The Korea Herald

N.K. vice foreign minister upbeat about U.S. talks

North KoreaJul 27, 2011

NEW YORK (Yonhap News) ― A senior North Korean official flew into New York Tuesday for highly unusual talks with U.S. officials, voicing optimism for improved Pyongyang-Washington ties. “I believe North Korea-U.S. relations will improve as now is the time for all countries to reconcile,” Vice Foreign Minister Kim Kye-gwan told reporters as he arrived at John F. Kennedy Airport.He added, “(I) am op
Guidelines puzzle campaigners in school meal referendum

Social affairsJul 27, 2011

Campaign guidelines on the upcoming Seoul referendum on free school meals are so ambiguous that they will likely cause confusion for both sides of the poll.The National Election Commission set guidelines for the vote Thursday which allow campaigners to guide citizens to participate in the vote, but bans them from actively encouraging them to vote. The concepts of “guiding to participate in the vot
Seoul mulls sending malaria aid to North Korea

North KoreaJul 27, 2011

South Korea is considering sending anti-malaria supplies to North Korea, an aid group here said Wednesday, indicating Seoul’s softening stance toward its northern rival.The Seoul government is positively considering the group’s request to approve sending two items of ultrasonic diagnostic equipment to the North, the Korean Sharing Movement said. Charity groups here need government approval to send
GNP to push special law for savings banks victims

PoliticsJul 27, 2011

The ruling Grand National Party set to work on legal measures to guarantee comensation for the victims of the savings bank scandal.GNP members of the special committee met with Financial Services Commission Chairman Kim Seok-dong and Financial Supervisory Service Governor Kwon Hyouk-se on Wednesday to discuss the revision of related laws and the legislation of a special law, officials said.“The go
China demanded S. Korea stop activities near Ieodo

Foreign affairsJul 27, 2011

Ieodo is not a disputed territory and both South Korea and China are aware that this submerged rock in the East China Sea cannot be claimed by either side, Seoul’s Foreign Ministry said Wednesday. The ministry unofficially announced its position as news reports unveiled China had recently renewed its territorial claim over Ieodo by demanding South Korea halt its work to hoist a sunken commercial s
Lee warns Japan lawmakers against visit to Ulleung-do

Foreign affairsJul 27, 2011

President Lee Myung-bak said Wednesday that Korea could not guarantee the safety of Japanese lawmakers if they visit Ulleung-do, the closest they can get to Korea’s easternmost islets of Dokdo, over which Japan claims sovereignty.Lee made the remarks in a Cabinet meeting after he was briefed by the Foreign Ministry about the controversial plan of four Japanese lawmakers, according to presidential
SNU to hire its first women security guards

Social affairsJul 27, 2011

Seoul National University will position women security guards on campus for the first time in its history in an effort to strengthen campus security for female students and faculty. With the rising number of female students and faculty, the school decided to employ two female security guards, the university said Thursday. “There is an increasing number of female students returning home at night af
Heavy rains batter nation

Social affairsJul 27, 2011

A road in Daechi-dong, southern Seoul, is flooded. (Kim Che-kyung via tweeter)Rescuers clear fallen tree branches in Seocho-dong(Yonhap News)
Torrent to deluge Seoul through Friday

Social affairsJul 27, 2011

Downpour to dump a total 650mm on capitalThe northern areas of the country are expected to see another 250 millimeters of rain up until Friday, raising concerns of further flood damage, according to the country’s weather service on Wednesday. According to the Korean Meteorological Administration, most areas throughout Seoul, Gyeonggi, North Chungcheong and Gangwon Provinces are expected to see 50
N.K. commands 195,000 troops for terror attacks on S. Korea: defector

North KoreaJul 27, 2011

North Korea's military commands 195,000 troops trained to launch various types of terror attacks on South Korea, a defector said Wednesday.The number includes 110,000 troops in the special forces, 40,000 in air and naval brigades, 10,000 charged with cyber terrorism, and 5,000 in the Reconnaissance General Bureau, North Korea's top intelligence agency, said Kim Seong-min of the NK People's Liberat
Police investigating online trade in homemade explosives

Social affairsJul 27, 2011

Police are investigating more than 100 cases of online trade in homemade explosive materials, brought to light after Norway’s shooting spree perpetrator used homemade explosives in his recent terrorist attacks, officials said Wednesday.“Local police are investigating individuals who have either sold poisonous or explosive materials online or have postings related to the two on their cafes or blogs
N. Korea calls for peace treaty with U.S. to end Korean War

North KoreaJul 27, 2011

North Korea called Wednesday for a peace treaty with the United States to officially end the Korean War decades after the fighting ceased, describing it as a first step toward the peninsula's denuclearization.The move comes as a senior North Korean official arrived in New York for rare talks with U.S. officials on how to resume stalled six-nation negotiations on ending the North's nuclear programs
[URGENT] Shinsegae chairman Koo Hak-su’s wife killed in flash flood

Social affairsJul 27, 2011
41 dead, 12 missing as heavy rains batter nation

Social affairsJul 27, 2011

At least 41 people were killed and 12 others missing as of Thursday morning as torrential rains triggered landslides, flooding and power outages in Seoul and central regions, the nation’s disaster control agency said.“The death toll could rise, as more reports are coming in,” an official at the National Emergency Management Agency said. Vehicles wade through a water-logged road in Yeouido, Seoul,
Belgium UFO that puzzled NASA was polystyrene fake

ScienceJul 27, 2011

BRUSSELS (AFP)— An unidentified flying object photographed high in the Belgian sky that puzzled even NASA scientists turns out to have been a fake made out of foam, the man behind the hoax said Tuesday.Though scientists pored over the picture of a triangular-shaped flying saucer with four lights, allegedly photographed in April 1990 by a young worker, the mystery remained intact until the man's re