The Cheonghae Unit, which was deployed in March 2009 to join an international anti-piracy campaign in the Gulf of Aden off the Somali coast, has thus far subdued pirate ships on 15 occasions.The unit, consisting of a 4,500-ton destroyer, a helicopter and three high-speed boats, has also escorted hundreds of vessels passing through the waters off Somalia and assisted in their safe navigation. The f

Politics Jan. 21, 2011

* Apr. 4, 2006: Fishing boat “Dongwon,” carrying 25 crewmembers including eight Koreans, is hijacked near Somali territory. The crew is held for 117 days until July 30. * May 15, 2007: Twenty-four crewmembers of “Mabuno No. 1” and “No. 2,” including four Koreans, are kidnapped on the seas off Somalia. They are released 174 days later on Nov. 4. * Oct. 28, 2007: Japanese chemical tanker “Golden Nor

Social Affairs Jan. 21, 2011

North Korea proposed holding high-level military talks with South Korea on Thursday, a day after the U.S. and China called on the communist state to end provocations.The proposal is the latest in a series of recent overtures from the North for dialogue with its southern neighbor against which it made two deadly attacks last year.“Under the name of Kim Yong-chun, minister of the People’s Armed Forc

Defense Jan. 20, 2011

State prosecutors have launched a probe into allegations that the National Credit Union Federation of Korea provided tens of millions of won to lawmakers as it lobbied for legislation to ease its lending rules.The prosecution has already searched the office of the credit union for evidence, Yonhap News reported Friday, citing sources in the prosecution and the credit union.The probe on the credit

Politics Jan. 14, 2011

The captain of a South Korean fishing boat admitted that his vessel trespassed into Japanese waters near South Korea’s easternmost islets of Dokdo, Seoul’s foreign ministry said Friday.An overnight joint investigation by the two countries’ maritime police found that the 29-ton “33 Ssangyong” did not engage in illegal fishing within the Japanese exclusive economic zone.“The South Korean Coast Guard

Politics Jan. 14, 2011

Croatia will actively push to open an embassy in South Korea, its prime minister was quoted as saying Thursday.“We have decided to open our embassy in South Korea,” Croatian Prime Minister Jadranka Kosor told visiting South Korean National Assembly Speaker Park Hee-tae. “We will push for the opening as soon as our economy recovers,” she was quoted as saying by the Speaker’s spokesman.Park was on a

Politics Jan. 14, 2011

The Obama administration wants Congress to ratify the free-trade deal with South Korea before a similar pact between Korea and the European Union goes into effect in July, the chief U.S. trade official said Thursday.“Our goal is to hand this agreement to Congress before the EU trade agreement goes into effect on July 1,” U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk told a forum in Washington. “Everything we

Politics Jan. 14, 2011

President Lee Myung-bak’s chief state auditor nominee Chung Tong-ki said Tuesday he was preparing for the parliamentary confirmation hearing despite growing pressure from political parties to withdraw from his position. “I will do what I have to do,” Chung said in response to a reporter’s question on whether he was getting ready for next week’s confirmation hearing as he entered his office in Seou

Politics Jan. 11, 2011

A presidential council said Tuesday it will support Korean businesses’ mergers and acquisitions of foreign companies as part of efforts to raise national competitiveness, benchmarking a Chinese policy. “We will seek to strengthen Korean companies’ global investment capabilities to encourage M&As of competent overseas firms, especially in the energy and resources sector,” Kang Man-soo, chief of the

Politics Jan. 11, 2011