South Korea

North Korea fires sixth missile in three days

Seoul: North Korea fired two short-range missiles on Monday, making six launches in three days, and it condemned South Korea for criticising what it said were its legitimate military drills. South Korea's Defense Ministry said North Korea had fired one missile on Monday morning and a second one in the afternoon. Both were fired into the sea off North Korea's east coast, a ministry official said.

The launches come hard on the heels of more than two months of threats from North Korea that it would wage a nuclear war against South Korea and the United States if it were attacked.

The North condemned joint US and South Korean military exercises, that ended in late April, as a rehearsal for an attack on its territory.

"We are conducting intense military exercises to strengthen our defence capacity," North Korea's KCNA news agency quoted the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of Korea, the body that handles inter-Korean issues, as saying on Monday....more    

North Korea fires three short-range missiles

Seoul: North Korea fired three short-range missiles from its east coast on Saturday, South Korea's Defence Ministry said, but the purpose of the launches was unknown. Launches by the North of short-term missiles are not uncommon, but the ministry would not speculate whether these latest launches were part of a test or training exercise. "North Korea fired short-range guided missiles twice in the morning and once in the afternoon off...  

India, China to order 100 naval ships each by 2032

Singapore: India and China will order 100 new naval ships and submarines each by 2032 due to changing global security environment and increasing reliance on the sea for trade in the strategic region, according to a US-based naval consultancy. The new orders would include nuclear and conventional submarines and new aircraft carriers, a balanced mix of destroyers, frigates, smaller units, amphibious and logistics vessels, Coast Guard and maritime patrol forces,...  

'Too pretty' label mars South Korean boxing starlet's win

Seoul: When romantic actress Lee Si-young swapped her glamorous roles in South Korean dramas for boxing gloves in a bid to win an Olympic medal, her victories triggered a storm of protest that has marred her unexpected success in the ring. The 31-year-old, better known for her roles in TV shows such as "Wild Romance" and "Boys Before Flowers", had tears of joy in her eyes when she defeated 19-year-old...  

North Korea has to pay a price for provocations: Obama

Washington: Emphasising that North Korea has to pay for its recent provocative behaviour, US President Barack Obama and his South Korean counterpart Park Geun-Hye have said that engagement process would be initiated if Pyongyang gives up its nuclear ambitions. "The key is that we will be prepared for a deterrence; that we will respond to aggression; that we will not reward provocative actions; but that we will maintain an openness...  

US seeks N Korean amnesty for American jailed for 15 years

Seoul: North Korea sentenced an American citizen to 15 years of hard labor on Thursday for crimes against the state, prompting a US call for his amnesty in hopes of avoiding him becoming a bargaining chip between the two countries. Kenneth Bae, 44, was born in South Korea but is a naturalized US citizen and studied psychology for two years at the University of Oregon. His sentencing comes after two...  

Rapper Psy's story immortalised in a comic book

The story of South Korean rap sensation Psy's ascent to global stardom with his megahit 'Gangnam Style' has now been immortalised in full color and with appropriate dramatic flourishes in a comic book. "Fame:Psy", which went on sale in the United States and South Korea on Wednesday, focuses mainly on what went into making 'Gangnam Style', which catapulted the sunglassed singer with the garish jackets to global fame and became...  

US: 2-year-old girl gets windpipe made from stem cells

Chicago: A 2-year-old girl born without a windpipe now has a new one grown from her own stem cells, the youngest patient in the world to benefit from the experimental treatment. Hannah Warren has been unable to breathe, eat, drink or swallow on her own since she was born in South Korea in 2010. Until the operation at a central Illinois hospital, she had spent her entire life in a...  

Watch: Hyundai Motor's controversial suicide ad

South Korean automaker Hyundai Motor Co has been forced to apologise for an advertisement that sought to promote the zero carbon emissions of one of its cars by featuring a man failing to commit suicide using a hose attached to the exhaust. The ad debacle is the latest to hit the carmaker, the world's fifth largest by sales when combined with its Kia Motors affiliate, after it exaggerated fuel performance...  

Psy knocked from top of Korean charts by 63-year-old singer

Seoul: South Korean rapper Psy, whose latest video 'Gentleman' tracked global megahit 'Gangnam Style' by going viral on the Internet, has been knocked from the top of the music charts in his native country by a 63-year-old easy listening pop singer. 'Gangnam Style', which holds the YouTube record for most views with more than 1.5 billion, catapulted the sunglassed Korean with the garish jackets to world stardom and made him...  

North Korea moves two more missile launchers: Report

Seoul: North Korea has moved two short-range missile launchers to its east coast, apparently indicating it is pushing ahead with preparations for a test launch, a South Korean news agency reported on Sunday. South Korea and its allies have been expecting some sort of North Korean missile launch during weeks of heightened hostility on the Korean peninsula. An unidentified South Korean military source told the South's Yonhap news agency that...  

Psy's 'Gentleman' banned in South Korea

London: Korean pop star Psy's latest single 'Gentleman' has made him a global star, but in his native South Korea the video has been banned by the officials. The Korean Broadcasting System (KBS), a major broadcaster in the country, has reportedly banned the new music video as the rapper is shown abusing public property, reports contactmusic.com. KBS said that the scene doesn't meet its standards as a public broadcaster. It...  

US military helicopter crashes near South Korea

New Delhi: A US military helicopter crashed near the North Korean border during a joint military exercise with South Korea on Tuesday. All twelve service personnel on board the helicopter have reportedly survived the crash. The cause of the crash is still unknown. Meanwhile, North Korea has condemned the joint exercises as a rehearsal for invasion and made a series of dire threats of military retaliation. There are 28,500 US...  

North Korea may launch medium-range missile test

Seoul: North Korea may test a new missile to mark the birth anniversary celebrations of state founder Kim il Sung on Monday. The isolated and impoverished state celebrates the former leader's birth anniversary on Monday amidst growing tensions in the east, after weeks of war threats from Pyongyang. Speculation has mounted of an impending medium-range missile test launch in North Korea after reports in South Korea and the United States...  

N Korea's missile launch would be a 'huge mistake': US

Seoul: US Secretary of State John Kerry warned North Korea on Friday it would be a "huge mistake" to launch a medium-range missile and said the United States would never accept the reclusive country as a nuclear power. Addressing reporters after talks with South Korea's president and leaders of the 28,000-strong US military contingent in the country, Kerry also said it was up to China, North Korea's sole major ally,...  

North Korea has nuclear missiles: US report

Washington: North Korea has nuclear weapons capable of delivering by ballistic missiles, an unclassified US intelligence report says, amid heightened tensions in the Korean peninsula over Pyongyang's saber-rattling. DIA (Defence Intelligence Agency) assesses with moderate confidence the North Korea currently has nuclear weapons capable of delivering by ballistic missiles, however the reliability will be low, Republican Congressman Doug Lamborn said during a Congressional hearing on Thursday. The Pentagon, however, said...  

Psy's new single 'I am a mother father gentleman' is out!

Seoul: South Korean rapper Psy released his much-anticipated new single on Thursday hoping to repeat the success of 'Gangnam Style' that made him the biggest star to emerge from the growing K-pop music scene. The video for 'Gangnam Style' has become the most watched item on YouTube with more than 1.5 billion hits and Psy's horse-riding moves sparked an international dance craze. The details of his latest single, 'Gentleman', were...  

'Pentagon spy agency says N Korea can launch nuclear missile'

Washington: A Pentagon spy agency concluded with "moderate confidence" that North Korea has the ability to launch nuclear-armed ballistic missiles but the weapons would probably be unreliable, officials said on Thursday. A study dated March by the Defense Intelligence Agency appeared to be the first time the Pentagon spy agency had reached such a conclusion and illustrated the high stakes surrounding the escalating tensions on the Korean peninsula. The assessment's...  

S Korea firmly convinced that N Korean missile test is eminent: Jim Clancy

South Korea said on Wednesday that there was a 'very high' probability that North Korea, after weeks of threats of war, would test-launch a medium-range missile, at any time, as a show of strength. CNN-IBN's Suhasini Haidar spoke to CNN's Senior Correspondent Jim Clancy about how likely a North Korean missile launch test is. While confirming that South Korea was very certain about the missile test, Clancy added that, "A ...

South Korea says North likely to test-launch missile

Seoul/Washington: South Korea said on Wednesday there was a "very high" probability that North Korea, after weeks of threats of war, would test-launch a medium-range missile at any time as a show of strength. Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se said South Korea had asked China and Russia to intercede with the North to ease tension that has mounted since the UN Security Council imposed fresh sanctions on North Korea after its...