Free Republic

Last week, the US sought from North Korea the return of the navy ship USS Pueblo which they seized on January 23, 1968. The House passed a resolution to get the vessel back after 55 years. The US has maintained its position in the matter, terming the decision to seize the ship and its crew illegal as per international law, highlighting the vessel is the property of the US, and they want it to be returned. Meanwhile, in a report published by Rodong Sinmun, North Korea’s official newspaper, the country has vowed to wipe out the US land, not just...

South Korea’s President Yoon Suk-yeol said that Tesla would get “tailored” incentives if it decides to establish its next gigafactory in the country. Elon Musk recently noted that South Korea was a top candidate for the next Tesla gigafactory location. “If Tesla, SpaceX or other companies are considering more investment in [South] Korea, including constructing a gigafactory, the government will do our best to support the investment,” President Yoon told Reuters. President Yoon also provided a brief overview of the advantages Tesla would have if it chose to build in South Korea. “We are preparing a tailored approach to grant...

Israeli jets have reportedly targeted a suspected chemical weapons factory in western Syria. The Syrian National Army said four IAF warplanes hit a military site in Hama province, near Masyaf, in the early hours of Thursday morning, killing two soldiers and causing massive damage. It is believed the site was linked to the sarin gas attack in April, which UN investigators said was the work of the Syrian government. The UN confirmed the chemical attacks in Khan Sheikhoun, which resulted in the deaths of dozens of civilians and prompted a US missile attack, were perpetrated by Assad regime forces. Israel...

China has placed military forces on heightened alert in the northeastern part of the country as tensions mount on the Korean peninsula following recent threats by Pyongyang to attack, U.S. officials said. Reports from the region reveal the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) recently increased its military posture in response to the heightened tensions, specifically North Korea’s declaration of a “state of war” and threats to conduct missile attacks against the United States and South Korea. According to the officials, the PLA has stepped up military mobilization in the border region with North Korea since mid-March, including troop movements and...

SEOUL — South Korea and Japan scrambled to interpret the fallout from a North Korean rocket launch Sunday that the regime said placed a satellite into orbit – a claim contradicted by both Washington and Seoul. National security officials met in separate meetings in Tokyo and Seoul, where anti-Pyongyang demonstrators clashed with police for the second time in three days – this time burning a missile replica and a photograph of North Korean leader Kim Jong Il. Within hours after the three-stage rocket lifted off from North Korea's Musudan-ri launch facility at 11:20 a.m., the state-run North Korean press agency...

WASHINGTON, March 4 (Yonhap) -- North Korea may conduct a second nuclear test in the near future to increase its bargaining power in negotiating with the United States, a private think tank said Wednesday. "The new administration and Congress should not be surprised if Pyongyang precipitates a crisis, perhaps in the near term, to elevate its importance in a crowded U.S. foreign policy agenda," the Seattle-based National Bureau of Asian Research said in a report titled "Shock of the New: Congress and Asia in 2009." "Such a crisis could include a second nuclear test or escalation of military tension with...

TAEGU, South Korea, Jan 26 (Reuters) - One of the last two German nuns who endured years in communist North Korean camps was buried on Wednesday after a service attended by deaf-mute people she helped during more than six decades on the peninsula. Sister Caritas died unexpectedly but peacefully on Monday whispering "Guardian angel, guardian angel", the head of her priory, Sister Gertrude, told Reuters. Sister Caritas was 91. Her story spans Hitler's Germany, Japanese colonial rule, World War Two, the communist take-over and Russian presence, the Korean War, brief exile and a return to the ruins of the U.S.-backed...