Lee Myung-Bak

SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea denounced upcoming joint South Korean and U.S. military drills and said it would "wipe out" the countries with nuclear weapons if they threatened the communist state, its KCNA news agency said on Sunday. South Korean and U.S. forces on Monday start joint computer simulation and communication drills that come in the wake of rare conciliatory moves by Pyongyang, which this month released two U.S. journalists and a South Korean worker it had held captive. North Korea regularly denounces joint drills as a preparation for invasion and nuclear war. "Should the U.S. imperialists and the Lee Myung-bak group threaten the ... Read Full Story

North and South Korea began a new round of talks Thursday on their troubled joint industrial complex, including Seoul's demand that a detained South Korean worker be freed. Unification Ministry spokesman Chun Hae-sung told reporters that the meeting started Thursday morning at the North Korean border town of Kaesong, less than an hour's drive from Seoul. He did not elaborate. The meeting comes amid international tensions over North Korea's missile and nuclear programs. The United States is seeking Chinese support to enforce U.N. sanctions slapped on Pyongyang to punish the regime for conducting an underground nuclear test in May. A U.S. delegation headed by ... Read Full Story

North Korea's official media has insulted South Korean President Lee Myung-Bak some 1,700 times -- about 10 times a day on average -- so far this year, a Seoul official said in an article seen on Monday. The figure, as of June 22, compares with an average of eight daily attacks last year, said Lee Chan-Ho, a chief analyst with the unification ministry which handles cross-border ties. Relations have worsened sharply since President Lee took office in February 2008 and rolled back the "sunshine" aid and engagement policy of his liberal predecessors. He vowed to link major economic aid to progress in nuclear disarmament, ... Read Full Story

SEOUL (Reuters) - Tearful South Koreans lined the country's streets on Friday for a glimpse of a hearse carrying the body of former President Roh Moo-hyun who leapt to his death from a cliff about a week after being snared in a corruption scandal. Roh's body left his southeastern hometown early Friday as a crush of mourners wept and tossed yellow flowers, a color associated with Roh, as the hearse began a journey to Seoul for a funeral planned for 0200 GMT (10:00 a.m. EDT). There was some scuffling between police and mourners by a Seoul plaza and not far from where hundreds of ... Read Full Story

South Korea on Monday announced details of an 18-billion-dollar waterways project aimed at reducing flooding and drought, as well as creating tens of thousands of jobs. The plan to improve the country's four major rivers will cost 22.2 trillion won (17.8 billion dollars) by 2012, said the ministry of land, transport and maritime affairs. It is a major plank of the government's "Green New Deal" to create jobs and lay the ground for further economic growth. Work will begin before the end of this year to build dams, banks and water treatment facilities, the ministry said. The plan calls for 16.9 trillion won to ... Read Full Story