Three U.S. senators formally asked President Barack Obama this week to redouble efforts to address the issue of Japan's sexual enslavement of Korean and other Asian women during World War II, saying it is a stumbling block to strengthening trilateral security cooperation.In a letter sent to the White House Wednesday and made public the next day, Tim Johnson (D-SD), Martin Heinrich (D-NM) and Mark Begich (D-AK) noted the president's remarks on Japan's past atrocities during his latest trip to Asi

Upholding a lower court ruling, a Seoul appeals court on Thursday acquitted a former Seoul police chief of charges that he impeded a police probe into a high-profile election-meddling scandal.The scandal centers around allegations that the nation's intelligence agency meddled in the 2012 presidential election by swaying public opinion in favor of President Park Geun-hye, the then ruling party candidate.The Seoul High Court delivered a not-guilty verdict to Kim Yong-pan, the former chief of the S

서울 지하철 분당선에서 전동차 지붕의 전기절연장치(애자)가 폭발해 승객 수백 여명이 선로 위에 갇히는 사고가 발생했다.5일 오전 6시 34분께 분당선 선릉역에서 분당 방면으로 향하려던 전동차의 애자가 깨져 폭발음과 함께 객차 내와 승강장으로 연기가 뿜어져 나왔다.현장에 있던 승객은 트위터를 통해 "선릉역에 다다르자 평소와 달리 전동차 안 불이 꺼지더니 문이 열린 후 연기가 새어나왔다"면서 "불안한 마음에 모든 이용객이 하차했는데 전동차 상부에서 뭔가가 폭발했다"고 당시 상황을 전했다.또 다른 승객은 "폭발음이 굉장해 정말 무서웠다"고 말했다. 다만 승강장에는 스크린도어가 설치돼 있었기 때문에 파편으로 인한 부상자는 나오지 않았다.승객들 사이에선 코레일 측의 대응이 미숙했다는 불만이 나왔다.한 승객은 "전동차가 4∼5분간 정차하는 동안 승객들이 하차했다가 다시 타고, 전동차 내 불이 완전히 꺼지자 또 하차하는 소동이 빚어졌지만 아무런 안내방송이 없었다"고 비판했다.하지만 코레일측은 오

The ruling party's better-than-expected performance in Wednesday's local elections was seen as a blow to the main opposition party even though no clear winner emerged from the polls.The ruling Saenuri Party and the main opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy (NPAD) were set to each win at least seven of the 17 metropolitan mayoral and gubernatorial seats up for grabs, with the remaining three races too close to call until early Thursday morning, according to the National Election Commiss

The fugitive owner of the sunken ferry Sewol recently attempted to seek asylum at a foreign embassy in Seoul, but was denied due to his status as a criminal suspect, prosecutors said Tuesday.A massive manhunt has been under way for weeks for Yoo Byung-eun, who is wanted for a string of corruption charges and irregularities that are believed to have contributed to the April 16 sinking of the Sewol that claimed the lives of nearly 300 people, mostly high school students."An anonymous person recent

The United States is considering deploying an advanced missile defense system (MD) in South Korea to counter the evolving threats by North Korea, the chief of the United States Forces Korea (USFK) said Tuesday.Media reports have said the U.S. has conducted a site survey in the South for possible locations for a Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) battery, though no final decision has been made."I recommended the deployment of the THAAD missiles to South Korea," USFK commander Gen. Curtis

Former intelligence contractor Edward Snowden, wanted by US authorities and currently living in Russia, said in a TV interview Sunday that he has applied for asylum in Brazil."I would love to live in Brazil," Snowden told Brazil's Globo TV.Snowden's temporary asylum in Russia expires in August. Washington has revoked his US passport, so his travel options are limited.Snowden, who was interviewed with reporter Glenn Greenwald by his side, said that he has formally asked several countries for asyl

A bombing at a football pitch in Nigeria's restive northeast killed at least 40 people on Sunday in an area previously attacked by Boko Haram Islamists, a police officer and a nurse said.The blast hit the town of Mubi in Adamawa state, one of three in the northeast which has been under a state of emergency for more than a year as Nigeria's military has tried to crush Boko Haram's five-year extremist uprising."There has been a bomb explosion at a football field this evening and so far more than 4

Two people have been killed and hundreds treated in hospital after a weekend heatwave swept over Japan, officials and reports said Sunday.A 74-year-old women collapsed while working in a greenhouse in the eastern prefecture of Chiba on Saturday and was later pronounced dead. In Ibaraki, also in the east of the country, a 61-year-old was found collapsed in her garden and died. On Sunday, a 76-year-old man was taken to hospital unconscious in Sera, in the western prefecture of Hiroshima, after col

Japan will send officials to North Korea while Pyongyang reinvestigates the fate of Japanese nationals it abducted in the Cold War years, a senior politician said Sunday.Dispatch of the mission is part of an accord made last week by the the two countries, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said.Japan and North Korea have no diplomatic ties and they contact each other through their embassies in Beijing at present.Since North Korea in 2008 agreed to reopen investigations but failed to keep its

The only American soldier held prisoner in Afghanistan has been freed by the Taliban in exchange for the release of five Afghan detainees from the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, Obama administration officials said Saturday.Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl was handed over to U.S. special forces by the Taliban on Saturday evening, local time, in an area of eastern Afghanistan near the Pakistan border. Officials said the exchange was not violent and the 28-year-old Bergdahl was in good condition and able t