North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has guided a flight training of its air force unit, the North's state media reported Tuesday, seen in response to the ongoing Seoul-Washington air exercises. During his visit to the Korean People's Army Air and Anti-Air Force Unit 188 on Monday, the leader gave an order to start the training "to defend the country," the North's Korean Central News Agency said in an English dispatch.Watching the flying corps' performance "to mercilessly blow up the citadel of enemi

South Korea's top fixed-line operator, KT Corp., is expected to get some relief from financial pressure as a significant number of workers applied for itsretirement program, analysts said Tuesday, although the effect of a streamlined workforce won't be long-lived.KT, also the country's No. 2 mobile carrier by market share, said 8,320 employees applied for its voluntary retirement program offered from earlier this month. The number is much higher than the anticipated 6,000.As those who have been

South Korea and China were set to hold trade talks Tuesday on ways to further expand their bilateral trade and cooperation, South Korea's trade ministry said.The one-day talks, the second of their kind, were to be held in Seoul with officials from eight South Korean ministries and their Chinese counterparts, including the Ministry of Agriculture and Food and Rural Affairs.South Korea plans to address China's quarantine and customs regulations and procedures that it said are particularly unfavora

U.S. President Barack Obama will spend much time and effort expressing sympathy over the loss of people in a tragic ferry sinking when he visits Seoul later this week, a White House official said Monday."I can certainly expect that this will be a big part of his trip," Ben Rhodes, deputy national security adviser for strategic communication, told reporters. "I'm sure the president will want to find a way to express to those families and to the people of the Republic of Korea how much we support

White House officials said Monday North Korea's threat of another nuclear test will do little to change Washington's approach toward the communist regime, as it only demonstrates lack of its willingness for meaningful talks.They said North Korea should discontinue a pattern of provocative steps if it wants dialogue."Given the recent North Korean statements threatening new type of nuclear tests, new type of missile tests, it's clear that North Korea is not signaling any interest in what we would

Pro-Kremlin rebels in east Ukraine appealed Sunday for help from Russian "peacekeepers" after a deadly gunfight killed at least two of their militants, shattering an Easter truce and sparking "outrage" in Moscow.But the Western-backed authorities in Kiev claimed the violence was a set-up by Russia to create a pretext for it to send in troops.The attack, near the flashpoint town of Slavyansk, undermined an accord worked out in Geneva between Russia, Ukraine and Western powers on Thursday under wh

BEIJING (Yonhap) -- The chief of South Korea's state-run railway company boarded an international rail and headed for North Korea on Monday, making a rare train travel to Pyongyang from Beijing to attend an international conference concerning transport between Europe and Asia.Choi Yeon-hye, president and CEO of the Korea Railroad Corp., and four other officials got visas from the North Korean Embassy in Beijing shortly after arriving here from South Korea earlier in the day, according to one of

실종자 수색작업에 나선 민•관•군  합동구조팀이 20일 오전 시신 10구를 추가로 수습했다. 합동구조팀은 세월호 선체로 진입해 이날 오전 7시 25분께 격실 내에서 시신 10구(남성 8명•여성 2명)를 수습했다고 밝혔다. 앞서 합동구조팀은 19일 저녁 선체 유리창을 깨고 선내에 진입, 처음으로 선내 시신 3구(전원 단원고 남학생)를 수습했다. 이로써 20일 오전 8:18 현재 사망자는 46명으로 늘었다. 실종자는 256명이다.  (khnews@heraldcorp.com)

19일 오후 5시30분께 일본 와카야마(和歌山)현 남쪽 약 740㎞의 태평양 해상에서 한국선적 자동차 운반선 ‘아시안 엠 파이어’에서 화재가 발생했다.NHK 등에 일본 언론에 따르면 7만 1천톤급의 이 운반선에는 한국인 11명과 필리핀인 13명 등 24명이 탑승중이던 것으로 밝혀졌다.이들은 일본 해상보안청에 “배에 화재가 발생해 탈출한다”고 통보한 뒤 구명보트로 탈출해 인근 선박의 도움으로 전원 무사히 구조됐다.해상보안청 제4관구 해상보안본부(나고야<名古屋>)에 따르면 이날 밤 11시15분께 사고 현장 부근을 항해 중이던 선박으로부터 “전원을 구조했다”는 무선 연락이 접수됐다.현재 해상보안청 항공기와 순시선이 현장 해역으로 향하고 있다.(khnews@heraldcorp.com)