Seoul plans to slap entry ban on fourA diplomatic conflict between South Korea and Japan is escalating as four Japanese lawmakers are pushing ahead with their plan to visit Ulleung Island, while Seoul plans to ban their entry into the country.Despite repeated warnings, the lawmakers of Japan’s main opposition Liberal Democratic Party have stuck to their plan to visit the island, the closest they c

South Korea will send 39 troops to Mongolia later this week for an annual international peacekeeping exercise, the Joint Chiefs of Staff said Friday.At the invitation of the Mongolian military, the troops will participate in the 13-day “Khaan Quest” drill that will begin in an area some 56 kilometers west of the Mongolian capital of Ulan Bator on Sunday. The exercise was created in 2003 to enhance

Seoul hints it could rely on international law to resolve issueNorth Korea on Friday notified South Korea that it would begin taking “practical steps” to dispose of South Korean assets at its Mount Geumgang resort, a move that could further aggravate inter-Korean ties.Friday was the deadline by which the North had demanded the South “dispose of its rights to the properties” at the scenic resort on

Joint Chiefs of Staff mobilizes 1,700 troops to join restoration effortsThe military has ordered a search in southern Seoul, as well as in Gyeonggi and Gangwon Provinces to verify whether landmines and other ammunitions were washed into populated areas following torrential rains this week, officials said Thursday.It has also sent some 1,700 troops and heavy equipment to help restore the areas that

The landslides on Mount Umyeon in southern Seoul on Wednesday after two days of torrential rain could be attributed to weak ground, experts said Thursday.They also noted that the Seoul municipality did not take sufficient measures to stave off landslides even though concerns have persistently been raised over the possibility of earth falls near it. Downpours on the mountain took the lives of 17 pe

Measures to include disbanding of units found to have serious problemsThe Marine Corps is seeking to introduce a set of severe measures to stamp out physical and verbal abuse in its units, which have been blamed for suicides and a shooting rampage in recent months, officials said Monday.It plans to take the red name tag, a long-standing marine emblem, off the uniforms of those caught mistreating f

Defense chiefs of South Korea and China on Friday agreed to establish an annual “strategic defense dialogue,” paving the way for enhanced cooperation in tackling peninsular and regional security issues, officials said.During their talks in Beijing, Defense Minister Kim Kwan-jin and his Chinese counterpart Gen. Liang Guanglie also expressed their opposition to “any acts that undermine peace and sta

Gen. Thurman takes charge of U.S. forces in S. Korea, vows to deter N.K. provocationsA new U.S. Forces Korea commander took office on Thursday, vowing to further strengthen the long-standing bilateral alliance and deter any provocations on the Korean Peninsula.Gen. James D. Thurman, who replaced Gen. Walter Sharp, will also serve as the heads of the United Nations Command and the Republic of Korea

State broadcaster KBS denies bugging allegations, calls probe threat to press freedomAllegations of bugging involving the state-run broadcaster KBS have sparked criticism over “unethical journalism,” with others denouncing the ongoing investigation into the claims as an infringement on press freedom.The suspicion is that on June 23, a 33-year-old KBS reporter, surnamed Jang, bugged a closed-door m

Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon pledged to fight “welfare populism” in a city council bill to offer free school meals at all schools in the capital.“If we don’t overcome ‘welfare populism,’ the democracy of our nation cannot move forward,” he noted at the press conference marking the first year of his second term Wednesday.“Seoul citizens have made a wise move to put the free school lunch on referendum and

North Korea on Wednesday demanded that the South present its plans to dispose of the Seoul-owned assets at the Mount Geumgang resort by July 29, according to a government official.The North also said that should the South make no response by then, it would unilaterally dispose of the assets held by South Koreans.The demand came as a 10-member delegation of Seoul government officials and investors

The Navy has decided to expand a helicopter landing facility on Ulleung Island and dispatch two more military helicopters to it, according to a lawmaker.The move comes as Seoul seeks to bolster its capabilities to defend the easternmost islets of Dokdo over which Japan has been persistently making sovereignty claims.Rep. Song Young-sun of the minority Future Hope Alliance party said that the Navy

 Defense chiefs of South Korea and Switzerland held talks on Tuesday in Seoul to discuss regional security issues and ways to enhance bilateral military ties, the Ministry of National Defense said. Defense Minister Kim Kwan-jin (left) and his Swiss counterpart Ueli Maurer shake hands prior to their talks at the Ministry of National Defense in Seoul on Tuesday. (Yonhap News)Defense Minister Kim Kwa

Defense Minister Kim Kwan-jin will depart for China on Thursday for a three-day schedule that includes talks with his Chinese counterpart and other top government officials there, officials here said Tuesday.During their talks slated for Friday, Kim and Chinese Defense Minister Gen. Liang Guanglie will discuss a wide range of regional security issues including those concerning North Korea and ways

The U.S. Forces Korea on Monday conferred its annual Good Neighbor Awards to 24 Korean and U.S. civilians and military staff for their contribution to strengthening the alliance between the two nations.Fourteen South Koreans, including Dongducheon Mayor Oh Sea-chang and Pyeongtaek Culture Center head Oh Yong-won, were given the awards in the category of individuals during the ninth GNA ceremony at

South Korean and U.S. Air Forces have recently reached an agreement to stage an aerial refueling exercise on a regular basis here, using a U.S. in-flight tanker, a military source said Monday.The first joint refueling exercise in which the U.S. is to mobilize its KC-135 tanker currently based in Okinawa, Japan, is expected to take place in the latter half of this year, the source said.“Although ou

Criticism over management of troops deepens in wake of Ganghwa shootingAnother marine was found dead at his unit in Pohang, North Gyeongsang Province, in an apparent suicide on Sunday night, further escalating public concerns over purportedly prevalent abuses in the military.The death of the 19-year-old lance corporal, identified only by his surname Jeong, came after a marine committed suicide and

Defense minister orders full-scale inspection of all military unitsAlthough his son will not join the military for another 10 years, Moon Young-sook is already apprehensive that his boy could suffer the “appalling” human rights abuses said to be widespread there.“I feel more worried than before as it is said that such abuses are still taking place in many units, not in just a few. When we heard of

Prosecutors are investigating 11 people on charges of establishing an anti-state organization under a directive from North Korea’s ruling Workers’ Party, officials said Sunday.Among them was a member of the Korea Higher Education Research Institute, which spearheaded a nationwide campaign to halve college tuitions, triggering criticism that the probe aims to stifle voices against a government poli

S. Korea has highest percentage of ‘resilient students’ in the OECDLim Won-tae, a 16-year-old student in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province, has lived with his grandparents since his parents left about two years ago to stop creditors harassing their family.After his father’s financial business went bust, Lim began to believe that education was the only sure way to reestablish his family. Even without the p