The prosecution on Monday called for the court to sentence Cho Hyun-ah, former vice president of Korean Air, to three years in prison on charges of obstructing aviation safety and coercing cabin crew staff to make false statements over the so-called “nut-rage” incident.Cho, 40, had caused public uproar by forcing a cabin crew chief to disembark from a flight from New York to Seoul on Dec. 5 after not following the carrier’s protocol on serving macadamia nuts. The de facto heiress of the flag car

Japan's deputy foreign minister has said negotiations with the Islamic State group threatening to execute a Jordanian pilot and a Japanese journalist have become "deadlocked," local media reported Saturday.Yasuhide Nakayama, who is leading Tokyo's emergency response team in Amman, told reporters in the Jordanian capital late Friday that there had been no progress in trying to secure the release of Japanese journalist Kenji Goto and airman Maaz al-Kassasbeh."It has become deadlocked," he said, ac

North Korea "reportedly" sacked the chief of its Supreme Guard Command, the elite personal bodyguard force tasked with protecting the North's leader Kim Jong-un, in the wake of last month's killings by a North Korean army deserter, a Chinese scholar wrote in an op-ed for state media on Saturday. Hu Mingyuan, associate researcher at the Center for Northeast Asian Studies, a research institute of the Jilin province that shares borders with North Korea, did not specify where he got the information.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has inspected a joint naval and air force drill targetting the U.S. Navy, state media said Saturday as Pyongyang is upset about U.S.President Barack Obama's recent remarks on the eventual collapse of the North Korean regime.The North has already staged two rounds of air force and army drills earlier this month. But it heightened the level to a joint naval and air force drill involving fighters and torpedoes this time. "A drill of services of the Korean People's Ar

Samsung Electronics Co. has taken over Brazil's No. 1 printing solutions company, Simpress, to bolster its printing business in the Latin American market, industry sources said Saturday.The tech giant recently signed a contract to take over a 100-percent stake in Simpress with a plan to run it as a subsidiary, they said.The Sao Paulo-based firm provides printing outsourcing solution services to local companies, financial and public organizations.Samsung plans to sell its printers through Simpres

President Barack Obama and the Dalai Lama will be at the National Prayer Breakfast next week in Washington, the first time the two men have been together in nearly a year.While the president and the Tibetan spiritual leader could have a chance encounter at the event Thursday, the White House played down any official engagement between the two.As he has done in the past, the president will see many religious leaders at the event, but we don't have any specific meeting with the Dalai Lama to annou

The Navy began taking measures Saturday to drive sit-in protesters out of the construction site of a naval base on a major southern island to complete the construction project by December as planned, triggering strong resistance from the protesters.Civic groups, environmental activists and some residents in the village near the construction site have staged protests in a make-shift tent at the entrance of the site since October last year when the Navy began constructing apartment buildings to be

A U.S. textbook publisher said Friday it "unequivocally" stands by the description of Japan's sexual enslavement of women during World War II in one of its books after Japan's government asked for changes in it.Japan made the request to the publisher, McGraw-Hill, last month, claiming there are grave errors and descriptions in the book, "Tradition & Encounters: A Global Perspective on the Past," which it said conflict with the country's stance on the sexual slavery issue.The request was seen as

Saudi Arabia's top financial official said Friday that South Korea will be one of the countries to be invited to the kingdom if Saudi Arabia pursues a project to build nuclear reactors, according to South Korea's presidential office.Mohammed al-Jasser, Saudi Arabia's minister of economy and planning, made the comment in a meeting with South Korean President Park Geun-hye, Park's office said. Still, he did not elaborate.Park called for support from Saudi Arabia so that South Korea can participate

South Korea’s main parties wrapped up talks Friday on the special Sewol bill and proposals to dismantle the Coast Guard, ending months of prolonged negotiations.The Sewol bill will authorize an investigation into the government’s alleged failure to rescue more passengers during the April ferry disaster. Investigators will be nominated by lawmakers, legal experts, and the families of those killed in the Sewol accident. A state prosecutor, nominated by lawmakers and ultimately approved by the pres

Oscar Pistorius was taken away in a police van Tuesday to start serving a five-year prison sentence for killing girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp.A South African judge cited the "gross negligence'' the Olympic runner showed when he shot Steenkamp multiple times through a toilet cubicle door in his home when she delivered the sentence. Pistorius' prison term begins immediately.Pistorius could be released after 10 months in jail to serve the remainder under house arrest, according to legal experts.Masipa

NATO leaders agreed Friday to set up a rapid reaction force as part of efforts to reassure allies rattled by the Ukraine crisis and rising Islamic extremism, alliance head Anders Fogh Rasmussen said.As a result, NATO will be able to "maintain a continuous presence... in eastern parts of the alliance on a rotational basis," Rasmussen said, denouncing Russian aggression in Ukraine.(AFP)  

A Nigerian national who was quarantined in South Korea with a high fever has tested negative for the Ebola virus, health authorities here said Friday.The 39-year-old man, who arrived in the country on Thursday via a flight that took off from Doha, Qatar, had a body temperature of 38.2 degrees Celsius upon arrival, according to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Because he did not clearly state why he wanted to enter the country, he was put on another plane heading for Doha ear

The top diplomats of South Korea and China have agreed to continue talks over whether to join a push by China to set up a new regional bank to fund infrastructure projects in Asia, China's foreign ministry said Saturday. The agreement was reached between South Korean Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se and his Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi, during bilateral talks on Friday on the sidelines of regional security dialogue in the Myanmar capital of Naypyidaw, the Chinese ministry said in a statement. China

US military planes dropped containers with water and tens of thousands of meals to civilians fleeing jihadist violence in Iraq, the Pentagon said late Friday.Three cargo planes escorted by two F/A-18 combat jets dropped the supplies, which were intended "for thousands of Iraqi citizens threatened by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) on Mount Sinjar, Iraq," the Pentagon said.The cargo planes -- a C-17 and two C-130s -- together dropped a total of 72 bundles of supplies, which includ

A general officer will be named the presiding judge over a trial of soldiers indicted on charges of killing a fellow serviceman earlier in the year, reflecting the importance the military places on the case, an official source said Saturday.According to a senior insider, a general officer appointed by the commander of the 3rd Corps and two colonels from the judge advocate's office will sit as judges in the court-martial for sergeant Lee and the five others implicated in the death of corporal Yoo

North Korea blamed Seoul for the deterioration of inter-Korean relations Saturday, citing joint military exercises with the United States and a breakdown in talks over the Incheon Asian Games.The Rodong Sinmun, an organ of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea (WPK), said in a commentary that Pyongyang's plan to send a cheerleading squad to the Asiad is to promote goodwill between the two sides, but Seoul has intentionally sabotaged the move and has moved to justify its actions.The two sides have f

A homegrown action film about a 16th-century Korean naval hero's astonishing victory against Japan has surpassed the 9 million viewer mark at a record pace, the movie's investor-distributor said Saturday."Roaring Currents" exceeded the milestone earlier in the day, the 11th day since it hit the silver screen, CJ Entertainment said.The movie has been breaking all previous attendance records.The latest tally marks an increase of 1 million from the previous day when it reached the 8 million mark, a

A soldier who deserted his post after fearing disciplinary action for bullying his subordinates injured four civilians in two separate traffic accidents, authorities said Saturday.The incident comes after the death of an Army conscript who was repeatedly bullied and assaulted by senior comrades in April sent shockwaves across the nation and has led to calls for major reform of barrack life.The Army corporal, identified only by his family name Lee from the 6th Artillery Brigade, commandeered a 5-

President Barack Obama's new military strategy in Iraq amounts to trying to contain, not destroy, the Islamic militant group that now controls much of the country's northern region. That leaves open the questions of how deeply the U.S. will be drawn into the sectarian conflict, and whether airstrikes alone can stop the militants' momentum.Obama insists he will not send American ground troops back to Iraq after having withdrawn them in 2011, fulfilling a campaign promise. Still, even the limited