Thirty-one North Koreans crossed the tense sea border and arrived on a frontline South Korean island at the weekend, but it is unlikely they are defectors, the Seoul government said Monday. The North Koreans, consisting of 11 men and 20 women, arrived on South Korea’s Yeonpyeong Island on a 5-ton fishing boat on Saturday. Their ship has been towed to a nearby port city for investigation, the South

Politics Feb. 7, 2011

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) -- North Korea's parliament has proposed holding talks with South Korea to ease tensions and improve relations between the two Koreas.The North's official Korean Central News Agency reported Thursday that the Supreme People's Assembly made the offer in a Wednesday letter to South Korea's National Assembly.The offer comes days after a North Korean committee proposed that law

North Korea Feb. 3, 2011

TULLY, Australia (AP) -- The most powerful storm in a century ripped across Australia's northeast coast early Thursday, blasting apart houses, laying waste to banana crops and leaving boats lying in the streets of wind- and wave-swept towns.Authorities said they were surprised to learn at daybreak that no one had been reported killed by Cyclone Yasi, but cautioned that bad news could eventually em

International Feb. 3, 2011

OSLO, Norway (AP) -- A Norwegian lawmaker has nominated WikiLeaks for the 2011 Nobel Peace Prize, saying that its disclosures of classified documents promote world peace by holding governments accountable for their actions.The Norwegian Nobel Committee keeps candidates secret for 50 years, but those with nomination rights sometimes make their picks known.Snorre Valen, a 26-year-old legislator from

World Feb. 3, 2011

South Korea's food prices climbed the second most on-year among the organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) members in December, data showed Thursday.Food prices in South Korea jumped 10.6 percent in December from a year earlier, higher than the OECD average of 2.6 percent, according to the data by the OECD.Among the 33 tallied countries, Estonia topped the list at 12.2 percen

Feb. 3, 2011

South Korea’s foreign minister will meet his counterparts in the United Arab Emirates and Algeria next week, during which he is also seeking to visit Libya to patch up a months-long diplomatic row, the ministry here said.“We are currently discussing the details with the Libyan government so that the minister can visit the country upon his trip to the Middle East,” a ministry official said, asking

Politics Feb. 1, 2011

South Korea has said this week it will not link an apology from North Korea for last year’s attacks with resuming multinational disarmament talks, taking a step toward making peace with its nuclear-armed rival. The change of attitude could lead to early resumption of the six-nation talks aimed at North Korea’s denuclearization, an issue that has sparked a months-long tug of war among regional powe

Politics Jan. 27, 2011

The deputy U.S. secretary of state will arrive in Seoul next week to debrief officials on the results of the U.S.-China summit, Washington announced Friday.James Steinberg will also travel to Japan and China to follow up on U.S. President Barack Obama’s meeting with his counterpart Hu Jintao in Washington this week, the U.S. State Department said. Steinberg will arrive in Seoul on Jan. 26.The trip

Politics Jan. 21, 2011