An American soldier, who has been under investigation over shooting a BB gun at pedestrians and fleeing police in a car along with two other service members, confessed on Monday that he was driving the vehicle and had attacked a South Korean police officer last week.The 26-year-old staff sergeant, who serves in the 8th U.S. Army at Yongsan Garrison, voluntarily appeared before South Korean police with his lawyer and a U.S. representative to give the testimony over the March 2 late-night car chas

Ssangyong Engineering and Construction said Monday that its largest shareholder Korea Asset Management Corp. and other creditor banks have agreed to inject 200 billion won ($180 million) to support the troubled builder. A risk management committee at KAMCO recently approved a liquidity support plan, with the first batch of support worth 70 billion won expected to be made on Tuesday. Ssangyong offi

North Korea's leader Kim Jong-Un commended an army unit involved in a deadly skirmish with the South in 2010 and ordered immediate counter-attacks if provoked again, Pyongyang's state media said.The move comes as South Korea and the United States prepare to engage in an annual military exercise this week, described by the North as "an all-out war rehearsal" that could ignite conflict on the Korean

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un paid a visit to the front-line artillery unit responsible for the country's 2010 deadly bombardment of a South Korean island, extolling service members as heroes and telling them never to tolerate enemy aggression, state media said Saturday.The visit to the unit on the North's border island of Mudo came days before South Korea and the United States are to launch the

MOSCOW (AP) -- Three punk rock-style activists who briefly took over a cathedral in a raucous prayer for deliverance from Vladimir Putin were sentenced to two years in prison for hooliganism on Friday, a decision that drew protests around the world as it highlighted the Russian president's intensifying crackdown on dissent.Protesters from Moscow to New York and musicians including Madonna and Paul

WASHINGTON(Yonhap) -- U.S. President Barack Obama on Friday signed into law legislation aimed at promoting human rights in North Korea, according to the White House.The law, which passed Congress with overwhelming bipartisan support, extends until 2017 the authority of the North Korean Human Rights Act of 2004. It is meant to put pressure on Pyongyang on the issues of human rights, democracy, refu

Former champion Liu Xiang left the Olympics Games in the first heat of the 110-meter hurdles for the second time in a row, clutching his right Achilles after he crashed into the first obstacle.It left one of the signature races of the games without one of its main characters, as many had hoped to see China's Liu challenge defending champion Dayron Robles and this year's top performer Aries Merrit

The Saenuri Party said Tuesday all of its lawmakers will give up their salaries for this month in accordance with the party leadership's decision to stick to the "no-work, no-pay" principle, a cornerstone in the ruling party's parliamentary reform measures.The measure to forfeit salaries when the parliament is out of work is one of six major reform measures the party is seeking to reduce privilege

North Korea appears to be ratcheting up threats against South Korea in an attempt to help new leader Kim Jong-un consolidate his grip on power, but the South does not rule out and is fully prepared for the possibility of new provocations, President Lee Myung-bak said Monday.In an interview with local and foreign media, Lee also urged Japan to take humanitarian steps to address long-running grievan

TOKYO -- The last working reactor in Japan is to be switched off Saturday, leaving the country without nuclear power just over a year after the world's worst atomic accident in a quarter of a century.As technicians ready to close down the No. 3 unit at Tomari in Hokkaido, the debate over whether Japan needs nuclear power has been reignited, amid increasingly shrill warnings of summer power blackou

SHANGHAI -- South Korea, China and Japan agreed on an action plan Saturday aimed at expanding cultural cooperation and exchange between the three countries.The deal reached in Shanghai calls for the designation of so-called cultural cities in each of the three countries in 2014, and the hosting of joint art fairs that can attract leading traditional and modern artists.The action plan was reached a