Republican presidential hopeful Marco Rubio called Thursday for putting North Korea back on to the U.S. list of states sponsoring terrorism in response to the communist nation's fourth nuclear test."We have to do everything we can to ensure that they have less money to spend on these sorts of programs. So that's why a state sponsor of terror, they should be returned to that list," Rubio said in an interview with Fox Business Network. "They were once on that list. They were removed from that list

The United States will consider "all options" to beef up the defense of South Korea after the North's nuclear test, the Pentagon spokesman said Thursday, suggesting the possibility of deploying additional U.S. strategic defense assets to the Asian ally."We're in ongoing conversations ... with the South Koreans and with our other allies in the region, about additional steps that may or may not need to be taken in order to respond to the latest actions from the North Koreans," Pentagon press secre

The United States and China agreed Thursday that "there cannot be business as usual" after North Korea's fourth nuclear test, Secretary of State John Kerry said, as calls grow for a tough response to the provocative regime.Kerry said he reached the agreement with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, after making clear to his Chinese counterpart that the latest nuclear test has proven that Beijing's approach to the North Korean nuclear issue "has not worked.""Today, I talked with Foreign Minister Wa

Preliminary U.S. intelligence estimates have concluded that North Korea's latest nuclear test involved a small explosion that could be a component of a larger-scale thermonuclear device, a U.S. news report said Thursday.The Washington Free Beacon report came amid growing skepticism about Pyongyang's claims that it successfully carried out its first hydrogen bomb test, with the White House saying "initial analysis is not consistent" with the North's claims.The report said that U.S. officials fami

Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump said that if he's elected, he won't launch a preemptive strike on North Korea, arguing that China should use more of its leverage over the communist neighbor.Trump also claimed that South Korea should pay the United States for "protecting them.""China should solve that problem and we should put pressure on China to solve the problem," Trump said in an interview with CNN on Wednesday. "If they don't solve that problem, we should be very tough on t

BERLIN, (AFP) - German politicians waged a heated debate Thursday over whether to make it easier to expel convicted asylum seekers, after a series of sexual assaults on New Year's Eve blamed on men of foreign origin.Authorities have said there is no concrete proof that the perpetrators of the attacks in Cologne were asylum seekers, but critics of Chancellor Angela Merkel's open-door approach to those fleeing war have seized on the opportunity to draw a link.Victims described their attackers as b

South Korea said Thursday that it will resume anti-Pyongyang broadcasts this week along the heavily fortified border with North Korea in retaliation of Pyongyang's claimed hydrogen bomb test. The anti-Pyongyang broadcasts will resume at noon on Friday, Cho Tae-yong, deputy chief of the presidential office of national security, told reporters."The North's fourth nuclear test is a grave violation" of the August deal, Cho said, referring to a breakthrough deal that defused heightened tension sparke

South Korea is trying to schedule a meeting of vice foreign ministers with the United States and Japan, a government official here said Sunday.Confirming an earlier report by NHK, the official said, "The three countries are trying to hammer out details, and we will make an announcement when they are confirmed."NHK said earlier Sunday that the meeting, likely to take place sometime in January in Tokyo, will bring together South Korean Vice Foreign Minister Lim Sung-nam, U.S. Deputy Secretary of S

South Korea and Japan are trying to schedule high-level talks to discuss bilateral economic issues and cooperation, a government source here said Sunday.According to the source, the two countries are pushing for their 14th high-level economic consultation in Tokyo in mid-January. The last such meeting took place in Seoul in January 2015.Lee Tae-ho, South Korea's deputy foreign minister for economic affairs, will represent Seoul, while his counterpart will be Yasumasa Nagamine, Tokyo's deputy for

The newly elected chief of the United Nations maritime body will start his four-year term in the beginning of next year, the South Korean government said Thursday.Lim Ki-tack, a former head of South Korea's local port operator, was elected in June to head the International Maritime Organization.Lim will replace Secretary-General Koji Sekimizu to become the 9th IMO secretary-general starting Jan. 1.His inauguration was approved unanimously by the IMO's general assembly last month, according to th

Most Chinese people believe that Beijing should not accept conditions set by South Korea and Japan in possibly resolving the long-running grievance of Chinese victims of Japan's wartime sexual slavery, a survey by a state-run Chinese media showed Thursday. The online survey, conducted by the Global Times, published by the People's Daily, the mouthpiece of the Chinese Communist Party, found that 95 percent of 10,686 respondents say the deal between South Korea and Japan on wartime sex slaves "can

A newspaper published by China's ruling Communist Party on Tuesday took a wary and skeptic note on a landmark deal between South Korea and Japan on the issue of Korean victims of Japan's wartime sexual slavery, insisting that the deal will have "little influence" in Northeast Asia. Both South Korean President Park Geun-hye and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said their bilateral relations entered a new era with the Monday deal. The United States praised the deal on the issue that has seriousl

Ten former South Korean sex slaves for Japan's World War II soldiers have pressed a court to open their case against Japan seeking compensation over their ordeal.  Kim Kang-won, a lawyer who represents the elderly women, submitted a document last week stating that the clients will not seek mediation over their case.  South Korea and Japan are preparing to hold crucial talks on Monday to try to arrive at a deal on wartime sexual slavery.  In October, Kim asked the Seoul Central District Court to

South Korea and China will hold talks next week aimed at resolving the issue of their overlapping exclusive economic zones, Seoul's Foreign Ministry said Monday.  The talks, led by Second Vice Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul and Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Liu Zhenmin, will be held in Seoul next Tuesday, the ministry said in a release.  In July 2014, President Park Geun-hye and her Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, agreed to launch negotiations this year on the demarcation of their maritime bounda