A day after North Korea test-fired 25 rockets from its east coast, the mobile launchers remained in place on Monday, a potential sign of additional provocations, a military source said. The latest move comes as South Korea has increased military vigilance in the wake of the North's rocket launches, seen as a show of protest against ongoing joint military drills between Seoul and Washington. "About 10 mobile launchers are seen (in satellite images) near Wonsan in Kangwon Province, where the North

The South Korean government announced on Monday it will seek to award three medalists from the recent Winter Olympics the most prestigious national order of merit in sports, in an apparent attempt to assuage critics of its revamped qualification requirements for the honors.In a statement, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism said speed skater Lee Sang-hwa, short tracker Park Seung-hi and figure skater Kim Yu-na will be considered for the Chungryong Medal, the highest decoration in South K

China's top negotiator on North Korea's nuclear program is visiting Pyongyang, the country's state media reported on Monday.The Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) did not give specifics on Wu Dawei's visit or the exact date of his arrival, but only said he had arrived in the North's capital.Wu's trip is the latest in a series of visits from Chinese officials to the neighboring country since the high-profile purge of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's uncle in December.Last month, the Chinese deleg

A fuel ration system in North Korea seems to have been dismantled due to a chronic fuel shortage, a report said Monday. The report by the state-run Korea Energy Economics Institute (KEEI) said a majority of households in North Korea secure their fuel for heating and cooking on the black market or by themselves, hinting that the country's fuel ration system might have been scrapped. The report was made on the basis of data compiled from a poll of 350 North Korean defectors who fled the country af

Europe and the United States on Monday mulled a financial aid plan as part of a political solution to Ukraine's crisis while President Viktor Yanukovych returned to work after four days of sick leave.EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, who is expected in Kiev this week, told the Wall Street Journal that the exact amount had not not been decided yet but said "the figures won't be small".She said the plan, which could be discussed at a meeting of EU foreign ministers on next Monday, would lo

An armed student on Monday briefly took 20 teenagers hostage in a Moscow school and killed a policeman and a teacher before being detained amid security jitters ahead of the Sochi Winter Olympic Games.Police said a student armed with a gun forced a security guard to lead him to a specific classroom in the school on the northern outskirts of Moscow and then locked himself inside with about 20 teenage pupils and the class teacher.He then opened fire through a window at scores of police who had rus

The manager of Olympic swimming great Ian Thorpe says the five-time gold medalist is in rehab after being found disoriented on a Sydney street early Monday morning by police responding to a call from residents.James Erskine told the Australian Associated Press that Thorpe was affected by a combination of antidepressants and the painkillers he was taking for a shoulder injury.Police spoke to Thorpe after residents near his parents' home in Panania in Sydney's southwest reported a man allegedly br

A Beijing court on Sunday sentenced a legal scholar and founder of a social movement to four years in prison for disrupting order in public places, a case that the U.S. government and other critics say is retribution for his push to fight corruption and create equal educational opportunities.Amid tight security, the Beijing No. 1 Intermediate People's Court handed down the verdict against Xu Zhiyong, founder of the loosely knit New Citizens movement, in a blow to the group and China's rights act

Anti-government demonstrators swarmed dozens of polling stations in Thailand on Sunday to stop advance voting for next week's general elections, chaining gates shut, threatening voters and preventing hundreds of thousands of people from casting ballots.A protest faction leader was fatally shot in a confrontation near a polling center that also left 11 people wounded, and isolated street brawls broke out in several parts of Bangkok.The chaos underscored the precariousness of Thailand's fragile de

After letting the distraction of Rafael Nadal's painful back problems cost him a set, Stan Wawrinka regained his composure to win his first Grand Slam title with a 6-3, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 victory Sunday in the Australian Open final.The 28-year-old Swiss player had never taken a set off Nadal in 12 previous meetings, but attacked from the start against the 13-time major winner.“It's really not the way you want to win a tennis match, but in a Grand Slam final I'll take it,” Wawrinka said.Nadal appeared

The most important issue concerning North Korea is the challenge it poses by continuing to pursue nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles, the top U.S. diplomat on Asia said Sunday.Assistant Secretary of State Daniel Russel made the remarks after meeting South Korean Deputy Foreign Minister Lee Kyung-soo in Seoul, saying the talks were part of intensive and in-depth discussions between South Korea and the U.S. on important issues related to North Korea.Russel, who accompanied Deputy Secretary of

China has taken note of a move by the U.S. state of Virginia to require school textbooks to use both names used by South Korea and Japan for a body of water between them, Beijing's foreign ministry said Saturday.For decades, South Korea and Japan have locked horns over the name of the body of water, with Seoul calling it the "East Sea" while Tokyo uses the name "Sea of Japan."In a victory for ethnic Koreans in Virginia against high-profile lobbying by the Japanese Embassy in Washington, the U.S.

A veteran chief judge of a local court was nominated to become a Supreme Court justice Saturday, the top court's officials said.They said Supreme Court Chief Justice Yang Sung-tae has picked Cho Hee-dae, the top judge at the Daegu District Court, as the candidate to replace outgoing Supreme Court justice Cha Han-sung.Cho, 56, became a judge in Seoul in 1986. The Supreme Court said Cho beat out four others to earn his candidacy. The nomination is pending approval by President Park Geun-hye, follo