Chinese airlines have withdrawn plans to run chartered flights to South Korea for the busy Chinese New Year holiday season next month, the transport ministry said Saturday.Two Chinese air carriers -- China Southern Airlines and China Eastern Air -- rolled back requests for the South Korean government to approve their plans to run chartered flights to South Korea a day earlier, according to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport.The companies cited "internal Chinese environment" as re

Diplomatic Circuit Dec. 31, 2016

South Korea's special prosecutors on Saturday grilled a former health minister as part of their probe into an influence-peddling scandal involving President Park Geun-hye and her friend.The team of special prosecutors questioned Moon Hyung-pyo, now chief of the National Pension Service (NPS), over suspicion that he exerted pressure on the state fund to back a mega merger deal between top conglomerate Samsung Group's key two units when he was the minister last year. Moon was formally arrested ear

Social Affairs Dec. 31, 2016

A highly pathogenic strain of bird flu was discovered in two dead cats on Saturday, a provincial government official said, marking the first infection of the virus found in mammals in two years.The H5N6 strain of avian influenza (AI) which has infected chickens across the country was found in the bodies of the cats in Pocheon, some 46 kilometers north of Seoul, the official said, citing information from health authorities.The cats were found dead earlier this week some 2 kilometers from a chicke

Social Affairs Dec. 31, 2016

Even on New Year's Eve, large crowds of South Koreans were expected to join another rally demanding the ouster of impeached President Park Geun-hye, who's determined to restore her powers through a court trial.Hundreds of thousands were expected to participate in the evening marches near Seoul's presidential palace and the Constitutional Court. Park's supporters are planning their own rallies in nearby streets. The court has up to six months to decide whether Park should permanently step down ov

Social Affairs Dec. 31, 2016

Special prosecutors on Saturday formally arrested South Korea's state-run pension fund chief in their investigation into a widening influence-peddling scandal involving President Park Geun-hye and her friend.Park was impeached earlier this month over a string of corruption allegations involving her confidante Choi Soon-sil. One of them was that she colluded with Choi to strong-arm Samsung and other local conglomerates into donating some tens of millions of dollars to two nonprofit foundations co

Politics Dec. 31, 2016

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called Friday for rooting out the practice of spreading unfounded accusations in the name of vetting, flatly rejecting allegations that he took money from a South Korean businessman about a decade ago.Ban, who has recently declared his desire to run for president of his home country, made the remark to South Korean reporters after issuing a New Year's message at the U.N. headquarters on his last day as U.N. chief. "I think we have to root out such people who en

Politics Dec. 31, 2016

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un carried out the fewest public activities this year since he took office in late 2011, data showed Saturday, amid toughened international scrutiny over Pyongyang's nuclear and missile tests.The North's leader conducted 132 field guidances in 2016, compared to 153 cases recorded the previous year, according to Seoul's unification ministry and analysis of North Korean media reports by Yonhap News Agency.Since his public appearances peaked at 212 in 2013, they have be

North Korea Dec. 31, 2016

North Korea is capable of conducting another nuclear test at any time, South Korean spy agency chief said Friday, citing activity at the country's nuclear site."Human and vehicle activities remain active in the second shaft at the North's Punggye-ri nuclear test site even during the winter, and the third shaft is capable of further testing at any time," Lee Byoung-ho, director of the National Intelligence Service (NIS), was quoted as telling the parliamentary intelligence committee by lawmakers.

North Korea Dec. 23, 2016

A man who said he was armed with a grenade Friday hijacked a Libyan plane which landed on the Mediterranean island of Malta with 118 people on board, Malta's prime minister and government sources said.The Airbus A320 had been on a domestic Libyan route operated by Afriqiyah Airways from Sabha in the south to the capital Tripoli but was re-routed."The Afriqiyah flight from Sabha to Tripoli has been diverted and has landed in Malta. Security services coordinating operations," Maltese Prime Ministe

World News Dec. 23, 2016

The Tunisian man suspected of driving a truck into a crowded Christmas market in Berlin was killed early Friday in a shootout with police in Milan, ending a Europe-wide manhunt, Italy's interior minister said.Checks conducted after the shootout showed "the person killed, without a shadow of a doubt, is Anis Amri, the suspect of the terrorist attack,'' Interior Minister Marco Minniti said.The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the Monday attack in Berlin, which killed 12 and injured 5

World News Dec. 23, 2016

North Korea may seek to hold dialogue with the United States sometime one year after U.S. President-elect Donald Trump takes office, a lawmaker said Friday, citing remarks by a high-profile North Korean defector.Thae Yong-ho, who defected to South Korea in July after serving as a ranking diplomat, made the comment at a parliamentary committee earlier in the day, where he explained the reasons for his defection and life under the country's leader Kim Jong-un.The North's leader wants his country t

North Korea Dec. 23, 2016

South Korea's Acting President and Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn on Friday assured Britain's visiting Finance Minister Philip Hammond that there will be no marked change in policy.The remarks were made during a meeting between Hwang and the British Chancellor who visited South Korea for one day to meet with top South Korean government officials on a host of bilateral and economic issues."There is no policy adjustment from our government, and state affairs are operated normally and steadily," Hwan

Politics Dec. 16, 2016

The U.N. General Assembly is scheduled to adopt a North Korean human rights resolution next week that calls for referring the situation to the International Criminal Court and expresses serious concerns about Pyongyang's labor exports, Seoul's foreign ministry said Friday.The resolution, which was adopted by a third committee under the assembly last month, will be adopted at a plenary General Assembly meeting slated for Monday (local time), the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said."The North Korean

North Korea Dec. 16, 2016

South Korea and Japan on Friday directly exchanged classified information on North Korea's nuclear and missile programs for the first time in line with their intelligence-sharing pact which came into force last month, the defense ministry said. Defense ministry spokesman Moon Sang-gyun told reporters that the exchange was made during a meeting between the two countries'senior defense officials held in Seoul in conjunction with a three-way security dialogue which also includes the United States.

Diplomatic Circuit Dec. 16, 2016