중국의 유력 은행인 중국은행(中國銀行)이 북한의 핵무장 자금을 조달하는 것으로 알려진 북한 은행과의 거래를 중단한다고 7일 공식 발표했다. 중국은행의 대변인은 이날 성명에서 "북한 조선무역은행에 계좌 폐쇄와 모든 금 융 거래의 중단 사실을 통보했다"고 밝혔다. 그러나 이 대변인은 폐쇄된 계좌가 몇 개인지 등을 비롯해 구체적인 내용은 공개하지 않았다. 이번 조치는 북한의 미사일 및 핵개발 움직임에 맞서 국외 자금 경로를  차단해 야 한다는 미국 재무부의 제재 요청에 따른 것으로, 최근 북한의 미사일 발사 등 잇 따른 도발에 대한 중국의 불만이 커지는 가운데 나온 것이다. 북한의 이웃이자 동맹국인 중국은 국제사회의 대북 제재 움직임과 관련해 그동안 선뜻 나서지 않는 태도였지만 최근 들어서는 대북 제재에 동참할 의향을 보이고 있다. 조선무역은행은 북한의 주요 외환 은행으로 미 재무부는 지난 3월 제재를 내리면서 이 은행을 북한 핵무기 및 미사일 프로그램에 필요한 자금을 마련하는  거점으로

세이브더칠드런 '어머니 보고서'…"전세계 신생아 36%가 생후 24시간내 숨져"'어머니가 살기 좋은 나라'를 평가한 순위에서 한국이 전세계 176개국 가운데 31위를 차지했다. 국제아동권리기관인 '세이브더칠드런'은 출산사망 위험도, 5세 미만 영유아  사 망률, 교육•경제 현황, 여성의 정치적 위상 등 5개 지수를 근거로 산출한  '어머니 가 살기 좋은 나라(State of The World's Mothers)' 순위를 담은 '2013 어머니 보고 서'를 7일 발표했다. 세이브더칠드런은 지난 2000년부터 여성과 아이들이 살기 좋은 환경을 갖추고 있는지를 평가하는 '어머니 보고서'를 발간해왔다. 보고서에 따르면 한국은 4천800명 중 1명이 임신이나 출산 중 사망하고, 5세 미만 영유아 1천명 가운데 4.8명이 숨지는 것으로 나타났다. 여성의 기대 정규교육 기간은 17.2년, 1인당 국민소득은 2만870달러, 여성 국회 의원 비율은 15.7%로 집계돼 일본과 함께 31위에 올랐다.

The U.N. Human Rights Council on Tuesday appointed three experts from Indonesia, Australia and Serbia to conduct a probe into North Korea’s human rights violations. U.N. Special Rapporteur Marzuki Darusman of Indonesia will lead the Commission of Inquiry along with Michael Kirby, a retired Supreme Court justice from Australia, and Sonja Biserko, founder and president of the Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in Serbia. The 47-nation body in March approved its first-ever formal inquiry mechanism

The state-owned Bank of China has shut the account of a North Korean bank the US accuses of backing Pyongyang's nuclear program, Dow Jones said Tuesday, citing a statement from the Chinese financial institution.Beijing is Pyongyang's key backer and it would be the first openly acknowledged move by a Chinese institution against North Korean interests in the current stand-off, which escalated in February with Pyongyang's third atomic test."The Foreign Trade Bank of North Korea, the country's main

The National Assembly on Tuesday approved a 17.3 trillion won ($15.8 billion) supplementary budget to boost the economy and fund welfare spending.  However, key economic democratization measures have been put on hold until June, due to disagreement over changes regarding financial transaction information. The extra spending plan was approved 20 days after the government drew up the plans. The ruling Saenuri Party and the main opposition Democratic Party reached an agreement over the supplementar

North Korea appears to have been informed of the deployment of a nuclear-powered U.S. aircraft carrier to the South, through an internet posting a local firm registered to hire temporary drivers to transport U.S. sailors, the Defense Ministry said Tuesday.On Sunday, Pyongyang berated Washington for deploying the 97,000-ton USS Nimitz aircraft carrier around Friday shortly after the end of the allied military exercise, which it criticized as a rehearsal of a nuclear war of incursion.The North’s s

A group of state-funded science research institutes on Tuesday demanded greater autonomy from the government in management and raising the quota for hiring full-time researchers.The association of 25 government-affiliated institutes released a set of proposals to contribute to President Park Geun-hye’s policy for a creative economy. “Bringing forth a creative economy it is vital for expanding creative research, and it is necessary to have autonomy,” said Kang Dae-im, the president of Korea Resea

The government has come under fire for its ambiguity over whether to sing in unison the “March for My Beloved,” a 1980s pro-democracy protest song, during its ceremony marking the May 18 Democratic Uprising.Opposition politicians, civic groups and the families of the victims of the military crackdown on the 1980 civilian uprising in Gwangju denounced the government, saying any decision against the song would be tantamount to disregarding the lofty spirits of the democracy fighters. Some of them

North Korea appears to have lifted its highest combat alert and pulled out two mid-range missiles from the east coast in a move that defused tension after weeks of warlike threats, reports said Tuesday. The Supreme Command of the North Korean People’s Army appears to have removed the No. 1 combat-ready posture around April 30, an anonymous senior government official was quoted as saying by Yonhap News.  “We are not fully able to locate the two Musudan missiles that have been moved to somewhere e

Seoul education authorities are launching a sweeping investigation into test-prep schools after the Scholastic Aptitude Test was canceled last week due to an alleged leak of questions.The organizer called off the U.S. college admission exam for Koreans scheduled Sunday amid growing concerns that a number of private institutes had obtained the exam questions illegally.The Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education said it would investigate more than 60 SAT preparation institutes in the city, particul

President Barack Obama and South Korea's new leader Park Geun-hye will seek to present a strong front against North Korea's nuclear threats when they meet at the White House Tuesday. But they also want to leave the door open to talks with Pyongyang.Park has had something of a baptism of fire since she took office in February, two weeks after North Korea's latest atomic test that has ratcheted up tensions on the divided Korean Peninsula and undermined her hopes of forging a more trusting relation