Latest Yonhap Stories

Text of report in English by South Korean news agency Yonhap NEW YORK, Sept. 11 (Yonhap) - North Korean diplomats here on Wednesday described as nonsense media speculation over their leader Kim Jong Il [Kim Cho'ng-il]'s health problems. South Korean intelligence officials said Kim had suffered either a stroke or cerebral haemorrhage but is recovering. Kim has not been seen in public since Aug. 14 when he reportedly inspected a military unit in North Korea. His absence from a crucial...

NORTH Korean leader Kim Jong Il is alive but seriously ill, a news report said today, amid mounting speculation over the leader's health after he missed a key national ceremony. South Korea's Yonhap news agency cited an unidentified South Korean government official as saying Mr Kim appeared to have "collapsed", a Korean term which is used when a person becomes suddenly ill due to causes including a stroke. The official stressed Mr Kim has not died, Yonhap said. The report gave no further...

Text of report in English by South Korean news agency Yonhap SEOUL, Sept. 10 (Yonhap) - KT Corp., South Korea's largest fixed- line operator, said Wednesday it has forged a tentative deal with a Japanese telecom company to cooperate in the development of cross- border roaming technology to be used in wireless-broadband connection technology.The memorandum of understanding signed with Japan's UQ Communications Inc. in Tokyo earlier in the day calls for joint efforts in developing platforms...

Text of report in English by South Korean news agency Yonhap SEOUL, Sept. 10 (Yonhap) - Three South Korean telecom companies are scheduled to begin providing television programmes over high- speed Internet connections in a trial run, the nations's telecommunications regulator said Wednesday. The companies - KT Corp., Hanarotelecom Inc and LG Dacom Corp. - will begin the trial run of their Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) services, channelled through broadband connections, starting next...

Text of report in English by South Korean news agency Yonhap SEOUL, Sept. 10 (Yonhap) - North Korean leader Kim Jong Il [Kim Cho'ng-il], who has not been seen in public since late last month, suffered a cerebral hemorrhage but is recovering, a South Korean lawmaker said Wednesday, spurning widespread speculation that the communist leader may be seriously ill. "During a parliamentary session, the intelligence agency reported that Kim's condition is such that he can recover," Won Hye-young,...

Text of report in English by South Korean news agency Yonhap SEOUL, Sept. 10 (Yonhap) - A North Korean diplomat denied Wednesday [ 10 September] the communist state's leader Kim Jong Il [Kim Cho'ng-il] has fallen sick, Japan's Kyodo news agency reported. "We see such reports as not only worthless, but rather as a conspiracy plot," North Korea's ambassador for normalization talks with Japan, Song Il-ho, was quoted as saying by Kyodo. The comment came just moments after a South Korean...

Text of report in English by South Korean news agency Yonhap SEOUL, Sept. 9 (Yonhap) - North Korea marked its 60th founding anniversary Tuesday [ 9 September] with a call for stronger solidarity among its people and a vow to strengthen the military. "With a strong political and ideological base and unity that is mightier than a nuclear weapon, our republic is demonstrating self- reliance on the international stage without yielding to military attack, political and diplomatic pressure,...

Text of report in English by South Korean news agency Yonhap Seoul, Sept. 7 (Yonhap) - The government said Sunday that it will improve the allocation process of state funds for resources development that has been criticized for favouring public companies. The Ministry of Knowledge Economy said the role of the present foreign resources development financing committee will be turned over to a new consultation panel in 2009. It said the current committee system included experts from state-...

Text of report in English by South Korean news agency Yonhap [Yonhap headline: "S. Korean Coast Guard Seize Chinese Fishing Boats Bear Jeju"] JEJU, South Korea, Sept. 6 (Yonhap) - The Jeju [Cheju] Coast Guard said Saturday it has seized five Chinese fishing boats caught poaching in South Korea's exclusive economic zone (EEZ). The Chinese vessels were caught fishing before dawn and were all inside South Korea's EEZ. Authorities said they were seized 160 kilometres west of Chagwi Island and...

Text of report in English by South Korean news agency Yonhap [Updated version: Updates throughout with start of meetings in Beijing; changes dateline per 0846 gmt source update; By Lee Ji- dong: "Envoys To Discuss Pyongyang's Nuclear Resumption"] BEIJING/SEOUL, Sept. 5 (Yonhap) - Nuclear envoys began a flurry of meetings in Beijing on Friday to discuss ways of dealing with Pyongyang's move to restart its reactor and find a breakthrough on how to verify the secretive regime's nuclear...