TOKYO (Yonhap News) – Japan has submitted an official complaint that it is opposed to Seoul's recent claim to an extended portion of continental shelf that reaches beyond South Korea's exclusive economic zone (EEZ) in the East China Sea, local media reported here Saturday.According to the reports, the foreign ministry in Tokyo presented its opinion to the U.N. Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf (CLCS) earlier Saturday. Japan insisted that Seoul and Tokyo need to define their bound

The transition team of President-elect Park Geun-hye will receive policy briefings from the national tax agency and the intelligence body Saturday, the second day of a key process to formulate a policy road map for the next government.The National Tax Service (NTS) and the National Intelligence Service (NIS) are scheduled to brief the transition team in the morning, followed by the Ministry of Knowledge Economy, the justice ministry and the Supreme Prosecutors' Office in the afternoon.Sources sa

UNITED NATIONS (AP) – Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said Friday that France, Senegal and Nigeria have responded to an appeal from Mali's president for help to counter an offensive by al-Qaida-linked militants who control the northern half of the country and are heading south.The U.N. chief said in an interview with The Associated Press that assisting the Malian defense forces push back against the Islamist armed groups is ``very important.'' The militants captured the city of Konna on Thursday,

WASHINGTON (AFP) - A government report warned Friday that the United States could face more frequent severe weather including heat waves and storms for decades to come as temperatures rise far beyond levels being planned for.The draft Third National Climate Assessment, a scientific study legally mandated to advise U.S. policymakers, made few bones that carbon emissions have been causing climate change -- a source of controversy among some lawmakers."Evidence for climate change abounds, from the

WASHINGTON (AFP) - The U.S. military is weighing support for French forces in Mali including surveillance drones, a U.S. official said Friday, as Washington backed moves to deny safe haven to extremists in the country.U.S. commanders were looking at providing intelligence and aerial refueling tankers among a range of options, such as logistical backup and boosting intelligence sharing, which would involve surveillance drones, the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told AFP.Backed by

The defense ministry plans to double soldiers' salaries in the next five years to carry out incoming President Park Geun-hye's election pledge, officials said Thursday.The plan will be reported to Park's transition team on Friday, the first briefing by a government agency since Park was elected in December, along with other major defense and security issues.The move comes as Park promised to double soldiers' pay, which is set at 96,000 won ($90) on average, to appeal to soldiers and their parent

A U.S. soldier has been indicted Thursday on charges of smuggling a massive amount of marijuana into the country, South Korean prosecutors said Thursday.The 23-year-old corporal from the U.S. Air Force base in Osan, identified only by his initial M, is accused of smuggling 944 grams of marijuana with coffee beans via international air mail in September, prosecutors said.That quantity is enough for approximately 1,800 doses, they added.The prosecutors said they have indicted the soldier after the

President-elect Park Geun-hye vowed Thursday to boost the country's science and technology sector, crediting it with driving economic growth both in the past and in the future, a spokesman said."Although there are many difficulties in the science and technology sector, I believe science and technology are the engine for future growth, and I will do my best to use developments in science and technology as a foundation for our country's advancement into a developed country," spokesman Park Sun-kyo

A female criminal suspect, accused of offering sex to a prosecutor questioning her in return for leniency, sued three people for circulating her photo on the Internet, the woman's lawyer said Thursday.A photo of the 42-year-old woman began to spread on the Internet when the sex scandal was reported by news media in late November. More photos of her were later put online.The woman asked the police to investigate those who had leaked and circulated her photo on Nov. 28 for the first time, the lawy

The Samsung Lions are the champions of South Korean baseball in 2012.At Seoul's Jamsil Stadium Thursday, the Lions beat the SK Wyverns 7-0 to clinch the best-of-seven Korean Series in six games.Park Seok-min blasted a two-run home run and Lee Seung-yeop hit a bases-loaded triple during the six-run fourth for the Lions, who have now won back-to-back Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) titles and their sixth overall. Last year, they defeated the same Wyverns in five games.Lee Seung-yeop was voted th

LONDON (AFP) - The German firm that made thalidomide has issued its first apology in 50 years to the thousands born disabled as a result of the drug's use, drawing stinging criticism from advocates for some survivors.Grunenthal's chief executive Harald Stock said in a speech on Friday his firm was "very sorry" for its silence towards the victims of the drug, which was sold to pregnant women to cur

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un visited a restaurant in Pyongyang, the country's state media reported Saturday, as he conducted his first inspection in the economic field in almost a month.Kim went around different sections of Haemaji Restaurant along with his wife Ri Sol-ju, according to the Korean Central News Agency.Kim "expressed great satisfaction" over the construction of the restaurant, say

HONG KONG (Yonhap News) – China's manufacturing activity for August slowed for the fourth straight month amid global economic uncertainty, an industry group said Saturday.The Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) of China's manufacturing sector came in at 49.2 last month, down from 50.1 in July, according to the China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing (CFLP).The index hit its worst level since Nove

South Korean stocks will likely move sideways next week, with investors eyeing the result of the European Central Bank (ECB)'s monetary policy meeting scheduled for later in the week, analysts said.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) finished at 1,905.12 this week, down 0.8 percent from the previous week. It sank into negative territory earlier in the week after top-cap Samsung

GHANZNI, Afghanistan (AFP) - A twin suicide attack, one of them a "massive" truck bombing, struck a US-run NATO base in Afghanistan's central province of Wardak on Saturday, killing at least six civilians, officials said.Eight other people including two NATO soldiers were wounded in the attack around dawn, Afghan and NATO officials said."A suicide bomber on foot detonated near the gate of the base

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) _ Operations resumed Friday at the Amuay refinery where an explosion set off a raging fire and killed 42 people and injured more than 150 others, Venezuela's state oil company announced.The accident had paralyzed work at the oil installation in western Venezuela since the huge explosion early Saturday, which authorities blamed on a gas leak. Amuay is one of the largest refi

NAJU, South Korea (Yonhap News) – Police said Saturday they will request an arrest warrant against a suspect in the latest child rape case that has shocked South Korea.The 23-year-old man, identified only by his surname Ko, was detained on Friday, a day after he allegedly abducted a sleeping 7-year-old girl from her home and brutally raped her in Naju, 350 kilometers south of Seoul.Ko has confesse

An Apple Inc. iPhone 4S smartphone (left) and a Samsung Electronics Co. Galaxy S III smartphone are arranged for a photograph in Seoul. (Bloomberg)SAN JOSE, California (AP) _ Fresh off its court victory over Samsung Electronics Co., iPhone maker Apple Inc. is asking a federal court to add four more of its rival's products to the list of patent-infringing products.Apple filed documents in San Jose

Six Taliban fighters stand handcuffed after they were captured with their ammunition by Afghan security forces in Helmand province, south of Kabul, Afghanistan, on Aug. 28, 2012. Afghan security forces captured six Taliban fighters with their ammunition during their operations on Tuesday, officials said. (Xinhua-Yonhap News)KHAR, Pakistan (AFP) - Pakistani Taliban released a video showing what app

LONDON (Yonhap News) -- South Korean swimmer Lee In-kook was disqualified from the men's 100-meter backstroke S14 final on Friday at the London Paralympics.The London Organizing Committee of the Paralympic Games said Lee was disqualified for being late to the Aquatics Center.He arrived at the pool 17 minutes before the start of race, three minutes behind the time set by the International Paralympi