Kim Kyong-hui, the aunt of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, is reportedly ill and has checked into a hospital in Singapore.Various sources and news media in China and Japan reported that Kim may be in seriously poor health as she has not appeared at events or meetings in the communist state for more than a month.Kim, a secretary of the Worker’s Party, has been playing a key role in mentoring her nephew since he took control of North Korea in December 2011 after his father Kim Jong-il passed away

A North Korean nuclear envoy said Friday she held an informal meeting with her U.S. counterparts on the sidelines of a security conference here, where long-standing tensions over the North's nuclear ambition top the agenda.Choe Son-hui, the North's deputy chief envoy to the six-party talks, told Yonhap News Agency she met with U.S. representatives on Thursday evening during the two-day Northeast A

Workers in the sex industry called Wednesday for the scrapping or revision of anti-sex trafficking laws, saying it restricts their right of sexual autonomy.South Korea has banned the sex trade since two pertinent laws went into effect in 2004, dealing a serious blow to the industry.“Part of the anti-sex trafficking laws about those who sell sex is against the Constitution,” a sex worker said in a news conference in Seoul hosted by their trade association, Hanteo. The clause limits sex workers’ r

A lawmaker from the main opposition party appeared before Busan prosecutors on Wednesday for questioning over allegations that he bribed his way into parliament.Rep. Choi Dong-ik of the Democratic United Party (DUP) is suspected of giving a total of 70 million won ($62,389) to former DUP lawmaker Jang Hyang-sook over three different occasions between March and April of this year, prosecutors said.The money was allegedly given in return for her help in securing a proportional representative ticke

The Navy said Wednesday it is hosting an international conference on submarine operations for the first time.Officials from 19 submarine-operating nations, such as the United States, China, Russia and Britain, are attending the 12th Asia-Pacific Submarine Conference that got under way Wednesday in Busan and at the Jinhae naval base on the southern coast for a three-day run, the Navy said.Japan also sent a five-member delegation to the meeting, it said.It is the first time South Korea’s Navy has

The ruling Saenuri Party is considering providing college education for free to students from the bottom 20 percent in terms of income, a party official said Wednesday.Lower college tuition has been a cornerstone of the conservative party’s election pledges ahead of both last April’s parliamentary polls and the upcoming presidential vote in December.“We are considering expanding free tuition from people living off social security benefits to those from the bottom 20 percent earnings bracket,” th

The foreign ministry plans to strengthen its public diplomacy next year to improve South Korea’s image abroad and help increase its influence among foreign audiences, an official said Wednesday. Under the plan, the ministry is seeking a budget of 5 billion won ($4.5 million) for next year, which will be used to hold government-sponsored cultural programs and K-pop events in South America, the Middle East and Africa. It is the first time that the ministry has sought a budget to promote such event

President Lee Myung-bak on Wednesday warned North Korea against any attempt to sway the December presidential election and reaffirmed his pledge to sternly respond to its provocation. Lee convened a top security meeting as North Korean fishing boats continued to violate the maritime border in the West Sea, raising concerns of a new naval clash. On Friday, South Korean patrol vessels fired warning shots at six North Korean crab boats to force them back. Another fishing boat briefly crossed the No

DALIAN, China (Yonhap News) ― Long-standing tensions over North Korea’s nuclear weapons program will top the agenda of an annual security conference that brings together all key regional players committed to resolving the communist country’s nuclear drive, a diplomatic source said Wednesday.The Northeast Asia Cooperation Dialogue will draw government officials and civilian experts from South Korea, North Korea, the United States, China, Japan and Russia in this eastern Chinese port city of Dalia

One of two new tunnels at North Korea’s nuclear test site was damaged by a recent typhoon and heavy rains, but appears to have only minor damage, a Seoul government source said Wednesday.North Korea has built two new tunnels at Punggye-ri in the northeastern province of North Hamgyong, where the North conducted atomic tests in 2006 and 2009, in a possible preparation for its third underground nuclear test.“It appears that one of two newly-dug tunnels at Punggye-ri was damaged by a typhoon and he

One of two new tunnels at North Korea's nuclear test site was damaged by a recent typhoon and heavy rains, but appears to have only minor damage, a Seoul government source said Wednesday.North Korea has built two new tunnels at Punggye-ri in the northeastern province of North Hamgyong, where the North conducted atomic tests in 2006 and 2009, in a possible preparation for its third underground nucl

U.S. President Barack Obama made no mention of North Korea when he addressed the U.N. General Assembly on Tuesday.It is the first time that Obama did not raise the North Korea issue in his U.N. speech since taking office in 2009.Indeed, North Korea, armed with nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles, was once a frequent topic in major speeches on foreign affairs by U.S. presidents.But Obama skipped

The special U.S. envoy for North Korean human rights met with South Korea's ruling party lawmaker who originally comes from the North, an informed source said Tuesday.The meeting between Amb. Robert King and Rep. Cho Myung-chul of the ruling Saenuri Party came at the request of the U.S. diplomat, according to the source, who asked not to be identified.Cho, 53, defected to South Korea in 1994 while