North Korea ratcheted up tension Friday declaring it would end nonaggression pacts and an emergency hotline with the South. In a fury over new U.N. sanctions and South Korea-U.S. joint military drills, Pyongyang also threatened that its nuclear-tipped, long-range missiles are on standby.In response, President Park Geun-hye used her first speech to military cadets to reaffirm Seoul’s resolve to deal sternly with any provocations.The totalitarian regime has recently escalated its rhetoric includin

The South Korean military notched up its defense posture on Wednesday and vowed stern punishment against North Korea’s provocations after Pyongyang warned of retaliation for imminent U.N. Security Council sanctions and Seoul-Washington joint military drills. North Korea’s military leadership late Tuesday threatened to launch “nuclear strikes,” annul the inter-Korean truce, close its office in the border village of Panmunjom, and cut off its military hotline with the United Nations Command. “The

With a fresh round of sanctions in the offing in response to North Korea’s third nuclear test last month, calls are mounting for a brand new approach to halt its nuclear programs and pressure it back to the negotiating table. The U.N. Security Council has repeatedly leveled condemnation and economic sanctions over the years. But North Korea has defied all the pressure by exploding more fission devices and launching even more rockets, resulting in another resolution and penalties. As its renewed

Foreign Minister nominee Yun Byung-se on Thursday ruled out the possibility of military options in upcoming U.N. and country-level sanctions against North Korea for its recent nuclear test. “Major U.N. Security Council members including Korea are neither considering military sanctions nor expected to consider the issue,” the 60-year-old former deputy foreign minister said during his confirmation hearing at the National Assembly.Yun is one of the key architects of President Park Geun-hye’s policy

Seoul’s Songpa District boasts ample cultural heritage, verdant landscapes and salubrious neighborhoods with a slew of parks and lakeside trails providing its residents with a quick getaway from it all. One of the world’s most livable communities recognized by the United Nations, the eastern district spearheads Seoul’s efforts to cope with climate change, pollution and other urban challenges. The municipality runs three solar power plants, raising the supply of renewable energy and helping the u

PYONGYANG, North Korea (AP) ― Flamboyant former NBA star Dennis Rodman is heading to North Korea with VICE media company ― tattoos, piercings, bad-boy reputation and all.The American known as “The Worm’’ is set to arrive Tuesday in Pyongyang, becoming an unlikely ambassador for sports diplomacy at a time of heightened tensions between the U.S. and North Korea. Rodman, three members of the Harlem Globetrotters basketball team, a VICE correspondent and a production crew from the company are visiti

Momentum is building fast among U.N. members to form an independent panel to probe the human rights record in North Korea as the despotic regime has defied international pressure to end oppression, torture and public executions of its people. The U.N. Human Rights Council is expected to discuss a draft resolution for the establishment of a substantive inquiry mechanism this month to be jointly proposed by the European Union and Japan, officials and activists said. The Geneva-based council opened

On her first day as president, Park Geun-hye started her official duty as the commander-in-chief as the nation confronted renewed North Korean nuclear threats.At 12 o’clock sharp, she mobilized the military hotline with Joint Chiefs of Staff chief Gen. Jung Seung-jo to ensure a robust security posture. “This is President Park Geun-hye,” she said from her private home in southern Seoul. “I appreciate the efforts of all soldiers including you. Please make sure the military remains ready so the peo

The human rights watchdog said Monday it has advised the parliament and the labor ministry to revise labor laws to tighten standards for layoffs in light of workers’ suffering caused by dismissals and the subsequent social disturbances.In its recommendation recently presented to the National Assembly speaker and the Ministry of Labor and Employment, the National Human Rights Commission called for clarifying rules on layoff conditions to prevent employers from firing their workers discretionally,

President-elect Park Geun-hye on Sunday tapped her transition team spokesman Yoon Chang-jung and Wikitree Vice Chairwoman Kim Haing as the spokespeople for her administration.The nominations come a day ahead of Park’s inauguration ceremony on Monday when the 61-year-old will be sworn in as South Korea’s first female president.Yoon, 57, a former journalist-turned-political columnist, joined the transition team as senior spokesman in December.Kim, 54, is a founding member of social network news se

The United Nations has been in consultations with member states to adopt a resolution that would set up its first commission of inquiry into widespread human rights violations in North Korea, two sources with direct knowledge of the matter said Monday.The resolution is one of several that have been the subject of debate during the ongoing 22nd session of the U.N. Human Rights Council, which will last until March 22.Ahead of the U.N. council’s session in Geneva, the European Union and Japan agree

Korea’s two major parties on Friday failed again to break the gridlock over President-elect Park Geun-hye’s government overhaul plans, casting further gloom over her administration three days before its official launch. Six negotiators from the ruling Saenuri Party and main opposition Democratic United Parties narrowed their differences on some points but clashed again over an envisioned relocation of broadcasting and telecommunications functions from the Korea Communications Commission to a new

The U.S. Congress is expected to begin discussing a fresh batch of sanctions next week to freeze North Korea’s overseas financial assets to help rein in its diversion of scarce funds to nuclear programs, officials said Wednesday.Rep. Ed Royce, chairman of the House Committee on Foreign Relations, is believed to have been drawing up a bill aimed at preventing Pyongyang from acquiring hard currency since its Feb. 12 nuclear test that defied international laws and warnings. The U.S. government, mea

President-elect Park Geun-hye has completed her foreign and security policy lineup led by moderate conservatives who emphasize a realistic balance between dialogue and pressure in dealing with North Korea.The team led by top presidential security aide Kim Jang-soo has pressed for a major policy shift to normalize inter-Korean ties after five years of chill under incumbent President Lee Myung-bak. The Park team’s new approach promises more flexibility calling for openness and accommodation with t

Kim Jang-soo, National Security Office at Cheong Wa DaeKim Jang-soo has a controversial reputation. While he garnered acclaim for his calm nature and levelheaded yet thorough way of managing key issues, critics call him a “hawk,” voicing concern about his emphasis on strong deterrence and lack of diplomatic experience. Rejecting the tag, the 65-year-old former defense minister branded himself an “owl,” vowing to straddle the volatile line between hawk and dove. “I have a firm belief that we must

Controversy is brewing over the size of North Korea’s nuclear capability as varying readings put the yield of its nuclear explosion last Tuesday at between 6 kilotons to 40 kilotons.South Korea’s Korea Meteorological Administration and Institute of Geo-science and Mineral Resources detected artificial seismic activity with a magnitude of 4.9 after the detonation. It said the explosive power was between 6 and 7 kilotons based on a model of the U.N.-affiliated Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty

North Korea’s fresh round of brinkmanship is poised to throw the U.S. into a double bind: lead a global movement for stronger penalties while reengaging the regime as part of nonproliferation efforts. The communist country is seen rapidly building its nuclear capabilities. Though it has a long way to go to master the technology for miniaturizing warheads to mount on missiles, Tuesday’s detonation showed sizeable progress, experts say. For Pyongyang’s ruling clique, a potent atomic arsenal is the

In the wake of North Korea’s third nuclear test, the security dynamics in the region appears to be entering a new phase as Seoul and Washington push for more potent sanctions and craft ways to beef up their deterrence capabilities. President Lee Myung-bak and his U.S. counterpart Barack Obama pledged to work out a stronger response and maintain Washington’s nuclear umbrella to protect South Korea during a phone conversation late Tuesday. They agreed to “seek a range of measures aimed at impeding

Foreign Minister nominee Yun Byung-se is the architect of President-elect Park Geun-hye’s policy of reengaging North Korea and is tasked to save it from derailment amid escalating tension following the belligerent neighbor’s new nuclear brinkmanship.The 60-year-old former career diplomat was named the nation’s foreign affairs chief to assist the incoming leader in coping with regional uncertainties such as revived nationalism in Japan and the ever-complicated rivalry between the U.S. and China.H

North Korea’s nuclear test on Tuesday appears to have cast a cloud over President-elect Park Geun-hye’s policy of restoring dialogue and normalizing ties with Pyongyang.During the election campaign Park championed a new “trustpolitik” doctrine calling for reengagement with the North while strengthening security against its provocations.Now with the world moving to take action against the communist state, her dual-track approach is already facing a daunting challenge even before it is launched. T