For most Koreans, the Wangfujing shopping street in central Beijing is a bustling tourist destination filled with Western-style department stores and shops where they can buy everything they can name. But, few of them might know that there is an aging building near Wangfujing, which was used by the Japanese military police as a prison where Yi Yuk-sa (1904-1944), one of Korea's most famous poets and an independence activist, died. Universally known by his pen name, Yi's works symbolize the spiri

U.S. lawmakers urged Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Tuesday to offer a sincere apology for the country's wartime sexual enslavement of women as two surviving victims sued Tokyo for damages for insulting them as prostitutes.The victims, both in their 90s, filed the suit with a federal court in San Francisco, demanding $20 million in damages each.Named as defendants were the Japanese government, the late Japanese Emperor Hirohito, former Japanese Prime Minister Nobusuke Kishi and seven Japa

South Korea's ruling party chief has said the United States is more important to the country than China, stressing Washington is the "irreplaceable" ally for Seoul."I think we should not forget that the U.S. is the irreplaceable, unequaled and only ally for us," Kim said during a meeting with South Korean correspondents in Washington on Monday."So I came here for parliamentary diplomacy aimed at reaffirming the alliance through meetings with congressional leaders and government officials."Kim ha

South Korean police said Tuesday they have arrested 41 people in China for alleged telephone-based financial scams in rare cooperation with their Chinese counterparts.The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency said they arrested 39 South Koreans and two ethnic Koreans in China for allegedly opening call centers in China and making random calls to South Korean citizens, fooling them by offering to grant loans or protect their deposits.After dividing their roles into team leaders and counselors, the sus

South Korea said Tuesday it will hold an information session next week to help local businesses make inroads into Iran after the lifting of international sanctions on the Middle Eastern nation.The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy plan to hold a joint session on Aug. 5 to help firms better understand the details of Iran's recent nuclear deal with the U.S. and five other global powers, according to a government press release.After years of tough negotiatio

South Korea's ruling party chief said Monday he told U.S. government officials and congressional leaders that Japan should offer a candid apology for its wartime atrocities if the frayed relations between Seoul and Tokyo are to improve.Rep. Kim Moo-sung, chairman of the Saenuri Party, said he also told U.S. officials and congressmen that it is unacceptable for Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to issue a statement backtracking from previous statements of apology. "One of the things that U.S. of

Top diplomats of South Korea and Russia met in Moscow this week as the countries seek to expand their ties in a key anniversary year, the Foreign Ministry said Tuesday.First Vice Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yong and his Russian counterpart, First Deputy Foreign Minister Vladimir Titov, met Monday to discuss their countries' ties as they mark the 25th anniversary of diplomatic relations this year, the ministry said in a press release.Cho thanked Titov for Russia's cooperation on the Eurasia Express

Elderly American veterans of the Korean War celebrated the groundbreaking Monday for a memorial commemorating "Changjin Reservoir Battle," one of the fiercest battles in the war that also helped make a massive evacuation operation possible.The November-December 1950 battle, also known as the "Battle of the Chosin Reservoir," came as the U.S.-backed South Korean forces began retreating from North Korea after China sent massive numbers of troops to fight alongside the communist neighbor.In the bat

American beauty queen Nia Sanchez was named a global taekwondo ambassador on Monday.The Seoul-based World Taekwondo Federation introduced the 2014 Miss USA as its latest goodwill ambassador. Sanchez is a fourth-degree black belt in the traditional Korean martial art and began practicing at the age of 8.The 25-year-old is the first Miss Nevada and the fourth Hispanic to win Miss USA. She represented the country at the 2014 Miss Universe and finished as the first runner-up.Sanchez started teaching

South Korean and U.S. nuclear envoys on Monday discussed ways to bring North Korea back to the bargaining table in the run-up to a trilateral session also involving their Japanese counterpart.  Kim Gunn, director general for North Korean nuclear affairs at South Korea's Foreign Ministry, met here with Sydney Seiler, the U.S. special envoy for the six-party talks.  Arriving in South Korea on Sunday, Seiler said his trip comes at an "important" time for the long-stalled efforts to resume full-scal

South Korea and the United States had discussed an invitation by China to get South Korean President Park Geun-hye to attend a military parade marking the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II in Beijing, but there was no consensus on the matter between the allies, a Hong Kong-based newspaper reported Monday.China has invited world leaders to attend the huge military parade in September that is expected to highlight Japan's surrender in the war, but many Western leaders are likely to shun

South Korea's ruling party chief said Sunday he will ask U.S. lawmakers to pass a bill that calls for establishing a "Wall of Remembrance" at the Korean War Veterans Memorial in Washington to honor American service members killed during the war.Rep. Kim Moo-sung of the Saenuri Party made the remark after paying his respect at the memorial, referring to the Korean War Veterans Memorial Wall of Remembrance Act of 2015 that Rep. Sam Johnson introduced in the House in March, together with Reps. Char

The United States said Thursday it was an "inexcusable mistake" to ship a live anthrax sample to an American military base in South Korea, promising to consult the Asian ally in case of a similar shipment in the future.  "This was a mistake. As the secretary said, it was a serious mistake. It should never have happened. It's an inexcusable mistake. We're taking the actions to correct it," Undersecretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics Frank Kendall told reporters.  Kendall m

Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se will travel to Poland and Germany next week on a train expedition program, his ministry announced Thursday.  A special train carrying more than 250 South Koreans is running through Russia under the Eurasia Express project that began July 14. Yun plans to join the Warsaw-Berlin leg of the journey, according to the ministry's spokesman Noh Kwang-il.  The program is aimed at drawing attention to South Korea's cross-continent railway ambitions.   President Park Geun-hye