The World Health Organization will soon close down its South Korean office after deciding that the country, formerly a beneficiary of foreign aid, is no longer in need of its services, the government said Friday.Given that Korea has now become a major donor country, WHO officials concluded that its local branch is not necessary and should be shut down at the end of this month, according to the Ministry of Health and Welfare.Last year, the nation contributed a total of $10.5 million to the world

South Korean military have found 16 wooden-boxed landmines believed to be washed away from North Korea due to heavy rains, and are searching for similar mines near the heavily fortified border area, the Joint Chief of Staff said Tuesday. Front-line military units in Gyeonggi Province have collected 16 land mines, including 12 empty boxes, in downstream areas of the Imjin River and the Hantan River since mid-August, the JCS said.Officials suspect the mines made their way south due to swollen wate

South Korea will press China to verify claims by a Seoul activist that he was severely tortured while in detention in China as the two sides hold regular talks on consular affairs this week, the foreign ministry said Tuesday. Kim Young-hwan, 49, and three other South Korean activists were released in July after 114 days of detention in China. Since the release, Kim has claimed in Seoul that he had been tortured by Chinese investigators with beatings and electric shocks.The case is expected to lo

Control of North Korea’s economic projects is being shifted from the military to the cabinet, as the communist country gears up for far-reaching economic reform, a Seoul official said Tuesday.“There has been specific progress (related to the shift),” the Unification Ministry official said on condition of anonymity at a press meeting, referring to the North’s reported moves to strip the military of its grip on leading economic projects in the communist country.“There have been signs related to it

Political issues likely to hamper implementationThe Ministry of National Defense renewed its military reform plans this week, giving momentum to measures that have been floating without significant development since 2005.“The plans seem to show that the military’s top commanders have awakened after incidents such as the sinking of the Cheonan to the changes that have occurred during previous administrations,” Kim Dae-young of Korea Defense and Security Forum said. While the Defense Ministry’s pl

South Korea and the United States have resumed their annual military exercise, the military said Wednesday, one day after the 12-day drill was temporarily halted due to the onset of the powerful Typhoon Bolaven."Training related to the Ulchi Freedom Guardian 2012 will resume this morning after a pause due to weather conditions on the peninsula," the Combined Forces Command (CFC) said in a statemen

The corpse of a North Korean soldier was found floating in Hantan river in Cheolwon County, Gangwon Province on Thursday and has been handed over to the U.N. Command Military Armistice Commission, South Korean military confirmed Sunday.This is the first time a North Korean soldier’s corpse had been carried by a river to the South since September 2010.The North Korean soldier, thought to have died sometime last week during the heavy rains, was found by South Korean troops and the U.N. Command Mil

The South Korean military plans to conduct regular military exercises in waters near the easternmost islets of Dokdo early next month but they may be delayed because of increased tension over Japan's renewed territorial claims, a military source said Saturday."The Navy has set up a plan to stage the drills to defend Dokdo for four days from Sept. 9," the source said.The plan is pending final confi

The first test-launch of Hongsangeo, an anti-submarine light torpedo, failed last month, a Navy official said on Thursday. The military had poured more than 100 billion won ($88 million) into its development.The trial was conducted on July 25 in the sea off Pohang City, southeastern Korea. It was launched from the 7,600-ton Sejong the Great-class Aegis destroyer but missed the target located 60 meters under the sea. The Navy lost the track of the weapon. “Failure in trials is not rare before roc

South Korean activists on Friday visited North Korea, pledging aid following deadly floods in the communist state, after winning approval for the trip from Seoul’s conservative government.A four-member delegation representing an array of non-governmental organisations in South Korea left for Kaesong city in North Korea, just across the border.“Many North Koreans have been affected by the floods. We will discuss with North Korean counterparts what they need, such as food and medicine,” Lee Yun-Sa

WASHINGTON (AP) ― The United States is in discussions with close ally Japan about expanding a missile defense system in Asia, the top U.S. general said Thursday.Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, was commenting on a Wall Street Journal report that the U.S. is discussing positioning an early warning radar in southern Japan, supplementing one already in place in the country’s north, to contain threats from North Korea and to counter China’s military.The State Department, h