North Korea is set to open its first party congress in more than three decades on Friday, a venue expected to focus on bolstering the personality cult of the country's leader Kim Jong-un who has been in power for nearly five years.The congress of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) comes as North Korea was slapped with tougher sanctions by the U.N. Security Council in March over its nuclear test and long-range rocket launch early this year.North Korea is poised to open the party congress later in

North Korea May 6, 2016

North Korea may carry out a live fire exercise during the key party congress that kicks off Friday as part of its ongoing effort to ramp up tensions and get the people to rally behind its leader, an informed source said.The government insider said there is a chance that Pyongyang could show off an artillery attack against a mockup Cheong Wa Dae, South Korea's presidential office, to participants who have converged on the capital city this week to take part in the critical Workers' Party of Korea

Foreign Affairs May 6, 2016

North Korea warned Friday that it will strengthen its nuclear deterrence capability as long as the United States maintains its current policy of hostility toward the communist country.In a statement released by the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of Korea (CPRK), which handles inter-Korean relations, Pyongyang claimed that Washington provided the cause for triggering the nuclear standoff on the Korean Peninsula.It is perfectly rational to counter nuclear weapons with nuclear weapons, th

North Korea May 6, 2016

North Korea is unlikely to chart a different course on its nuclear weapons program at its key party congress, a newspaper controlled by China's ruling Communist Party said Friday. The state-run Global Times newspaper, however, voiced cautious hope that North Korea may do "pragmatic analysis" about its policy of pursuing both nuclear advances and economic development. North Korea has been gearing up for its first party congress in 36 years, which started on Friday and is expected to display the N

North Korea May 6, 2016

Rescuers are in a race against time to find survivors from a powerful 7.8-magnitude earthquake as the death toll from Ecuador's strongest earthquake in decades has risen above 400.    On Monday, teams from Ecuador and neighboring countries fanned out across the country's Pacific coastline to look for the dozens of people still missing.    In the port city of Manta, a group of about 50 rescuers working with sniffer dogs, hydraulic jacks and a drill managed to free eight people trapped for more th

World News April 19, 2016

Flooding in and around the US city of Houston has killed at least five people and prompted mass rescues, reports said.   With rain wreaking havoc in the Texas city -- the fourth most populous in the country -- Governor Greg Abbott declared a state of disaster in nine counties.   A flash flood watch for Houston will remain in effect until Wednesday morning, with more rain expected Tuesday, the city's Office of Emergency Management warned.    Rain came down at rates as high as four inches an hour

World News April 19, 2016

Prosecutors said Tuesday they have launched an investigation into Booyoung Co., a mid-tier South Korean construction company, and its chief over alleged tax evasion.The Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office said the apartment builder is suspected of evading some billions of won in taxes.The probe started after the National Tax Service referred the company and its chief Lee Joong-keun to state prosecutors for an investigation after conducting a tax audit.Prosecutors said they will summon rel

Politics April 19, 2016

    Lawyers for mass murderer Anders Behring Breivik, who killed 77 people in Norway in 2011, called Friday for the state to be found guilty of "inhuman" treatment for holding him in isolation for almost five years.   "The crimes my client was accused of are irrelevant," Oystein Storrvik told the court on the fourth and final day of the 37-year-old's lawsuit against the Norwegian state.   "The person who is hated by everyone has only the law as his last chance to guarantee his fundamental rights

World News March 18, 2016

North Korea has yet to master ballistic missile technology that can allow a warhead to re-enter the Earth's atmosphere after flying through space, Seoul's top defense official said Friday, refuting Pyongyang's claims that it can build an inter-continental ballistic missile (ICBM).On Tuesday, Pyongyang claimed it has acquired the re-entry technology with the country also releasing photos of a ground-based simulation and what is described as the tested re-entry vehicle that had a mushroom shape.A

North Korea March 18, 2016

South Korea and the United States will hold high-level talks in Seoul next week to coordinate their implementation of new sanctions on North Korea, Seoul's Foreign Ministry said Friday.Amb. Sung Kim, U.S. special representative for North Korea policy, and Daniel Fried, the State Department's coordinator for sanctions policy, will arrive in Seoul Monday for talks with Kim Hong-kyun, South Korea's special representative for Korean Peninsula peace and security affairs, the ministry said in a press

North Korea March 18, 2016