남북 양측은22일 개성공단 정상화를 위한 제5차 실무회담을 열고 일부 사안에서 진전을 이뤘으나 합의문 도출에는 실패했다. 이들은 합의서 수정안을 교환하는 등 일부 사안에서 진전을 이뤘으나 결국 오는 25일 같은 장소에서 추가 협의를 하기로 합의하고 회담을 종료했다. 양측은 이날 개성에서 열린 회담에서 재발방지문제, 신변 안전 및 투자자산 보호 등 제도적 보호 장치, 외국기업 유치 등 개성공단 국제화, 재가동 문제에 대해 논의했다.우리측 수석대표인 김기웅 통일부 남북협력지구지원단장은 이날 회담 직후 브리핑에서 “일부 협의가 진전된 부분도 있었지만 좀 더 조율이 필요한 부분도 있었다”고 말했다.그는 특히 “재발방지 부분에 대한 입장차가 가장 크고 우리측은 재발방지 보장을 위해 북측의 확고한 약속이 필요하다는 입장을 가지고 있다”고 밝혔다. 그러나 김 단장은 “북한 측도 개성공단을 국제적인 공단으로 발전시켜 나간다는데 대해서는 긍정적인 입장을 보였다”고 덧붙였다. 우리 측은 개성공단 중단

정부는 15일 개성에서 열린 남북 당국간 3차 회담에서 “개성공단을 왕래하는 우리 측 인원의 신변안전과 기업들의 투자자산 보호를 위한 법적•제도적 장치들을 완비해야 한다”고 북한에 요구했다.우리측 수석대표인 김기웅 통일부 남북협력지구지원단장은 개성에서 열린 공단 재가동을 위한 회의에서북측의 개성공단 가동중단 조치로 인한 문제의 심각성을 지적하고 이와 같은 일이 다시는 발생하지 않도록 해야 한다“고 강조했다고 통일부 당국자가 전했다.김 단장은 기조발언을 통해 “개성공단에 입주하는 우리 측 기업과 외국 기업들에 대해 국제적 수준의 기업 활동을 보장함으로써 국제적 공단으로 발전시켜 나가야 한다”고 피력했다.반면 북측 수석대표인 박철수 중앙특구개발지도총국 부총국장은 재발방지책 등과 관련, 구체적 방안 제시 없이 기존의 조속 재가동 입장만 주장했다고 알려졌다. 이 당국자는 “북측은 이번 회담이 개성공업지구를 빠른 시간 내에 복구 가동시키는 방향으로 나가야 한다는 입장을 표명했으나 구체적인 방

TRIPOLI, Libya (AP) -- Clashes between protesters and militias aligned with the military in Libya's eastern city of Benghazi left 27 people killed and dozens wounded, a health official said Sunday.The violence broke out Saturday after protesters stormed a base belonging to Libya Shield, a grouping of militias with roots in the rebel groups that fought in the country's 2011 civil war who are tasked with maintaining security.The protesters were demanding that militias leave their camp and submit t

BERLIN (AP) -- Thousands of people have been evacuated from their homes in a region of eastern Germany where the Elbe river has flooded and burst through a dam, officials said Sunday.At least 21 people have been killed by a week of flooding in central Europe, as rivers such as the Danube, the Elbe and the Vlatava have overflowed after heavy rains and caused extensive damage in central and southern Germany, the Czech Republic, Austria, Slovakia and Hungary.The latest fatality was an 80-year-old m

ISTANBUL (AFP) -- Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan rallied supporters on Sunday after anti-government protesters burned tyres and hurled fireworks at riot police firing back tear gas in unrelenting civil unrest.The fresh clashes raised pressure on Erdogan's Islamic-rooted conservative government after he ordered an end to the protests, which have thrown up the fiercest challenge to his decade of rule.Overnight tens of thousands poured into the streets in Istanbul, cradle of the 10 da

BEIJING (AP) -- The man who once ran China's powerful railways ministry wept as he admitted his guilt and sought leniency Sunday at his trial on corruption charges, one of the country's highest-level graft cases in years.Liu Zhijun, 60, who oversaw the ministry's high-profile bullet train development, has been accused of taking massive bribes and steering lucrative projects to associates. The case is seen as an indicator of how top-level officials might fare in an anti-corruption campaign that C

President Park Geun-hye will hold a meeting with foreign affairs and security-related ministers on Monday, an official said, a day after officials from the two Koreas opened their first government-level talks in two years at a border village of Panmunjom.It will be the third time that Park has held such a meeting since she took office in February.The inter-Korean meeting in Panmunjom on Sunday was aimed at paving the way for Seoul and Pyongyang to hold ministerial-level talks on Wednesday.The Su

TOKYO (AFP) -- Four researchers were exposed to radiation in an accident at a Japanese nuclear physics laboratory this week, officials said Saturday.The accident occurred on Thursday at a laboratory in Tokaimura, 120 kilometres northeast of Tokyo, the Japan Atomic Energy Agency said.The researchers were carrying out an experiment to generate particles by firing a proton beam at gold when the accident happened, it said.There was no widespread radiation leak and none of the researchers required me

South Korean stocks are likely to rise next week by shaking off concerns of a possible end to the U.S. quantitative easing and the plunge in Japan's stock market, analysts said Saturday.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index closed at 1,973.45 this week, down 0.67 percent from 1,986.81 a week earlier.The analysts said the KOSPI is expected to advance as the U.S. was unable to terminate its quantitative easing due to weaker-than-expected economic data and the more than 7 percent drop in

MOUNT VERNON, Washington (AP) -- Authorities searched for a temporary span after a key bridge linking the U.S. and Canada collapsed, dumping a handful of vehicles and people into the icy water.All three people who fell into the Skagit River in northwestern Washington state escaped with only minor injuries.The four-lane Interstate 5 bridge collapsed about halfway between Seattle and Vancouver, British Columbia, after an oversize truck hit the span, the Washington State Patrol chief said.Officials