S. Korea to send 30 more rescue workers to Nepal

South Korea said Wednesday it will dispatch 30 more rescue workers and medics to Nepal later this week, with the death toll of a 7.8 magnitude earthquake there having exceeded 5,000.  The first group of 10 members from the Korea Disaster Response Team arrived in Nepal Tuesday and immediately began operations.  "The KDRT has been assigned to Bhaktapur, about 15 kilometers east of Kathmandu," a Foreign Ministry official said.  The additional group will head to the region on Friday, he added. There

April 29, 2015

Pakistan hangs 100th convict, Amnesty slams 'shameful milestone'

ISLAMABAD, April 28, 2015 (AFP) -- Pakistan on Tuesday carried out its 100th execution since lifting a moratorium on the death penalty last December, in what rights group Amnesty International described as a "shameful milestone".Hangings resumed after the country's bloodiest-ever militant attack, in which the Taliban gunned down 154 people -- mostly children -- at a school in the northwest.Munir Hussain, who was convicted of a double murder in 2000, was hanged in the town of Vehari in Punjab pro

April 28, 2015

Eight Iraqis shot dead, dumped in Baghdad: officials

BAGHDAD, (AFP) -- Eight Iraqis were shot dead and dumped in Baghdad, officials said Tuesday, in what could be the second series of killings in recent days targeting men who fled Anbar province.An interior ministry official and a tribal leader said the men, who were found in the capital's Jihad area, were people who had fled violence in Anbar, but a police colonel and a medical source said their identities were still not known.Sheikh Naim al-Kuoud, an Anbar tribal leader, said that an armed group

April 28, 2015

Man arrested in Bosnia over links to gunman in police attack

KUCIC KULA, Bosnia-Herzegovina (AP) -- Bosnian police on Tuesday arrested a man with suspected links to a gunman who stormed into a police station in the country's Bosnian Serb region shouting "Allahu akbar," killing one policeman and wounding two others before he died in the shootout.New details are also beginning to emerge about the gunman, with residents from his village saying his father was taken away by Serbs in 1992 at the start of a brutal multi-ethnic war and never seen again. Monday's

April 28, 2015

Afghan official: At least 52 dead in landslide in northeast

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) -- A massive landslide in a remote province in northeastern Afghanistan killed at least 52 people Tuesday, a provincial official said. The stricken area in Badakhshan province is cut off from the rest of the country, covered in snow and is only accessible from the air, significantly hampering any rescue efforts, said Shah Waliullah Adeeb, the provincial governor.Badakhshan is one of the poorest and least-developed regions of Afghanistan. It regularly suffers huge landslid

April 28, 2015

Ex-figure skater Kim Yu-na donates $100,000 for Nepal quake relief

Former Olympic figure skating champion Kim Yu-na has donated $100,000 for Nepal earthquake relief, officials said Tuesday.  The Korean Committee for UNICEF, a U.N. organization providing aid to children in developing countries, said in a press release that Kim made the donation to help provide food and drinking water to children in the quake-stricken Nepal. Kim has been an international goodwill ambassador for UNICEF since 2010.  Earlier in the week, Kim tweeted a message promoting UNICEF's effo

April 28, 2015

S. Korea approves fertilizer aid for N. Korea

The South Korean government Monday approved a local civilian group's plan to send fertilizer to North Korea, the first of its kind in five years.  The Unification Ministry has decided to allow representatives from Ace Gyeongam, the foundation run by bed maker Ace, to visit the North on Tuesday for a greenhouse project, ministry officials said.  Seven officials from the foundation will also deliver materials worth 200 million won ($185,994), including fertilizer, vinyl and pipes that are needed t

April 27, 2015

Top antitrust regulator to attend int'l forum in Sydney

South Korea's antitrust watchdog said Monday its chief plans to attend an international meeting of regulators in Sydney this week to discuss ways to tackle new challenges that can distort the global market.  The International Competition Network meeting, scheduled to run from Tuesday to Friday, is designed to help authorities create effective enforcement of antitrust rules and serves as a forum for exchanging information on best practices for combating competition-restricting arrangements.  Acco

April 27, 2015

Park sends condolences for Nepal quake deaths

President Park Geun-hye offered condolences Monday to the thousands of Nepalese people killed in a massive earthquake over the weekend.  Park expressed her sympathy in a letter to Nepalese President Ram Baran Yadav earlier in the day, the presidential office Cheong Wa Dae said.   "Our citizens and I feel very sorrowful and heartbroken for the deaths of many people in the large earthquake near Kathmandu," Park said in the letter. "I extend my deep condolences and consolation to the president and

April 27, 2015

U.S. document shows Japanese brutalities in Korea

Japanese imperial police committed torture and sexual violence against Korean school girls to quell pro-independence protests about a century ago when Korea was under Japanese colonial rule, a U.S. document showed.  The 27-page document, drawn up by the Commission on Relations with the Orient of Federal Council of the Churches of Christ in America, is yet another piece of evidence of the brutality Japan employed during its 1910-45 colonial rule.  The document, which is believed to have been writ

April 27, 2015

S. Korea to send 40-member relief team to quake-hit Nepal

South Korea said Monday it will dispatch more than 40 search and rescue workers to the earthquake-hit Nepal amid reports that many victims are still under the rubble.  The first 10-member group from the Korea Disaster Relief Team will head to the Himalayan nation at around 9 p.m. on Monday, along with five government officials, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced.  "Given the urgency of the search and rescue operation, we have decided to send part of the KDRT first," a ministry official to

April 27, 2015

U.S. updates travel warning for North Korea

The United States has updated its warning against traveling to North Korea, saying American citizens could face arrest and lengthy detention due to Pyongyang's inconsistent application of its criminal law.  U.S. citizens have often been detained in North Korea on charges of anti-state and other unspecified crimes. Widespread views are that the communist nation has used the detentions as bargaining chips in its negotiations with Washington.  It has often taken high-profile U.S. visits to Pyongyan

April 27, 2015

S. Korea pledges $1 mln for Nepal quake relief

South Korea on Sunday pledged $1 million in aid for earthquake-stricken Nepal and said it may consider sending an emergency rescue squad.  The decision was reached after a 7.8-magnitude earthquake on Saturday devastated Nepal, leaving more than 1,800 people dead and thousands of others injured. One South Korean was hurt while building a local hydroelectric power plant in a region 70 kilometers north of Kathmandu, according to the foreign ministry, which added that the injury wasn't life-threaten

April 26, 2015

Russia cuts fishing quota for S. Korea on failed investment plan

Russia has nearly halved South Korea's fishing quota in its territorial waters, blaming Seoul for its failure to invest in Russian seaports as promised earlier, the Seoul government said Sunday.  Under a fisheries agreement signed last week, South Korean fishing ships will be allowed to catch some 38,000 tons of fish in Russian waters this year, according to the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries.  The figure marks a 36.6 percent plunge from 59,948 tons in 2014. Such a cut came mostly from a 19,50

April 26, 2015

Ex-first lady Lee hoping for May visit to N. Korea

The widow of former President Kim Dae-jung hopes to visit North Korea next month, a trip that could help alleviate tension on the divided peninsula, her nonprofit organization said Sunday.  Lee Hee-ho, who was the first lady while Kim served in office from 1998 to 2003, is targeting late May for her visit and is awaiting a response from North Korea by late April or early May, according to Kim Sung-jae, an official at the Kim Dae Jung Peace Center.  "Upon receiving authorization from our governme

April 26, 2015

S. Korea mulls emergency relief for quake-stricken Nepal

South Korea is considering offering emergency relief for earthquake-stricken Nepal, a foreign ministry official said Sunday.  The official told Yonhap News Agency the government is looking into the possibility of offering Nepal relief funds and sending a message of condolence.  "We will see in what areas relief efforts will be needed, and then decide how we will help (Nepal) based on what we can do the best," the official said. "As for sending an emergency response team, we'll have to see if the

April 26, 2015

Park leaves for home after four-nation tour of S. America

President Park Geun-hye left for South Korea on Saturday, wrapping up a four-nation tour of South America meant to boost trade and economic cooperation.  Park's trip to Colombia, Peru, Chile and Brazil came as South Korea is pushing to expand economic cooperation with the region hailed by Seoul officials as a continent of opportunities.  South Korea has signed a set of memorandums of understanding with the four countries which, among other things, call for closer cooperation in the fields of tel

April 26, 2015

S. Korea showcases smart water management at world forum

South Korea on Thursday offered a glimpse into what could help the world overcome the problem of water shortage, introducing its information technology-based management of water at the global water forum under way in this southeastern city.In a special session attended by some 1,300 people, the state-run Korea Water Resources Corp. (K-Water) unveiled its smart water management initiative, which utilizes the country's advanced information communication technology to help minimize water leakage."T

April 16, 2015

Seoul denies report on its request to join U.S.-led TPP

The South Korean government on Thursday strongly denied a foreign news report that it has formally asked to join a U.S.-led regional free trade pact, saying the country has not yet decided whether to take part in the multilateral trade deal.The reaction came shortly after the Washington Post, quoting an unidentified Korean official, reported that Seoul has officially clamored to join the Trans-Pacific Partnership, but that Washington told it to wait until the deal is agreed upon."The government

April 16, 2015