A military court issued a warrant Wednesday to arrest an Army officer for fleeing his barracks, leaving his soldiers behind, during a deadly shooting spree by his subordinate, the defense ministry said.The 1st Lt., identified only by his surname Kang, was indicted on multiple charges including disobeying orders, dereliction of duty and desertion."The military court of the 8th Corps issued the warrant at 11:35 a.m. for the charges. He was then immediately put in jail," an Army officer said.Kang a

Defense July 9, 2014

The nominee for education minister came under intense scrutiny Wednesday as opposition lawmakers grilled him over allegations of plagiarism and other ethical issues.Kim Myung-soo, a professor at Korea National University of Education, was tapped by President Park Geun-hye last month to double as education minister and deputy prime minister for educational, social and cultural affairs.The nominee has since come under growing pressure from opposition parties to withdraw his name amid allegations h

Politics July 9, 2014

China and the United States Wednesday launched high-level talks, with Chinese President Xi Jinping urging the world's two biggest economies to break old patterns of confrontation.Given their different histories and cultures "it is natural that China and the US may have different views and even frictions on certain issues", Xi told the opening of the two-day annual talks in Beijing."This is what makes communication and cooperation even more necessary," he urged, speaking in the same imposing comp

World News July 9, 2014

South Korea, the United States and Japan plan to hold their joint naval search and rescue exercise later this month involving a U.S. Navy aircraft carrier, military officers said Wednesday.The trilateral Search and Rescue Exercise, or SAREX, is slated for July 21-22 in international waters south of South Korea's southern resort island of Jeju, a Joint Chiefs of Staff officer here said. He refused to be identified. The naval exercise has been held once or twice a year so far on humanitarian groun

Defense July 9, 2014

North Korea has filed a protest with the United Nations against a U.S. movie featuring an assassination attempt on North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, calling on the U.S. government to ban the release of the movie, a U.S. report said Wednesday.In a letter sent to U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on June 27, North Korean Ambassador to the U.N., Ja Song-nam, called the movie "The Interview" an insult to the North Korean leader, the Washington-based Voice of America said.The action-comedy film, to b

North Korea July 9, 2014

A North Korean official who played a key role in developing North Korea's nuclear weapons has died of a sudden heart attack, the country's state news agency said Wednesday. Gen. Jon Pyong-ho died of acute myocardial infarction on Monday at age 88 and his funeral is under way, the North said in an obituary carried by the Korean Central News Agency.Jon had been a leading figure in North Korea's much-denounced nuclear weapons development, having served as the ruling Workers'Party secretary in charg

North Korea July 9, 2014

South Korea's top 10 conglomerates saw their stock market capitalization edge down this year, as market heavyweights such as Samsung Electronics Co. and POSCO remained lackluster amid a bearish run on the local stock market, industry data showed on Wednesday.The combined market capitalization of affiliates under their wings stood at 726 trillion won (US$717 billion) as of Thursday, down 0.63 percent from the start of this year, according to the data.The decline was largely attributed to a slump

July 9, 2014

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe Tuesday declared his determination to pursue peace in Asia, as he strengthened defence ties with Australia and signed an ambitious free-trade agreement.Abe used an historic address to a joint sitting of Australia's parliament to say that Japan "is now determined to do more to enhance peace in the region and peace in the world"."It is to put that determination into concrete action that Japan has chosen to strengthen its ties with Australia," said Abe, the first

World News July 8, 2014