealt with various cooperative projects to be pursued

South Korea expressed support Thursday for U.S. President Barack Obama's plan for airstrikes in Syria and expanded strikes in Iraq to defeat the Islamic State militant group.Obama said Wednesday he won't hesitate to take action against the Islamic State in Syria, as he pledged to "degrade, and ultimately destroy" the extremists responsible for beheading two American journalists."South Korea voices its support to the efforts by the international community to defeat the Islamic State militant grou

South Korea's Cabinet on Thursday approved a bill on a free trade agreement (FTA) with Canada ahead of ratification by the parliament, the prime minister's office said. After nearly nine years of talks, including a five-year hiatus, Seoul and Ottawa concluded the FTA in March this year. The two sides expect the deal to help significantly boost bilateral trade by cutting tariffs on a wide range of products including automobiles and meat.During a weekly meeting held in Seoul earlier in the day, th

The first batch of 94 members of the North Korean delegation to the Asian Games in South Korea arrived here on Thursday.The group that flew from Pyongyang to Incheon International Airport included athletes in football and rowing, officials, referees, medical staff and journalists. They will participate in the 17th Asian Games scheduled to open on Sept. 19 in Incheon, lying just west of Seoul.Jang Su-myong, a senior official from North Korea's Olympic Committee, was among the 94 members on Thursd

 VATICAN CITY (AP) -- Pope Francis has expressed outrage at the violence aimed at religious minorities in Iraq, where fleeing children have died of thirst, and said his emissary to the region would leave Monday. In a strongly worded message during his traditional Sunday blessing, Francis said the news from Iraq `'leaves us in disbelief.''  He cited `'the thousands of people, including Christians, who have been brutally forced from their homes, children who have died from thirst during the escape

More than seven out of 10 European companies are taking advantage of the free trade deal between South Korea and the European Union (EU) to promote their business opportunities, a poll showed Sunday.According to the survey on 360 major companies in 18 EU member countries, 73.7 percent of the respondents said they are aware the free trade agreement (FTA) went into effect in July 2011, and are taking advantage of it in their business.In particular, 28.1 percent said they are directly utilizing the

BEIJING (AP) -- Eighteen people who took part in violence that killed almost 100 people near China's border with Pakistan last month have handed themselves in to authorities, Chinese state media said Sunday.Authorities say a terrorist gang attacked a police station and government buildings in Shache county near Kashgar on July 28, killing 37 people before police shot dead 59 of the attackers.Xinjiang has experienced rising unrest in recent months blamed on militants from the region's native Musl

NEW YORK, (AFP) -- Former NASCAR racing champion Tony Stewart hit and killed a driver who left his damaged car mid-race at the Canandaigua Motorsports Park in upstate New York, US media reported Sunday.ESPN.com said that Stewart, a three-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion, first bumped the victim's car and knocked it out of the late Saturday race. On his next time around the track Stewart then struck the driver when the victim left his car to confront the NASCAR champion on the dirt track, O

NAYPYITAW -- North Korea's new foreign minister plans to hold a meeting with his Chinese counterpart in Myanmar on Sunday on the sidelines of Asia's biggest security forum amid Pyongyang's threats of another nuclear test and missile launches, officials said.Ri Su-yong, who became the North's top diplomat in April, is visiting the capital of Myanmar to attend the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF), slated for later in the day.Ri and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi will hold talks after the ARF's plenary

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) -- Masked gunmen stormed a coastal Malaysian resort, shot a policeman and kidnapped another then sped away in a boat toward the southern Philippines, where Muslim militants have carried out similar raids in the past, a security official said Sunday. The latest kidnapping highlights persistent security threats in Malaysia's Sabah state on Borneo Island and is believed to be spillover of violence from the southern Philippines, a region where separatist militants and kid

BAGHDAD, (AFP) - Apartment blocks near a mosque and a kindergarten daubed with cartoon characters seem an unlikely place for the slaughter of 27 alleged prostitutes, but in Baghdad death is never far.Few people in the Iraqi capital's Zayouna district know any details of what happened in their neighbourhood late on Saturday, and even fewer want to hazard a guess.Residents of the rubbish-strewn area of crumbling grey apartment blocks say they stopped asking questions long ago in a city awash with

BERLIN (AP) -- German police say they allowed an anti-Israel protester to use a megaphone in a police car during a "Free Gaza" demonstration in Frankfurt and he shouted inciting slogans including "child murderer Israel" and "Allahu akbar."Frankfurt police spokeswoman Virginie Wegner said Sunday they let the protester use the megaphone because the demonstration had turned violent and he had offered them to calm down the situation.But instead of doing that, he shouted anti-Israel slogans. A video

The prosecution has decided to re-seek an arrest warrant for the fugitive owner of the sunken ferry Sewol in case they fail to catch him by next week, officials said Sunday.Yoo Byung-eun, 73, who is believed to own Chonghaejin Marine Co., has been at large since the marine disaster on April 16 that claimed more than 300 lives and left 11 missing.Prosecutors have carried out a massive manhunt for Yoo for months but have so far failed to locate his whereabouts.His arrest warrant is set to expire o

BAGHDAD (AP) -- Iraq's parliament has ended its second session after just 30 minutes with lawmakers still deadlocked over electing new leadership.The legislature is under pressure to quickly choose a new speaker of parliament, president and prime minister -- the first steps toward forming a new government that Iraqis hope can confront a Sunni militant offensive.Acting parliament speaker Mahdi al-Hafidh ended Sunday's brief meeting ``due to the absence of any agreement on the names of the nominee

ATLANTA (AP) -- A motorist is facing charges after police say he crashed a car into a lobby at CNN Center, the news network's headquarters in Atlanta.Authorities say the car shattered a glass entryway before dawn Friday. It came to rest in the middle of the lobby.Atlanta police officer John Chafee says the driver is being charged with driving under the influence, reckless driving and marijuana possession. Chafee said the driver, whose name wasn't released, told police he had smoked marijuana ear

BEIJING, (AFP) - China on Friday said that Vietnamese ships have rammed its vessels more than 1,500 times since early last month, as the  two countries increasingly trade accusations over a South China Sea territorial dispute.At a special briefing with reporters Friday, Chinese foreign ministry  official Yi Xianliang accused Vietnamese vessels of ramming Chinese ships near  an oil rig in contested waters a total of 1,547 times since May 2.Vietnam now has 61 ships in the area while China has 71,

BAGHDAD (AFP) -- Hisham Issa Kamel slipped out of his home in Baghdad early Friday and headed to a recruitment centre, joining thousands of others signing up to fight an offensive by Sunni Arab militants.His wife opposed the move, but she did not understand how serious the  situation in the country has become, "so I did not listen to her," Kamel said.The assault spearheaded by jihadists from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) group has overrun a vast swathe of northern and north cen

A Seoul court ruled Friday that the state tax office refund Lone Star Funds 119 billion won (US$117 million) in taxes collected from the U.S. buyout fund in its sale of a stake in Korea Exchange Bank (KEB).In June 2007, Lone Star, which bought KEB in 2003, sold part of its stake in the lender for 1.19 trillion won via a block sale.Local tax authorities withheld 10 percent of the sale proceeds in capital gains taxes. Challenging the taxation, LSF-KEB Holdings, Lone Star's subsidiary, filed a laws

South Korea's national pension fund plans to raise its stock investment in 2015 while cutting its exposure to safer assets in a bid to boost its return, the welfare ministry said Friday.According to the ministry, the National Pension Service (NPS), among the world's big four pension operators, will raise the portion of local stocks in its overall investment portfolio to 20 percent next year from 19.7 percent at the end of last year, while slashing its exposure to local bonds to 52.9 percent from