With this summer’s typhoon season already underway, concerns have risen that the storms’ easterly winds may bring larger amounts of radiation, which is still seeping into the atmosphere, according to experts.Researchers claim that if a typhoon were to touch down in Japan, its counter-clockwise spinning winds may carry radiation to Korea.　A Philippine weather forecaster points to a satellite image

The Dutch government on Friday said it would start banning tourists from buying cannabis from "coffee shops" and impose restrictions on Dutch customers by the end of the year.The Netherlands is well known for having one of Europe's most liberal soft drug policies that has made its cannabis shops a popular tourist attraction, particularly in Amsterdam.Backed by the far-right party of anti-immigrant

The test of proficiency in Korean, or TOPIK, is gaining popularity in Taiwan, as more people are showing interest in learning the language.Ever since the test was introduced in 2005, the number of those taking the exam has been increasing by double-digit percentages. Today the test is taken not only at Taipei, but also at Kaohsiung in order to meet the higher demands.Organized by the National Inst

North Korean leader Kim Jong-il and his heir-apparent son attended a military concert celebrating the outcome of his recent trip to China, Pyongyang's official news agency said Sunday.Kim returned home from a weeklong trip to China last week that included talks with Chinese President Hu Jintao. It was the reclusive leader's third trip to the neighboring ally and key provider of aid in about a year

Police have found a professor in Busan who confessed to killing his wife colluded with his lover in the crime.Police have asked for Interpol’s cooperation in search for the woman who has fled the nation.The 53-year-old professor, identified by his surname Kang, admitted that he strangled his 50-year-old wife on April 2.Her body was found in a hiking sack last Saturday. Police said Kang killed her

A team of U.S. officials arrived in North Korea on Tuesday, the communist state's official media said, a trip intended for consultation on "humanitarian issues" between the two longtime foes.The delegation, led by Robert King, special American ambassador on North Korean human rights, had departed from Beijing hours earlier to arrive in North Korea where it seeks to clarify doubts about Pyongyang's

BEIJING/YANGZHOU (Yonhap News) -- North Korean leader Kim Jong-il visited an economic development zone and a discount store in the eastern city of Yangzhou on Monday in a trip apparently designed to study China's economic reform, a source said.After his two separate outings, Kim appeared to have dinner with former Chinese President Jiang Zemin, the source said."I understand there was a dinner comb

JOPLIN, Missouri (AP) -- A massive tornado that tore through the southwest Missouri city of Joplin killed at least 89 people, but authorities warned that the death toll could climb Monday as search and rescuers continued their work at sunrise.City manager Mark Rohr announced the number of known dead at a pre-dawn news conference outside the wreckage of a hospital that took a direct hit from Sunday

(Yonhap News)A fire broke out at a building next to major fashion mall Migliore in downtown Seoul Monday afternoon.People were rushing to the rooftop of the building in Myeongdong, Seoul’s main shopping street.Smoke was seen rising from the building. 

REYKJAVIK, Iceland (AP) _ Iceland closed its main international airport Sunday as a volcanic eruption sent a plume of ash, smoke and steam 12 miles (20 kilometers) into the air.Smoke rises from the Grimsvotn volcano in Reykjavik, Iceland, Saturday. (AP-Yonhap News)Airport and air traffic control operator ISAVIA said Keflavik airport was closed at 0830 GMT (4:30 a.m. EDT), and no flights were takin

TOKYO (Yonhap News) -- Leaders of South Korea, Japan and China agreed Sunday to establish an early notification system for nuclear accidents, strengthen the sharing of related information and take other steps to bolster cooperation in handling disasters.Nuclear safety and disaster management were the top topics at the annual summit of South Korean President Lee Myung-bak, Japanese Prime Minister N

BEIJING, China (Yonhap) -- A special train carrying North Korean leader Kim Jong-il appears to be heading south for Yangzhou, adjacent to China's economic capital Shanghai, sources said Sunday, contradicting expectations that he would visit Beijing after departing from northeastern Chinese cities.Kim began his secretive trip to China last Friday, when his train crossed the border and arrived in Tu

A 50-year-old housewife missing for 50 days was found dead in a hiking sack in Busan on Saturday, police said. Police arrested her husband in connection with her death. The woman went missing after leaving her home in the port city on May 2. Her body was discovered in the 1-meter-long bag thrown away on an islet on the Nakdong River that runs across the city. Environmental activists and students f

President Barack Obama speaks during a Women's Leadership Forum, Thursday, May 19, 2011, in Washington. (AP-Yonhap News)WASHINGTON (AP) -– Forcefully stepping into an explosive Middle East debate, President Barack Obama on Thursday endorsed a key Palestinian demand for the borders of its future state and prodded Israel to accept that it can never have a truly peaceful nation based on "permanent oc

The U.S. military buried leftover Agent Orange, a defoliant widely used during the Vietnam War, at one of its camps in Korea in 1978, former USFK soldiers told a U.S. TV program. The Korean government on Thursday demanded the United States verify the report by Phoenix, Arizona-based KPHO CBS 5 News. It also proposed a joint investigation into the claim.Citing three veterans, the TV channel said Mo

The U.S. Navy is operating remote-control surveillance helicopters on missions over the Middle East, including Afghanistan, the Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday. The multipurpose Fire Scouts that spy on targets and mark them for attack are expanding the U.S. offensive capabilities without risking American casualties.“Whether pinpointing enemies, hunting pirates or tracking drug smugglers, the

Real estate mogul to stick with hosting his reality TV showNEW YORK (AP) ― Donald Trump said Monday he won’t run for president, choosing to stick with hosting his reality TV show over a bid for the Republican nomination for next year’s election.The real estate mogul made his announcement at a Manhattan hotel as NBC, which airs his show, “The Celebrity Apprentice,’’ rolled out its autumn lineup.“I

The U.S. magazine Foreign Policy has chronicled French political leaders’ sex scandals after Dominique Strauss-Kahn‘s arrest. Following are excerpts from the report.IMF head Dominique Strauss-Kahn is seen at Manhattan Criminal Court, in New York, on Monday. (AFP-Yonhap News)Felix FaureFelix Faure who was president of France from 1895 to 1899 died mysteriously on Feb. 16, 1899. He was alone in a dr

A new book by an U.S. investigative reporter claims that the supposed alien crash landing at Roswell was a plan hatched by former Soviet leader Joseph Stalin to scare Americans.The 1947 incident in the desert of New Mexico prompted one of the greatest alien conspiracy theories in history that an alien spacecraft crashed there and that the U.S. government covered up the recovery of extraterrestrial

Prosecutors have raided the house of the Orion Group chief in expanding their investigation into allegations that he spearheaded the formation of the group's slush fund, officials said Monday.According to the officials, Orion Chairman Tam Chul-gon and his wife are suspected of ordering the formation of a slush fund and exploiting the money for personal uses.Last week, prosecutors indicted a key ex