South Korea’s chief prosecutor quit on Thursday to take responsibility for leading a graft probe into former president Roh Moo-hyun.
South Korea’s former president Roh Moo-hyun appears to have jumped to his death in the mountains near his home on Saturday, a top aide said.
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/ 11 February 2008
South Koreans mourned the loss of a 600-year-old building designated as the nation’s top cultural landmark, which collapsed in ruins early on Monday after catching fire. Police said they are investigating whether arson sparked the blaze at the Namdaemun gate in the heart of Seoul.
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/ 19 December 2007
Right-wing businessman Lee Myung-bak won South Korea’s presidential election by a landslide on Wednesday with his promises to make voters better off and stand up to North Korea, TV exit polls showed. The wide margin of victory put to rest concerns in his camp that a probe in allegations of fraud by Lee might deter voters.
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/ 19 December 2007
South Koreans went to the polls on Wednesday expected to choose as president a former CEO vowing to knock the economy into shape and stand up to the North, but whose authority could be weakened by a fraud investigation. The last legally allowed opinion polls a week ago showed former Hyundai Group executive and ex-Seoul mayor Lee Myung-bak on course to to victory.
South Korean media questioned on Friday whether the two Koreas’ summit pledge to seek a formal end to their 1950 to 1953 war could be realised given Pyongyang’s record of broken promises. The ambition was spelled out by South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun and North Korean leader Kim Jong-il in a joint statement signed in Pyongyang on Thursday.
If it achieves nothing else, the visit by the South Korean President, Roh Moo-hyun, will at least make its mark on one of North Korea’s most spectacular and unusual tourist attractions. The International Friendship Exhibition Hall is a monument to the price that dignitaries pay when courting one of the world’s most reclusive nations.
It has been called the greatest show on earth, an unparalleled propaganda spectacle and a display of indoctrination like no other. The Arirang ”Mass Games”, which involves 100 000 performers, is among the most colourful and contentious items on the itinerary of the South Korean President, Roh Moo-hyun, during his stay in Pyongyang.
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/ 7 September 2007
United States President George Bush said on Friday the United States would be willing to consider a peace treaty with North Korea if it gave up its nuclear weapons programme. ”We’re looking forward to the day when we can end the Korean War.” Bush told reporters after meeting South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun.
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/ 3 September 2007
The United States has agreed to lift sanctions against North Korea and remove it from its list of states that sponsor terrorism, the foreign ministry in Pyongyang announced on Monday. If confirmed, the move would represent the biggest step towards peace on the divided peninsular since the Korean War armistice in 1953.
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/ 3 September 2007
Some of the South Korean Christian aid workers held hostage by Afghanistan’s Taliban said they were beaten for refusing to convert to Islam and protecting female captives, a hospital chief said on Monday. ”We found through medical checks that some male hostages were beaten,” Cha Seung-Gyun told reporters.
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/ 3 September 2007
United States President George Bush hopes to spur momentum for a world trade pact and a global target on climate change at this week’s Asia-Pacific summit but the Iraq debate at home looms as a distraction. Bush will meet in Sydney with the leaders of Australia, China, Japan, Russia and other members of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) forum.
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/ 3 September 2007
Tank traps, landmines and checkpoint barriers flank the North Korean road to Panmunjom, the last frontier of the Cold War. For more than half a century, this small village in the demilitarised zone that divides the Korean peninsula has been frozen in suspended conflict.