UNITED NATIONS (Yonhap) -- U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said Friday he hopes to see tensions on the Korean Peninsula and in Northeast Asia ease next year, saying 2012 will be a very important one for Koreans.   In a New Year's message to the people of his native Sou

 WASHINGTON (Yonhap) -- Responding to the new North Korean leadership's threats to eschew dialogue with South Korea, the United States called Friday for Pyongyang to improve inter-Korean relations.   "We continue to monitor the situation on the Peninsula and are in close contact with

UNITED NATIONS (AFP) -- The United States, Japan, South Korea and leading European nations on Thursday boycotted a minute of silence at the U.N. General Assembly demanded by North Korea for its late leader Kim Jong-il.The U.N. tribute was the highest profile international move sought yet by the North‘s government as it seeks global recognition for the hardline leader who died on Saturday at the age of 69.The awkward silence was a “protocol” move following a North Korean request, according to U.N

South Korea is now in a dilemma over what stance it should take as the United States recently asked for its cooperation in toughening sanctions on Iran for its alleged pursuit of nuclear weapons programs, officials and experts said Tuesday.The request comes after the U.S. and some other countries slapped sanctions on Iran's financial, petrochemical and energy sectors last month following a United Nations report that Tehran is researching nuclear weapons.Robert Einhorn, the U.S. State Department'

South Korea and the United States have agreed to step up preparations to provide travelers from each other's country with automated immigration checks instead of face-to-face interviews, an official said Sunday.In April, South Korea's Justice Ministry and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security sig

South Korea and Australia will seek joint measures to crack down on prostitution by South Korean women in the latter country, Seoul's foreign ministry said Monday.Moon Ha-yong, ambassador for overseas Koreans and consular affairs, will meet with his Australian counterparts in Canberra later in the d

Microsoft founder Bill Gates praised South Korea on Thursday for increasing assistance to developing nations as he appealed to world leaders to carry out their commitments to help needy nations.Assistance to developing nations is one of the key agenda items for a two-day summit of the G20 major and

Sung Kim is scheduled to take up the post as U.S. ambassador to South Korea next week, a diplomatic source here said Thursday after his swearing-in ceremony.Wendy Sherman, under secretary of state for political affairs, officiated at the ceremony at the State Department in lieu of Secretary of State

SEOUL, Oct. 14 (Yonhap) -- Seoul National University (SNU), South Korea’s top-ranked university, said Friday it will offer its first Japanese studies course next year, breaking a longstanding taboo stemming from Japan‘s 1910-45 colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula.SNU officials said the university