The U.S. Embassy in Seoul has briefed three South Korean firms involved in business with Iran on Washington‘s new set of sanctions against the Islamic state, officials said Tuesday.The U.S. is concurrently seeking support from its allies for sanctions targeting Iran’s financial, petrochemical and energy sectors. The U.S. and several other nations tightened punitive measures against the Islamic state last month following a United Nations report accusing Iran of pursuing nuclear weapons.Embassy of

North Korea has given approval to a Chinese tourism company to do business at Mount Geumgang resort, news reports said on Tuesday.The Unification Ministry is trying to verify the reports, the ministry’s deputy spokesperson Park Soo-jin told The Korea Herald.It would be the first foreign company permitted by Pyongyang to run the resort tour business since South Korea’s Hyundai Asan suspended it in 2008.The company had had exclusive rights to run tours until they were revoked in April, but its bus

The upcoming 2012 Seoul Nuclear Security Summit’s agenda will include how to ensure the safety and security of radioactive materials widely used in people’s daily lives, a government official said Tuesday.Korea will host the summit on March 26-27 as a continuation from the first nuclear security summit in April 2010, led by U.S. President Barack Obama, to prevent nuclear materials falling into the hands of terrorists.“Terrorism using nuclear materials such as highly enriched uranium and plutoniu

South Korea’s exports are expected to exceed the $600 billion mark for the first time ever in 2012, thanks mainly to steady demand from developing economies, a local trade organization said Tuesday.The Korea International Trade Association said outbound shipments may reach $600.5 billion with imports hitting $565.5 billion for a trade surplus of $35 billion in the new year compared to a favorable balance of $33 billion estimated for 2011.This translates into the country shipping out an average o

The Seoul Metropolitan Government has placed weather-observing video cameras along the nation’s western coast to help the capital brace for snowstorms, officials said Tuesday.According to the capital, five closed-circuit television cameras were installed to detect early warning signs and give officials adequate preparation time, after a major snowstorm paralyzed Seoul last year. The CCTV cameras were placed at two meteorological observatories in Munsan, Ganghwa and Incheon, and in Yeongheung-do

BEIJING (Yonhap News) ― A senior North Korean diplomat handling U.S. affairs arrived in Beijing Tuesday, spurring speculation over a possible meeting with Washington’s special envoy for Pyongyang.Ri Gun, director general for North American affairs at North Korea’s foreign ministry, was seen heading to Pyongyang’s embassy in Beijing after arriving at an airport in the Chinese capital.His visit comes during a lull in nuclear talks with Pyongyang.Since July, South Korea and the U.S. have each held

North Korea has introduced a Western coffee shop in Pyongyang, a source said Tuesday, the latest case of embracing foreign cuisine in a country grappling with chronic food shortages.The North has been struggling to keep outside influences from seeping into the isolated country out of fear that they could eventually pose a threat to leader Kim Jong-il’s autocratic rule.The North has routinely called on its 24 million people to guard against Western influences, describing them as part of psycholog

Cable channels fail to disclose programming guidelines even after openingA group of activists has filed a lawsuit with the prosecution against three new cable broadcasters for keeping the audience in the dark about their programming schedules even after they began broadcasting on Dec. 1. The three broadcasters are Channel A, TV Chosun and jTBC. They are run by the Dong-A Ilbo, the Chosun Ilbo and the JoongAng Ilbo, respectively, the nation’s three biggest conservative newspapers. MBN, run by Mae

A member of a crime ring suspected of assaulting a former CEO of Pigeon Corp. was found dead on Tuesday at his house in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province. The man, identified as his family name Oh, was reportedly found with his leather belt wrapped around his neck hanging from a shower head around 3 a.m. He was found by his wife. No death note or possible third-party activity has been found yet, said the police, who are assuming suicide. His wife has reportedly testified that Oh, who had been on the run

Dissenters pledge to file suit, citing procedural illegalitiesThe main opposition Democratic Party, in hand with the civic group-based Citizen Integration Party and the Korean Federation of Trade Unions, kicked off a joint consolidation committee Tuesday.Those who opposed the plan, however, once again pledged to file a suit, demanding that the court nullify the party’s decision, citing procedural illegalities.In Tuesday’s meeting, the joint body confirmed its list of 17 members, including Choi,