North Korea’s third nuclear test on Tuesday is expected to reinforce the power base of Kim Jong-un, one year after the young leader took over the communist dynasty. The explosion, conducted just ahead of U.S. President Barack Obama’s State of the Union address, flouted international warnings against any further detonation and prompted an urgent U.N. Security Council meeting in New York to formulate a stronger, more enforceable response. It came merely three months after the regime successfully l

North Korea’s third nuclear test is expected to further erode China’s patience toward the runaway ally as Beijing comes under mounting pressure to join international action against the communist country’s blunt provocations. China strongly criticized the Tuesday blast, warning against “additional actions that could cause the situation to further deteriorate.”“Heedless of widespread international opposition, (North Korea) has again carried out a nuclear test, to which the Chinese government expre

Korea saw the highest number of international marriages between Korean men and Chinese women over the last 10 years, while more Korean women married Japanese men.According to Statistics Korea, the number of marriages between Korean men and Chinese women reached 130,230 between 2002 and 2011. Observers speculate that the high rate is related to the increase in the number of ethnic Koreans in China who visit or stay in Korea.This figure is followed by Korean marriages with Vietnamese women at 59,6

A senior security official on Monday put aside North Korea’s latest mixed signals over its threatened nuclear test, saying a “critical point” in the conjuncture will come this week.The communist country is believed to have completed technical preparations at its test site in the northwest town of Punggye. World attention is now focused on just when it will set off a third blast. “Only Workers’ Party first secretary Kim Jong-un knows when North Korea will test its nuclear device,” the official wa

In a familiar tactic of coupling saber-rattling and peace overtures, North Korea called for the incoming Seoul government’s efforts to put cross-border relations back on track amid signs of its impending nuclear test. The Choson Sinbo, a Tokyo-based mouthpiece for the communist regime, said Wednesday that the resumption of inter-Korean dialogue hinged on Seoul’s attitude under President-elect Park Geun-hye. “In the wake of the United Nations Security Council sanctions, the new government’s behav

President-elect Park Geun-hye’s plan to reorganize the government structure faces intensifying resistance from state agencies as politicians, even from her own party, criticize her dogmatic style. The ambitious measures sparked protests across ministries and offices handling foreign policy and trade, education and science, broadcasting and communication, and nuclear energy. They voiced concerns that administrative efficiency, industrial competitiveness and regulatory independence would hurt. But

Korea on Wednesday called on Japan to rescind its plan to set up a new government body responsible for territorial sovereignty policies to reinforce its claim to neighboring islands including Dokdo. The Foreign Ministry expressed regret, calling the plan “unacceptable.” Japan’s NHK reported that the organization would be installed within the Cabinet Secretariat. It said the office will deal with policies on the Korean islets in the East Sea, the Senkaku or Diaoyu Islands in the East China Sea cl

Well known for his dovish and docile temperament, Foreign Minister Kim Sung-hwan took center stage after going head-to-head with the mighty presidential transition team on Monday over its plan to unhitch trade functions from his agency. The controversy pivots around President-elect Park Geun-hye’s envisioned transfer of the ministry’s trade-related operations to a newly expanded Ministry of Knowledge Economy, which will be renamed the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Energy. After weeks of appare

President Lee Myung-bak believes North Korea could detonate multiple devices when it goes ahead with a nuclear test expected in the coming weeks or even days.In an interview published Tuesday in the Chosun Ilbo daily, the outgoing president also acknowledged the huge challenge the international community faces in seeking to wean Pyongyang off its nuclear weapons program.The North has signaled that it will carry out a “higher level” nuclear test very soon, in a defiant response to UN sanctions im

If North Korea conducts a third nuclear test, South Korean President-elect Park Geun-hye’s pledge for engagement with the communist regime would be revoked, experts said Tuesday, urging Pyongyang to change its policy of confrontation.Tense inter-Korean relations following the North’s two military attacks on South Korea in 2010 have worsened with Pyongyang’s recent threat to carry out a nuclear test. Park has pledged to seek more engagement with North Korea than her predecessor. “If North Korea u

North Korea’s Punggye-ri nuclear test complex is an ideal place to conduct underground atomic detonations due to its geological features and isolated location, South Korean observers said.Observers in the military and government said Pyongyang selected the region and started constructing the site likely over two decades ago, although the certain date is not known. From the 1990s onward, the South Korean and U.S. intelligence agencies have been closely observing the site. The site was used by the

As North Korea warns that it plans its third nuclear test since 2006, outside governments and analysts are trying to determine a crucial question: Just what will Pyongyang’s scientists explode?The last two tests are believed to have been of plutonium devices, but the next logical step for Pyongyang’s ambitious nuclear program could be to conduct a highly enriched uranium explosion. That would be a major accomplishment for North Korea ― and a worrying development that would raise already high sta

As North Korea’s third nuclear test looms large, China is coming under all too familiar pressure to convince its unruly ally to change course or lend impetus to the next batch of international sanctions. Beijing has for decades been propping up Pyongyang by supplying food, fuel and other necessities and providing political backing in the face of its provocations. With stability being its top priority in the region, China’s patronage has also helped boost its clout over its reclusive neighbor.Tho

North Korea said Sunday its leader Kim Jong-un has made an “important decision to defend national security and sovereignty,” furthering speculation about an imminent nuclear test.The young ruler convened an extended meeting of the Central Military Commission to discuss measures to “revere our party’s songun (military-first) revolutionary leadership and bring off a great changeover in increasing military power,” the North’s official Korean Central News Agency said. During the meeting, Kim reached

An Army officer was found dead on Sunday after he had been missing for more than a month, officials said. Park Jin-woong, a 25-year-old second lieutenant, was found to have apparently hanged himself from a tree while still in his uniform on a hill about 1 kilometer from his unit in Cheorwon, Gangwon Province. The border town is about 90 kilometers northeast of Seoul.Park, who had been a platoon leader, disappeared at around 11:30 a.m. on Dec. 29 before he was scheduled to begin search and ambush

Three U.S. soldiers have been caught for alleged sexual harassment of a South Korean woman on a subway train and three others are being sought for their involvement, police said Sunday. The half-dozen American soldiers, whose identities have been withheld, are accused of harassing a 20-year-old South Korean woman around 9:16 p.m. on Saturday on a train on the subway line No. 1.Police said the soldiers danced to loud music on the train, and the woman asked them to be quiet. The soldiers then star

NEW DELHI (AFP) ― A South Korean student holidaying on her own in India was allegedly drugged and raped by the son of a hotel owner as she visited a tiger reserve in central India, police said on Friday.The 23-year-old college student has filed a police case saying she was raped on January 14 after returning to the hotel from a safari at the Bandhavgarh National Park in Madhya Pradesh state.“The incident happened last month but she said she did not have the courage to report it right away. She a

Myanmar’s opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi on Thursday praised Korea’s journey to democracy during her visit to a national cemetery for victims of the 1980 massacre in Gwangju.Suu Kyi, herself a beacon of democracy and major driving force behind the Southeast Asian country’s political reform, placed a wreath at the May 18th National Cemetery. The southwestern city is home to a student-led armed uprising on May 18, 1980, against the junta led by Army coup leader Chun Doo-hwan, who later became

Korean leaders pledged support for Myanmar’s political reform and economic development during their meetings with pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi on Tuesday. Suu Kyi arrived in Seoul late Monday for a five-day visit to attend the opening ceremony for the biennial Special Olympics World Winter Games in Pyeongchang, Gangwon Province.She met with President Lee Myung-bak, President-elect Park Geun-hye and Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon to discuss the two countries’ cooperation on bilateral and Asia

With a global consensus slowly emerging, calls are growing for an independent inquiry mechanism to carry out an in-depth investigation into egregious human rights violations committed by North Korea. In his confirmation hearing last week, U.S. Sen. John Kerry emphasized the need for “speaking out for the prisoners of gulags in North Korea.” North Korea imprisons an estimated 150,000 to 200,000 people in its sprawling political prison camps. As shown in the testimonies of survivors and defectors,