WASHINGTON/SEOUL -- The State Department said it is aware of reports that yet another American citizen has been detained in North Korea.The North's official Korean Central News Agency said earlier Sunday that the country has detained a Korean-American man, identified as Kim Hak-song, on suspicions of unspecified "hostile acts." His detention raised the number of US citizens held in the reclusive state to four."We are aware of reports that a US citizen was detained in North Korea," a State Depart

French voters elected centrist Emmanuel Macron as the country's youngest president ever on Sunday, delivering a resounding victory to the unabashedly pro-European former investment banker and strengthening France's place as a central pillar of the European Union.A crowd of Macron supporters roared with delight at the news, jubilantly waving red, white and blue tricolor flags at a victory party outside the Louvre Museum in Paris.Marine Le Pen, his far-right opponent in the presidential runoff, qu

North Korea's leader has visited military detachments on two islets off the southwest front, saying that the country is considering a plan to strike South Korea, Pyongyang's state media said Friday.Kim Jong-un inspected the military units on Jangjae and Mu islets, which are located not far from South Korea's front-line Yeongpyeong Island, according to the Korean Central News Agency.North Korea shelled Yeongpyeong Island in November 2010, leaving four people, including two civilians, dead. The sh

A record number of South Koreans have taken part in early voting in the presidential election, attesting to high voter attention, the election management office said Friday. As of 1 p.m., about 7.72 million people, or 18.17 percent of the electorate, had cast their ballots since the two-day advance voting began Thursday, the National Election Commission said.  (Yonhap)It is already higher than the overall early voting rates of 12.2 percent for the parliamentary elections in 2016 and 11.5 percent

Lotte Group is facing huge losses as its outlets in China have remained closed for about two months over Beijing's apparent retaliation against the deployment of an advanced U.S. missile defense system in South Korea, according to group officials Friday. Chinese authorities ordered Lotte to close its stores following inspections in late February or early March after Lotte agreed to offer a site for the US Terminal High Altitude Area Defense missile system in a land swap deal with the Defense Min

Chief financial policymakers of South Korea, Japan and China have vowed to fight against "all forms of protectionism" amid growing concerns of US President Donald Trump's protectionist policies. Finance ministers and central bank governors of the three nations made the pledge Thursday after their meeting on the sidelines of an annual gathering of the Asian Development Bank, according to their joint statement. The Northeast Asian powers agreed that "trade is one of the most importa

Recent satellite imagery indicates new activity at the test stand of North Korea's main submarine-launched ballistic missile development shipyard in a move that suggests the communist nation is planning to accelerate its SLBM program, a website monitoring the North said Thursday.The April 29 imagery of the Sinpo South Shipyard shows a heavy-lift crane with its stabilizer legs deployed and boom extended out over the test stand's service tower, and a 13-meter-long flatbed truck adjacent to it on t

The US House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly to pass legislation significantly tightening the economic screws on North Korea, mainly targeting Pyongyang's crude imports, labor exports and international shipping.The Korea Interdiction and Modernization of Sanctions Act (H.R. 1644), which passed in a 419-1 vote Thursday, is designed to strengthen last year's North Korea sanctions law by adding new measures, including new UN Security Council resolutions that have been billed as the toughest

South Korea's government is using unlicensed software requiring policymakers to pay more attention to intellectual property rights, a local association citing a report by the United States Trade Representative said Wednesday.The Korea International Trade Association said Washington has expressed concerns about unauthorized software use in its 2017 Special 301 review and the need for Seoul to set an example to be followed by the private sector. (Yonhap)The USTR, citing data from the Software Alli

Heavyweight US Republican senators and former Democratic presidential nominee Hillery Clinton expressed concern Tuesday after President Donald Trump said he would be "honored" to meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.Trump made the remark in an interview with Bloomberg News on Monday, arguing that he would "absolutely" be willing to meet with Kim if such a meeting takes place "under the right circumstances."The use of the word "honored" toward the autocratic leader raised eyebrows. (AFP-Yonh

WASHINGTON -- The White House said Monday the US wants to see North Korea's provocative behavior "ratcheted down immediately" as part of the "right circumstances" under which President Donald Trump said he would be willing to meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un."We've got to see their provocative behavior ratcheted down immediately. There is a lot of conditions but I think it would have to happen with respect to its behavior and to show signs of good faith. Clearly conditions are not there

WASHINGTON -- The US THAAD missile defense system installed in South Korea is now operational, a US defense official was quoted Monday as saying."It has reached initial intercept capability," the unidentified official told AFP.(Yonhap)The THAAD battery has been deployed in southeastern South Korea to defend better against North Korean threats, despite Chinese pretests that the system hurts its strategic deterrence.The battery has also been a focus of attention after US President Donald Trump dem

WASHINGTON -- US President Donald Trump appears to clearly see a positive side of North Korean Kim Jong-un that many others cannot see in the autocratic leader brandishing nuclear weapons and missiles while starving his own people.Over the past few days, Trump has repeatedly praised Kim for taking over the regime at a young age. On Monday, Trump even said he is "absolutely" willing and would be "honored" to meet with the North's leader, even though such a meeting should take place "under the rig

WASHINGTON -- US President Donald Trump said Monday he would be "honored" to meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un if such a meeting takes place "under the right circumstances," the first time Trump has expressed his willingness to meet with Kim since taking office."If it would be appropriate for me to meet with him, I would absolutely, I would be honored to do it," Trump said in an interview with Bloomberg News. "If it's under the, again, under the right circumstances. But I would do that."