WASHINGTON (AP)  The leaders of China, India, Japan and South Korea are among the heads of government converging on Washington for a summit on countering the nightmarish threat of nuclear terrorism. But with tensions in North Korea and the South China Sea running high, the meetings that Asian leaders have on the sidelines could attract more attention than the summit itself.    President Barack Obama has put a premium on expanding ties with Asia, in part to counter the rise of China. The U.S.

March 31, 2016

South Korea issued a warning Thursday after detecting satellite signal disruptions that it said appeared to be coming from North Korea.   The warning, issued at 7:30 p.m. in Seoul, the adjacent city of Incheon and the surrounding Gyeonggi and Gangwon provinces, came as North Korea discharged a large amount of radio waves to jam Global Positioning System signals in the region, officials said.   "We've detected signs that North Korea has been sending radio waves to the capital area since a month a

March 31, 2016

South Korea and the United States agreed Thursday to broaden their partnership on science and technology, such as cybersecurity and innovation.The agreement came after Choi Yang-hee -- minister of science, ICT and future planning -- held the talks earlier with John Holdren, senior adviser to President Barack Obama on science and technology issues in Seoul.It marked the 9th session of the joint committee meeting on science and technology cooperation between the two sides.The biennial forum, launc

March 31, 2016

South Korea plans to kick start a program to send five satellites into orbit by 2022 which will allow the military to keep close tabs on North Korea, defense officials said Thursday.The project, dubbed "425 project," has been stalled for a year amid budget limitations, with the National Assembly allocating only 2 billion won in the 2016 budget out of 64.3 billion won requested by the defense ministry. "The ministry has set its sights on reaching a contract within the latter half of this year," a

March 31, 2016

The White House on Wednesday rejected Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump's idea of allowing South Korea to go nuclear in response to North Korean threats, saying it could give Pyongyang justification for its nuclear development."That prospect would be incredibly destabilizing," White House press secretary Josh Earnest said. "Right now, the policy of the United States, a policy that is strongly supported by the broad international community, is that we should denuclearize the Korea

March 31, 2016

President Park Geun-hye arrived in Washington on Wednesday for a summit with her U.S. counterpart Barack Obama and dozens of other world leaders on how to tackle the threats on nuclear terrorism and to strengthen an international regime for nuclear security.The biennial meeting, scheduled for Thursday and Friday, has been held every two years since Obama hosted the inaugural summit in 2010 as part of efforts to make the world free of nuclear weapons. This year's meeting is to be the final summit

March 31, 2016

U.S. Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump, known for proposing unconventional solutions to problems, has come up with an idea that he said would significantly reduce U.S. security burdens in Asia: arming South Korea and Japan with nuclear weapons.Trump's remarks have added weight to calls in South Korea for the country's own nuclear armament in the wake of North Korea's fourth nuclear test in January and a long-range missile test in February. Talking seriously about the topic itself

March 31, 2016

Defense Minister Han Min-koo on Wednesday urged the military to maintain a state of heightened readiness against possible North Korean provocations during President Park Geun-hye's overseas trip this week.Park left for a two-nation visit earlier in the day, which will take her to Washington for the Nuclear Security Summit as well as Mexico where bilateral talks are planned. Park is scheduled to return home next week.Han "called for thorough military preparedness during the president's state visi

March 30, 2016

South Korea and the United States have strengthened policy cooperation in the science and technology sector for the past few decades, a U.S. senior official said Wednesday, as the two allies are in closer talks over toughened international sanctions against North Korea."South Korea and the U.S. cooperate in areas in which we have much to learn from each other and much leverage to gain by working together," John Holdren, director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, said in

March 30, 2016

President Park Geun-hye left for Washington on Wednesday for a summit with her U.S. counterpart Barack Obama and dozens of other world leaders on how to tackle the threats on nuclear terrorism and to strengthen an international regime for nuclear security.The biennial meeting, scheduled for Thursday and Friday, has been held every two years since Obama hosted the inaugural summit in 2010 as part of efforts to make the world free of nuclear weapons. This year's meeting is to be the final summit.T

March 30, 2016

South Korea plans to develop ground-to-ground GPS-guided munitions to better fend off threats posed by North Korea's latest multiple launch rocket systems, the Ministry of National Defense said in its five-year defense plan on Wednesday.North Korea's MLRS has emerged as one of the most imminent security threats facing South Korea since the communist country announced what it claimed was the final test of a new high-caliber multiple rocket launcher earlier in the month.With a range of 200 kilomet

March 30, 2016

The chief of a state-run diplomatic academy has raised the need for South Korea and the U.S. to explore effective nuclear doctrine, including a preemptive "first use" approach, to cope with the escalating nuclear threats from North Korea.In a report issued by the Institute of Foreign Affairs and National Security under the Korea National Diplomatic Academy, Chancellor Yun Duk-min said that the allies need to review Cold War-era nuclear doctrine to find one suitable for the defense of the South.P

March 29, 2016

South Korea has been in talks with the campaign camp of key U.S. presidential candidates, including Republican front-runner Donald Trump, to improve each other's understanding of foreign policy issues, the Foreign Ministry said Tuesday.Concerns have grown in South Korea as Trump has made repeated claims that South Korea is getting a free ride on defense and paying little for the upkeep of U.S. troops on its soil. The real-estate mogul has also said he would allow South Korea and Japan to go nucl

March 29, 2016

South Korea on Tuesday renewed its calls for Japan to enforce a new package of contentious security laws in a way that contributes to regional peace and stability, as the laws took effect at midnight.The effectuation of the laws marked a significant shift in Tokyo's exclusively defensive security policy as they enable its Self-Defense Forces to exercise the right to collective self-defense, or the use of force to support its ally under attack, which used to be banned under the country's war-reno

March 29, 2016

South Korea's military is ready to deal with any possible North Korean provocations during President Park Geun-hye's visit to the United States and Mexico later this week, the country's defense ministry said Tuesday.Park is scheduled to fly to Washington on Wednesday to take part in the Nuclear Security Summit and hold talks with her U.S., Chinese and Japanese counterparts. She is also expected to visit Mexico to further bilateral economic ties and return the next week.Asked whether the ministry

March 29, 2016

The South Korean Air Force said Tuesday it has inspected the anti-terror preparedness of six civilian airports that share runways with the military.In the eight-day emergency inspection that ended on Tuesday, the Air Force examined the readiness posture of the airports in Gwangju, Gimhae, Daegu, Cheongju, Sacheon and Wonju.The security inspection came amid a heightened terrorist attack alert in the wake of North Korea's recent threats to launch strikes on South Korea and specifically Cheong Wa D

March 29, 2016