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South Korea

South Korea’s prime minister offers to resign

SEOUL, South Korea – South Korea’s prime minister offered to resign Thursday after parliament shot down his efforts to scrap a plan that would relocate several government ministries out of the capital.
Chung Un-chan, an academic appointed in September, has led the charge to abandon the project, thought up by the previous [...]

Read More » No commentJuly 30, 2010

US: Drills sent ‘clear message’ to NKorea

SEOUL, South Korea – For four days, U.S. and South Korean troops fired artillery into the skies and dropped anti-submarine bombs on underwater targets — dramatic exercises meant to warn North Korea not to strike again.
The South Korean military said the show of force, which ended Wednesday, succeeded in sending a [...]

Read More » No commentJuly 30, 2010

Koreas mark truce, but drills underscore tensions

ABOARD THE USS CURTIS WILBUR – On the 57th anniversary of the armistice that ended the Korean War, U.S. and South Korean ships intensified high-profile military exercises Tuesday that underscore rising tensions in a region yet to truly find peace.
The massive maneuvers, called “Invincible Spirit,” are being conducted by an armada [...]

Read More » No commentJuly 28, 2010

Brave Shin Jiyai makes Korean golf breakthrough at Evian

EVIAN-LES-BAINS, France (AFP) – Shin Jiyai became the first South Korean to win the Evian Masters on Sunday, a victory made more remarkable coming just six weeks after she underwent emergency surgery.
She secured her victory with a nine-foot putt at the last hole to give her a one-shot edge over Morgan Pressel, [...]

Read More » No commentJuly 28, 2010

US, South Korea start war games at sea

SEOUL (AFP) – The United States and South Korea on Sunday launched a major naval exercise involving a nuclear-powered US aircraft carrier in the Sea of Japan despite North Korea’s threats of nuclear retaliation.
The war games are the first in a series intended “to send a clear message to North Korea [...]

Read More » No commentJuly 28, 2010

US holds drills off Korea as Pyongyang talks war

ABOARD USS GEORGE WASHINGTON – Fighter jets buzzed the skies and submarines cruised underwater Sunday as a flotilla of U.S. and South Korean warships led by a nuclear-powered U.S. supercarrier began exercises that have enraged North Korea.
U.S. officials denied North Korea’s claims the maneuvers off Korea’s east coast were a provocation, [...]

Read More » No commentJuly 28, 2010

S.Korea to set up task force on international marriages

SEOUL (AFP) – South Korea will set up a task force to reform the international matchmaking business following the fatal stabbing of a Vietnamese woman by her mentally ill husband, officials said Friday.
The task force will be manned by officials from the ministries of justice, gender equality, culture and foreign affairs, the [...]

Read More » No commentJuly 24, 2010

US announces new sanctions against North Korea

SEOUL, South Korea – The Obama administration moved Wednesday to push new sanctions against North Korea over its nuclear weapons program, as Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and Defense Secretary Robert Gates showed solidarity with South Korea during a visit to the area that separates it from the North.
Clinton announced [...]

Read More » No commentJuly 22, 2010

Gates, Clinton to visit DMZ dividing 2 Koreas

SEOUL, South Korea – U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates announced Tuesday that he and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton will make an unprecedented trip together to the Demilitarized Zone dividing the two Koreas.
Gates said he and Clinton will visit the DMZ on Wednesday, meeting with U.S. and South Korean troops [...]

Read More » No commentJuly 20, 2010

Report: US may send envoy Richardson to Pyongyang

SEOUL (AFP) – A South Korean newspaper said Monday that US President Barack Obama may send an envoy to North Korea to break the impasse in relations.
Obama is considering allowing New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson — a veteran troubleshooter with the North — to accept an invitation to visit Pyongyang, according [...]

Read More » No commentJuly 19, 2010