Red Cross, businesses send donations, aid supplies to help victimsThe South Korean government said Tuesday that it will provide customized assistance to Japan when the quake-stricken country makes an official request through the Foreign Ministry.Seoul tries to unify the channels for assistance to Japan while the Korean Red Cross and businesses are joining in the donation campaign.“The government w

South Korea plans to hold a series of commemorative events next week to mark the first anniversary of the sinking of the corvette Cheonan, which North Korea torpedoed in March last year, killing 46 sailors. The events, which will include a memorial ceremony on March 26, the day of the tragic sinking, are aimed at honoring the deceased soldiers and enhancing security awareness among South Koreans,

North Korea told a visiting top Russian diplomat that it does not oppose discussing its uranium enrichment activity in the stalled six-party talks once they resume, a report said Tuesday.North Korea also told Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexei Borodavkin that Pyongyang was ready to rejoin the talks "without any preconditions" and hopes to work under an "action-for-action principle," the offici

South Korean relief organizations and broadcasters said Monday that they will collect donations to help the victims of Japan's devastating earthquake and tsunami, adding to the global efforts to support the quake-hit country.The move comes after South Korea has pledged to provide as much support as possible for Japan after a magnitude 9.0 quake struck Japan on Friday, unleashing a gigantic tsunami

Lawmaker calls for joint study with N.K. on Mount Baekdu volcanoCheong Wa Dae held meetings Monday to assess the impact of the explosions at a Japanese nuclear plant and to check the safety of Korea’s atomic power facilities, while lawmakers discussed plans to assist the quake-ridden country.A second hydrogen explosion occurred Monday at Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, 240 kilometers nort

The leader of South Korea's main opposition party on Monday visited the Japanese Embassy in Seoul to express deep consolation for Japan's enormous human and property losses caused by massive earthquake and tsunami."I express my deepest consolation to the Japanese people," Sohn Hak-kyu, chairman of the Democratic Party (DP), said in his meeting with Masatoshi Muto, Japan's ambassador to South Korea

Defense Minister Kim Kwan-jin discussed bilateral military exchanges and cooperation in the defense industry with Philippine Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin in Seoul on Monday, officials said.Gazmin, 68, arrived here Sunday for a four-day schedule. During his stay here, he is scheduled to visit Seoul National Cemetery, the monument in Yeoncheon, Gyeonggi Province, which marks the participation o

South Korea’s presidential office Cheong Wa Dae said Monday it was investigating a maintenance problem in the country’s presidential jet after it was forced to make an unprecedented emergency landing.The plane, a Boeing 747-400 leased from Korean Air, bound for the United Arab Emirates carrying President Lee Myung-bak and First Lady Kim Yoon-ok, flew back less than half an hour after taking off on

A government investigation team arrived in Shanghai, China, Sunday, to investigate the sex-for-favors scandal involving several South Korean diplomats and a Chinese woman, officials said.The high-profile probe into the scandal involving at least four of South Korea’s elite officials is to continue through Saturday. The case has seriously eroded public trust in diplomats’ ethical standards.The dipl

By Kim So-hyunPlans to launch a special agency to probe crimes committed by prosecutors and judges face a rough ride in the National Assembly amid a vehement backlash from the prosecution and judiciary circles.The judicial reform package passed a six-person parliamentary subcommittee Thursday. It calls for abolishing the controversial central investigation unit at the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office t