A teenaged North Korean soldier walked across the world's most heavily militarized border on Monday in a bid to defect to South Korea, South Korean Defense Ministry officials said.
Hong Kong issued a "red alert" advisory on Tuesday against non-essential travel to South Korea, where eight new cases of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) were reported, bringing the total to 95 with seven fatalities.
The death toll from a Chinese cruise ship which capsized during a storm in the Yangtze River jumped to 396 on Saturday, leaving fewer than 50 still missing, as the boat operator apologized and said it would cooperate with investigations.
South Korea on Wednesday test-launched a new ballistic missile that can hit all of North Korea, the president's office said, developed under a new agreement with the United States that lets Seoul extend the weapon's range to up to 800 km (500 miles).
South Korea struggled to contain an outbreak of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) on Monday as health authorities announced three more cases, bringing the number of infections to 18 in just over 10 days.
The U.S. military said on Friday it discovered even more suspected shipments of live anthrax than previously thought, both in the United States and abroad, and ordered a sweeping review of practices meant to inactivate the bacteria.
Japan launched a trade complaint at the World Trade Organization on Thursday to challenge South Korea's import bans and additional testing requirements for Japanese food after the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster.
Photographs showing a North Korean missile launched from a submarine were manipulated by state propagandists and the country may be years away from developing such technology, analysts and a top U.S. military official said on Tuesday.
More than 450 mostly Western scholars have urged Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to confront boldly Japan's wartime past, the latest sign that the conservative leader has not erased concern that he wants to dilute past apologies.
North Korea said on Saturday it had successfully conducted an underwater test-fire of a submarine-launched ballistic missile, which, if true, would indicate progress in the secretive state's pursuit of building missile-equipped submarines.
South Korea on Thursday condemned as "historic distortion" an effort by Japan to register 19th century industrial facilities as U.N. World Heritage sites, urging full disclosure of Japan's use of Korean forced labor.
North Korea's military warned on Friday of "unannounced targeted strikes" against South Korea's navy, accusing the South of violating its territorial waters off the peninsula's west coast, the scene of deadly naval clashes in the past.
Nearly a year after her 16-year-old daughter was among 304 people killed when an overloaded ferry capsized, Park Eun-mi says not much has changed when it comes to safety in South Korea.
Senior officials of South Korea and Japan will resume security talks next week after more than five years, with the hope of normalizing dialogue despite recent diplomatic spats.
North Korea has fired two surface-to-air missiles off its west coast, South Korea said on Thursday, with the latest in a string of short-range firings by the North coming shortly before the U.S. defense secretary arrived in the region.
Russia and China discussed resuming six-party talks on North Korea's nuclear program this week, while a South Korean diplomat said five of the participants had agreed on conditions to present to Pyongyang for restarting the negotiations.
The foreign ministers of South Korea, Japan and China on Saturday hold their first meeting in three years, in a bid to warm frosty ties and restore a regular three-way summit of their leaders, stalled because of tensions over history and territory.
China and Japan held their first security talks in four years on Thursday and agreed to keep alive and foster a nascent recovery in bilateral ties plagued by the legacy of Japan's wartime aggression and a territorial dispute.
The potential deployment of a sophisticated U.S. air defense system in South Korea to counter the North's missile threat is proving a headache for Seoul as it tries to walk a fine line between its closest security ally Washington and its biggest trade partner China.
The foreign ministers of China, Japan and South Korea are preparing to meet this month for their first talks in nearly three years, in a bid to resolve tension over Japan's wartime past and discuss a three-way summit.
