http://www.voanews.com Voice of America is an international news and broadcast organization serving Central and Eastern Europe, the Caucasus, Central Asia, Russia, the Middle East and Balkan countries http://www.voanews.com/img/voa/rssLogo_VOA.gif http://www.voanews.com en-US 2012 - VOA 60 Sun, 26 May 2013 00:06:34 -0400 Pangea CMS – VOA There are no chopsticks on the table at Sammy's Kitchen in Hong Kong. And that is not the only way this restaurant stands out in a neighborhood clustered with Cantonese fare.   Sammy's trademark is a large three-dimensional billboard of a cow. It juts out over Queen's Road West in the Sheung Wan district, a neighborhood where the odor of dried squid mingles with the aroma of herbs from nearby traditional medicine shops.   An elderly, heavily inebriated Caucasian man, ... http://www.voanews.com/content/in-hong-kong-beef-over-samy-kitchens-3d-cow/1668416.html http://www.voanews.com/content/in-hong-kong-beef-over-samy-kitchens-3d-cow/1668416.html Sat, 25 May 2013 17:43:39 -0400 Asia Steve Herman (Seoul, South Korea) As South Korea marks the 33rd anniversary of a citizen's uprising, there are questions about whether North Korea secretly attempted to stir social turmoil at the time.  A former commander of U.S. Forces Korea, retired Army General John Wickham, Jr., says it is “plausible” North Korea may have tried to take advantage of unrest in the South during the 1980 uprising, but that he never saw evidence of that. Wickham, who subsequently served as U.S. Army chief of staff, recalls that he ... http://www.voanews.com/content/defectors-say-north-stirred-south-korea-unrest/1665161.html http://www.voanews.com/content/defectors-say-north-stirred-south-korea-unrest/1665161.html Tue, 21 May 2013 09:16:41 -0400 Asia Steve Herman (Seoul, South Korea) http://www.voanews.com/content/defectors-say-north-stirred-south-korea-unrest/1665161.html#relatedInfoContainer South Korea says it will never accept rival North Korea as a nuclear-weapons state. But there appears to be no international consensus on how to prevent that. Speaking Tuesday in Seoul, South Korean Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se characterized Pyongyang's recent belligerent threats as more diverse, frequent and intense than previously seen. He told a forum organized by the JoongAng newspaper and the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) North Korea is ... http://www.voanews.com/content/south-korea-see-north-threats-at-unprecedented-level/1665070.html http://www.voanews.com/content/south-korea-see-north-threats-at-unprecedented-level/1665070.html Tue, 21 May 2013 06:58:04 -0400 Asia Steve Herman (Seoul, South Korea) Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has refused to comment on the nature of the Japanese delegation's visit to North Korea.  But he told a parliamentary committee Wednesday he is open to the possibility of meeting North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un to resolve outstanding issues between the two nations, which have no formal diplomatic ties. For relations to improve, Abe says, there must be progress on several issues including the fate of Japanese citizens abducted by North Korean agents, ... http://www.voanews.com/content/abe-hints-at-possibility-of-summit-with-kim-jong-un/1661259.html http://www.voanews.com/content/abe-hints-at-possibility-of-summit-with-kim-jong-un/1661259.html Wed, 15 May 2013 05:48:16 -0400 Asia Steve Herman (Seoul, South Korea) http://www.voanews.com/content/abe-hints-at-possibility-of-summit-with-kim-jong-un/1661259.html#relatedInfoContainer Japan's prime minister has sent an envoy to Pyongyang. The reason is not immediately clear, but Tokyo has, for years, been trying to resolve cases of Japanese abducted over past decades by North Korean agents. A Japanese delegation led by an adviser to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe arrived in North Korea on Tuesday. Isao Iijima was met at Pyongyang airport by the vice director of the North Korean foreign ministry's Asian affairs department, Kim Choi Ho. A decade ago, Iijima was a top ... http://www.voanews.com/content/japan-envoy-arrives-in-nkorea-on-unannounced-visit/1660544.html http://www.voanews.com/content/japan-envoy-arrives-in-nkorea-on-unannounced-visit/1660544.html Tue, 14 May 2013 07:18:23 -0400 Asia Steve Herman (Seoul, South Korea) http://www.voanews.com/content/japan-envoy-arrives-in-nkorea-on-unannounced-visit/1660544.html#relatedInfoContainer South Korea's national railroad operator has initiated two new lines. They are intended to give passengers a chance to re-explore a scenic rural region whose glory faded amid the decline of the timber and coal industries.     If you are in a hurry, do not take South Korea's newest trains.   The electric four-coach O-Train, running four times daily, circles a five-hour 257-kilometer course with stops at 13 stations. The three-coach V-Train operates three ... http://www.voanews.com/content/s-koreas-newest-trains-take-the-tracks-less-traveled/1659953.html http://www.voanews.com/content/s-koreas-newest-trains-take-the-tracks-less-traveled/1659953.html Mon, 13 May 2013 09:12:53 -0400 Asia Steve Herman (Seoul, South Korea) http://www.voanews.com/content/s-koreas-newest-trains-take-the-tracks-less-traveled/1659953.html#relatedInfoContainer A scandal embroiling South Korean President Park Geun-hye's administration is threatening the jobs of some of her senior officials. South Korean President Park Geun-hye, in her first comment on the scandal involving her press office senior staff,  apologized Monday amid growing public outrage that could result in the ouster of additional senior Blue House staff.  The scandal overshadowed the conclusion of her official U.S. visit last week. The president is characterizing the ... http://www.voanews.com/content/south-korean-president-apologizes-for-scandal/1659793.html http://www.voanews.com/content/south-korean-president-apologizes-for-scandal/1659793.html Mon, 13 May 2013 05:27:52 -0400 Asia Steve Herman (Seoul, South Korea) http://www.voanews.com/content/south-korean-president-apologizes-for-scandal/1659793.html#relatedInfoContainer Less than three months in office, and during her first official visit to the United States, South Korea's president has suffered an embarrassing public misstep for her administration. On Thursday she fired her spokesman amid a police investigation in Washington that he acted inappropriately with an intern from the South Korean Embassy. South Korea's main opposition party is calling for President Park Geun-hye to personally apologize. Democratic Party spokesperson Bae Jae-jung says ... http://www.voanews.com/content/parks-us-tript-tainted-by-spokesmans-resignation/1658290.html http://www.voanews.com/content/parks-us-tript-tainted-by-spokesmans-resignation/1658290.html Fri, 10 May 2013 05:53:39 -0400 Asia Steve Herman (Seoul, South Korea) South Korean and U.S. naval forces are reported to have begun joint drills in waters off the Korean peninsula. South Korean defense officials are characterizing the latest military exercise as routine and purely defensive in nature.  North Korea does not view it that way. Referencing the maritime drills in the South, North Korea is calling on Seoul to stop “hostile acts and military provocations” to avoid a permanent closure of the now idled industrial zone at Kaesong, which is the two ... http://www.voanews.com/content/south-korea-us-joint-drills-shift-to-sea/1655169.html http://www.voanews.com/content/south-korea-us-joint-drills-shift-to-sea/1655169.html Mon, 06 May 2013 05:38:29 -0400 Asia Steve Herman (Seoul, South Korea) Police in South Korea prevented defectors from North Korea from launching balloons near the demilitarized zone Saturday.  North Korea, as it has in the past, threatened to retaliate if balloons floated across the border. The provocative action would have coincided with the eve of South Korean President Park Geun-hye's first official visit to the United States. A brief protest, with unfurled banners and expressions of outrage directed at North Korea, replaced a planned launch of ... http://www.voanews.com/content/south-korea-police-thwart-latest-attempt-to-launch-ballons-to-north/1654502.html http://www.voanews.com/content/south-korea-police-thwart-latest-attempt-to-launch-ballons-to-north/1654502.html Sat, 04 May 2013 06:32:42 -0400 Asia Steve Herman (Seoul, South Korea) http://www.voanews.com/content/south-korea-police-thwart-latest-attempt-to-launch-ballons-to-north/1654502.html#relatedInfoContainer South Korea's president, who took office in late February, begins her first official visit to Washington on Sunday. The trip is intended to enhance the economic and security relationship between the two allies.   On her six-day visit, President Park Geun-hye will be accompanied by what is billed as the largest-ever South Korean economic delegation to the United States.   Among the 51 business leaders: the chairman of the Samsung Electronics conglomerate and the chiefs of the ... http://www.voanews.com/content/us-south-korea-summit-to-focus-on-security-economic-ties/1653729.html http://www.voanews.com/content/us-south-korea-summit-to-focus-on-security-economic-ties/1653729.html Fri, 03 May 2013 07:45:35 -0400 Asia Steve Herman (Seoul, South Korea) North Korea says an American citizen arrested last year has been sentenced to 15 years of hard labor after being convicted of hostile acts against the reclusive state. In a terse three-sentence dispatch, the official Korean Central News Agency said Thursday that Pae Jun-ho, known as Kenneth Bae in the United States, was convicted by the country's supreme court, Tuesday. According to KCNA, Bae was arrested November 3, 2012 while “committing hostile acts” after entering Rason City as a ... http://www.voanews.com/content/nkorea-sentences-american-to-15-years-hard-labor/1652935.html http://www.voanews.com/content/nkorea-sentences-american-to-15-years-hard-labor/1652935.html Thu, 02 May 2013 03:31:49 -0400 Asia Steve Herman (Seoul, South Korea) http://www.voanews.com/content/nkorea-sentences-american-to-15-years-hard-labor/1652935.html#relatedInfoContainer South Korea's government says the last seven of its citizens remaining at the Kaesong joint venture complex in North Korea are there voluntarily to handle unresolved issues. Officials in Seoul say the five members of the management committee and two telecommunications workers decided to stay at Kaesong after 43 other South Koreans returned home. A Unification Ministry spokesperson says any characterization that the South Koreans are staying in the North against their will is not ... http://www.voanews.com/content/seoul-window-of-dialogue-still-open-on-kaesong-complex/1651472.html http://www.voanews.com/content/seoul-window-of-dialogue-still-open-on-kaesong-complex/1651472.html Tue, 30 Apr 2013 04:03:56 -0400 Asia Steve Herman (Seoul, South Korea) http://www.voanews.com/content/seoul-window-of-dialogue-still-open-on-kaesong-complex/1651472.html#relatedInfoContainer All but seven of the remaining South Korean workers at the only joint venture with the North have returned home late Monday. Forty-three of the last 50 South Korean workers at the Kaesong industrial complex were given permission by North Korea to cross the border back into the South and have done so. The Unification Ministry in Seoul says five personnel, including the chairman of the Kaesong Industrial Development Management Committee, plus two telecommunications company employees will ... http://www.voanews.com/content/south-korea-says-it-is-finalizing-removal-of-nationals-from-kaesong/1650814.html http://www.voanews.com/content/south-korea-says-it-is-finalizing-removal-of-nationals-from-kaesong/1650814.html Mon, 29 Apr 2013 09:24:56 -0400 Asia Steve Herman (Seoul, South Korea) http://www.voanews.com/content/south-korea-says-it-is-finalizing-removal-of-nationals-from-kaesong/1650814.html#relatedInfoContainer The only remaining economic link between the two Koreas, already on the edge of falling apart, further frazzled on Friday. South Korea is recommending its remaining citizens at the idled Kaesong industrial complex in the North return home.   The top government official in Seoul charged with handling North-South relations said the time has come for South Koreans remaining at the Kaesong factory zone to return home.   Unification Minister Ryoo Kihl-jae said the government has made an ... http://www.voanews.com/content/north-korea-rejects-dialogue-with-south/1649257.html http://www.voanews.com/content/north-korea-rejects-dialogue-with-south/1649257.html Fri, 26 Apr 2013 02:50:47 -0400 Asia Steve Herman (Seoul, South Korea) http://www.voanews.com/content/north-korea-rejects-dialogue-with-south/1649257.html#relatedInfoContainer South Korea is offering to hold official talks with North Korea over the fate of their only remaining joint venture project, which has been suspended since earlier this month.  The North has little time to respond, and the offer is unlikely to lead to an agreement. The cabinet ministry in the South responsible for dealing with the North has put forward a proposal for dialogue on the Kaesong industrial complex, but on the condition it be accepted by noon Friday. Unification Ministry ... http://www.voanews.com/content/skorea-offers-north-talks-over-joint-complex/1648479.html http://www.voanews.com/content/skorea-offers-north-talks-over-joint-complex/1648479.html Thu, 25 Apr 2013 02:32:07 -0400 Asia Steve Herman (Seoul, South Korea) Japan's 'Golden Week' holiday period is about to begin. Normally this is a time for the tourism industry in neighboring South Korea to celebrate.  It is a primary destination for vacationing Japanese. But travel reservations indicate a significant downturn this year. Bookings for Japanese to visit South Korea between this Friday and May 6, are 11 percent lower than last year, according to a survey by the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry. For a decade, the travel ... http://www.voanews.com/content/japans-golden-week-loses-luster-for-south-korean-travel-industry/1647786.html http://www.voanews.com/content/japans-golden-week-loses-luster-for-south-korean-travel-industry/1647786.html Wed, 24 Apr 2013 06:35:45 -0400 Asia Steve Herman (Seoul, South Korea) http://www.voanews.com/content/japans-golden-week-loses-luster-for-south-korean-travel-industry/1647786.html#relatedInfoContainer At a time of heightened tension on the Korean peninsula, South Korea's government says its defense minister has been targeted in what it is calling an attempted act of “terror.” South Korean officials say they are taking seriously a parcel containing a threatening letter sent to Minister of National Defense Kim Kwan-jin. The letter, which was sent with a white powder that turned out to be flour, threatens the defense chief with unspecified punishment if he harms the dignity of North ... http://www.voanews.com/content/south-korea-claims-defense-minister-target-of-terror-attempt/1646956.html http://www.voanews.com/content/south-korea-claims-defense-minister-target-of-terror-attempt/1646956.html Tue, 23 Apr 2013 05:02:43 -0400 Asia Steve Herman (Seoul, South Korea) http://www.voanews.com/content/south-korea-claims-defense-minister-target-of-terror-attempt/1646956.html#relatedInfoContainer Japan's neighbors are reacting angrily to visits by cabinet ministers in Tokyo to a controversial war shrine.   South Korea's foreign minister, Yun Byung-se, has canceled a trip to Tokyo that had been set for this week.   Foreign Ministry spokesman Cho Tai-young said South Korea expresses “deep concern and regret” over the recent visits by Japanese officials to a Shinto shrine in Tokyo.   Cho said the Yasukuni shrine “glorifies an invasion that inflicted great loss and ... http://www.voanews.com/content/japanese-ministers-war-shrine-visit-upsets-neighbors/1646178.html http://www.voanews.com/content/japanese-ministers-war-shrine-visit-upsets-neighbors/1646178.html Mon, 22 Apr 2013 05:04:10 -0400 Asia Steve Herman (Seoul, South Korea) http://www.voanews.com/content/japanese-ministers-war-shrine-visit-upsets-neighbors/1646178.html#relatedInfoContainer The tense situation on the Korean peninsula may be the world’s most urgent security challenge. However, unlike threats from Iran or Syria’s civil war, the Korean situation has been unresolved for more than 60 years. The conflict's most recognized flashpoint is Panmunjom in the Korean DMZ (demilitarized zone). The division of North and South Korea has spanned seven decades. Neither side recognizes the other diplomatically and both claim the entire peninsula. The peninsula is divided ... http://www.voanews.com/content/tense-standoff-continues-for-60th-year-in-korean-dmz/1644316.html http://www.voanews.com/content/tense-standoff-continues-for-60th-year-in-korean-dmz/1644316.html Thu, 18 Apr 2013 14:08:27 -0400 Asia Steve Herman (Seoul, South Korea) http://www.voanews.com/content/tense-standoff-continues-for-60th-year-in-korean-dmz/1644316.html#relatedInfoContainer