South Korea's Defense Minister Han Min-koo on Wednesday called a recent drone infiltration, presumably by North Korea, a "grave" violation of the armistice agreement, saying his ministry will lodge a complaint through the Seoul-based UN Command."That a North Korean vehicle crossed the military demarcation line and flew into South Korean territory is a grave violation of the armistice agreement," Han told a parliamentary session. The accord halted the 1950-53 Korean War, but has left the two Kore

South Korea will push to reopen the industrial park in North Korea only in step with progress in the resolution of its nuclear problems, the nominee for South Korea's unification minister said Wednesday.Cho Myoung-gyon made the remarks apparently to stress that Seoul would not move hastily on the now-suspended Kaesong Industrial Complex. Cho Myoung-gyon, the nominee for South Korea`s unification minister speak to reporters over inter-Korean relations on June 15, 2017. (Yonhap)Just after his nomi

North Korea said Wednesday it is willing to respond to suggestions of any dialogue and cooperation on the humanitarian front, announcing the result of a meeting with a United Nations human rights investigator.Ri Hung-sik, North Korea's human rights ambassador, met with UN Special Rapporteur on the rights of persons with disabilities Catalina Devandas-Aguilar at the UN on Monday during which they discussed ways to promote human rights, the North's state-run Korean Central News Agency reported.  C

Seven out of 10 people who abused elderly people were family members last year while the number of such cases increased, according to a survey revealed Wednesday by the welfare ministry.Out of 12,009 reported cases in 2016, 4,280 were confirmed by judiciary institutions as elder abuse, up 12.1 percent from a year earlier, according to the report. The victims were men in 1,187 cases and women in 3,093. President Moon Jae-in makes pots of flowers with senior citizens at a state-operated nursing ho

Two out of three judges in South Korea approve live television broadcasts of important court hearings, according to a poll released Wednesday.In a survey of about 1,013 judges conducted last week by the Supreme Court's Office of Court Administration, 67.82 percent said the judicial proceedings for major criminal cases can be broadcast partially or entirely on TV upon the permission of the presiding judge.In particular, as many as 73.35 percent consented to a TV broadcast of sentencing hearings a

President Moon Jae-in will send a special envoy to India and Australia this week to deliver his wish for enhanced economic and diplomatic cooperation, his office said Wednesday.Park Soo-hyun, presidential spokesman, said that former Culture Minister Chung Dong-chea will embark on the trip on Thursday to explain Seoul's diplomatic policy vision and deliver Moon's handwritten letters to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull. Former Culture Minister Chun

Thomas Shannon, US undersecretary of state for political affairs, plans to pay tribute to a South Korean soldier killed in Afghanistan, an informed source said Wednesday.Shannon is visiting here for meetings with South Korean officials mainly to discuss agenda items for the summit talks between the presidents of the two countries to be held later this month. Thomas Shannon, US undersecretary of state for political affairs (Yonhap)"He is scheduled to pay tribute to Army Sgt. Yoon Jang-ho in a vis

A group of human right experts in South Korea came out on Wednesday in support of the foreign minister-nominee whose confirmation has been delayed in the face of strong objection from opposition parties.Ten former and incumbent ambassadors on human rights and private-sector experts issued a joint statement voicing their support for Kang Kyung-wha, saying that she has expanded the "horizon" of the country's global diplomacy and is well suited to lead the foreign ministry facing a slew of diplomat

South Koreans enjoy moving to multiple cities rather than staying in one place while traveling abroad, data by a travel research engine showed Wednesday.The ratio of South Korean tourists searching more than one city while booking international flight tickets was 17.6 percent for the first five months this year, according to the figures released by Skyscanner, a travel fare aggregator website owned by China's biggest travel company Ctrip. The comparable number was 9.4 percent in 2015.  This file

South Korea on Wednesday welcomed the release of an American college student long detained in North Korea and vowed efforts to free its own citizens held in the communist country.The US Department of State announced that Otto Warmbier, a 22-year-old University of Virginia student, was released after 17 months of detention.He was arrested in January last year for allegedly stealing a political propaganda sign from a hotel in North Korea and was later sentenced to 15 years of hard labor. Lee Duk-h

PYONGYANG (AP) -- Dennis Rodman, the former NBA bad boy who has palled around with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, began sightseeing in Pyongyang on Wednesday during a trip he said he hoped would “open a door” for his former “Celebrity Apprentice” boss -- President Donald Trump.Hours after his arrival the previous day, US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson announced that North Korea had released an American student serving a 15-year prison term with hard labor for alleged anti-state acts. A plane

North Korea on Wednesday called on South Korea to take actions to ease military tensions along the inter-Korean border ahead of the 17th anniversary of a historic summit between the two Koreas.North Korea's agency in charge of inter-Korean relations also described President Moon Jae-in's dual-track approach of seeking dialogue and sanctions as a "foolish act and self-deception." (Yonhap)"(South Korea) should go into action to remove the danger of armed conflicts in land, sea and sky, including t

Police said Wednesday they have arrested a Nigerian man for smuggling large amounts of methamphetamines into the country through international mail from China. The Gyeongnam Provincial Police Agency has detained a 46-year-old man, whose name was withheld, for illegally sneaking in 605 grams of the drug, worth some 2 billion won ($1.77 million), on two occasions last week. Each parcel was delivered via international express mail. Methamphetamine (Yonhap)The amount is large enough for about 20,000

BRUSSELS (AFP) -- The EU launched legal action Tuesday against Hungary, Poland and the Czech Republic for refusing to take in their share of refugees under a controversial solidarity plan.The move shows the frustration in Brussels over the slow response to the scheme, which aimed to relocate 160,000 migrants from front-line migrant crisis states Italy and Greece but which has so far seen only 20,000 moved.“I regret to say that despite our repeated calls, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland ha

WASHINGTON (AP) – Attorney General Jeff Sessions heatedly denied Tuesday having an undisclosed meeting with Russia’s ambassador to the US and declared it was a “detestable and appalling lie” to suggest he was aware of or took part in any collusion between Russia and the election campaign that sent Donald Trump to the White House.Testifying at a packed Senate hearing, Sessions, who was a close Trump adviser during the battle for the presidency, also rejected any idea of misconduct in the ouster o

CHITTAGONG, Bangladesh (AFP) -- Heavy monsoon rains and landslides have killed at least 134 people in southeast Bangladesh, burying many in their homes as they slept, authorities said Tuesday.Three young children from the same family were among those killed in the disaster, which comes just weeks after a cyclone battered the region and destroyed camps housing thousands of Rohingya refugees.Police warned the death toll would likely rise as emergency workers reached remote parts of the Chittagong

PARIS (AFP) -- French President Emmanuel Macron said Tuesday the door was “always open” for Britain to remain in the EU despite Prime Minister Theresa May saying Brexit talks would begin next week.The meeting in Paris followed the leaders’ remarkably different political fortunes in the past week, which saw Macron’s party headed for a massive parliamentary majority, while May lost her slim advantage in the House of Commons.“Of course the door is always open as long as the negotiations on Brexit h

South Korea's top court dismissed Wednesday a request for a retrial from a former ranking prosecutor convicted of bribery. The Supreme Court rejected the call to review its ruling made in April for Kim Kwang-joon, a former Seoul High Prosecutors' Office prosecutor sentenced to a seven-year term for taking large amounts of kickbacks from a swindler and businessman in return for favors.  (Yonhap)The 56-year-old was convicted by the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office in 2013 of receiving a

Maj. Gen. Yin Sung-hwan, the commander of the South Korean Army's 56th Infantry Division, was conferred the US Legion of Merit on Wednesday in recognition of his contribution to the combat capability of the allies.He is known for his expertise on the alliance and tireless efforts to help bolster it, having served as the deputy chief of the South Korea-US Combined Division for about a year from 2015. North Korea conducted its fourth nuclear test and test-launched a long-range missile during that

The defense ministers of South Korea and India will hold talks in Seoul later Wednesday on ways to deal with North Korea and expand bilateral military cooperation, Seoul's ministry said.It is the first meeting between the defense chiefs of the two countries in two years. Defense Minister Han Min-koo speaks during a parliamentary session at the National Assembly in Seoul. (Yonhap)During the meeting with his Indian counterpart Arun Jaitley, Defense Minister Han Min-koo will explain the security co