Amid the escalating tension between Korea and Japan over Dokdo, the parliamentary Dokdo committee pledged to stand against Japan’s provocative claims over the islets by holding a meeting there next Friday, as originally planned. “The decision (to hold a committee meeting on Dokdo) was confirmed back in March, but the schedule has been delayed several times due to weather conditions,” said Kang C...

Prosecutors have indicted three retired high-ranking Air Force officers including a former four-star general on charges of providing classified military information to the U.S. defense giant Lockheed Martin in recent years, officials said Wednesday. Among them was a former Air Force chief of staff identified only by his surname Kim. Kim, 81, led the Air Force from 1982-84. Since 1995, he has run...

President Lee Myung-bak called on law enforcement agencies and political parties to thoroughly get to the bottom of an influence-peddling scandal involving a corruption-laden savings bank to restore public trust, his aides said Wednesday. His remarks came as a parliamentary investigation committee has been making little progress in its own inquiry after failing to confirm a list of witnesses for...

South Korea acknowledged Tuesday that 55 people were abducted by North Korea during the Korean War six decades ago, marking the first official recognition of kidnap victims. The announcement, intended to disclose the truth about kidnap victims during the 1950-53 war and restore their honor, came nearly eight months after South Korea set up a committee to identify its citizens kidnapped by North ...

A government panel to verify kidnappings of South Koreans by North Korea during the 1950-53 Korean War officially confirmed 55 South Korean abductees for the first time, the Prime Minister’s Office said Tuesday. The National Committee on Investigating Abductions during the Korean War, which is headed by Prime Minister Kim Hwang-sik, held its third session and made the decision, officials said. ...

Opposition lawmakers once again lashed out at the presidential and prime minister’s offices for neglecting their supervisory duties during a special committee meeting on the savings banks state investigation on Tuesday. “President Lee Myung-bak promised in June to fully cooperate in the savings banks investigation,” said Rep. Ooh Che-chang of the Democratic Party. “It is, however, Cheong Wa Dae ...

The chief of the ruling Grand National Party said Tuesday that his party’s move to withdraw additional tax cuts for conglomerates is aimed at strengthening policies for ordinary working households. The tax cuts for businesses and high-earning individuals, which form the backbone of President Lee Myung-bak’s major economic stimulus package, are set to be implemented next year, but the proposed me...

Parties are still conflicted as to whether to open the parliament’s August provisional session scheduled for this month, especially regarding the Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement. “The August session must be held to deal with urgent pending issues such as the recent flood damage and Hanjin Heavy Industries labor disputes,” said Rep. Hwang Woo-yea, floor leader of the ruling Grand National Party i...

A top aide to President Lee Myung-bak on Sunday arrived at a South Korean island in the East Sea in an effort to thwart a planned trip by three Japanese lawmakers seen as an attempt to reassert Tokyo's claim to the Korean territory. Lee Jae-oh, a lawmaker of the ruling Grand National Party (GNP) who doubles as minister for special affairs, arrived on Ulleung Island Sunday, and plans to visit Dok...

A Korean foreign service official is to work at the U.S. Department of State for the first time as part of a personnel exchange program between Korea and the U.S. The South Korean Foreign Ministry said Sunday that Kim Hye-jin, a 29-year-old female diplomat, has been chosen for the stint. Kim currently works at the ministry’s North Korean Nuclear Affairs Bureau. She will start in August, althoug...

TOKYO (Yonhap News) -- Three Japanese lawmakers vowed Saturday they will go ahead with their trip to a Korean island next week, a day after Seoul formally informed Tokyo that it will bar them from entry. Korea quickly reaffirmed its stance on Saturday that immigration officials will deny entry to the lawmakers upon their planned arrival at an airport on Monday and send them back to Japan. The l...

LA PAZ, Bolivia -- South Korea and Bolivia agreed on Friday to cooperate on a lithium battery business with the two countries seeking to set up a joint venture here to produce parts for rechargeable batteries. In April 2009, the two countries signed a deal to develop lithium resources in the South American country, which boasts nearly half of the world's known reserves. The deal allows South Ko...

SEOUL, July 29, 2011 (AFP) - South Korean prosecutors have arrested five people on charges of spying for North Korea, a report said Friday. The five, led by an information technology company chief identified only as Kim, were charged with violating South Korea's security law, Yonhap news agency said. They were accused of setting up an underground communist group on the instructions of an espion...

SEOUL, July 29 (Yonhap) -- President Lee Myung-bak paid his respect Friday to a young conscripted policeman who was killed while trying to rescue a citizen from a stream swollen in this week's torrential rains. Lee offered flowers and a moment of silence before the funeral photo of the 21-year-old policeman, Cho Min-soo, who was found dead Thursday after being swept away in flood waters in Dongd...

Seoul plans to slap entry ban on four A diplomatic conflict between South Korea and Japan is escalating as four Japanese lawmakers are pushing ahead with their plan to visit Ulleung Island, while Seoul plans to ban their entry into the country. Despite repeated warnings, the lawmakers of Japan’s main opposition Liberal Democratic Party have stuck to their plan to visit the island, the closest t...