A large balloon presumed to have been sent by a conservative South Korean civic group to fly anti-North Korea leaflets crashed into the southern waters off Busan on Saturday.Attached at the bottom was a timer designed to cause the balloon to explode after a certain amount of time elapsed, but there were no leaflets inside the balloon.　Immediately after retrieving the balloon, police, the military and the National Intelligence Service, the state intelligence agency, launched a joint probe to know

South Korea‘s vice defense minister is planning to hold talks with the residents of Seongju who are opposed to the deployment of an advanced U.S. anti-ballistic missile system in their county, official sources said Friday.　The move comes as Seoul is making an effort to allay health concerns related to the Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system’s powerful radar and listen to the grievances of locals.　“Vice Minister Hwang In-moo went to the rural county in the North Gyeongsang Province

WASHINGTON (AFP) - With a chicken sandwich, hot coffee and donuts, aviation history was made Friday.　These were among the items in the first drone delivery on U.S. soil approved by aviation officials, made by convenience retailer 7-Eleven and the drone startup Flirtey.　The delivery took place in Reno, Nevada, with the items loaded into a special box for hot and cold food and flown to a local family.　“We‘re absolutely thrilled to have 7-Eleven, the largest convenience chain in the world, embracin

　North Korea‘s main propaganda outlet claimed Wednesday that the recent midair explosion of a ballistic missile was intentional, calling it a test attack on enemy satellites.　North Korea’s Musudan intermediate-range ballistic missile was detected to have burst into pieces midair after flying some 150 km after its launch on June 22.　North Korea fired off another missile hours later, which soared to an altitude exceeding 1,000 km and flew some 400 km before landing in the East Sea.　The first missi

Prosecutors said Wednesday that they have requested a warrant to arrest a former head of Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co. on charges of fraud and breach of trust.　Prosecutors suspected that Ko Jae-ho cooked books worth some　5.4 trillion won (US$4.6 billion) from 2012 to 2014 by under-reporting the production cost or exaggerating sales or operating profit.　Earlier this year the shipyard said it swung to huge losses in 2013 and 2014 from earlier reported profits, citing accounting mish

BEIJING (AFP) - A top North Korean official made a rare visit to China on Tuesday in an apparent attempt by Pyongyang to mend frayed ties with its powerful neighbour.　China is North Korea‘s largest trading partner and has been its key diplomatic protector for decades. But relations have soured following Pyongyang’s internationally-condemned nuclear tests, with Beijing supporting UN sanctions against its isolated neighbour.　The visit by Ri Su Yong, vice chairman of the North‘s ruling Workers’ Par