South Korea and a group of 10 Southeast Asian nations will hold a high-level workshop to discuss ways to set up a joint cyber college in July of next year, the Education Ministry said Sunday.The sides have pushed for the establishment of the school since the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations made a proposal during a special summit held on the South Korean resort island of Jeju in Ju

Social Affairs Jan. 16, 2011

Japanese Foreign Minister Seiji Maehara will make a one-day trip to South Korea on Saturday for talks with his counterpart, instead of staying overnight from Friday as originally planned, an official said.Maehara called South Korean Foreign Minister Kim Sung-hwan on Thursday to ask if he could change the travel schedule, citing “various circumstances,” a ministry official said on condition of anon

Politics Jan. 13, 2011

WASHINGTON (Yonhap News) ― A human rights group here on Tuesday urged U.S. President Barack Obama to press China to stop repatriating North Korean refugees.“We urgently request that during your meetings next week with President Hu Jintao ... that you request China to end its current policy of repatriating North Korean refugees back to North Korea,” Suzanne Scholte, chairwoman of the North Korea Fr

North Korea Jan. 12, 2011

WASHINGTON (Yonhap News) ― U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates on Tuesday called on North Korea to impose a moratorium on nuclear and missile testing to help revive international dialogue deadlocked for two years over the North’s provocations.Speaking to reporters in Beijing after meeting with Chinese President Hu Jintao, Gates also said that North Korea’s missiles and nuclear weapons will pose a

North Korea Jan. 12, 2011

North Korea reopened its Red Cross hotline with South Korea at their joint truce village Wednesday as promised, an official said, as the communist state continues to appeal for talks with Seoul in an apparent bid to draw much-needed assistance.Liaison officials of the two countries made their first contact in nearly eight months on the hotline installed at Panmunjeom, a Unification Ministry offici

North Korea Jan. 12, 2011

Pyongyang slams Seoul's rejection of dialogueSEOUL/WASHINGTON ― The U.S. affirmed Monday that Pyongyang should take concrete steps to renounce provocations if it is committed to “constructive” dialogue.“There are still things that North Korea must do to make it clear that that kind of dialogue would be productive,” said State Department spokesman Philip Crowley.“I would say that first and foremost

North Korea Jan. 11, 2011

WASHINGTON (Yonhap News) ― U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates on Tuesday called for closer cooperation with China in defusing tensions on the Korea Peninsula and denuclearizing North Korea.Speaking to reporters in Beijing after meeting with Chinese Defense Minister Liang Guanglie, Gates stressed the need for “maintaining peace and security on the Korean Peninsula by facilitating engagement betwee

North Korea Jan. 11, 2011

The Defense Ministry is seeking to make a revision to a law governing the military pension system that would eventually increase pay-ins while keeping payouts at the current level, officials said Tuesday.The revision is aimed at repairing the military pension system as it struggles with chronic deficits because more money is needed to meet payouts for a growing number of retired military officers

Social Affairs Jan. 11, 2011

President Lee Myung-bak vowed Monday to provide more institutional support for younger people here seeking to launch their own startups in the knowledge-based sector, saying he hopes that South Korea will produce world-renowned business leaders like Mark Zuckerberg, an American computer scientist who founded the social networking service Facebook.“Mark Zuckerberg launched Facebook at the age of 20

Politics Jan. 10, 2011

The Unification Ministry is to start Internet broadcasts on issues relevant to the unification of the divided Korean Peninsula this year, a ministry official said. The project aims to help the public gain better understanding of unification issues and comes under a ministry goal this year to prepare for the rejoining of the two Koreas. The peninsula has remained divided since the end of the three-

Politics Jan. 9, 2011

North Korea is expected to celebrate the upcoming birthday of its leader-in-waiting in a fashion as low-profile as last year even though he has since been appointed to political and military posts, a South Korean official said Thursday.The North Korean ruling party and military celebrated the Jan. 8 birthday of Kim Jong-un last year with athletic meetings, propaganda music recitals and other “inte

North Korea Jan. 6, 2011

In an apparent bid to facilitate its hereditary power succession, North Korea has rewritten major regulations governing its ruling party, allowing its leader-in-waiting to take full control of the state with greater ease, a government source said Thursday.The revisions were approved at the landmark convention of the top Workers’ Party delegates in September, during which Kim Jong-un, the youngest

North Korea Jan. 6, 2011