TOKYO (AP)— U.S. Vice President Joe Biden voiced strong opposition Tuesday to China's new air defense zone above a set of disputed islands, showing a united front with an anxious Japan as tension in the region simmered.Standing side by side in Tokyo with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Biden said the U.S. is  "deeply concerned" about China's attempt to unilaterally change the status quo in the East China Sea."This action has raised regional tensions and increased the risk of accidents and mi

 Samsung Electronics president Shin Jong-kyun and Apple CEO Tim Cook are likely to have a face-to-face meeting over their ongoing patent disputes, news reports said on Wednesday.　The news came after a California district court judge on Tuesday asked Apple and Samsung to hold talks one more time before a new patent infringement trial is scheduled to kick off in March. 　Reports said the two electronic giants agreed to pursue talks by January 8, but did not specify an exact date or location for the

 A senior Chinese official is due in Seoul this weekend for high-level bilateral strategic talks, sources said Wednesday.    Yang Jiechi, China's state councilor who handles foreign affairs, is expected to arrive on Sunday for a three-day visit, according to sources who spoke on the condition of anonymity because a formal announcement has not yet been made. The visit had been anticipated as a follow-up to the South Korea-China summit agreement in June to establish a dialogue channel on security

South Korea will fly two planes of relief goods to the typhoon-ravaged Philippines this week as part of assistance efforts, the foreign ministry said Wednesday.Two military planes carrying relief goods including food, blankets and hygiene products will head out Thursday morning and arrive in Tacloban -- the area hardest hit by the recent super typhoon -- around 3 p.m., local time, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement.Seoul earlier this week had pledged to send a 40-man team of res

A Lao airplane crashed Wednesday in the Southeast Asian nation, reportedly killing all 49 passengers and crewmembers aboard, including three South Koreans.The plane crashed into the Mekong River while attempting to land in bad weather at Pakse Airport in Champassak Province in southern Laos, officials said.Lao authorities said there was no report of survivors.State-owned Lao Airlines confirmed the accident, saying its plane was carrying 44 passengers and five crewmembers."There were no news of s

GENEVA(AFP)- Iran and world powers will meet in Geneva in "a few weeks" to continue negotiations over Tehran's controversial nuclear drive, Iran's foreign minister said Wednesday.   "The continuation of the negotiations will be in Geneva in a few weeks," Mohammad Javad Zarif wrote on his Facebook page.   Iran, the United States and five other world powers revived stalled nuclear talks in Geneva on Tuesday, with Tehran laying out a road map to end the showdown over its nuclear ambitions.   Negoti

The Doosan Bears edged out the LG Twins 4-2 to open their second round Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) playoff series on Wednesday, capitalizing on a pair of crucial errors from the hot corner.   LG's third baseman Jeong Seong-hoon made two errors that directly led to two of Doosan's three runs in the game at Seoul's Jamsil Stadium, as the Bears opened a 1-0 series in the best-of-five affair.   In the 24 previous best-of-five playoff series, the teams that won the first game advanced to the ch

The South Korean government has added 295 more people to its official list of abductees taken by North Korea during the 1950-53 Korean War, a special commission on the issue said Wednesday.   During the 11th meeting of the commission on Korean War abductees, the government confirmed additional Koreans were kidnapped by the communist country, bringing the total number to 2,560.   Notable South Koreans were placed on the list, such as Chung In-bo, a famous scholar of classical Korean studies; Kim

North Korea has established a private organization to develop special economic zones, its media said Wednesday, following toughened business sanctions slapped on the communist country for its nuclear weapons test earlier in the year. The organization, dubbed the Korean economic developmentfederation, aims to support activities of foreign businesses and scholars interested in the special zones in North Korea, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said.The regime's news wire added that the organiz

South Korean President Park Geun-hye told U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel on Monday that Japan should first resolve long-running grievances over its sexual enslavement of Korean women and other colonial-era atrocities if the two neighbors are to build trust and improve ties.   Park made the remark after Hagel talked about the importance of resolving historical problems and other issues between Seoul and Tokyo in order to establish a three-way security cooperation between South Korea, Japan an

The South Korean foreign ministry issued on Monday a travel alert to Sudan, advising travelers there to leave the African nation troubled with anti-government protests.   "Considering anti-government protests spreading in places like Khartoum and Omdurman and an increasing number of casualties from the Sudanese government's crackdown, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has issued a special travel alert in the entire Sudan region starting Monday," the ministry's statement said.   South Koreans who a

Daewoong Pharmaceutical Co., a major South Korean drug maker, said Monday it has signed a deal with Evolus, a U.S. biotech venture, in a bid to sell its Botox products in the U.S. and European markets beginning as early as 2016.The deal is designed to start regulatory processes for approval of botulinum toxin type A in the U.S. and European markets, according to Daewoong.Daewoong said it will export botulinum toxin type A, which will be marketed as Nabota, while Evolus will be in charge of clini

BEIJING-- Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi has urged his South Korean counterpart to reopen long-stalled multilateral nuclear talks with North Korea, state media said Saturday.   Wang made the appeal at a bilateral meeting with South Korean Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly in New York, China's Xinhua news agency reported.   After conducting its third nuclear test earlier this year, North Korea has expressed its willingness to return to the six-party tal