Suspected terror attack injures pedestrians outside UK parliament

LONDON, (AFP) -- A car crashed into barriers outside Britain‘s Houses of Parliament in a suspected terror attack on Tuesday, injuring a “number of pedestrians” yards from where five people were killed last year.　Police said they had arrested the driver, in his late 20s, and were holding him on suspicion of terrorist offences.　“At this stage, we are treating this as a terrorist incident,” said Scotland Yard, adding that none of the injuries are believed to be “life-threatening”.  Police officers

Aug. 14, 2018

Maryland honors Korean War veterans as N. Korea returns remains

ANNAPOLIS -- The US state of Maryland held an official ceremony Thursday to honor veterans of the Korean War amid renewed hope for the recovery of fallen troops' remains.Gov. Larry Hogan hosted some 60 veterans from Maryland at his official residence in Annapolis, the first time a US state has held a "welcome home" ceremony for Korean War veterans since the three-year conflict ended in July 1953.Hogan credited his Korean-born wife, Yumi, for making it happen. (Yonhap)"She tells every Korean War

Aug. 10, 2018

2 South Koreans found dead near Hawaii beach: foreign ministry

South Korea's foreign ministry said Sunday that it has been providing consular assistance needed to handle the deaths of two South Koreans, whose bodies were found near a Hawaiian beach last week.At around 4:50 p.m. on Thursday (Hawaii time), the two were spotted floating near Keawakapu Beach on Maui. They were immediately sent to a nearby hospital but pronounced dead, a ministry official said. Keawakapu Beach on Maui (YouTube)"The consulate general in Honolulu has learned of the case after it w

Aug. 5, 2018

China urges S. Korea to resolve THAAD issue in ministerial talks

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi asked South Korea on Friday to resolve the issue of an advanced US missile defense system deployed on the peninsula.Wang made the request in bilateral talks with his South Korean counterpart, Kang Kyung-wha, in Singapore on the margins of annual ASEAN-hosted sessions, according to a South Korean government official.He cited the need for a "compete resolution" to the matter, a repeat of Beijing's demand, which comes amid a peace mood in Korea.The US military sent

Aug. 3, 2018

China calls draft pact on sea feud a ‘breakthrough’ in talks

China’s top diplomat said Thursday that an initial draft of a proposed pact with Southeast Asia aimed at preventing fighting in the disputed South China Sea was a “breakthrough” in talks that can progress further without outside interference.China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, which includes four rival claimants involved in the territorial rifts, have been holding sporadic talks for years to craft a “code of conduct,” a set of regional norms and rules aimed at preventing a shoo

Aug. 2, 2018

Seoul deploys warship to Libya after S. Korean, Filipinos kidnapped

Seoul said Thursday it had deployed a warship to Libya in an apparent show of force to secure the release of a South Korean national kidnapped along with three Filipinos in the North African country.The 4,000-tonne vessel, Munmu the Great, which takes part in anti-piracy operations in the Gulf of Aden, was now on its way to Libya, officials said.In addition to “carrying out its duty of protecting commercial vessels, (the warship) is also preparing for all possibilities including the need for mil

Aug. 2, 2018

Two US senators to co-chair study group on Korea

WASHINGTON -- Two bipartisan United States senators have been chosen to co-chair a congressional study group on Korea, becoming the first members of the Senate to join the body.Sens. Brian Schatz and Dan Sullivan will lead the Congressional Study Group on Korea launched in February by the Association of Former Members of Congress, a bipartisan nonprofit. Dan Sullivan (AP)"The Republic of Korea is not only a close friend and ally of the United States, but the alliance itself serves as a linchpin

Aug. 2, 2018

State human rights watchdog to investigate NK restaurant workers’ 2016 defection

South Korea’s human rights watchdog said Sunday it plans to conduct a probe into a group defection by North Korean restaurant workers in 2016 amid allegations that some of them were duped into coming to the South.The National Human Rights Commission said it has decided to investigate the case to determine if they came to the South voluntarily or if a state agency was illegally involved in the defection.Along with a male manager, 12 North Korean women who worked at a restaurant, in the eastern Ch

July 29, 2018

China donates 7m euros to Cameroon's security forces

YAOUNDE, Cameroon (AFP) -- China has donated 6.86 million euros ($7.95 million) to Cameroon‘s army to boost its “peacekeeping and security operations”, state radio reported Thursday.　The donation was made on Wednesday by China’s ambassador to the central African country, Wang Ying Wu, in a meeting with Defence Minister Joseph Beti Assomo, CRTV reported.　The ambassador told state radio that the grant was intended to help Cameroon‘s army “reinforce its capacities in peacekeeping and security opera

July 19, 2018

Indian forces kill 8 Maoist insurgents in forest gunbattle

PATNA, India (AP) -- Security forces killed eight Maoist insurgents, including four women, in an exchange of gunfire early Thursday in their stronghold in central India, a police officer said.　 　The two-hour gunbattle took place in a forest in Bijapur district in Chhattisgarh state after security forces encircled the rebel hideout, police officer D.M. Awasthy said.　 　Security forces found the bodies of eight rebels and some rifles and bullet magazines, Awasthy said. 　  Indian Prime Minister Nare

July 19, 2018

Zuckerberg: Holocaust deniers won‘t be banned from Facebook

NEW YORK (AP) -- Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg says while he finds Holocaust denial “deeply offensive,” he doesn‘t believe that such content should be banned from Facebook.　Speaking with Recode’s Kara Swisher, Zuckerberg, who is Jewish, said in an interview published Wednesday that he thinks there are things “that different people get wrong.” Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg (Yonhap)　He added that he doesn‘t think they are “intentionally” getting it wrong. At this point, Swisher cut in and said that

July 19, 2018

Israel adopts controversial Jewish nation-state law

JERUSALEM (AFP) -- Israel‘s parliament on Thursday adopted a law defining the country as the nation state of the Jewish people, provoking fears it could lead to blatant discrimination against Arab citizens.　Arab lawmakers and Palestinians called the law “racist” and said it legalised “apartheid” following a tumultuous debate in parliament.　Others said it neglects to specify equality and Israel’s democratic character, implying that the country‘s Jewish nature comes first.In this Sunday, May 13, 2

July 19, 2018

Another former ‘comfort woman’ dies

Another elderly Korean victim of Japan’s wartime sexual slavery has died, the Ministry of Gender Equality announced Sunday.　The death of Kim Bok-deuk, 99, puts the number of known surviving victims at 27. This year alone, four other victims have died, including Choi Duk-nye, who passed away in late April.　Kim was born in 1918 in Tongyeong, South Gyeongsang Province, and was forcibly taken by the Japanese military in 1939 to work as a sex slave for its soldiers at a number of different locations,

July 2, 2018

Pompeo discusses enforcement of NK sanctions with Chinese counterpart

WASHINGTON (Yonhap) - US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Friday discussed the importance of fully implementing sanctions on North Korea in a phone call with his Chinese counterpart. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. YonhapPompeo spoke with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and exchanged views on ongoing efforts to achieve the "shared goal of the complete, verifiable, and irreversible denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula," the State Department said in a readout.The top US diplomat said earl

June 30, 2018

UN migration agency rejects Trump nominee

GENEVA, June  29, 2018 (AFP) - Member states of the United Nations migration agency on Friday rejected President Donald Trump‘s nominee for director general, repudiating historic American control of the organisation. The International Organization for Migration (IOM) had been led by an American throughout the agency’s 67-year history with one exception from 1961 to 1969.But Trump‘s pick Ken Isaacs, an executive with the Christian charity Samaritan’s Purse who faced serious charges of anti-Muslim

June 29, 2018

Pope receives French president Macron at the Vatican

VATICAN CITY (AFP) -- French President Emmanuel Macron made his first official visit to the Vatican on Tuesday where he held an unusually long meeting with Pope Francis. 　The tete-a-tete between the Argentine pontiff and Macron in the Vatican‘s ornate library lasted 57 minutes -- the longest between Francis and a head of state.　Past talks between the pope and a president have never exceeded 50 minutes.(Yonhap)　Francis spoke with former US president Barack Obama for 50 minutes and with his succes

June 26, 2018

15 dead in Vietnam flash floods, landslides

HANOI (AFP) -- Flash floods and landslides killed 15 people in Vietnam‘s mountainous north, officials said Tuesday, after storms ravaged homes and wiped out crops and infrastructure.　At least 12 people are still missing after the weekend floods, and hundreds of police and soldiers have been deployed to help clean-up efforts.　Vietnam is frequently lashed by harsh weather in the rainy season between June and November. In this picture taken on June 25, 2018 shows a Vietnamese man looking at the deb

June 26, 2018

Korean Air plane makes forced landing from fire alarm

A Korean Air plane carrying 176 passengers and 13 crew members made an emergency landing at Tokyo’s Haneda Airport Saturday night. No injuries were reported, according to Kyodo News.The Boeing 777-200 heading from Seoul’s Gimpo Airport to Tokyo was forced to land 25 minutes ahead of schedule at 8:40 p.m. Saturday after a fire alarm went off in the cockpit. There was no actual fire on the plane and nobody sustained any injury, Korean Air officials and Japanese aviation authorities said.  (Reuters

June 3, 2018

4 Koreans killed, 4 injured in traffic accident in US

Four South Koreans have died and four others have been injured in a traffic accident in Oregon, the United States, Seoul's foreign ministry said Saturday.According to the ministry, a minivan carrying the eight people collided with a pickup truck in Oregon's Clatsop County at around 11:00 a.m. on Friday (local time). (Reuters)The four people taken to hospitals sustained injuries that are not life-threatening, it added.The ministry said the eight people are all South Koreans. (Yonhap)

June 3, 2018

No reports of S. Korean casualties in Cuban plane crash

The foreign ministry said Sunday that there are no reports of South Korean passengers on a plane that crashed in Cuba."The South Korean Embassy in Mexico confirmed through the Cuban government that there were no South Korean passengers," said an official of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Rescue teams search through the wreckage site of a Boeing 737 that plummeted into a cassava field with more than 100 passengers on board, in Havana, Cuba, Friday, May 18. (AP)A total of 110 people were reporte

May 20, 2018