North Korea is taking steps to toughen control of IT gadgets such as computers and mobile phones to block outside information out of fears that the democratization movements in the Middle East and northern Africa could arouse its people.Pyongyang has ordered institutions and households to report on how many computers and even portable data storage devices such as USBs and MP3 players they own earl

  President Lee Myung-bak plans to hold a press conference later this week to express his position on the government's decision to abort a major airport construction project, his aides said Thursday, amid fierce backlash from local residents, authorities and lawmakers.   "The president is scheduled to express his position tomorrow," a senior official at the presidential office Cheong Wa Dae said o

  South Korea plans to hold an inter-agency meeting Monday to discuss responses in case Japan renews its territorial claims to the South's easternmost islets of Dokdo in a series of new middle school textbooks, official said.   The meeting of officials from the foreign ministry, the Prime Minister's Office and the education ministry will discuss bolstering Seoul's territorial control of the rocky

GNP Rep. Chung Mong-joon reveals chat between his late father and N.K. leaderKim Jong-il has had nightmares at times in which his people threw stones at him, Rep. Chung Mong-joon of the ruling Grand National Party said Sunday, citing his father’s private conversations with the North Korean leader.His remarks indicated that Kim was aware of the growing discontent among his people, who have long suf

South Korea plans to begin full-scale work to renovate a heliport on Dokdo if Japan lays renewed claim to the rocky islets in the East Sea in its new school textbooks, officials said Sunday.   The planned renovation of the outdated, 20-square-meter heliport is among a set of countermeasures that are being considered if Tokyo presses ahead with the endorsement this week of middle school textbooks t

 Won Sei-hoon, chief of the National Intelligence Service faced allegations that he may have violated related ethics codes by holding more than 400 million ($358,000) worth of stocks. According to Friday's data on the assets of government officials, Won and his wife had 2,430 shares of Hanatour shares and over 4,000 shares of Daewoo Securities issues. They also had 13 shares in G&ST, a manufacturi