GENEVA (AFP) - The UN refugee agency on Friday urged China not to send back a group of North Koreans who fled to Chinese territory and who risk punishment if returned home.   In a statement, the UNHCR said it "is closely following the situation of a group of

   North Korea's nominal head of state met with the chief of Egypt's Orascom Telecom, which provides mobile phone services to the communist nation, according to Pyongyang's official news agency Thursday.   Kim Young-nam, president of the Presidium of the Supreme People's Assembly

   South Korea's presidential office on Thursday denied a lawmaker's claim that President Lee Myung-bak promised to purchase U.S.-made F-35 fighter jets when he held summit talks with President Barack Obama in October.   Rep. Song Young-sun made the claim in a radio interview Wed

The main opposition Democratic Unity Party has decided to launch an investigation into allegations of a bribery that took place prior to a preliminary primary last month, a party spokesman said Monday.The move came hours after local media reported that some officials of a candidate allegedly gave mo

 

 

 

  Park Geun-hye, the leading presidential contender for the ruling Grand National Party (GNP), said Thursday that her party should select competitive candidates for next year's parliamentary elections through a fair and transparent nomination system.   "I basically think a couple

  An opposition lawmaker, who detonated a tear gas bomb in the National Assembly's main chamber in protest at the free trade agreement with the U.S., will be sent before a parliamentary ethics committee over his use of violence during a vote, a conservative minor lawmaker said Thursday. &n

   BEIJING (AP) _ One person has died and several others have been injured in an explosion at a bank in the central Chinese city of Wuhan.   A city fire and rescue official says the explosion occurred early Thursday evening outside a branch of state-owned China Construction Bank.

   BUSAN -- South Korean Navy vessels joined ships from the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF) near Busan on Saturday to practice conducting combined search and rescue operations.    The exercise aims to help sailors hone their skills and strengthen cooperative ties in hop

 South Korea will become a full-fledged member of a UN atomic radiation committee next year that can allow the country to play a greater role in enhancing nuclear safety, the government said Saturday.   The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade said Seoul will join the United Nations

HONOLULU (Yonhap) -- South Korean President Lee Myung-bak arrived in Hawaii Friday to attend a summit of Pacific Rim economies aimed at discussing ways to spur the global economy, create jobs, reform regulations and improve energy efficiency and security.    The summit of the 21-member Asi

   OKUMA, Japan (AP) _ Media have been allowed into Japan's tsunami-damaged nuclear power plant for the first time Saturday after the disaster in March touched off the world's worst nuclear crisis since Chernobyl.   Representatives of the Japanese and international media, includi

   TASHKENT, Uzbekistan (AP) _ Timur Kapadze scored in the second half to secure Uzbekistan's 1-0 victory over North Korea in a World Cup qualifier.   The result ended North Korea's hopes of qualifying for a second straight World Cup, making it the first team to have played in So

   ULSAN -- Unionists at Hyundai Motor Co., South Korea's largest carmaker, said Saturday they will boycott extra shifts over the weekend so they can participate in a rally to oppose the free trade pact with the United States.   The union said that its workers will show up for th

   Two South Korean mountaineers were killed while trying to scale Mt. Cholatse in the Nepalese Himalayas only weeks after another team went missing in the region, the local alpine organization said Saturday.   The Korean Alpine Federation (KAF) said Kim Hyung-il, the 43-yea

South Korea will hold its first high-level talks with the United States over African affairs next week in Seoul in a bid to coordinate the two countries policies on the region, the foreign ministry said Saturday.   Song Woong-yeob, Director General for African and Middle Eastern Affairs, w

 Eight crewmen are missing from a fishing ship that sank after colliding with a larger freighter in early hours Saturday, the Korea Coast Guard said.   The 59-ton fishing ship crashed into the 2,116-ton vessel operated by Hanjin Transportation around 2:15 a.m. in the waters off Taean,

South Korean President Lee Myung-bak left for Hawaii on Saturday to attend a summit of Pacific Rim economies aimed at discussing ways to spur the global economy, create jobs, reform regulations and improve energy efficiency and security.    The summit of the 21-member Asia-Pacific Economic