Tensions have flared up on the Korean Peninsula as North Korea issued its latest nuclear threat two days after Seoul said Pyongyang was making final preparations to conduct its fourth nuclear test. North Korea has “clarified its resolute stand that it would take countermeasures including nuclear test to protect the sovereignty and dignity of the” country, the official Korean Central News Agency... 

South Korean rescue teams and divers still struggle to gain access to blocked cabins of the ferry that capsized three weeks ago. Six more bodies were recovered early Sunday, 18 days after the 6,825-ton passenger ferry, Sewol, capsized and sank with 476 people on board while 60 passengers are still unaccounted for. So far, 242 bodies have been recovered from the submersed vessel. One body was reportedly... 

South Korean authorities have arrested the captain of a ferry which sank two days ago with more than 470 people onboard. Lee Joon-seok arrived in court late on Friday to face a prosecutor’s request for his formal arrest. The captain faces several charges, including negligence of duty and violation of maritime law. Official reports say an inexperienced crew member may have been at the ship’s... 

Helicopters heading to aid 476 passengers and crew aboard a South Korean ferry sinking on its way to Jeju island from Incheon, some 20 kilometres off the island of Byungpoong in Jindo. A passenger ferry with 459 people on board has capsized and sunk off the coast of South Korea, with two people declared dead and almost 300 missing. The sinking has been declared the country’s biggest peacetime... 

A South Korean sea-to-land cruise missile is fired from a submarine during a drill. North Korea’s National Defense Commission (NDC) has accused the US of hypocrisy for remaining silent over Seoul’s recent missile test while denouncing Pyongyang’s launches. “The US double-dealing attitude and despicable mode of action has been brought to light,” a spokesman for the NDC said in a Friday statement... 

The wreckage of an alleged North Korean drone. A senior South Korean official says a surveillance drone, likely operated by North Korea, has flown over the presidential palace in Seoul. South Korean authorities examined the wreckage of a crashed drone that was found on Baengnyeong Island near the disputed waters of the Yellow Sea. The aircraft was one of the two suspected North Korean drones that crashed... 

South Korea’s President Park Geun-hye has called for new talks with North Korea on allowing families divided by the 1950-53 Korean War to exchange letters and hold video conferences. Park urged her cabinet on Tuesday to push for talks with North Korea on letter exchanges and video reunions for separated families. “Many families do not have time to wait any more,” said Park, adding that more... 

Top officials from North Korea and the neighboring South have held the highest-level government talks in years, ahead of the planned reunion of families separated by the 1950-53 Korean War. Talks between the two sides were held on Wednesday at the border truce village of Panmunjom on the southern side of the border. The last official high-level meetings between North and South Korea were held in December... 

South Korea says it has expanded its East China Sea air defense zone to partially overlap with a similar zone recently declared by China. The South Korean Defense Ministry said Sunday that its new zone would cover Ieodo – a submerged rock reef off the South Korean south coast, which China calls Suyan. Defense Ministry head of policy Jang Hyuk said, “We have explained our position to related... 

Key American allies in East Asia, Japan and South Korea, have followed US lead by sending military aircraft to fly through disputed airspace, which China unilaterally included last week in its air defense zone. Tokyo and Seoul sent its aircraft into the disputed areas following a similar flight on Monday by two unarmed American B-52 bombers. Neither country informed the Chinese of their plans beforehand,... 

After a long court hearing over allegations Samsung violated Apple patents, a US jury has awarded the US tech giant $290 million. This brings the total Apple patent fines against Samsung to $929 million. The South Korean manufacturer intends to appeal. The sum was lower than the initial $379.8 million asked by Apple’s advocates. The federal court of San Jose, California requires the South Korean... 

North Korea has slammed the three-nation naval drills involving US, South Korean and Japanese warships, threatening to ‘bury in the sea’ a US aircraft carrier. The Friday warning came a day after the US started a two-day joint military exercise with South Korea and Japan off the southern coast of the peninsula. The nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS George Washington, guided-missile ships, anti-submarine... 

Financial markets in Asia and Europe have been rocked over concerns that the United States’ government might be heading for a partial shutdown. Washington should agree to a new spending bill before the end of the financial year at midnight on Monday amid political divisions that have created a stalemate. If the American lawmakers fail to agree on the budget deal, essential federal services could... 

U.S. experts say that North Korea, despite all bans, has launched the plutonium reactor again. According to the US-Korean Institute, recently taken satellite pictures show the white steam rising from the building with turbines and generators at Yongbyon. Pyongyang previously announced its intention to renew the program for the production of weapons-grade plutonium, which was suspended in accordance... 

Japan’s Prime Minister and leader of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) Shinzo Abe is trying to start an active campaign to amend the Constitution of Japan, which will focus on creating a full-fledged army in Japan. However, a poll revealed that only a third of the Japanese population supported the idea. Does Japan need a full-fledged army? As many politicians say, it is a severe state...