...orean defense minister last week, a defense official in Seoul said Sunday, a move signaling Beijing's intent to further strengthen bilateral defense and military exchanges. South Korean Defense Minis...m told South Korean reporters Saturday after the trip to the base that the J-10 is similar to the U.S.-built F-16 fighter, noting that China seems to be pushing for its exports. On Friday, Kim and Li...

...he Washington-based Brookings Institution, said in a recent report. She said that a delay in the U.S. decision gives the impression that there may be no urgent or extensive food crisis in North Korea...ly people there. The Obama administration sent a team of officials and experts to assess the North's food conditions in late May. It has since reiterated that it has yet to make a decision as an eval...

...pt communications... and on suspicion of corruption allegations," the statement said. Those arrested so far over the scandal include Prime Minister David Cameron's former communciations chief and one-time News of the World editor Andy Coulson. Sky News is owned by BSkyB, in which Rupert Murdoch's News Corp is the biggest shareholder. There was no immediate comment from News International. (AFP)

South Korea’s Foreign Ministry said Sunday it would consider countermeasures if Japanese lawmakers land on Ulleungdo, a Korean-administered island located between the two countries near the disputed ...ly criticized the plan, saying via Twitter: “If their visit is intended at supporting their country’s groundless territorial claim on Dokdo, it amounts to the encroachment of Korea’s sovereignty. I wi...

Flawed recruitment methods render system virtually meaningless Outside directors at South Korea’s banks and financial firms have been mostly nominated by their largest shareholders and chief executi... same period, 21 of whom have a direct affiliation with top management. Although the banking sector’s ratio is relatively low, the figure is misleading because other outside directors have close relat...

WASHINGTON (AP) ― Standard & Poor’s warned mortgage lenders Fannie Me and Freddie Mac on Friday that they may lose their top credit ratings if lawmakers don’t raise the U.S. government’s borrowing li...System Banks, could also default on their debts, given each institution’s “direct reliance on the U.S. government.” The rating agency last week threatened to lower the U.S. government’s credit rating...

...assembly, the Seoul government said, quoting a recently acquired Pyongyang radio report. Pyongyang’s official news agency and TV station appear to have deliberately omitted the part about the campaig...t least to women and children despite Pyongyang’s ongoing nuclear ambitions. South Korea and the U.S., which has stayed lukewarm toward resuming full-scale food aid, suspect the North’s Kim Jong-il r...

Korean has long been thought of as a difficult language to learn, and now a U.S. website, the ThirdAge (www.thirdage.com), has ranked it the fourth most difficult language to learn, at least among En...re. “But I think the Korean alphabet is one of the easiest written languages to learn and read: It’s very scientific and orderly. It’s a nicer part,” she said. By Bae Ji-sook (baejisook@heraldm.com)

...as vacation season gets in full swing. Scattered showers are still expected to hit the nation till Wednesday, mainly in North and South Gyeongsang Province, and parts of Gangwon Province. This year’s rainy season, or jangma, started noticeably early, with June’s total rainfall reaching a record 404 millimeters, and July’s rainfall likely to fall short of previous years, at 423 millimeters as of Sunday. Last summer, the country was drenched by total average...