The foreign ministers of South Korea, the U.S. and Japan plan to hold talks next week to discuss North Korea’s nuclear programs and cooperation on regional issues, Seoul officials said Friday.South Korean Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida will meet on the sidelines of the ASEAN Regional Forum on Monday in Brunei.The three-way consultation is the first since each took office this year. Their predecessors met together twic

Foreign Affairs June 28, 2013

South Korea's point man on North Korea called on the communist country Friday to free South Koreans believed to have been abducted by the country during and after the 1950-53 Korean War. "North Korea should be cooperative with our efforts to overcome the tragic history," Unification Minister Ryoo Kihl-jae said in a commemoration event held in central Seoul by the families of South Korean abductees to the North, marking the June 25 outbreak of the civil war. The North should not turn a blind eye

North Korea June 28, 2013

European Union leaders reached an outline deal Friday on the 27-country bloc's 960 billion euro ($1.3 trillion) seven-year budget, overcoming British objections to sign off on the agreement.British Prime Minister David Cameron had held out for the same financial conditions already promised him months ago, overshadowing a summit called to approve plans to deal with the continent's youth unemployment problems.However, in the end, all 27 nations backed the budget deal. EU President Herman Van Rompu

World Business June 28, 2013

Anthony Bennett became the first Canadian to be the No. 1 pick and Nerlens Noel tumbled out of the top five in a surprising start to Thursday's NBA draft.The Cleveland Cavaliers passed on Noel and Alex Len, who went to Phoenix at No. 5, in favor of the Bennett, a University of Nevada Las Vegas forward who has starred for Canada's junior national teams and was the Mountain West Conference player of the year.There was suspense right until the end, either because the Cavs were unsure who they wante

More Sports June 28, 2013

South Korean stocks added 1.56 percent Friday as investors' sentiment was boosted by eased concerns over the United States policy moves and the Chinese economy, analysts said. The local currency gained against the U.S. dollar.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) added 28.62 points to close at 1,863.32. Trading volume was low at 246 million shares worth 4.34 trillion won (US$3.8 billion) with gainers outpacing losers 631 to 197.Analysts said investors' sentiment got a boost as

June 28, 2013

The nation's top court on Friday acquitted a former lawmaker and popular online show co-host of charges that he slandered eight state prosecutors who investigated an alleged investment scam involving former President Lee Myung-bak.Lee was at the center of a case widely known as the "BBK scandal" named after a firm set up by him and his convicted former business partner, Kim Kyoung-joon, in 2000. The scandal broke at the height of the 2007 presidential race when the Korean-American businessman cl

Politics June 28, 2013

North Korea is the 23rd most failed state in the world in a U.S. index gauging states' management of social, economic and political affairs, a foreign affairs magazine said Thursday.The Failed States Index, compiled annually since 2005 by U.S. think tank Fund for Peace and the magazine Foreign Policy, ranked the North 23rd out of a total of 178 nations. The index examines 12 social, political and economic factors like a government's practical control over its territories, non-provision of public

North Korea June 28, 2013

South Korean stocks opened higher Friday tracking overnight gains on Wall Street sparked by improved U.S. economic data, analysts said.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) gained 14.44 points, or 0.79 percent, to 1,849.14 in the first 15 minutes of trading.Shares gathered ground across the board, with top steelmaker POSCO adding 0.68 percent and No. 1 carmaker Hyundai Motor climbing 2.29 percent. Leading chipmaker SK hyix gained 0.33 percent.U.S. stocks closed higher Thursday

June 28, 2013

The U.S. Senate passed legislation Thursday that offers the hope of citizenship to millions of immigrants living illegally in America's shadows and promises a military-style effort to secure the long-porous border with Mexico. Its prospects remain highly uncertain in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives.The bipartisan vote was 68-32 on a measure that sits atop President Barack Obama's second-term domestic agenda. Even so, conservatives generally oppose citizenship for immigrants li

World News June 28, 2013

Jesus Navas scored the decisive penalty as World Cup holder Spain beat Italy 7-6 in a shootout Thursday after extra time ended 0-0, setting up a showdown with host Brazil in the Confederations Cup final.Nobody missed in the shootout until Italy defender Leonardo Bonucci shot over the bar to give Navas an attempt at the winner. The recently signed Manchester City midfielder cooly beat goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon to end a top-class battle and send Spain to another major final.“We were lucky in the

Soccer June 28, 2013

President Barack Obama tried to cool the international frenzy over Edward Snowden on Thursday as Ecuador stepped up its defiance and said it was preemptively rejecting millions in trade benefits that it could lose by taking in the fugitive from his limbo in a Moscow airport. The country seen as likeliest to shelter the National Security Agency leaker seemed determined to prove it could handle any repercussions, with three of its highest officials calling an early-morning news conference to “unil

World News June 28, 2013