Careful not to blame either side for a deadly chemical weapon attack, U.N. inspectors reported Monday that rockets loaded with the nerve agent sarin had been fired from an area where Syria's military has bases, but said the evidence could have been manipulated in the rebel-controlled stricken neighborhoods.The U.S., Britain and France jumped on evidence in the report _ especially the type of rockets, the composition of the sarin agent, and trajectory of the missiles _ to declare that President B

South Korean soldiers fatally shot a man who attempted to cross the Imjingang River to North Korea on Monday, the military said.The incident occurred about 5 kilometers west of Imjingak, a pavilion near the Panmunjeom border village, in Paju, Gyeonggi Province.The troops fired at the man, believed to be a civilian in his 40s, at 2:23 p.m. after he ignored warnings to return to the south side, according to the Joint Chiefs of Staff.He jumped into the river and was holding onto the buoy at the tim

An opposition lawmaker claimed Monday that a senior presidential secretary had colluded with a top intelligence official to spy on Prosecutor General Chae Dong-wook, suggesting they had masterminded the scandal over Chae's alleged illegitimate son.Rep. Park Jie-won of the main opposition Democratic Party raised the allegations at a meeting of the parliamentary legislative and judiciary committee, claiming Chae was put under constant surveillance during the month of August.The scandal surrounding

The government and the ruling Saenuri Party agreed Monday to increase soldiers' monthly pay by 15 percent next year as part of President Park Geun-hye's push to double their salary during her five-year term, the party's policymaker said.  Finance Minister Hyun Oh-seok, Saenuri Party's policy maker Kim Ki-hyun and other senior officials held a meeting to fine-tune the 2014 budget proposal, which will be announced later this month. The move comes after Park promised to double soldiers' pay during

President Park Geun-hye was to visit the National Assembly on Monday for talks with the opposition party chief about how to break a parliamentary gridlock that worsened after the prosecutor general offered to resign over allegations of an illegitimate child.The main opposition Democratic Party (DP) believes that Prosecutor General Chae Dong-wook has been forced to quit for aggressively pursuing an investigation into allegations that the state intelligence agency attempted to influence December's

South Korean stocks got off to a strong start Monday, due mainly to gains in tech firms and carmakers, analysts said.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) gained 17.13 points, or 0.86 percent, to 2,011.45 in the first 15 minutes of trading.Tech shares led the market gain, with No. 1 Samsung Electronics moving up 0.57 percent and top chipmaker SK hynix adding 2.41 percent. LG Electronics advanced 0.82 percent, and LG Display increased 0.73 percent.Carmakers also gathered ground,

German Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservative allies triumphed in Bavaria's state election Sunday, a week before the whole country votes, though a painful setback for her coalition partners added to uncertainty over the outcome of the national election.The Merkel-allied Christian Social Union, traditionally the dominant force in the prosperous southern region, won 47.7 percent of the vote, official results showed. It won back a majority in the state legislature it humiliatingly lost in 2008, ga

Choo Shin-soo of the Cincinnati Reds surpassed 100 walks in a season for the first time in his career in a road game against the Milwaukee Brewers on Sunday.Choo went 0-for-3 against the Brewers but had two walks to reach 101 free passes for 2013. The South Korean outfielder also stole a base and scored a run in the game, as the Reds lost 6-5.Only Joey Votto, Choo's teammate, has drawn more walks in the National League (NL) this season with 118. In the American League (AL), Mike Trout of the Los

While dealing with the Syria crisis, the Barack Obama administration once underscored the need to set a precedent for North Korea, Iran and terrorist groups jeopardizing the interests of the U.S. and its regional partners.But concerns are growing that Washington's tactic on Syria may be sending the wrong signal, especially to Pyongyang."The (North Korean) regime is probably heartened by signs of a declining American willingness to intervene overseas even when confronted by evidence of the use of

South Korea has set up a new office specifically tasked with dealing with non-tariff trade barriers raised by other countries, the government said Monday, in a move to boost its exports.The move comes as the government is expected to announce a list of plans for dealing with non-tariff trade barriers at the end of this month.A recent survey showed nearly three out of every 10 small- and medium-sized enterprises here that export their goods and services to Japan have experienced some type of non-