North Korean media on Wednesday identified the woman seen accompanying North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in a recent series of public appearances as his wife, confirming his marriage for the first time.According to North Korean media including its state TV monitored here, the woman is named Ri Sol-Ju. They reported that Kim and his wife attended a ceremony together to mark the completion of amusemen

North Korea July 25, 2012

Korea will set up an aid fund worth US$1 million to support development projects in five Southeast Asian countries, a foreign ministry official said Saturday.The fund, the amount of which will be gradually increased, will be run separately from South Korea's bilateral official development assistance to Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar, he said.The official said the deal was reached in Phnom Pen

Foreign Affairs July 14, 2012

Two 6-year-old female bears escaped from a farm on the outskirts of Seoul on Saturday, but one has been captured, a police officer said.The bears ran away after breaking out of their cage at the farm in Yongin, a city about 40 kilometers south of Seoul, around 10:30 a.m., police officer Wi Ma-seok said.No one was hurt at the farm, which is home to about 100 bears, Wi said.He said he heard that one

National July 14, 2012

KABUL, Afghanistan -- A suicide bomber blew himself up Saturday in a wedding hall in northern Afghanistan, killing more than 20 people including a well-known commander in an attack that deals a setback to efforts to unify the nation's ethnic factions, Afghan officials said.Ahmad Khan Samangani, an ethnic Uzbek who is also a member of parliament, was welcoming guests to his daughter's wedding when

Foreign Affairs July 14, 2012

South Korean stocks are expected to move upward next week, trying to make up for the sharp losses seen in the last seven days, analysts said Saturday.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) tumbled 3.2 percent from a week earlier to finish at 1,812.89 this week, as investors opted to sell off shares on disappointing U.S. employment data and a hike in borrowing costs for Spanish deb

North Korea July 14, 2012

TOKYO -- The powerful uncle of North Korea's new leader Kim Jong-un has advised Kim's half-brother Kim Jong-nam not to criticize the country, a news report said Saturday.Jang Song-thaek told Kim Jong-nam to refrain from making comments critical of the power succession to foreign media, Japan's Yomiuri newspaper reported from the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou, citing an unidentified source on

North Korea July 14, 2012

TEGUCIGALPA (AFP) --  A journalist has been shot dead inHonduras, in the 21st deadly attack on the media in the violence-wracked Central American country in the past three years, a press watchdog said Friday.Adonis Felipe Bueso Gutierrez, 24, was leaving an Internet cafe in the northern city of Villanueva with two cousins on July 8 when he was shot, said Longino Becerra of the Committee for Freedo

Foreign Affairs July 14, 2012

NEW YORK (AP) -- Visa, MasterCard and major banks agreed to pay retailers at least $6 billion to settle a long-running lawsuit that alleged the card issuers conspired to fix the fees that stores pay to accept credit cards. As part of the settlement, announced late Friday, stores from Rite Aid to Kroger will be allowed to charge customers more if they pay using a credit card.The pact, which is bein

Business July 14, 2012

LG Display Co., the world's No. 2 maker of liquid-crystal display (LCD) panels, said Friday it has agreed to pay US$380 million to settle a U.S. class-action lawsuit over alleged price-fixing in the LCD market.LG Display agreed to pay the amount to U.S. consumers and eight state governments, including the states of California and New York, to settle the case that was lodged in 2007, the company sa

Industry July 14, 2012