Seoul backs U.S. plan to defeat Islamic State extremists

South Korea expressed support Thursday for U.S. President Barack Obama's plan for airstrikes in Syria and expanded strikes in Iraq to defeat the Islamic State militant group.Obama said Wednesday he won't hesitate to take action against the Islamic State in Syria, as he pledged to "degrade, and ultimately destroy" the extremists responsible for beheading two American journalists."South Korea voices its support to the efforts by the international community to defeat the Islamic State militant grou

Sept. 11, 2014

Korean Cabinet approves Canada FTA bill

South Korea's Cabinet on Thursday approved a bill on a free trade agreement (FTA) with Canada ahead of ratification by the parliament, the prime minister's office said. After nearly nine years of talks, including a five-year hiatus, Seoul and Ottawa concluded the FTA in March this year. The two sides expect the deal to help significantly boost bilateral trade by cutting tariffs on a wide range of products including automobiles and meat.During a weekly meeting held in Seoul earlier in the day, th

Sept. 11, 2014

UN official voices 'profound regret' over comfort women issue

GENEVA/SEOUL (Yonhap) – The top U.N. official on human rights on Wednesday expressed "profound regret" over Japan's failure to resolve the issue of its wartime sexual enslavement of Asian women, warning that the victims' human rights continue to be violated.Navi Pillay, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, said in a statement that she regrets that "Japan has failed to pursue a comprehensive, impartial and lasting resolution" of the issue of wartime sexual slavery.She warned that the human righ

Aug. 6, 2014

Kerry has no plan to meet with N. Korea counterpart at ARF

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry has no plan to meet one-on-one with his counterpart from North Korea on the sidelines of an upcoming regional security conference in Myanmar, his spokeswoman said Monday.Kerry is scheduled to make a three-day visit to Naypyitaw, the capital of Myanmar, this weekend to attend a set of annual meetings led by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, including Asia’s biggest annual security gathering, known as the ASEAN Regional Forum.ARF and other ASEAN talks h

Aug. 5, 2014

Amnesty Int'l calls on S. Korea to stop arming Israel

SEOUL, July 31 (Yonhap) -- South Korea should immediately halt the transfer of all weapons to Israel in light of the deadly conflict in the Gaza Strip that has killed more than 1,300 people and injured many more since earlier this month, the local office of a global human rights group said Thursday."We express grave concerns over the fact that South Korea has armed Israel with conventional weapons," the local branch of Amnesty International said. "South Korea must therefore urgently suspend its

July 31, 2014

Hyundai Group chairwoman requests permission to visit N. Korea

The chief of Hyundai Group, the parent firm of inter-Korean tour operator Hyundai Asan Corp., has requested government permission to visit North Korea next week to mark the anniversary of the death of her husband, who used to run the cross-border travel business, company officials said Wednesday.Chairwoman Hyun Jeong-eun and about 20 executives and employees of Hyundai Asan hope to inspect the company's properties at Mount Kumgang, a scenic resort on North Korea's east coast, on the occasion of

July 30, 2014

Koreas to meet this week for joint dictionary project

The South Korean government has allowed the country's lexicographers to meet with their North Korean colleagues in China this week for a project to publish a joint dictionary of their language, officials here said Monday.A group of 32 South Korean lexicographers will hold a meeting with their northern counterparts in the Chinese city of Xinyang from Tuesday through Aug. 6, said the unification ministry.The two sides plan to discuss a schedule for making what is called the Big Dictionary of the K

July 28, 2014

S. Korea evokes national image of cutting-edge technology: survey

Foreigners consider South Korea as a country with cutting-edge technology, but only a small portion of them are aware of Korean pop culture, known as hallyu, a survey showed Friday.According to the survey, the respondents most frequently come up with technology after being asked to present the word that first pops up in their mind when thinking of South Korea. The name of the leading mobile phone maker, Samsung, came in second, followed by war and Psy, a South Korean rapper whose dance music vid

July 25, 2014

Rebels to return MH17 black boxes to aviation group

A separatist leader in eastern Ukraine says rebels have recovered the black boxes for the downed Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 and are willing to hand them over to international investigators.Alexander Borodai, prime minister of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic, said Sunday that the devices would be handed over to the International Civil Aviation Organization.Borodai also said bodies which have been removed from the crash site would remain in refrigerated containers at a train station

July 20, 2014

Militants storm Malaysia resort, kill 1, snatch 1

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) -- Masked gunmen stormed a coastal Malaysian resort, shot a policeman and kidnapped another then sped away in a boat toward the southern Philippines, where Muslim militants have carried out similar raids in the past, a security official said Sunday. The latest kidnapping highlights persistent security threats in Malaysia's Sabah state on Borneo Island and is believed to be spillover of violence from the southern Philippines, a region where separatist militants and kid

July 13, 2014

Iraq prostitutes slain amid culture of fear and secrecy

BAGHDAD, (AFP) - Apartment blocks near a mosque and a kindergarten daubed with cartoon characters seem an unlikely place for the slaughter of 27 alleged prostitutes, but in Baghdad death is never far.Few people in the Iraqi capital's Zayouna district know any details of what happened in their neighbourhood late on Saturday, and even fewer want to hazard a guess.Residents of the rubbish-strewn area of crumbling grey apartment blocks say they stopped asking questions long ago in a city awash with

July 13, 2014

German police megaphone used in anti-Israel rant

BERLIN (AP) -- German police say they allowed an anti-Israel protester to use a megaphone in a police car during a "Free Gaza" demonstration in Frankfurt and he shouted inciting slogans including "child murderer Israel" and "Allahu akbar."Frankfurt police spokeswoman Virginie Wegner said Sunday they let the protester use the megaphone because the demonstration had turned violent and he had offered them to calm down the situation.But instead of doing that, he shouted anti-Israel slogans. A video

July 13, 2014

Germany says probing second spy case after U.S. double agent

BERLIN (AFP) - German authorities said Wednesday they were investigating an alleged foreign spy, as reports said the suspect was the second within days believed to be working for U.S. intelligence."Federal police officers have since this morning searched the residential and office premises of an accused in the Berlin area due to preliminary suspicion of intelligence activities. No arrest has been made," said the federal prosecutors’ office.The case was considered "more serious" than that of a Ge

July 9, 2014

More than 1,200 Chinese evacuated from north Iraq

More than 1,200 Chinese workers who had been trapped in the embattled northern Iraqi city of Samarra have been evacuated to Baghdad, according to Chinese state media.The official Xinhua news agency says the Chinese arrived safely at a Baghdad hotel, with the Iraqi military providing security.The report said that China Machinery Engineering Corporation employed the workers at a power plant construction site in Samarra, near where security forces are battling militants from the Islamic State of Ir

June 28, 2014

U.S. lawmakers protest Japan's review of Kono Statement

A group of U.S. lawmakers on Friday protested Japan's review of a 1993 apology for its sexual enslavement of Korean women during World War II, saying it is "unacceptable" for Tokyo to suggest it remains unconfirmed the victims were coerced.The 18 House of Representatives members, led by Rep. Mike Honda, also said in a jointly signed letter to the Japanese ambassador to Washington, Kenichiro Sasae, that they found the timing and the release of the contents of the report both "regrettable and unfo

June 28, 2014

Kerry expresses sympathy for Koreans reeling from ferry tragedy

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry expressed sympathy Friday for the loss of scores of South Korean students in the sinking of a ferry last month."As a father and grandfather myself, I cannot begin to imagine the pain so many in the Republic of Korea are enduring," he said in a statement issued on the occasion of South Korea's Children's Day that falls on May 5. It marked the secretary's first statement on South Korea's worst ferry disaster in decades."No parent should ever have to experience th

May 3, 2014

Korea joins international fleet review in China

South Korea will send two warships to an international fleet review in China, an official at the South Korean Embassy in Beijing said Monday. About 30 warships from 10 nations, including China, Australia, India and Pakistan, will join the fleet review to be held in China's eastern port city of Qingdao next week, the official said. South Korea will send a 4,500-ton destroyer and a 2,300-ton frigate to the naval ceremony, the official said on condition of anonymity. Chinese President Xi Jinping is

April 14, 2014