70 countries pledge joint efforts to prevent transfer of WMD

Officials from 70 countries around the world held an anti-WMD proliferation conference in Washington on Wednesday and agreed to work closely together to ensure that no weapons of mass destruction technology is transferred to North Korea, a diplomatic source said.North Korea was a key topic for the Mid-level Political Meeting of the U.S.-led Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI), an international coalition aimed at stopping the spread of WMDs, related material and technology, as it came just we

Jan. 28, 2016

Five middle-power nations to hold high-level talks

South Korea and four other middle-power countries will hold high-level talks later this week on ways to strengthen partnerships, the Foreign Ministry said Tuesday.South Korea launched the forum in 2013 with Mexico, Indonesia, Turkey and Australia in a bid to play a bigger role in regional and global issues. The cross-regional caucus is dubbed "MIKTA" from the initials of the English names of the participating nations.The five sides plan to hold their second high-level meeting in the Australian c

Jan. 26, 2016

U.S. strategic commander: Missile defense key to defending against N.K. threats

Ballistic missile defense is among key strategic deterrent capabilities necessary to cope with threats from North Korea's nuclear and missile programs, the U.S. strategic commander said Friday.   "Our missile defense efforts are also part of our strategic deterrent kitbag, if you will, and it's very important. We just look at what happened on the 5th of January, Kim Jong-un testing a nuclear weapon," Adm. Cecil Haney, commander of the U.S. Strategic Command, said during a discussion at the Cente

Jan. 23, 2016

Senior U.S. diplomat to visit Korea next week

A senior U.S. diplomat will visit South Korea next week for talks on response to North Korea's nuclear test, the alliance between the two countries and global issues of concern, the State Department said Friday.Amb. Thomas Shannon, counselor of the State Department, will make the visit on Wednesday and Thursday, including a trip to the Demilitarized Zone on the border with North Korea and bilateral meetings with Korean officials on the "U.S.-Korea Alliance, our shared global priorities, and resp

Jan. 23, 2016

Korea provides US$81.37 mln to six international financial bodies

South Korea provided a combined US$81.37 million to 10 trust funds created by six international financial organizations last year in a bid to expand its presence on the world stage, the financial ministry said Tuesday.The organizations, including the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the Asia Development Bank , are carrying out 98 projects worth $50 million based on South Korea's contributions, according to the Ministry of Strategy and Finance.South Korea participates in four trust

Jan. 19, 2016

Korea hails end to U.N.-led sanctions on Iran

South Korea said Sunday it will step up "reciprocal cooperation" with Iran as international sanctions on the country have been lifted in a follow-up to a nuclear deal.The government welcomed the announcement by the International Atomic Energy Agency that Tehran has complied with the agreement made half a year ago with the U.S. and five other global powers on its nuclear program.The move has effectively terminated international sanctions on Iran under a U.N. resolution and it will also require th

Jan. 17, 2016

Maryland declares 'Korean American Day'

The U.S. state of Maryland has declared Jan. 13 as "Korean American Day" in recognition of contributions the Korean community has made to the state and the country.Gov. Larry Hogan and Korean-American First Lady Yumi Hogan declared the day in a ceremony at the Governor's Reception Room at the Maryland State House.In 2005, Congress designated Jan. 13 as Korean American Day in commemoration of the 1903 arrival of 102 Koreans in Hawaii in the first Korean emigration to the U.S. But Maryland is the

Jan. 12, 2016

Police arrest man for smuggling migrant into Sweden by boat

  Swedish police arrested a man early Sunday as he allegedly tried to smuggle a migrant into the country aboard a rubber dinghy, the first such case since Sweden imposed systematic ID checks, police said.   "This is the first arrest in southern Sweden for suspected human trafficking since the ID checks were introduced"  on January 4 for travellers arriving from Denmark, police spokeswoman Kim Hild said.   A Norwegian sea rescue team had observed the dinghy leaving the Danish town of Helsingor an

Jan. 10, 2016

French president, rocker honor 2015 attack victims

  French President Francois Hollande and other dignitaries held a special ceremony Sunday to honor all those killed in Islamic extremist violence around Paris in 2015 - a year when the European way of life was targeted time and again with deadly consequences.    At least one attacker is at large, and France's top security official acknowledged Sunday that authorities don't know his whereabouts. The country is under a state of emergency after attacks Nov. 13, and a police station was attacked Thu

Jan. 10, 2016

China blames U.S., allies for N. Korea's nuclear test

A newspaper published by China's ruling Communist Party on Friday blamed what it calls a "hostile policy" by South Korea, the United States and Japan toward North Korea for the North's fourth nuclear test. In an editorial, the state-run Global Times newspaper appeared to defend North Korea's defiant pursuit of nuclear weapons, saying there will be "no hope" for Pyongyang to give up its nuclear ambitions unless South Korea, the U.S. and Japan change their policy toward the North. All eyes are on

Jan. 8, 2016

Rubio calls for re-listing North Korea as terror sponsor

Republican presidential hopeful Marco Rubio called Thursday for putting North Korea back on to the U.S. list of states sponsoring terrorism in response to the communist nation's fourth nuclear test."We have to do everything we can to ensure that they have less money to spend on these sorts of programs. So that's why a state sponsor of terror, they should be returned to that list," Rubio said in an interview with Fox Business Network. "They were once on that list. They were removed from that list

Jan. 8, 2016

U.S. to consider 'all options' to beef up defense of Korea

The United States will consider "all options" to beef up the defense of South Korea after the North's nuclear test, the Pentagon spokesman said Thursday, suggesting the possibility of deploying additional U.S. strategic defense assets to the Asian ally."We're in ongoing conversations ... with the South Koreans and with our other allies in the region, about additional steps that may or may not need to be taken in order to respond to the latest actions from the North Koreans," Pentagon press secre

Jan. 8, 2016

U.S., China agree 'There cannot be business as usual' after N.K. nuclear test

The United States and China agreed Thursday that "there cannot be business as usual" after North Korea's fourth nuclear test, Secretary of State John Kerry said, as calls grow for a tough response to the provocative regime.Kerry said he reached the agreement with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, after making clear to his Chinese counterpart that the latest nuclear test has proven that Beijing's approach to the North Korean nuclear issue "has not worked.""Today, I talked with Foreign Minister Wa

Jan. 8, 2016

U.S. to consider banking sanctions on N. Korea

Preliminary U.S. intelligence estimates have concluded that North Korea's latest nuclear test involved a small explosion that could be a component of a larger-scale thermonuclear device, a U.S. news report said Thursday.The Washington Free Beacon report came amid growing skepticism about Pyongyang's claims that it successfully carried out its first hydrogen bomb test, with the White House saying "initial analysis is not consistent" with the North's claims.The report said that U.S. officials fami

Jan. 8, 2016

Trump rules out preemptive strike on N. Korea

Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump said that if he's elected, he won't launch a preemptive strike on North Korea, arguing that China should use more of its leverage over the communist neighbor.Trump also claimed that South Korea should pay the United States for "protecting them.""China should solve that problem and we should put pressure on China to solve the problem," Trump said in an interview with CNN on Wednesday. "If they don't solve that problem, we should be very tough on t

Jan. 8, 2016

Germany divided over expulsion of convicted asylum seekers

BERLIN, (AFP) - German politicians waged a heated debate Thursday over whether to make it easier to expel convicted asylum seekers, after a series of sexual assaults on New Year's Eve blamed on men of foreign origin.Authorities have said there is no concrete proof that the perpetrators of the attacks in Cologne were asylum seekers, but critics of Chancellor Angela Merkel's open-door approach to those fleeing war have seized on the opportunity to draw a link.Victims described their attackers as b

Jan. 7, 2016

Park, Abe vow to work together for strong sanctions on N. Korea

South Korea said Thursday that it will resume anti-Pyongyang broadcasts this week along the heavily fortified border with North Korea in retaliation of Pyongyang's claimed hydrogen bomb test. The anti-Pyongyang broadcasts will resume at noon on Friday, Cho Tae-yong, deputy chief of the presidential office of national security, told reporters."The North's fourth nuclear test is a grave violation" of the August deal, Cho said, referring to a breakthrough deal that defused heightened tension sparke

Jan. 7, 2016

South Korea eyes vice FM talks with U.S., Japan

South Korea is trying to schedule a meeting of vice foreign ministers with the United States and Japan, a government official here said Sunday.Confirming an earlier report by NHK, the official said, "The three countries are trying to hammer out details, and we will make an announcement when they are confirmed."NHK said earlier Sunday that the meeting, likely to take place sometime in January in Tokyo, will bring together South Korean Vice Foreign Minister Lim Sung-nam, U.S. Deputy Secretary of S

Jan. 3, 2016

South Korea, Japan pushing for high-level economic talks in Jan.: source

South Korea and Japan are trying to schedule high-level talks to discuss bilateral economic issues and cooperation, a government source here said Sunday.According to the source, the two countries are pushing for their 14th high-level economic consultation in Tokyo in mid-January. The last such meeting took place in Seoul in January 2015.Lee Tae-ho, South Korea's deputy foreign minister for economic affairs, will represent Seoul, while his counterpart will be Yasumasa Nagamine, Tokyo's deputy for

Jan. 3, 2016

Korean IMO chief to take office next month

The newly elected chief of the United Nations maritime body will start his four-year term in the beginning of next year, the South Korean government said Thursday.Lim Ki-tack, a former head of South Korea's local port operator, was elected in June to head the International Maritime Organization.Lim will replace Secretary-General Koji Sekimizu to become the 9th IMO secretary-general starting Jan. 1.His inauguration was approved unanimously by the IMO's general assembly last month, according to th

Dec. 31, 2015