By Adam Ashton The News Tribune TACOMA, Wash. (AP) – As a boy, Albert Paffenroth Jr. walked to the edge of a fence around the runway at Johnson Air Force Base in Japan to watch his dad and other pilots lift into the sky in their B-26 bombers. Almost 70 years later, Paffenroth is trying […]
South Korea, Japan settle deal on wartime Korean sex slaves
By Hyung-Jin Kim and Foster Klug Associated Press SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — The foreign ministers of South Korea and Japan on Monday reached a deal meant to resolve a decades-long impasse over Korean women forced into Japanese military-run brothels during World War II, an important breakthrough for the Northeast Asian powers. The deal, which […]
In S. Korea, a town of Kims — and an unusual shared history
By Hyung-Jim Kim Associated Press NONSAN, South Korea (AP) — Many of his students are Kims. So are his fellow teachers, an elementary school alumnus and the owners of restaurants and pubs that he patronizes in his small farming village. Lots of Kims in his neighborhood, too. Such is everyday life for Kim Sun Won, […]
Tearful cross-border reunion may be last for elderly Koreans
By Kim Tong-Hyung Associated Press SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — A 98-year-old South Korean man cried loudly and repeatedly buried his face in a handkerchief as his elderly North Korean son, who last saw his father as a 5-year-old, watched calmly from across the table. Meanwhile, an 88-year-old South Korean woman sobbed uncontrollably as she […]
Women’s walk across Koreas’ DMZ denied; they cross by bus
By Eric Talmadge Associated Press DORASAN STATION, South Korea (AP) — Female activists including Gloria Steinem and two Nobel Peace laureates were denied an attempt to walk across the Demilitarized Zone dividing North and South Korea on Sunday, but were allowed to cross by bus and complete what one of them called a landmark event. […]
Kerry says no apology to North Korea to free Americans
By Matthew Pennington Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Secretary of State John Kerry on Friday urged North Korea to release two detained Americans to build goodwill with the United States, but ruled out providing a U.S. apology to Pyongyang to win their freedom.
North Korea says it’s holding a third American prisoner
By Hyung-Jin Kim Associated Press North Korea said on June 6 it has detained an American tourist for committing an unspecified crime, the third U.S. citizen being held there.
Kim pleads guilty of leaking to Fox News
Former senior adviser Stephen Kim agreed to a 13-month sentence in the case stemming from a report on North Korea’s military that he leaked to Fox News. By Frederic J. Frommera By Associated Press WASHINGTON — A U.S. State Department expert on North Korea pleaded guilty Feb. 7 to passing classified information to a journalist. […]
S Korea hoists national f lag in Pyongyang
By Staff The Associated Press PYONGYANG, North Korea (AP) — South Korean weightlifters marched with their national flag at the start of an international competition hosted by bitter rival North Korea — something of a milestone for two countries that were trading war threats this spring. It’s the first time South Korean athletes have attended […]
Koreas agree to family talks
By Hyung-Jin Kim The Associated Press SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea on Sunday accepted a South Korean offer for talks on reuniting families separated by war, but proposed separate talks on resuming lucrative tours to a scenic North Korean mountain in an apparent effort to link the two discussions.