Free Republic

(3rd LD) N. Korea threatens 'merciless' action to defend sea border with S. Korea By Sam Kim and Kim Hyun SEOUL, Nov. 13 (Yonhap) -- North Korea threatened "merciless" military action Friday to defend its maritime border with South Korea, demanding an apology for a naval skirmish earlier this week off their west coast. The statement by the chief of North Korea's military delegation is a response to the protest his South Korean counterpart lodged hours after the navies of the two countries engaged briefly near the Northern Limit Line (NLL) on Tuesday, officials here said. South Korea suffered no...

(LEAD) N. Korean boat tugged to port after skirmish with S. Korean Navy By Sam Kim SEOUL, Nov. 12 (Yonhap) -- The North Korean patrol boat that retreated in flames after a skirmish with the South Korean Navy earlier this week was tugged on its last stretch toward port, an official here said Thursday. The boat apparently suffered damage when it exchanged gunfire Tuesday with South Korean naval vessels near the Northern Limit Line that separates the Koreas in the western waters off their peninsula. No South Korean sailors were killed, but North Korea reportedly suffered one death and three...

Playing a 'round' near the DMZ By Drew Gallagher ESPN U.S. ARMY CAMP BONIFAS, South Korea -- We've all hit tee shots that could be described as "dangerous." Tight fairways. Intimidating water hazards. Thick fescue. All of these make for "dangerous" conditions. But I've never hit a tee shot with the North Korean army just a mulligan away. A soldier from the North Korean Army stands guard at the border. Such is golf at U.S. Army Camp Bonifas, South Korea, home to one of the world's most unique golf courses. The "course" consists of a single 192-yard, par-3 hole that...

S. Korea denies rumors of N. Korean moves near tense west sea border By Sam Kim SEOUL, Nov. 11 (Yonhap) -- South Korea on Wednesday denied unidentified rumors that a pair of North Korean naval boats approached the western maritime border where the navies of the two countries exchanged gunfire a day earlier. "There is no particular situation developing. The waves are high, also forcing fishing vessels to stay off the waters," Park Sung-woo, spokesman for the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters. The rumors that two North Korean vessels closed in on the boundary early Wednesday morning had circulated...

N.Koreans Gloat Over Scuffles in National Assembly Senior North Korean officials last month enjoyed an hour of edited footage from clashes in South Korea's National Assembly. Some 300 top officials gathered at the People's Palace of Culture in Pyongyang in early October to watch the show. A senior source in North Korea said the video showed scenes familiar to audiences around the world of South Korean lawmakers destroying National Assembly facilities with a hammer and an electric chain saw or kicking each other. A voiceover provided pithy commentary. "Former President Roh Moo-hyun committed suicide because the traitor Lee Myung-bak harassed...

Firefight Between North and South Korean Navy This Morning: Causualty Unknown Happened on the morning of Nov. 10 at NLL. N. Korean patrol boats went over NLL to the south. Warning shots fired, but ignored. S. Korean navy fired at N. Korean ship. N. Koreans returned fire.

SEOUL, South Korea – A woman in South Korea who tried to pass the written exam for a driver's license with near-daily attempts since April 2005 has finally succeeded on her 950th time. The aspiring driver spent more than 5 million won ($4,200) in application fees, but until now had failed to score the minimum 60 out of a possible 100 points needed to get behind the wheel for a driving test. Cha Sa-soon, 68, finally passed the written exam with a score of 60 on Wednesday, said Choi Young-chul, a police official at the drivers' license agency in Jeonju,...

North Korea launched the cyber attack against South Korea and the United States The South Korean government is now blaming North Korea of launching organized cyber attacks against websites belonging to South Korea and the U.S. earlier in the year.Due to malicious software, numerous U.S. and S.K. Web sites were slowed or ground to a complete stop during the attack, as cyber experts scrambled to pinpoint the source of the problem. According to experts, the IP address traced to the attacks was leased from China, the South Korean National Intelligence Service noted in its report. “The attacks on Korean and...

The United States and its ally South Korea have drawn up a contingency plan to cope with emergencies in North Korea, including a possible regime change there, a report said Sunday. "Operational Plan (OPLAN) 5029" was completed by Seoul and Washington recently, Yonhap news agency said, quoting an unnamed Seoul source. It dictates how to respond case-by-case to such emergencies in North Korea as a civil war, an outflow of weapons of mass destruction (WMDs), a mass influx of refugees or a natural disaster, Yonhap said. Under the plan, the United States assumes the role of eliminating North Korea's WMDs,...

As South Korea’s military transitions to full operational control, it’s important to remember the past 60 years of U.S. commitment to the country and to not waver in that support, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said. Navy Adm. Mike Mullen talked yesterday with servicemembers and defense civilians at U.S. Army Garrison Yongsan in Seoul, Korea. He spoke about his earlier meetings with his South Korean counterpart, citing “tremendous change” on the horizon. The Korean military is expected to assume a larger defense responsibility there in April 2012. The alliance will only get stronger, the chairman said, with...

South Korea may buy four spy satellites over the next decade to monitor North Korea, the defence ministry said Wednesday. "Our ministry has been considering it but no decision has been made yet on who will be involved and details have yet to be fixed," a spokesman told AFP. He was commenting on a media report that said the ministry would forge technological cooperation with countries including Germany to secure the satellites. South Korean newspaper Dong-A Ilbo, quoting what it said was an internal ministry document, reported that the military plans to spend 600-700 billion won (514-600 million dollars) by...

Report ignites speculation of possible inter-Korean summit SEOUL/PHNOM PENH, Oct. 23 (Yonhap) -- Officials of South and North Korea secretly met in Singapore to discuss a possible summit between their leaders, South Korea's state broadcaster KBS reported Thursday, quoting unidentified sources. However, Seoul's presidential office refused to give a definitive response when asked about the meeting. "There is nothing we can confirm as of now," a Cheong Wa Dae official accompanying President Lee Myung-bak on a trip to Cambodia told reporters. The KBS report suggested a ranking South Korean official recently visited Singapore for a meeting with Kim Yang-gon, Pyongyang's...

With the U.S. defense chief in Seoul for security talks, a group of scholars and retired military officials have called for a redeployment of tactical nuclear weapons in South Korea to counter North Korea's nuclear drive. They also urged the United States to delay the planned transfer of wartime control of South Korean troops to Seoul beyond 2012, citing lingering threats from the North. U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates arrived in Seoul Wednesday for the annual Security Consultative Meeting, which is focused on steps to deter military threats from North Korea. Gates and South Korean Defense Minister Kim Tae-young were...

(3rd LD) U.S. vows unlimited deterrence against N. Korea By Sam Kim SEOUL, Oct. 22 (Yonhap) -- The U.S. pledged Thursday to mobilize its warfighting assets to their maximum capacity if needed to defend South Korea against North Korea, which continues to develop its nuclear and missile capabilities. U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates "reaffirmed the U.S. commitment to provide extended deterrence for the ROK, using the full range of military capabilities, to include the U.S. nuclear umbrella, conventional strike, and missile capabilities," according to a joint statement with South Korean Defense Minister Kim Tae-young.

Inter-Korean Thaw Sparks Rumors Rumor is rife about behind-the-scenes meetings between the two Koreas, especially since a U.S. official claimed North Korean leader Kim Jong-il invited President Lee Myung-bak to a summit. An academic who advises the government on North Korea policies said, "Rumor has it that a former corporate CEO who is close to Lee is meeting with a North Korean official in a third country like China. Such rumors seem to be rampant because no one can find traces of the National Intelligence Service or the Unification Ministry making contact with North Korean agencies as they did under...

SNIPPET: "After the 4 July DDoS attacks, wrongly attributed to North Korea, it’s wise to treat reports of DPRK security hacks with some caution. Nevertheless, The Korea Times reports the following: Classified Info on Dangerous Chemicals Hacked Hackers stole classified information on dangerous chemicals in their raid on the South Korean army computer network in what was believed to be an attack by North Korea, Yonhap News Agency reported Saturday, quoting government officials." SNIPPET: "The Sydney Morning Herald adds more information: A North Korea cyber warfare unit hacked into a South Korean military command earlier this year and stole some...

South Korea has deployed new longer-range cruise missiles that could reach not only North Korea but also parts of China and Japan, a news report said Thursday. Munhwa Ilbo newspaper said Seoul began mass-producing the "Hyunmu-3" missiles with a range of 1,000 kilometres (620 miles) early this year. The paper, quoting US and South Korean government sources, said the missile was developed in 2006 and tested for two years before being deployed. "Its development and deployment had been kept confidential because Japan, China and other neighbouring nations could react sensitively," the source said. The Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) would...

Noodles Hot in North Korea 2009-09-22 A budget food item in South Korea is now a prized gourmet item across the border. SEOUL—North Koreans are consuming increasing quantities of brand-name instant noodles, and the three-minute fast food packages are among the hottest gifts at this year's traditional harvest festival, or Chuseok. Top brand on the menu for harvest gifts this year is Shin Ramyun, made by South Korean food manufacturer Nong Shim in the northeastern Chinese city of Shenyang. "North and South Koreans are one people, and that is why people in the North like the spicy, but refreshing taste...

South Korea could mount swift and precise attacks on North Korea's nuclear bases should war break out on the peninsula, Seoul's incoming top military officer said Thursday. General Lee Sang-Eui, named as next chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said Seoul had a list of major targets its forces would strike first should a conflict erupt. Nuclear weaponry would pose the greatest threat, he told a parliamentary confirmation hearing, pledging to "mobilise all means available to precisely and swiftly strike" such bases. New Defence Minister Kim Tae-Young told his own confirmation hearing last week that Seoul knew where the...

South Korea's new defence chief said Thursday there was no evidence that the sudden discharge of water from a North Korean dam which killed six southerners was a deliberate attack. The North on September 6 released millions of tonnes of water into a cross-border river, which killed six South Koreans camping downstream. "We have no solid information to say the discharge was for a water attack," Kim Tae-Young, appointed defence minister on September 3, said in a report to parliament. He said the dam's floodgates were opened after it was full of water. The report tallies with accounts by the...

`S. Korea, US to Provide NK With Regime Guarantee` SEPTEMBER 18, 2009 08:39 A leading Japanese daily yesterday said South Korea and the United States are considering providing North Korea with a guarantee of its communist regime if Pyongyang abandons its nuclear program. The Asahi Shimbun said the offer is aimed at making a breakthrough in the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, as it would concretely reflect North Korea’s demand for the withdrawal of a "hostile" policy toward it. The planned proposal is aimed at leading North Korea to scrap its nuclear program by requiring verifiable and thorough denuclearization in...

North Korea is insisting on direct talks with the United States in an attempt to obtain recognition as a nuclear state, Seoul's top diplomat said Friday, warning that the North's atomic bombs are intended to target South Korea. The remark—implying that the communist nation has no intention of giving up atomic weapons—is the latest in a series of warnings that a wary South Korea has issued ahead of possible one-on-one negotiations between the U.S. and North Korea. After escalating tensions for months with nuclear and missile tests, Pyongyang recently offered to hold direct talks with the U.S.—a longstanding demand from...

Woman Says Zoo Elephant Threw Stone at Her SEPTEMBER 16, 2009 05:42 Police yesterday said they are probing whether an elephant at the zoo inside Children’s Grand Park in Seoul threw a stone at a woman. The Gwangjin Ward Police Station said, “A woman surnamed Kim reported to police that she was hit by a stone thrown by an elephant.” Kim was taking a walk in the quiet zoo around 9:30 a.m. Monday. She told The Dong-A Ilbo, “The elephant (Taesani) was picking up a stone with its trunk. I was really impressed that it really used its trunk to...

Korean Consortium Buys AIG Building for Bargain Price SEPTEMBER 11, 2009 08:03 Korean capital has advanced into Wall Street for the first time by purchasing a high-rise commercial building in the U.S. financial center. A consortium led by Kumho Investment Bank last week paid in full 150 million U.S. dollars to buy the AIG headquarters building after being selected as the preferred bidder. The consortium beat out 30 other consortia from 17 countries in June. The Kumho-led consortium held a housewarming party by inviting dignitaries the day when it received ownership rights to the skyscraper. Attending the event were Elizabeth...

Foreign porn companies refile suit against Korean netizens By Kim Eun-jung SEOUL, Sept. 11 (Yonhap) -- A group of U.S. and Japanese porn companies will refile a lawsuit from next week against South Korean uploaders, their legal representative here said Friday, accusing the country of holding a double standard in investigating copyright violations of local and foreign material. Some 50 foreign firms sued 10,000 Korean Internet users in July for uploading their adult materials onto local Web sites, but prosecutors limited their investigation to those confirmed to have uploaded content more than three times. Only 10 were punished. The porn...

6 Koreans Missing After River Near Border Surges Six South Koreans camping and fishing along a river flowing from North Korea were missing Sunday after it suddenly rose, possibly because a new dam in the North released a large amount of water without warning, The Associated Press reported Sunday, quoting officials. About 200 rescuers were trying to locate the missing people along the Imjin River, fire official Park Ju-il was quoted as saying. He said their identities were not immediately available. Gyeonggi provincial official Choi Kwon-rak said a North Korean dam just north of the border may have released large...

PGA Champ Yang Pledges Round of Golf With Bush AUGUST 28, 2009 03:40 Y.E. Yang, the first Asian-born golfer to win a major PGA title, said yesterday that he promised to play a round of golf with former U.S. President George W. Bush. Yang was speaking to a news conference at the Liberty National Golf Club in Jersey City, New Jersey, just a day before the FedEx Cup playoff opener at The Barclays. He said that when he went to Carlsbad in Southern California to visit the headquarters of his sponsor TaylorMade last week, he met Bush and chatted with...

Lawyers Worldwide Struggling Under Recession During the Great Depression of the 1930s, U.S. law firms downsized by laying off their attorneys. Lawyers who lost lucrative contracts to big law firms went after petty dispute claims, such as divorce settlements, but work was hard to find. They were lawyers in title only, and their life was no better than that of beggars. In New York, 1,500 lawyers were only able to receive social welfare benefits after they formally declared they were destitute. Perhaps that is why American lawyers are infamous for jumping at any opportunity if money is there. Harvard Law...

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Korea confirms daily high 258 cases of influenza A South Korea's health authorities said Friday that they have confirmed an additional 258 cases of influenza A, sparking concerns the contagious disease is spreading rapidly across the nation, according to Yonhap News. All those who tested positive for the H1N1 virus remain in isolation for treatment in their homes or in hospitals, according to the Ministry for Health, Welfare and Family Affairs. The latest cases represent the largest number of confirmed infections in a single day since the H1N1 virus was reported here in early May. They bring the total tally...

South Korea will launch its first space rocket, commissioned to put an experimental satellite into orbit, at 5 p.m. local time Wednesday, the government said. Naro, or the Korea Space Launch Vehicle-1, will blast off from the Naro Space Center, the country's spaceport in Goheung, South Jeolla Province, 485 kilometers south of Seoul. The exact time for the liftoff of the KSLV-1 was announced at midday after a final review of preparations and weather conditions. South Korea has been working on the two-stage launch vehicle with Russia's Khrunichev State Space Science and Production Center, which developed the first stage, liquid-fuel...

(Kim Death) (LEAD) Former President Kim dies at 85 SEOUL, Aug. 18 (Yonhap) -- Former President Kim Dae-jung died at Seoul's Severance Hospital at 1:42 p.m. Tuesday after a long battle with pneumonia and related complications, hospital officials said. He was 85. Kim, who served as president from 1998-2003, was admitted to Severance Hospital in western Seoul on July 13 with pneumonia and put on a respirator three days later. He underwent surgery on his bronchial tubes in late July as part of procedures to facilitate his breathing. Beginning late Monday night, Kim's health condition suddenly deteriorated, with his heart...

South Korean President Lee Myung Bak will announce Saturday a plan to offer massive aid to North Korea if it abandons its nuclear ambitions, his office said Friday in a press release. The plan will be contained in a speech to commemorate the 64th anniversary of liberation from the Japanese colonial rule, which lasted from 1910 to 1945. "As for policies toward North Korea, a broad range of proposals will be made for the establishment of a peace regime on the Korean Peninsula, covering areas of the political, economic, military and security," the press release said. Lee will also reiterate...

Foreign porn producers sue SKorean Internet users Posted on - Thu Aug 13, 2009 2:35AM EDT SEOUL (AFP) - Foreign pornography producers are suing South Korean Internet users for breach of copyright by uploading their content onto local websites, police said Thursday. In an unusual case, a local law firm representing 50 US and Japanese porn producers has filed suit against about 10,000 heavy uploaders. The lawsuit was filed simultaneously through 10 police stations in Seoul and the adjoining Gyeonggi province, a National Police Agency spokesman said, refusing to give details. One officer at the agency said the foreign porn...

Seoul Still Baffled by Clinton's N.Korea Trip The South Korea government was still reeling Wednesday after former U.S. President Bill Clinton's surprise visit to North Korea. A senior government official said, "The worst-case scenario for us would be to see the repetition of the nightmare of 1994." At the time, the South Korean government was completely left out in the cold as the U.S. and North Korea concluded the Geneva Agreed Framework in the wake of former U.S. President Jimmy Carter's visit to Pyongyang. Under the deal, South Korea had to bear most of the construction costs for a light-water...

Weird Weather Keeps Holiday Crowds off Beaches Korea is experiencing atypical cool weather in the middle of summer, which coupled with the summer rainy season has translated into fewer vacationers visiting the country's beaches. The Korea Meteorological Administration on Thursday said the average temperature during July 18-24 was between 20 to 24 degrees Celsius or 2-4 degrees below average, while the average daily high was between 23 and 28 degrees or 2-5 degrees lower than average. In Busan, where Korea's most popular beaches are located, temperatures did not rise above 30 degrees for a single day in July, as against...

German-Born TV Celebrity to Head Tourism OrganizationA Korean public corporation will for the first time in history be headed by a foreign-born naturalized Korean. Lee Cham (55), the German-born media celebrity, was appointed CEO of the Korea Tourism Organization on Tuesday. The KTO said a steering committee under the Ministry of Strategy and Finance announced Lee's appointment. Over the last 20 years, Lee has been a panelist on TV shows, university lecturer, and CEO of a company. He also hosts "Upgrade Korea" on KTV. During the last presidential election campaign, Lee served as a special advisor on the Grand Canal...

N.Korean TV Depicts 'Wretched' Lives in the South The official North Korean broadcaster on Wednesday claimed the majority of South Koreans "live in extremely wretched conditions." North Korean Central Television aired a 10-minute patchwork of edited South Korean TV clips about the difficult living conditions of the underprivileged in South Korea to illustrate the claim. The program titled "South Korea in Crisis, Wretched Livelihood of the People," had been edited together from clips of MBC, KBS, SBS and YTN about homeless people, unemployment, redevelopment, a disastrous clash between protesters and police in Yongsan on Jan. 20, 2009, abandoned elderly people,...

Home All Headlines All HeadLines 2009/07/30 08:18 KST S. Korean fishing boat taken by N. Korea: officials By Sam Kim SEOUL, July 30 (Yonhap) -- A South Korean fishing vessel was towed early Thursday morning into North Korea in the East Sea, defense officials in Seoul said.

SEOUL, July 18 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's health authorities said Saturday that they have confirmed 92 more cases of influenza A and will discontinue counting the total number of flu infections here amid the rapid spread of the virus. The new patients, including 28 people from a high school, an elementary school student and a staff member with an international choir competition, tested positive for the H1N1 virus after showing flu-like symptoms, the Ministry for Health, Welfare and Family Affairs said in an emailed statement. A teacher and 27 third-graders in a high school in Gyeonggi Province, south of the...

Former South Korean President and Nobel laureate Kim Dae-jung has been placed on a life support system at a Seoul hospital, Yonhap News Agency reported Thursday. Officials at Seoul's Severance Hospital said the life support system was installed around 3 a.m. as he had difficulty in breathing. ``But the former president's condition got better and his illness is not life-threatening,'' a hospital official was quoted as saying. Kim has been hospitalized after exhibiting symptoms for pneumonia since Monday.

/begin my summary S. Korean Intelligence: Cyberattack, the Work of N. Korean Military (in a report to legislature) Ddos attacks on major institutions in S. Korea and U.S. were the operation by Institute No. 110 under Reconnaisance Bureau of N. Korean General Staff, according to Kookmin Ilbo on July 10. According to its report to Intelligence Committee at National Assembly, the N. Korean institute staged a mock Ddos attack on Korean Communications Commission and a provincial university last month. The institute develops hacking programs and runs undercover hacking units overseas, according to a lawmaker present at the intelligence committee. /end...

US officials eye North Korea in cyber attack By LOLITA C. BALDOR, Associated Press Writer 2 hrs 36 mins ago WASHINGTON – U.S. authorities on Wednesday eyed North Korea as the origin of the widespread cyber attack that overwhelmed government Web sites in the United States and South Korea, although they warned it would be difficult to definitively identify the attackers quickly. The powerful attack that targeted dozens of government and private sites underscored how unevenly prepared the U.S. government is to block such multipronged assaults.

Bank of Korea Likely to Buy Gold for 1st Time in 11 Years JULY 04, 2009 10:02 The Bank of Korea has not purchased gold for 11 years, but is expected to go on a gold buying spree, as the world’s central banks have bought the commodity since the global economic erupted in September last year. A Bank of Korea official said yesterday, “The bank has begun to set up a plan to manage foreign exchange reserves for next year. It has also closely watched central banks in other nations and trends in the global gold market. Given the changing...

(LEAD) S. Korea to build defenses against nuclear EMP waves by 2014 By Sam Kim SEOUL, July 3 (Yonhap) -- South Korea will spend tens of billions of won by 2014 to protect against electromagnetic pulse (EMP) waves unleashed by a nuclear blast, an official said Friday. The plan for the construction of anti-EMP facilities was recently inserted into a long-term defense reform plan after North Korea went ahead with a nuclear test in May, Brig. Gen. Jang Gi-yoon said. "The spending will not top 100 billion won (US$78 million)," Jang said in a briefing, declining to be more specific....

Go to the page HEREHit the little orange box with the arrow, right below this photo, and the video will stream very shortly:From Japanese national TV just a few hours ago, the NNN network--prime time.The Japanese news says this is unprecedented.Getting hot, folks.

The fate of three of nine foreigners abducted in Yemen last week is known — their bodies were found, shot execution style. The whereabouts of the other six — including three children under the age of 6 — remain a mystery. But terrorism experts say their abductors and killers are almost certainly not a mystery. They say the crimes bear the mark of Al Qaeda, and they fear they are the handiwork of the international terror organization's No. 2 man in the Arabian Peninsula: Said Ali al-Shihri, an Islamic extremist who once was in American custody — but who was...

Bad times at home keep English teachers here June 15, 2009 Alexis Cuperus, an American living in Korea, says she won’t be going home this year, and maybe not the next year either. Teaching English in the city of Jinju, South Gyeongsang, Cuperus had planned to head back to school and seek her teacher licensure in Texas next March. But, like many expatriates here, fear of sinking into debt without a job to help dig her out have led her to re-evaluate. “I’m definitely in the boat of many English teachers in South Korea,” she says. As North America continues...

/begin my excerpts If U.S. Accepts N. Korean Nuke, Calls for Nuclear Sovereignty Could Spread (message to US) Ju Yong-joong 2009.06.13 02:51 Presidential Office: "Won't discuss it at the upcoming summit. Could cause misunderstanding if we link it to N. Korean nuclear test." On June 12, ruling party's policy committee publicly called for both S. Korean and U.S. governments to allow the 'Restoration of Peaceful Nuclear Sovereignty,' on the eve of S. Korea-U.S. summit, which is viewed as a prelude to things to come. Instead of pushing S. Korean government to 'raise this issue right now at the upcoming summit,...

SKorean-led consortium to buy AIG headquarters AFP - Thursday, June 11 SEOUL (AFP) - - A South Korean-led consortium said Thursday it has reached a deal to buy the New York headquarters of troubled US insurance giant AIG, the first major purchase by a Korean firm of a Wall Street property. American International Group has agreed to sell its 66-storey headquarters and an adjacent building to the consortium led by Kumho Investment Bank, Kumho said in a statement. Kumho said it signed a contract and made a down-payment on June 2 and the remainder of the purchase price would soon...