China opposes raising tension on Korean Peninsula

China said Monday it opposes "all actions" that could raise tension on the Korean Peninsula after the United States rejected a proposal by North Korea to temporarily suspend nuclear tests in exchange for a suspension of joint military drills between the U.S. and South Korea."The Chinese side stays committed to safeguarding the peace and stability of the Korean Peninsula and realizing the denuclearization of the peninsula," China's foreign ministry spokesman Hong Lei told a daily press briefing,

Jan. 12, 2015

Bolivian FM says aid from S. Korea to further help its development

Bolivia's foreign minister said Monday that grant aid and other technical assistance from South Korea will help achieve Sucre's goal to fight poverty and enhance the livelihood of its people.Bolivia received the second-largest official development assistance among Latin American countries by Seoul as of 2014. South Korea's ODA to Bolivia amounted to an estimated $4.64 million in 2014, accounting for 0.22 percent out of the total ODA that Seoul extended that year.Bolivian Foreign Minister David C

Jan. 12, 2015

Seoul's top security adviser to visit China soon: sources

The top security adviser to President Park Geun-hye is planning to visit China in the near future to meet with Chinese officials, government sources said Sunday, amid nascent hopes for rare inter-Korean dialogue.The forthcoming visit by South Korean National Security Adviser Kim Kwan-jin is to reciprocate a trip to Seoul in November 2013 by Yang Jiechi, China's state councilor for foreign affairs, the sources said.The two countries are currently in discussions to set the date and schedule of the

Jan. 11, 2015

Divers fight waves to hoist tail of crashed AirAsia jet

Divers fought strong currents and waves as they worked to hoist the tail of the crashed AirAsia plane out of the Java Sea on Saturday, two weeks ago after it went down, killing all 162 people on board.Inflatable bags were being attached to the rear of the aircraft, and a crane will be used to lift it from a depth of about 30 meters.``Additional lifting bags are needed because the tail part is getting heavier due to strong currents and piles of sand and mud,'' said Suryadi B. Supriyadi, the Natio

Jan. 10, 2015

Kerry heads to India seeking economic gains

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry left late Friday for India on his first foreign trip of 2015, with a heavy focus on trade and investment with the South Asian economic giant.His tour will also take him to Geneva for talks Wednesday with his Iranian counterpart on Iran's nuclear program, before he makes his first visit as the top US diplomat to Bulgaria later in the week.It will be Kerry's second trip to India in six months, as the two allies have worked to repair ties which frayed badly early

Jan. 10, 2015

Australian newspaper publishes Mohammed cartoon

An Australian newspaper Saturday published a cartoon depicting the Prophet Mohammed arguing with Jesus, as it urged support for free speech in the wake of the deadly attack on a French satirical weekly.Twelve people were killed in Wednesday's attack by extremists on magazine Charlie Hebdo's office in Paris, prompting cartoonists around the world to put pen to paper in solidarity with their French colleagues.The Weekend Australian newspaper published the cartoon by Bill Leak entitled "Let us pray

Jan. 10, 2015

China stages military drills near Korean Peninsula

China has conducted a set of regular military exercises near the Korean Peninsula, according to China's defense ministry and state media Saturday.The Chinese People's Liberation Army began eight days of "military missions" Friday in the northern parts of the Yellow Sea and the Bohai Strait, adjacent to the Korean Peninsula, the Chinese defense ministry said in a notice posted on its website. China's maritime authorities banned all civilian vessels from sailing in the affected waters, according t

Jan. 10, 2015

U.S. warns of global 'terror' threat after French attacks

The U.S. on Friday warned Americans to beware of "terrorist actions and violence" all over the world, following the attacks on the Charlie Hebdo magazine and a Jewish supermarket in Paris."Recent terrorist attacks, whether by those affiliated with terrorist entities, copycats, or individual perpetrators, serve as a reminder that U.S. citizens need to maintain a high level of vigilance and take appropriate steps to increase their security awareness," the State Department said. The advisory is an

Jan. 10, 2015

U.S. concerned Seoul's National Security Law limits freedom of expression

The United States is concerned South Korea's National Security Law limits freedom of expression, the State Department spokeswoman said Friday, as she spoke about the case of a Korean-American woman facing deportation from the South for violating the law.The woman, Shin Eun-mi, has been accused of making pro-North Korean remarks in violation of the National Security Law that prohibits any "anti-state" activities attempting to praise, encourage or propagandize North Korean political ideals.After a

Jan. 10, 2015

House committee to hold briefing on N. Korean cyber-threats

The U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee will hold a public briefing next week to examine U.S. efforts to defend against cyber-threats posed by North Korea, the committee's chairman said Friday.The briefing, set for Tuesday, will feature Amb. Sung Kim, special representative for North Korea policy, Assistant Treasury Secretary Daniel Glaser and Gregory J. Touhill, deputy assistant secretary of homeland security, Rep. Ed Royce (R-CA), the committee's chairman, said in a statement.The briefing is

Jan. 10, 2015

Bush institute suggests using drones to send leaflets into N. Korea

Nongovernmental organizations should think about using not only balloons, but also drones to send leaflets of outside information into North Korea, the institute run by former U.S. President George W. Bush said.It was one of the recommendations that the George W. Bush Institute suggested to break down North Korea's information barriers, as it issued the "Light through the Darkness" report, calling for improvement in the North's human rights situation. The report called for the NGO community as w

Jan. 10, 2015

N. Korean leader inspects new mushroom farm in Pyongyang

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has visited a newly built mushroom farm in Pyongyang, along with his aides and younger sister, Kim Yo-jung, the North's official media said Saturday. Kim was accompanied by his younger sister, who holds the post of vice department director of the Workers' Party central committee; Hwang Pyong-so, director of the Korean People's Army general political bureau; Han Kwang-sang, department director of the party central committee; and Ri Jae-il, first vice department dir

Jan. 10, 2015

S. Korea's development aid to rise 5 pct this year

South Korea's official development assistance (ODA) to underdeveloped countries will increase nearly 5 percent this year from 2014, with more funding earmarked for Africa, the government said Friday.Seoul's ODA has been set at 2.38 trillion won (US$2.18 billion) for this year, up 4.9 percent from the previous year, according to the prime minister's office."The increase comes even under some fiscal difficulties, including more welfare spending, and the additional funds will be used to diversify (

Jan. 9, 2015

Seoul, Washington hold first space policy dialogue

South Korea and the United States have held their first talks to discuss the issue of growing space debris and ways to beef up cooperation, Seoul's foreign ministry said Friday.At the so-called space policy dialogue held in Washington Thursday, officials from Seoul and Washington exchanged views on how to cooperate with each other on the peaceful use of outer space, it said.Space debris refers to an array of now-defunct objects flying in universe such as spent satellites and used rocket parts th

Jan. 9, 2015

New Russian envoy to Seoul to take office in late Jan.

Russia's former ambassador to North Korea is expected to start his job as Moscow's top envoy to Seoul starting in late January, a diplomatic source said Friday.Alexander Timonin was named as Moscow's new ambassador to South Korea in late December and will likely replace Konstantin Vnukov around Jan. 23, when he arrives here, the source said.Timonin had served as Russia's ambassador to Pyongyang since May 2012. Before that, he had experience in dealing with trilateral cooperation among the two Ko

Jan. 9, 2015

Seoul set to send 2nd medical team to Ebola-hit Sierra Leone

South Korea will send its second batch of medical personnel to Ebola-hit Sierra Leone this weekend as initially planned despite concerns about the possible infection of a South Korean medical worker there, officials said Friday.A team of nine-strong medical workers will leave South Korea on Saturday on a mission to treat Ebola patients in Goderich, near Sierra Leone's capital Freetown, according to the foreign ministry.They will first depart for Britain where they will receive safety training fr

Jan. 9, 2015

Paris attack raises fears of more support for Europe's right

BERLIN (AP) -- The deadly shootings in Paris are prompting concerns that a fledgling anti-Islamist movement  and far-right parties may be able to harness the reaction to gain support in Europe.German Justice Minister Heiko Maas said Thursday the way two right-wing parties and the PEGIDA movement are "trying to exploit this attack for their own purposes is disgusting."Marches in Dresden by PEGIDA, or Patriotic Europeans against the Islamization of the West, have grown steadily over three months.

Jan. 8, 2015

Korea, Japan agree to boost economic ties

 South Korea and Japan agreed Thursday to ramp up efforts to boost their economic cooperation, despite strained bilateral relations stemming from a shared history.The neighbors reached the agreement during their high-level economic consultative meeting held in Seoul, the second of its kind since President Park Geun-hye took office in February 2013. The two Asian economic powerhouses have regularly held the consultative meeting since its inception in 1999. "Both sides positively assessed the sust

Jan. 8, 2015

S. Korean gov't to name fraudulent overseas online shopping sites

The South Korean government said Thursday it will publish a list of overseas Internet shopping sites that have repeated records of customer complaints, a move aimed at protecting local consumers.The move comes as part of a three-year government policy directive that will be effective from this year.Under the directive, approved at a policy coordination meeting earlier in the day, the Fair Trade Commission will monitor overseas-based shopping sites that have caused problems for local customers. T

Jan. 8, 2015