BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN, Brunei -- U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said Monday that Washington, Beijing, Seoul and Tokyo are "absolutely united" in their efforts to convince North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons program. Kerry made the remarks after holding bilateral talks with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on the sidelines of a regional security forum here. He also held three-way talks with the top diplomats of South Korea and Japan before meeting with Wang. "All four of us are absolutel

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's rule is unlikely to collapse as he has firm control over the country's military and the ruling party, a former top Chinese diplomat was quoted as saying Saturday.Former Chinese State Councilor Tang Jiaxuan made the remark during a breakfast meeting with members of the Korea-China Exchange Association, participants said.Tang, an expert on Korean Peninsula issues, said that late North Korean leader Kim Jong-il, father of the current leader, had laid all the ground

North Korea on Saturday marked the anniversary of a 2000 summit agreement with South Korea, with state media urging Seoul to fundamentally change what it calls a "policy of confrontation" against the communist nation.The summit agreement, known as the June 15 South-North Joint Declaration, came at the end of their first-ever summit in 2000. In the accord, the two sides pledged to seek greater exchanges and cooperation across one of the world's most heavily fortified borders.The summit touched of

A US pledge to step up military aid to Syrian rebels because of alleged use of chemical arms by the regime drew criticism from Damascus ally Russia and from UN chief Ban Ki-moon on Friday.Syria itself dismissed the accusation as "lies."The UN secretary general said arming either side in the 27-month war, which has cost tens of thousands of lives, "would not be helpful."Ban said he has been "consistently clear that providing arms to either side would not address this current situation. There is n

SEOUL, June 10 (Yonhap) -- North Korea should send a high-enough-level official for this week's inter-Korean talks with South Korea, a senior presidential official said Monday, stressing that matching the grades of chief delegates is the starting point for building trust.The two Koreas agreed in marathon talks that extended into early Monday to hold high-level government-to-government talks in Seoul on Wednesday and Thursday, the first of their kind in six years. The topics will include the poss

SEOUL, May 20 (Yonhap) -- A dozen officials at two prestigious international schools in South Korea have been caught falsifying documents to grant admission to unqualified students, the municipal education office said Monday. After a month-long special audit of Seoul's Younghoon International Middle School and Daewon International Middle School, the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education ordered the schools to punish faculty members involved in admission corruption, while referring 11 officials

SEOUL, May 20 (Yonhap) -- The National Assembly Research Service on Monday criticized the Bank of Korea (BOK)'s surprise slash of the key interest rate in May as having undermined consistency of policy and independence of the central bank."It was as if a car turned right while the blinker was signaling a left turn," said a report from the service that conducts research and analysis upon legislators' requests.After six consecutive months of freeze, the BOK on May 9 cut the benchmark rate by a qua

TOKYO (AP) – Japan for the first time Sunday officially marked the 61st anniversary of the day it regained sovereignty following its World War II defeat, as Prime Minister Shinzo Abe steps up his nationalist campaign.After taking over as prime minister in December, Abe focused mainly on improving Japan's slumping economy. But he recently has shifted his focus to pursuing his conservative agenda, and the marking of the anniversary is seen as a step to drum up support for revising Japan's U.S.-ins

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) – Outsiders might hear the opening notes of a war in the deluge of threats and provocations from North Korea, but to South Koreans it is a familiar drumbeat. Separated from the North by a heavily fortified border for decades, they have for the most part lived with tough talk from Pyongyang all their lives. In annual defense drills, war alarms ring in their ears. Foreigners unused to North Korean rumblings have canceled trips to the Korean Peninsula. But to get South Korea

SEOUL, April 5 (Yonhap) -- South Korea and the United States will resume formal negotiations aimed at revising a bilateral civilian nuclear accord shortly after U.S. Secretary of States John Kerry visits Seoul next week, an official said Friday. Kerry will arrive in South Korea on April 12 for talks with South Korean Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se and the nuclear accord is expected to be a major agenda item at the Yun-Kerry meeting. "Formal negotiations will be resumed after Secretary Kerry visit