Lawmakers blasted the Cabinet Thursday over North Korea’s disclosure that the South had proposed in clandestine meetings to hold a summit with the North.On the second day of the parliamentary interpellation, the ruling Grand National Party called into question the administration’s covert approach to the North while keeping a tough stance overtly. The main opposition Democratic Party rebuked the go

South Korean and U.S. troops sprayed toxic defoliant Agent Orange and other herbicides over 6,840 hectares of the Demilitarized Zone between 1968 and 1969, in an effort to thwart North Korean infiltrations, a report said Friday.The estimated size of the areas on which Agent Orange was sprayed was about 14 percent of the southern side of the DMZ, the 4-kilometer-wide, 249-kilometer-long buffer zone

North Korea and China recently forged a deal to develop two North Korean border towns into an industrial belt and introduce, in part, free market practices, a North Korean government document showed.According to the document obtained by the Yonhap news agency, Pyongyang and Beijing agreed to foster the development of the North’s towns of Rason and Hwanggumpyong into an industrial belt.Rason, in th

BUSAN (Yonhap News) ― Two of the four Somali pirates convicted last week of maritime robbery and hijacking a South Korean-owned freighter have lodged an appeal against the court decision, their attorneys said Wednesday.The Busan District Court on Friday sentenced Mahomed Arai, 21, to life in prison for shooting Seok Hae-kyun, the captain of the ship, the Samho Jewelry, and seven other charges, inc

South Korea on Thursday welcomed the top diplomats from 14 Pacific island countries as the sides sought to expand cooperation on climate change and other issues of regional concern. “It has been only three decades since Korea established bilateral ties with the Pacific Islands countries,” South Korean Foreign Minister Kim Sung-hwan said in a speech at the meeting in Seoul. “There is still much to

President Lee Myung-bak praised a contingent of Navy commandos as “heroes” of South Korea on Monday, lauding their daring raid in January to free a seized freighter from Somali pirates.The Cheonghae unit of naval commandos returned home Friday after completing a six-month anti-piracy mission in waters near Somalia that included a successful Jan. 21 operation to rescue the 21-member crew of the Sou

Military prosecutors sought warrants on Friday to arrest two Marine Corps major generals on charges of making false accusations about their top commander, defense ministry officials said. The two major generals, identified only by their initials P and H, have been under an investigation since early this month for allegedly spreading false rumors about the Marine commander, Lt. Gen. Yoo Nak-joon. A

South Korean military intelligence officials are investigating seven officers and soldiers for posting pro-Pyongyang messages on an online community that praises North Korea, military officials said Monday.About 70 military personnel were registered as members of the online community, called the “Cyber Command for Defense of Fellow Countrymen,” and seven of them posted pro-North Korea messages the

   The chief of Toyota Motor Corp., the world's biggest carmaker, is likely to visit South Korea later this week to shore up support here for the brand, industry sources said Sunday.   Akio Toyoda will arrive here around Saturday for his first South Korean trip since becoming president of the company in 2009, the sources said, adding he will meet with Toyota dealers at their shop in Seoul among ot

North Korea is in the completion stage of building a sprawling naval base near the tense sea border with South Korea, a high-level government source said Sunday, a facility capable of housing about 60 air-cushioned vessels that can be used for infiltration attacks.South Korea spotted air-cushioned vessels and hangar-shaped buildings at the naval base that has been under construction in Goampo in t

South Korean scientists said Thursday that they have developed a way to allow drugs to reach the brain that could lead to a safe and cheap treatment method for various neurological diseases.A Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) team led by bio and brain engineering professor Choi Chul-hee said it had used an ultra-high frequency laser to temporarily weaken the “blood-brain b

North Korean leader Kim Jong-il was confirmed to have taken his partner Kim Ok with him to China, a South Korean news report said, drawing attention to her mysterious official role and status in the Pyongyang government. Kim Ok, 47 years old, is known as Kim’s current spouse and a powerful figure who personally assisted him through his illness in 2008 and assumes the role as North Korea’s first la

North Korean leader Kim Jong-il, long known for his frail health, has traveled tirelessly by train since Friday without spending a night in a hotel en route to eastern China, demonstrating that his health may have improved to the extent that he can sustain three days of train ride.The 69-year-old Kim, who suffered a stroke in 2008, crossed the border into China on Friday before heading to China’s

BEIJING (AP) ― Reclusive North Korean leader Kim Jong-il’s visit to crucial ally China highlights his regime’s increasing dependence on its giant neighbor amid his country’s economic collapse and diplomatic isolation over its nuclear program.This is Kim’s third trip to China in just over a year, indicating an interest in the market economy initiatives that Beijing is believed to be pushing for in

South Korea’s state nuclear regulator said Monday that it will send a nuclear expert to Japan as part of an international team to review the Fukushima disaster.The Korea Institute of Nuclear Safety said Sung Key-yong, head of the regulator’s atomic risk assessment office, has been named as a member of the 18-person review team created by the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency.The expe

The National Assembly and the European Parliament will launch an annual bilateral forum to strengthen ties and cooperation as the Korea-EU Free Trade Agreement comes into effect in July.The annual “ROK-EU Leaders Forum” will be hosted alternately by both sides. ROK is the abbreviation of the Republic of Korea.A preparatory meeting to launch the forum was held at the 63 City building in Seoul on Fr

South Korea has amended a conscription law to allow retired female officers to serve in the Reserve Forces, in line with a move to give women more opportunities in the military, officials said Thursday.Unlike men, retired women officers had been banned from being automatically admitted to the Reserve Forces because their military service is not mandatory by law. The revised law means that female o

A North Korean defector is waging a lonely legal battle against South Korean authorities over the alleged disappearance of his relatives in his communist homeland, following an unwanted disclosure of his identity in the South.The battle started two years after Lee Kwang-su arrived in the South along with his wife, two children and a friend aboard a small barge across the eastern sea border in 2006

The British Embassy in South Korea has launched a program to provide North Korean students with English language training, internships and overseas study opportunities. “We have noticed that English language can be a real barrier for new settlers who strive to access the good jobs and higher education opportunities that South Korea has to offer,” said British Ambassador Martin Uden.The ability to

The following article was contributed by Ahmed Djoghlaf, executive secretary of the Convention on Biological Diversity of the United Nations Environment Program. ― Ed.It is a great pleasure for me to attend the launch ceremony of the United Nations Decade on Biodiversity 2011-2020 organized by the Republic of Korea. The aim of the Decade is engaging all the citizens of the world to protect life on