North Korea on Friday effectively rejected calls by South Korea to permit reunions of separated family members by demanding an end economic sanctions and resumption of tourism to Mount Kumgang, sources said Friday.South Korea's Red Cross said it sent a message to its northern counterpart on Wednesday asking for working level talks to take place on Aug. 17 in either Munsan or Kaesong. The talks cou

North Korea Aug. 11, 2012

The Obama administration set new, largely symbolic, sanctions Friday on Syria's state-run oil company and the Hezbollah militant group, moves designed to underscore Iran's key role in propping up the Syrian regime over the span of its civil war.State Department spokesman Patrick Ventrell said the penalties against energy firm Sytrol come after it delivered $36 million worth of gasoline to Iran in

World News Aug. 11, 2012

Two taekwondo fighters, Lee In-jong in women's over-67-kilogram and Cha Dong-min in men's over-80㎏, will try to extend South Korea's dominance in its traditional martial art.The women's handball and volleyball teams are both in the bronze medal contests Saturday. South Korea faces Spain for the handball bronze, and Japan for bronze in volleyball.The following is the list of events for South Korean

Olympic Games Aug. 11, 2012

South Korea captured historic medals in women's taekwondo and men's football on Friday at the London Olympics, and matched its record for the most number of gold medals at a single Olympics.Hwang Kyung-seon claimed the gold in women's under-67-kilogram taekwondo Friday for the country's 13th gold medal. It equaled the record gold medal count from the Beijing Olympics, with two days of competition

Olympic Games Aug. 11, 2012

Prosecutors said Thursday they have indicted a senior member of a pro-Pyongyang activist group and his colleague after concluding they colluded prior to the former's unauthorized trip to North Korea earlier this year.Earlier last month, the No. 2 official Ro Su-hui of the Pan-National Alliance for Korea's Reunification in Seoul was arrested soon after his return from an illegal visit to the North,

North Korea Aug. 9, 2012

Police on Thursday cautioned against a new type of Internet blackmail on South Korean men interacting with women in video chat rooms.Police said they have recently received a number of reports from men claiming to have been blackmailed and extorted after engaging in sexually explicit acts with young women during anonymous video chats.Police suspect the scam involves a criminal ring based in China

Social Affairs Aug. 9, 2012

An Army captain deserted his front-line unit and apparently shot and killed himself with a rifle after quarreling with his girlfriend, military police said Thursday.The 33-year-old officer, only identified by his surname Jang, was found dead in front of the home of his girlfriend, also an Army captain, in Jangseong, 308 kilometers south of Seoul, officials said. The female captain, only identified

Social Affairs Aug. 9, 2012

South Korea's central bank froze the key interest rate on Thursday in a bid to gauge the impact of its surprise rate cut in July on the local economy amid the protracted eurozone debt crisis.As widely expected, Bank of Korea (BOK) Gov. Kim Choong-soo and his fellow policymakers held the benchmark 7-day repo rate steady at 3 percent for August. The move followed the BOK's quarter-percentage point r

Aug. 9, 2012

The Syrian army launched an all-out assault on Aleppo's southwestern district of Salaheddin on Wednesday, and fierce fighting also broke out elsewhere in the northern city.At least 37 people -- 17 civilians, 10 rebels and 10 soldiers -- were killed in the northern city, out of a total of at least 162 people killed across the country, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.Observatory directo

World News Aug. 9, 2012

The Bank of England on Wednesday slashed its forecast for growth this year in recession-affected Britain to close to zero percent, saying the greatest threat to recovery came from the eurozone crisis.Britain's gross domestic product (GDP) was predicted to be almost flat in 2012, down from the central bank's previous forecast of just below 1.0 percent, according to a chart contained in the BoE's la

World Business Aug. 8, 2012

Samsung Electronics Co. said Wednesday it will inspect a Chinese supplier alleged of exploiting child labor.New York-based labor rights group China Labor Watch released a 31-page report Tuesday on HEG Electronics Co., a partner of the South Korean electronics behemoth, saying the Chinese firm employs children under the age of 16. "Samsung Electronics has conducted two separate on-site inspections

Industry Aug. 8, 2012