The powerful uncle of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un met with both President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao on Friday morning, after Beijing earlier in the week agreed to help Pyongyang revamp two trade zones near the Chinese border.The high-level talks are a sign that Beijing and Pyongyang are strengthening ties after Kim took over following his father's death last year. State media have said

South Korea will reject a reported proposal by Japan to take the issue of Dokdo, Seoul's easternmost islets claimed by Tokyo as its territory, to the International Court of Justice (ICJ), reaffirming its stance that Dokdo is "clearly a Korean territory historically, geographically and under international law," officials said Friday. Japan has considered asking the ICJ to resolve the issue of Dokdo

North Korea could build an arsenal of up to 48 nuclear weapons, several times more than it has now, if the communist state were able to step up its program unchecked, a US think tank said Thursday.North Korea's nuclear program is shrouded in secrecy, but the Institute for Science and International Security used limited available information to chart out different scenarios for Pyongyang's progress

Shitterton, a hamlet in Dorset, has been voted the most unfortunate name in Britain, findmypast.co.uk announced Wednesday.In fact, Dorset -- a county better known for its beautiful coast, the old city of Dorchester and the countryside described by novelist Thomas Hardy -- had three places in the top 10, making it the loser among counties, the Dorset Echo reported. Scratchy Bottom was in the No. 2

Unification Church has sent copies of a letter from its leader to followers around the world confirming news on the grave illness of its founder Rev. Sun Myung Moon and asking them to pray for his recovery, the church said Thursday.Moon, 92, is being treated in an intensive-care unit at Seoul St. Mary's Hospital in southern Seoul for pneumonia, according to hospital officials.In the letter, Rev. H

The ruling Saenuri Party said Thursday that it has expelled its former lawmaker Hyun Ki-hwan for being allegedly implicated in a money-for-nomination scandal ahead of April's parliamentary election.The decision reached by the party's nine-member Supreme Council comes after the central ethics committee rejected an appeal request made by Hyun on Tuesday. The move is also aimed at reducing the fallou

South Korea's progressive umbrella union on Tuesday announced it will withdraw support for the minor Unified Progressive Party (UPP), citing failure of the party to push forward meaningful reforms.The decision by the Korea Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) made in an 11 hour-long marathon discussion session, comes after the UPP failed last month to pass a motion expelling Reps. Lee Seok-ki and