North Korea's state-controlled religious organization on Thursday blasted a plan by a South Korean Christian group to light a giant Christmas tree-shaped tower near the inter-Korean border.The (North) Korean Council of Religionists (KCR) said the decision by the conservative Christian Council of Korea (CCK) to erect a tree tower on top of Aegibong, a front-line hill in Gimpo, west of Seoul, aims to use religion to fuel confrontation.The warnings carried by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) a

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'

Rival political parties on Thursday failed to put one of three key bills related to April's deadly ferry sinking to a parliamentary vote, unable to narrow their differences on how to deal with pending government restructuring during an annual review of budget proposals.Last week, the ruling Saenuri Party and the main opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy (NPAD) agreed to dismantle the Coast Guard and the National Emergency Management Agency, a breakthrough reached amid criticism that th

East Asia, with its trade and transport hubs and armies of migrant workers, is at risk from Ebola but is improving its defenses and may be more ready than other areas to respond if cases are diagnosed, World Health Organization officials said Friday.Shin Young-soo, the WHO regional director for the Western Pacific, said East Asia has been a “hotspot” for emerging diseases in the past and has dealt with SARS and avian flu, so it is more prepared than other regions to respond after learning the im

A Japanese court has ordered Google to delete search results linking the claimant to a crime he did not commit, the latest in a series of rulings around the world on what search engines should tell users.The Tokyo District Court this week placed a provisional order that Google delete about half of 237 entries that appear after the plaintiff's name is entered, the Asahi Shimbun newspaper and other local media reported.The man requested the injunction in June, arguing that these search results sug

A 1,000-megawatt nuclear reactor on South Korea's southeast coast halted operation on Friday due to malfunctioning on its power transmission system, plant operators said.The new Gori-1 plant, located near South Korea's second largest city, Busan, was shut down at 4:13 p.m., the Korea Hydro and Nuclear Power Co. said, adding that the reactor's malfunctioning power transmission system apparently caused the problem.South Korea has 23 power-generating nuclear reactors in operation, from which it get

Rebutting international criticism of its human rights situation, North Korea on Saturday issued its own assessment of the country's policies that "guarantee genuine rights of the people," its state media said.The "all-inclusive" report written by the country's Association for Human Rights Studies "reflects the characteristics of the socialist system, human rights policy pursued in North Korea and its actual human rights performance," according to the North's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).The

A North Korean shipping company slapped with U.N. sanctions after its freighter was seized last year for smuggling weapons from Cuba is operating as normal in Chinese waters, a website that monitors events in the North said Saturday, citing an analysis of shipping data. The U.N. blacklisted the North Korean company, Ocean Maritime Management (OMM), about two months ago for operating the freighter, which was detained by Panamanian authorities in July last year while carrying Soviet-era MiG-21 fig

The United States and South Korea are working with the United Nations to set up a a meeting of foreign ministers attending the U.N. General Assembly in an effort to rally support for a U.N. resolution on North Korea's human rights situation, sources said Friday.U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and South Korean Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se could attend the "side event" conference set to take place in New York during the "leaders' week" of the U.N. General Assembly later this month, the sources

Iceland has lowered its aviation alert level to orange from red, saying there is no sign of an eruption at the Bardarbunga volcano.The Civil Protection Department says seismic activity continues at the subglacial volcano, which has been hit by thousands of earthquakes over the past week.Iceland had raised the alert Saturday to red, the highest level, warning that an ash-emitting eruption could be imminent. (AP)