Ten South Korean kindergartners were killed in a traffic accident in China on Tuesday, after a bus they were in caught fire, Seoul’s Foreign Ministry said. The accident took place at around 9 a.m. in Weihai, Shandong province, as the vehicle crashed into a garbage truck in front of them, catching fire while in a tunnel. Twelve people aboard died, including a Chinese child and the Chinese bus driver, while a Chinese instructor was severely injured, the ministry said. “We have dispatched eight off

May 9, 2017

(IYF)The International Youth Fellowship held an appreciation event for Korean miners and nurses dispatched to Germany at the Jahrhunderthalle Kasino Hall in Frankfurt, Germany, Sunday. Over 300 former miners and nurses as well as their families attended the event. IYF Founder Park Ock-soo expressed his gratitude to the attendees, saying that their efforts had propelled the economic development of Korea. In the 1960s, the Korean government sent miners and nurses to Germany to address unemployment

May 9, 2017

CHICAGO (AP) -- A blogger from Singapore who was jailed for his online posts blasting his government was granted asylum to remain in the United States, an immigration judge ruled.Amos Yee, 18, has been detained by federal immigration authorities since December when he was taken into custody at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport. Attorneys said he could be released from a Wisconsin detention center as early as Monday.Judge Samuel Cole issued a 13-page decision Friday, more than two weeks afte

March 25, 2017

The United States has picked up fresh signs of digging and activity at North Korea's nuclear test site, CNN reported Thursday, citing unidentified intelligence and defense officials.The report adds to concern that the North may be preparing to conduct what would be its sixth nuclear test.Last week, 38 North, a website specializing on North Korea analysis, also reported that commercial satellite imagery shows tunnel excavation work is continuing at the North's Punggye-ri nuclear test site in a su

March 17, 2017

US President Donald Trump on Thursday nominated a senior Boeing Company official to be deputy secretary of defense, putting an engineer-turned-defense industry executive in the No. 2 position at the Pentagon.The White House gave no explanation as to why Trump has tapped Patrick Shanahan, Boeing's senior vice president in charge of supply chain and operations, for the top Pentagon position at a time when the US is grappling with global security challenges. Patrick Shanahan, a senior Boeing Compan

March 17, 2017

The Donald Trump administration may go ahead with imposing secondary sanctions on Chinese companies and build up US military power to increase pressure on the Asian rival in a bid to rein in an increasingly wayward North Korea, a South Korean think tank predicted Thursday.Forecasting the Trump administration's North Korea policy direction, Asan Institute for Policy Studies' researcher Go Myong-hyun said in a report that the US policy on North Korea will be formulated under the administration's b

March 16, 2017

Two South Korean pastors have been arrested by Chinese police for providing protection for North Korean defectors in China, a group of anti-North Korea activists here said Wednesday.One pastor was arrested on Feb. 18 with his wife and two children at an airport in the northeastern Chinese city of Qingdao prior to a flight to South Korea, according to the group "Justice for North Korea."The other minister was caught with his wife at a hotel in the city of Qinhuangdao in China's northern province

March 15, 2017

Malaysia has confirmed the identity of the slain half brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un using a DNA sample from one of his children, foreign media reported Wednesday.Investigators "confirmed the identity of the body as Kim Jong-nam based on the sample obtained from his child," Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi was quoted as saying by AFP.Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi (R) (Yonhap)Reuters also reported that the sample was taken from one of Kim's children, citin

March 15, 2017

The State Department on Tuesday urged North Korea to free an American college student detained in the communist nation for more than a year. The University of Virginia student, Otto Warmbier, was arrested in January 2016 while on trip to the North for allegedly stealing a political propaganda sign from a hotel. He has since been sentenced to 15 years of hard labor. The State Department (Yonhap)"We believe that he's being held unjustly. He's gone through the criminal process, and he's been detain

March 15, 2017

The United States should not rush to re-designate North Korea as a state sponsor of terrorism because the move could deteriorate the already-high tensions on the Korean Peninsula to spin out of control, a former senior US diplomat said Tuesday.Calls for adding Pyongyang back to the State Department's list of terrorism sponsoring nations have gained significant traction in the wake of the killing in Malaysia of Kim Jong-nam, the half brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. An image of Kim Jon

March 15, 2017

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia -- Malaysia's Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said Tuesday that the body of Kim Jong-nam, who was killed last month, has been embalmed to better preserve it, and that about 50 North Koreans whose work permits have expired will be deported.News of the deportations was a surprise as the countries have barred each other’s citizen from leaving amid a diplomatic standoff over Kim's death. Malaysia's Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said Tuesday that the body of

March 14, 2017

The UN special rapporteur for North Korea's human rights situation has called for all parties concerned to cooperate in the ongoing probe into the murder of Kim Jong-nam, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's half brother, a US broadcaster reported Tuesday.Tomas Ojea Quintana made the call at the 34th session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva on Monday, Voice of America said.Tomas Ojea Quintana, the UN special rapporteur on North Korea's human rights, speaks during a press conference at a Seo

March 14, 2017

The United States should consider "aggressive movement" toward North Korea, including issuing a warning that it will shoot down any missile the communist nation test-fires, a former senior defense official said Monday.Mary Beth Long, who served as assistant secretary of defense for international security affairs from 2007-2009, made the case during a Council on Foreign Relations discussion, saying diplomatic approaches have failed to resolve the situation."I think everyone can conclude there's b

March 14, 2017

Defusing tensions over North Korea and the deployment of a THAAD missile defense battery will be key topics when US President Donald Trump holds a summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping, the White House said Monday.White House press secretary Sean Spicer made the remark in response to news reports that Trump plans to host Xi at his Florida resort next month. Spicer said the two sides are working to set up a meeting, but no dates and other details have been determined yet."Planning is ongoing f

March 14, 2017

A South Korean temple with stone Buddhas and pagodas has been added to UNESCO's tentative list of world cultural heritage sites, officials here said Monday.The Cultural Heritage Administration said the South Korean government's request in January to include Unjusa Temple in Hwasun, South Jeolla Province, some 330 kilometers south of Seoul, to the tentative list has been approved by the United Nations' specialized agency. It will be officially listed as "Stone Buddhas and Pagodas at Hwasun Unjusa

March 14, 2017