Korean government officials discuss countermeasures after a huge quake hit Japan on Friday. (Yonhap News)South Korea will send a rescue team to help Japan in the aftermath of a massive earthquake, Seoul’s Foreign Ministry said Friday. Although no South Korean casualties have been reported so far, more than 9,000 Koreans live near the region where the 8.8-magnitude quake struck Friday, sparking con

Foreign Affairs March 11, 2011

Matsumoto’s Ito connection invokes painful history but should not affect tiesJapan promptly named its new top diplomat this week after his predecessor resigned for accepting illegal political donations, a change South Korea views will have little impact on ties that have been running strong in recent years. But compared to his predecessor Seiji Maehara, Tokyo’s incoming Foreign Minister Takeaki Ma

Foreign Affairs March 10, 2011

Shanghai scandal sparks dispute over how to manage non-career envoysSouth Korea’s foreign minister prompted his officials each to “feel heavier occupational and ethical responsibilities as a civil servant” this week, vowing continued reform efforts days after a sex scandal involving several Korean diplomats in Shanghai was made public.Four officials, including former Consul General Kim Jeong-ki, a

Foreign Affairs March 10, 2011

North Korean officials are free to come and meet four nationals to verify whether they really wish to defect to the South, a senior official here said Wednesday, as Seoul repeated its demand for the prompt repatriation of the remaining 27 North Koreans.In a message to the North on Wednesday, South Korea made its fourth request for the communist state to immediately take back the 27, who were among

North Korea March 9, 2011

President Lee Myung-bak urged his government Tuesday to ramp up efforts to alleviate public worries over inflation, saying the problem is something of "the inevitable" under the current economic situations at home and abroad, according to his office Cheong Wa Dae.   "The consumer price problem has an inevitable aspect due to climate change, hikes in international law material prices, and other fac

Politics March 8, 2011

President Barack Obama reversed course Monday and ordered a resumption of military trials for terror suspects at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, making his once ironclad promise to close the isolated prison look even more distant.Guantanamo has been a major political and national security headache for the president since he took office promising to close the prison within a year; the deadline came and went

Foreign Affairs March 8, 2011

Elephants quickly learned to cooperate to solve a problem, researchers report in Monday's edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.   The giant mammals are socially complex, explained lead researcher Joshua M. Plotnik.   ``They help others in distress,'' he said. ``They seem in some ways emotionally attached to each other, so you would expect there would be some level of cooperat

World News March 8, 2011

Volkswagen Korea, the local importer of German automaker Volkswagen, introduced the latest version of the Volkswagen CC sedan in South Korea Tuesday.   The new Volkswagen CC is Volkswagen's second vehicle introduced in South Korea with the BlueMotion technology, which automatically shuts down the engine when the vehicle is idling and restarts it when the car is ready to move again, significantly i

Mobility March 8, 2011

A new commander for U.S. troops in South Korea is on a two-day visit to Seoul for consultations with military leaders here on North Korean issues, officials said Tuesday. Gen. James Thurman, who was nominated early this month to replace Gen. Walter Sharp as commander of U.S. Forces Korea (USFK), arrived in Seoul Monday, said a USFK official."Gen. Thurman visited Seoul as chief of Army Forces Comma

Defense March 8, 2011