Seoul: South Korea urges North Korea yesterday to accept its offer of holding reunions of families separated after the Korean War, calling it a first step toward improving inter-Korean relations.
“We urge North Korea to show a sincere attitude toward our offer,” unification ministry spokesman Kim Eui-do told reporters.
The statement came a day after North Korea rejected South Korea’s proposal to hold family reunions around the Lunar New Year later this month.
Ex-officer jailed for spying
TAIPEI: A former Taiwanese air force officer was sentenced to life in prison for spying for China, a court said yesterday, adding to a string of spying scandals in recent years.
Lieutenant Colonel Yuan Hsiao-feng was convicted on 12 accounts of leaking confidential military information to China between 2003 and 2007, the supreme court said.
Yuan handed the secrets to China via retired colleague Chen Wen-jen, who was recruited by Beijing after he went there to do business. Chen received a 20-year jail term for his involvement in the case, according to the court.
China punishes 48 in leak blast
BEIJING: China has punished 48 people, including the chairman of Asia’s top refiner, for one of the country’s worst industrial disasters last year that killed 62 people, state news agency Xinhua said yesterday.
The blast at the eastern oil hub of Qingdao in November was China Petroleum & Chemical Corp’s (Sinopec) deadliest known accident.
China’s cabinet, or State Council, has agreed to “discipline” 48 people, including Sinopec Chairman Fu Chengyu and the mayor of Qingdao, Zhang Xinchao, over the oil pipeline explosion, according to Xinhua’s microblog.
Agencies
