Korea

SEOUL, Dec. 2 (UPI) -- An official in Seoul said a North Korean soldier returned home Wednesday, days after being rescued at sea by the South Korean navy. A South Korean Defense Ministry official, who wished to remain anonymous, said the North Korean army sergeant was repatriated Wednesday at the Panmunjom Village in the Demilitarized Zone, the Yonhap News Agency reported. The soldier, whose identity was not released, was rescued in the Yellow Sea by the South Korean navy on Sunday when his boat crossed the Northern Limit Line. Unidentified officials said the soldier had been fishing when his vessel crossed the demarcation line ... Read Full Story

US President Barack Obama ends his maiden tour of Asia in Seoul on Thursday with North Korea's nuclear programme and trade expected to be the main focus of a summit with President Lee Myung-Bak. Obama's visit to South Korea comes as a respite from an often-gruelling trip, as Seoul and Washington agree on most major issues despite niggling irritation over delayed US ratification of a trade pact with its key ally. The leaders will have a formal summit, hold a press conference and have lunch before Obama greets some of the 28,500 US troops in South Korea, then boards Air Force One to return ... Read Full Story

SEOUL (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama arrived in South Korea on Wednesday for talks that will focus on how to tempt North Korea back to nuclear disarmament talks and a delayed trade pact between Seoul and Washington. North Korea stoked regional tension ahead of Obama's first tour of Asia since taking office by this month, sparking a naval firefight with the South and declaring it had produced a fresh batch of arms-grade plutonium. South Korean officials said North Korea would top the agenda when Obama meets President Lee Myung-bak on Thursday. Also to be discussed is a trade deal bogged down by U.S. ... Read Full Story

A North Korean patrol boat was set ablaze after exchanging fire with South Korea's navy on Tuesday, Seoul officials said, as cross-border tensions rose a week before a US presidential visit. The two sides blamed each other for the clash, the first for seven years, near the disputed Yellow Sea border as the White House warned against any actions that could be seen as an "escalation". President Lee Myung-Bak called an emergency meeting of security ministers as his Prime Minister Chung Un-Chan accused the North of making a "direct attack" on a South Korean high-speed patrol craft. "There was no damage on our side, ... Read Full Story

South Korea's military was on alert Wednesday for any retaliatory moves after a North Korean patrol boat was set ablaze in a naval clash, as Washington warned Pyongyang against escalating tensions. Defence Minister Kim Tae-Young ordered army, navy and air force commanders in charge of border areas to step up surveillance and respond immediately to any provocation, a spokesman for Seoul's Joint Chiefs of Staff said. Tuesday's clash near the disputed Yellow Sea border raised tensions just over a week before US President Barack Obama arrives in Seoul as part of an Asian tour. White House spokesman Robert Gibbs called on the North to ... Read Full Story