TOKYO (AFP) -- Japan’s ruling party on Sunday extended term limits for its leaders, a change that gives Prime Minister Shinzo Abe a shot at becoming Japan’s longest-serving post-war leader.Abe would have had to step down as party leader and prime minister in September next year, even if his Liberal Democratic Party were still in power.The LDP congress approved extending the limit to three consecutive three-year terms, up from the previous two consecutive three-year term limit.Japan's Prime Minis

South Korea’s top diplomat Yun Byung-se is planning to visit Southeast Asian countries this month, a foreign ministry official said Sunday, as Seoul pushes to rally the region’s support for its efforts to put pressure on North Korea over its nuclear program as well as the recent assassination in Malaysia.“Foreign Minister Yun is reviewing plans to attend events to mark anniversaries of diplomatic relations with Southeast Asian countries,” the official said. If confirmed, the trip is likely to fa

Lotte Group held an emergency meeting on Sunday to discuss countermeasures against what appears to be intensifying retaliation by China against its goods and affiliates after its land swap deal with the government for a planned THAAD deployment, its officials said.The meeting, which was held later in the day, came as Lotte is feared to be taking the brunt of Beijing’s retaliation against the THAAD deployment for which it recently provided a land site in a contract signed late last month with the

The possibility of the United States redeploying tactical nuclear weapons on South Korean soil to counter North Korea’s evolving military threat is expected to fuel a fresh debate on national defense, sources said Sunday.The debate comes as the weekend issue of the New York Times reported that in the most recent meeting of US President Donald Trump’s national security deputies, discussion took place on the option of basing tactical nukes on the Korean Peninsula.The news outlet said the exchange

Alpine snowboarder Lee Sang-ho has won South Korea’s first ever silver medal at the International Ski Federation World Cup.Lee earned silver at the FIS Snowboard World Cup in Kayseri, Turkey, on Saturday (local time) after finishing second in men’s parallel giant slalom. He lost to Andreas Prommegger of Austria by 0.21 second in the final.  Lee Sang-ho (Yonhap)This is the best ever result by a South Korean at the FIS World Cup. Previously, Lee had a fourth place finish at the FIS Snowboard World

The National Assembly on Thursday failed to pass a revision bill to extend the period of the special investigation into the President Park Geun-hye corruption scandal, as the legislation chief refused to use his authority to directly bring the revision bill to the floor.Earlier in the day, four opposition parties requested National Assembly Speaker Rep. Chung Sye-kyun to put the revision bill directly to a vote -- without the approval of the parliamentary legislation and judiciary committee.But

Political parties across the aisle Wednesday celebrated the nation’s 98th Independent Movement Day, recognizing its significance from different perspectives. The conservative camp described the occasion as a call for unity among the citizens of a nation that has been divided over the president’s impeachment. On the other hand, the opposition appealed to those in the public who have been calling for the past months to oust the state leader and establish a new power.The conservative bloc, which in

Facing an intense in-party primary, presidential candidates of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea on Monday stepped up efforts to win over support ahead of the main race.As of 5 p.m. on Monday, the number of the party’s in-house voters reached 1.2 million, in 12 days since the registration process opened on Feb. 15. Lawmakers expect the trend to continue so to beat the last presidential primary’s record of 1.08 million in 2012. The party’s election board said it would host 10 candidat

Acting President and Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn took a hammering from opposition parties Friday for distributing souvenir wristwatches with his position inscribed as “acting president."Not only the liberal Democratic Party of Korea and People’s Party, but also the conservative splinter Bareun Party, viewed this as reflecting Hwang’s tacit presidential ambition and urged him to focus on his current duties.The disputed watch rose to public attention after somebody put one up for sale online Tues

Moon Jae-in, the opposition front-runner in the upcoming presidential race, on Thursday extended his lead in the polls as the support rating for runner-up rival An Hee-jung edged down following a spat over a controversial remark. According to local pollster Realmeter, Moon of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea garnered 32.4 percent support this week, 13.2 percentage points higher than South Chungcheong Gov. An of the same party, who saw a fall of 1.2 percentage points to record 19.2 p

With President Park Geun-hye’s impeachment trial drawing to a close, some ruling party politicians are trying to reignite talk on “a political solution,” by which they mean the president’s voluntary departure on condition of her being spared from a criminal investigation. President Park, although named an accomplice to multiple crimes allegedly committed by her longtime friend Choi Soon-sil and aides, has not been indicted due to the presidential privilege of criminal immunity. But once she leav

WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Donald Trump has chosen as his national security adviser a soldier-scholar who fought in both Iraq wars and wrote an influential book that called out the US government for "lies’’ that led to the Vietnam War.　 Army Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster would remain on active military duty while leading the National Security Council, White House officials said Monday. He joined two retired generals -- Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly -- already

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The National Zoo in Washington is saying a final goodbye to its panda cub Bao Bao. Giant Panda Bao Bao eats bamboos at the Smithsonian's National Zoo in Washington DC, the Unite States on Thursday. (Xinhua-Yonhap)The zoo is packing up the American-born panda for a one-way flight Tuesday to China, where the 3-year-old will eventually join a panda breeding program.　 Bao Bao is scheduled to leave the zoo Tuesday morning and fly from Washington Dulles International Airport in Virg

LISBON, Portugal (AP) -- A Portuguese court has ordered police to extradite a former CIA agent to Italy, where she is due to serve a four-year prison sentence after being convicted of involvement in a US program that kidnapped suspects for interrogation, her lawyer said Tuesday.　 Police took Sabrina de Sousa to a Portuguese jail where she is awaiting extradition, her Portuguese lawyer, Manuel Magalhaes e Silva, told the Associated Press. He said in an email that she was detained Monday and is ex

TRIPOLI, Libya (AFP) -- The bodies of 74 migrants who drowned in the Mediterranean trying to reach Europe have washed up on a beach west of the Libyan capital, the Red Crescent said Tuesday.Residents of the village of Harcha, outside Zawiya, 45 kilometers from Tripoli, alerted the emergency services after finding a wrecked boat on the beach with bodies inside, the Red Crescent said.More were discovered elsewhere on the beach and still more were feared to be in the sea.Photographs posted by the Z

A South Korean ship with 24 crew members and some 5,000 cars was released Tuesday after being seized by the Libyan military last week, Seoul‘s foreign ministry said.The ministry said that the ship, Morning Compass, which was travelling to reach its final destination of Germany, was captured by the Libyan Navy some 1,400 kilometers east of Misurata in the North African state’s northwest region at 5 p.m. on Saturday. This photo is captured from a Libyan news outlet site by Yonhap News Agency.The s

AALBORG, Denmark (Yonhap) -- The Danish prosecution on Tuesday deferred a decision over whether to repatriate the daughter of South Korean President Park Geun-hye’s close confidante at the center of a high-profile corruption scandal.South Korea’s special probe team, led by Independent Counsel Park Young-soo, has requested Denmark to send Chung Yoo-ra, the 21-year-old daughter of Choi Soon-sil, to Seoul so she could be questioned on a series of alleged wrongdoings related to the president.Chung,

South Korea is reviewing a plan to raise the issue of North Korea’s recent assassination of leader Kim Jong-un’s half brother at an incoming session of the United Nations Human Rights Council, the foreign ministry said Tuesday. Kim Jong-nam (Yonhap)“Concerning the latest murder, (the government) is reviewing an action to publicize the North Korean regime’s brutality and inhumanity on the occasion of the international community’s human rights discussion,” foreign ministry spokesman Cho June-hyuck

Is fury over today’s injustice a requisite for a better tomorrow? Two front-runners vying for South Korea’s presidency are locking horns in a rare philosophical debate over the question. The spat began with a controversial remark by South Chungcheong Gov. An Hee-jung from the liberal opposition Democratic Party of Korea about the failures of the two conservative presidents. “I think they (Presidents Park Geun-hye and Lee Myung-bak) tried to govern well for the citizens and those from the lower p

Three presidential candidates from the main liberal party have more than 60 percent of voter support between them, a recent poll showed Monday, indicating a tough fight for the ruling conservatives in the upcoming election. According to a weekly poll released by Realmeter, the opposition Democratic Party of Korea, South Korea’s largest parliamentary party, is enjoying record-high popularity of 47.7 percent, with the combined poll figures of its three presidential hopefuls even higher at over 60