Pacific Rim leaders vowed Tuesday to make progress in regional free trade negotiations aimed at lowering trade barriers to help sustain the fragile global economic recovery at their annual summit. Leaders of the 21-member Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), including South Korean President Park Geun-hye, U.S.President Barack Obama and Chinese President Xi Jinping, gathered at a scenic lakeside resort outside Beijing on Tuesday for the final day of the two-day summit. Obama and 11 other APE

Pacific Rim leaders convened Monday for an annual meeting where efforts to seek regional free trade agreements and ways to sustain the fragile global economic recovery are expected to top the agenda.Leaders from the 21-member APEC are also expected to endorse an agreement proposed by host China to set up an anti-corruption network in the Asia-Pacific region. Among those attending this week's Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit are South Korean President Park Geun-hye, U.S. President Barack

The United States had given South Korea advance notice about its intel chief's visit to North Korea, emphasizing that the visit is strictly for humanitarian purposes and does not signal any policy changes toward Pyongyang, a Seoul official said Sunday.James Clapper, director of national intelligence, flew into Pyongyang and obtained the release of two Americans who had been held in the North for "anti-state" crimes and "hostile acts."The South Korean official, speaking to reporters on condition

South Korea on Thursday slammed a Japanese minister for his remarks on Seoul's decision not to set up a safety facility on its easternmost islets of Dokdo in the East Sea.Seoul has shelved its plan to set up a safety support center on the Dokdo islets, saying that the decision was made in consideration of international maritime laws and possible problems with their scenery and management.Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said Wednesday that Seoul's decision seemed to reflect Japan'

BEIRUT (AFP) - Lebanon's parliament on Wednesday extended its mandate until 2017, a parliamentary source said, once again postponing elections amid political paralysis and security concerns tied to the conflict in neighbouring Syria."The parliament voted by 95 votes out of 97 members present to extend its mandate until June 20, 2017," the source told AFP.

MANILA, Philippines (AP) -- Philippine police say two German tourists who were freed last month by Abu Sayyaf militants after six months of jungle captivity have helped investigators identify at least five of their captors, who will face criminal complaints.   Police Senior Superintendent Roberto Fajardo said Wednesday that the Germans identified the leaders of their kidnappers when they were shown portraits of Abu Sayyaf militants. Criminal complaints will be filed soon against the alleged kidn

HONG KONG (AFP) -- A property flagship led by Asia's richest tycoon Li Ka-shing said on Wednesday it plans to buy up to 60 passenger jets in a series of transactions that amount to more than $2.5 billion. The Hong Kong businessman made his first major foray into the aviation industry in August by announcing plans to buy into Irish aircraft leasing group AWAS, and the new purchases expand his investments into a field that can yield stable and long-term cash flow, analysts have said.A filing writt

MOJAVE, California (AP) – A winged spaceship designed to take tourists on excursions beyond Earth's atmosphere broke up during a test flight over the Mojave Desert, killing a pilot in the second fiery setback for commercial space travel in less than a week.Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo blew apart Friday after being released from a carrier aircraft at high altitude, said Ken Brown, a photographer who witnessed the accident.One pilot was found dead inside the spacecraft and another parachuted out

The South Korean Army on Thursday held a send-off ceremony for another batch of the contingent to be deployed to South Sudan to help the newly independent African nation's rebuilding efforts, officials said.The 270-member Korean contingent, consisting mostly of engineers and medics, will be dispatched earlier next month to serve the United Nations Missions in South Sudan.In accordance with parliamentary approval in September 2012, the contingent named the "Hanbit" unit was created in January 201

Pacific Rim finance ministers were to meet in Beijing on Wednesday to discuss ways on how to play a role in stimulating a global economy, which has shown signs of another slowdown. The meeting of the finance ministers or their deputies from the 21-member economies of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum comes ahead of the APEC's annual summit meeting in November.Lou Jiwei, China's finance minister, said this week's meeting would highlight "policies and coordination needed to promote a rob

A senior State Department official handling human rights issues will visit South Korea next week for talks about how to address human rights abuses in North Korea, the department said Tuesday.During the Oct. 27-28 trip to Seoul, Assistant Secretary of State Tom Malinowski will meet with government officials, civil society leaders, North Korean defectors, and democracy and human rights program implementers to "continue the international community's momentum to address the egregious human rights s

Chinese President Xi Jinping will hold a summit with his South Korean counterpart Park Geun-hye next month on the sidelines of a summit of Asia-Pacific leaders in Beijing, a former Chinese official said Tuesday.Former Chinese State Councilor Tang Jiaxuan made the comment in a meeting with Park at the presidential office. Tang described the planned summit as an "important" one.The planned summit comes four months after Xi visited Seoul and met with Park. The visit was widely seen as a snub to Nor

South Korea's parliamentary speaker will visit Japan next week for talks with top Japanese politicians, including Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, on ways to deepen the two countries' ties, his office said Tuesday.Chung Ui-hwa's three-day visit from Sunday comes at the invitation of Bunmei Ibuki, the speaker of Japan's lower house of parliament, according to the office.During Chung's visit, the two sides plan to discuss ways to resolve various historical issues stemming from Japan's 1910-45 colonial r

South Korean aid workers in West Africa have been exposed to the deadly Ebola virus due to a lack of protective wear and medical equipment, a lawmaker claimed Tuesday.A total of 102 South Korean aid workers have been living in West African countries, including Senegal and Cameroon, without proper protection from the epidemic, Rep. Kim Jae-won of the ruling Saenuri Party said, citing data from the government's official development assistance body, the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA