South Korean scientists said Thursday that they have developed a way to allow drugs to reach the brain that could lead to a safe and cheap treatment method for various neurological diseases.A Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) team led by bio and brain engineering professor Choi Chul-hee said it had used an ultra-high frequency laser to temporarily weaken the “blood-brain b

Technology May 26, 2011

North Korean leader Kim Jong-il, long known for his frail health, has traveled tirelessly by train since Friday without spending a night in a hotel en route to eastern China, demonstrating that his health may have improved to the extent that he can sustain three days of train ride.The 69-year-old Kim, who suffered a stroke in 2008, crossed the border into China on Friday before heading to China’s

North Korea May 25, 2011

South Korea’s state nuclear regulator said Monday that it will send a nuclear expert to Japan as part of an international team to review the Fukushima disaster.The Korea Institute of Nuclear Safety said Sung Key-yong, head of the regulator’s atomic risk assessment office, has been named as a member of the 18-person review team created by the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency.The expe

Foreign Affairs May 23, 2011

South Korea has amended a conscription law to allow retired female officers to serve in the Reserve Forces, in line with a move to give women more opportunities in the military, officials said Thursday.Unlike men, retired women officers had been banned from being automatically admitted to the Reserve Forces because their military service is not mandatory by law. The revised law means that female o

Defense May 19, 2011

A North Korean defector is waging a lonely legal battle against South Korean authorities over the alleged disappearance of his relatives in his communist homeland, following an unwanted disclosure of his identity in the South.The battle started two years after Lee Kwang-su arrived in the South along with his wife, two children and a friend aboard a small barge across the eastern sea border in 2006

North Korea May 18, 2011

The Ministry of Justice will join the European convention on extradition in October to expand international cooperation in arresting and extraditing criminals who flee to European countries. The ministry said that it will sign the Council of Europe’s Convention on Extradition no later than July.Korea’s entry into the convention is expected within 90 days of signing.By joining the convention, Korea

Social Affairs May 13, 2011

A former soldier who was sexually assaulted by his superior before being discharged has been acknowledged as a patriot of national merit due to lifetime compensation from the state. The Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs said on Friday that the 23-year-old, surnamed Lee, discharged after being sexually abused by the chief of staff in his unit surnamed Oh, suffers post-traumatic stress disor

Defense May 13, 2011

WASHINGTON (Yonhap News) ― The remains of another American soldier killed in the Korean War have been identified, the Pentagon said Wednesday. “The remains of a serviceman, missing in action from the Korean War, have been identified and are being returned to his family for burial with full military honors,” the Pentagon said in a statement. “Army Cpl. Primo C. Carnabuci of Old Saybrook, Connecticu

Social Affairs May 12, 2011