President Lee Myung-bak on Wednesday warned North Korea against any attempt to sway the December presidential election and reaffirmed his pledge to sternly respond to its provocation. Lee convened a top security meeting as North Korean fishing boats continued to violate the maritime border in the West Sea, raising concerns of a new naval clash. On Friday, South Korean patrol vessels fired warning shots at six North Korean crab boats to force them back. Another fishing boat briefly crossed the No

DALIAN, China (Yonhap News) ― Long-standing tensions over North Korea’s nuclear weapons program will top the agenda of an annual security conference that brings together all key regional players committed to resolving the communist country’s nuclear drive, a diplomatic source said Wednesday.The Northeast Asia Cooperation Dialogue will draw government officials and civilian experts from South Korea, North Korea, the United States, China, Japan and Russia in this eastern Chinese port city of Dalia

One of two new tunnels at North Korea’s nuclear test site was damaged by a recent typhoon and heavy rains, but appears to have only minor damage, a Seoul government source said Wednesday.North Korea has built two new tunnels at Punggye-ri in the northeastern province of North Hamgyong, where the North conducted atomic tests in 2006 and 2009, in a possible preparation for its third underground nuclear test.“It appears that one of two newly-dug tunnels at Punggye-ri was damaged by a typhoon and he

North Korea’s rubber-stamp parliament on Tuesday approved legislation to extend its compulsory education by one year to 12 years on Tuesday, the Korean Central News Agency reported. There was no announcement on agricultural reforms and other economic measures widely expected to top the agenda of the meeting.“The DPRK Supreme People’s Assembly unanimously endorsed a decree on universal 12-year compulsory education at the session,” the KCNA said, referring to the acronym of the country’s official

Tension is escalating around the skirmish-prone western maritime border as Pyongyang vowed retaliation against South Korea’s firing of warning shots Friday at North Korean fishing vessels that violated the territorial waters. The communist regime Saturday accused the South of a “shooting rampage” against boats owned by another country. “What remains to be done now is a powerful strike of our front units which know no bounds,” Pyongyang’s official news agency said. On Friday around noon, South Ko

A robbery suspect who earned the nickname “Korean Houdini” after breaking out of prison through a very narrow cell window was nabbed Saturday after six days on the run, police said.Choi Gab-bok, 50, was caught on the rooftop of an apartment building in Milyang, 386 kilometers southeast of Seoul, earlier in the day, said Daegu’s Dongbu Police Station. Milyang is about 30 kilometers south from Daegu.Upon a tipoff from a villager in Milyang, police raided an apartment building and arrested the susp

Chief Justice Yang Sung-tae said Sunday that a provision of law should be repealed to ensure sex offenders can be punished without the need for a complaint from their victims.The provision in the current law stipulates that those suspected of sexual offenses are prosecuted only when victims file formal complaints.The loophole could allow sex offenders to get off scot-free as many victims are reluctant to make a complaint because they are afraid of having to confront their assailants and concerne