UNITED NATIONS (AP) _ Sudan has withdrawn its candidacy for a seat on the U.N. Human Rights Council following strong criticism from human rights and pro-democracy groups.Sudan's U.N. Mission said in a letter obtained Friday by The Associated Press that ``it is no longer interested in taking up one of the vacancies available in the Human Rights Council.''Sudan's president, Omar al-Bashir, is accuse

South Korea's trade surplus shrank in August from a month earlier as exports fell largely due to jittery external conditions and bad weather, the government said Saturday. The country's trade balance came to $2.04 billion in the black last month, compared with a surplus of $2.75 billion in July, according to the Ministry of Knowledge Economy. Exports dipped 6.2 percent on-year to $42.9 billion, wi

TOKYO (Yonhap News) -- South Korea's ambassador to Japan and Japan's vice foreign minister held a brief meeting to discuss pending issues, including the dispute over the Dokdo islets, amid heightened tension between the two countries, sources said Friday.South Korean Ambassador to Japan Shin Kak-soo and Japanese Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs Kenichiro Sasae held a 30-minute meeting at the Japa

North Korea and China have agreed to ramp up their joint development of economic zones, China's commerce ministry said Tuesday, as Pyongyang's new leader is stepping up economic diplomacy in efforts to boost his country's struggling economy.Under the agreement, the two sides will set up two management committees to push forward with the development of special economic zones in Rason City, and the

Prosecutors said Tuesday they have indicted a 30-year-old pedophile and requested the court to issue an order that he be subject to hormonal treatment that suppresses sexual impulses if he is convicted.The request marks the first time prosecutors have sought the measure since a bill passed in July of last year that allows hormonal treatment, or "chemical castration," for convicted child molesters

PYEONGTAEK, South Korea (Yonhap News) – South Korean police said Tuesday that they plan to indict seven U.S. soldiers without physical detention on charges of handcuffing three South Koreans.The seven soldiers are accused of forcefully putting handcuffs on three South Korean civilians in a dispute over a parking violation in a bustling area near a U.S. military base in Pyeongtaek, a provincial cit

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said Tuesday he will work toward the release of three South Korean women believed to have been in North Korean custody for decades.The U.N. chief said he has a "deep interest" in the issue and feels "much regret" about North Korea's alleged detentions of Shin Suk-ja and her two daughters."I will continue to take an interest in the issue and keep pushing" for a so

A heat wave has killed more than 341,000 chickens and ducks across South Korea since July, an agriculture official said Monday.Temperatures have hovered above 33 degrees Celsius since July 20 in most parts of the country, according to the Korea Meteorological Administration.The scorching temperatures killed 330,500 chickens and 10,700 ducks as well as 96 pigs across the country between July 20 and

South Korean President Lee Myung-bak left for Beijing Saturday for annual summit talks with Chinese and Japanese leaders expected to center on North Korea and economic and other cooperation between the Northeast Asian powers.The tripartite summit, set for Sunday between Lee, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao and Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda, comes amid concern North Korea could conduct its thir

All four of the Unified Progressive Party’s co-chairs – Cho Joon-ho, Lee Jung-hee, Shim Sang-jung and Rhyu Si-min – resigned from their posts at the party’s central committee meeting on Saturday.On May 4, Lee had hinted at the development saying that she will "relieve the heavy burden" at the central committee meeting. At the time Lee also stated that she will not be running in next month’s vote t

CIJERUK, Indonesia (AFP) – Body bags containing the remains of people aboard a Russian jet that smashed into an Indonesian mountain arrived in Jakarta Saturday as Russian investigators landed to join the probe.Rescuers said the bodies of those who perished when Sukhoi's new Superjet 100 hit Mount Salak in western Java on Wednesday, killing all on board, were badly dismembered.Officials said the re

ATHENS (AFP) – Greece's president was set Saturday to call last-ditch talks in a bid to forge an emergency unity government and avoid fresh elections, after the main parties failed to form a working coalition.Highly-indebted Greece is deeply torn over the tough austerity measures imposed as conditions for its IMF-EU bailouts, and the crisis has raised the threat it could default and leave the 17-m

South Korean stocks are expected to be influenced by European political developments and U.S. economic data next week, local analysts said Saturday.The country's key stock index, the KOSPI, closed at 1,917.13 on Friday, a drop of 3.62 percent or 72.02 points from a week earlier, mainly due to anti-austerity election results in France and Greece and disappointing U.S. labor market reports. The KOSP