North Korean military leader and confidant of leader Kim Jong Il dies of heart ailment

Confidant of North Korea's Kim Jong Il dies
FILE -- In this Oct. 10, 2000 file photo released by the White House, then... Seoul, South Korea (AP) - Jo Myong Rok, a longtime confidant of North Korean leader Kim Jong Il who traveled to Washington in 2000 on a then unprecedented goodwill mission, has died. He was 82. Jo—who had served as first vice chairman of the North's powerful National Defense Commission since 1998—died Saturday of inveterate heart disease, the official Korean Central News Agency reported in a dispatch from Py...

Confidant of North Korea's Kim Jong Il dies
SEOUL, South Korea -- Jo Myong Rok, a longtime confidant of North Korean leader Kim Jong Il who traveled to Washington in 2000 on a then unprecedented goodwill mission, has died. He was 82. Jo - who had served as first vice chairman of the North's powerful National Defense Commission since 1998 - died Saturday of inveterate Heart Disease, the official Korean Central News Agency reported in a dispatch from Pyongyang. "His death is a great loss to the party, The Army and people of (North Korea) w...

Confidant of North Korea's Kim Jong Il dies
FILE -- In this Oct. 10, 2000 file photo released by the White House, then... Seoul, South Korea (AP) - Jo Myong Rok, a longtime confidant of North Korean leader Kim Jong Il who traveled to Washington in 2000 on a then unprecedented goodwill mission, has died. He was 82. Jo—who had served as first vice chairman of the North's powerful National Defense Commission since 1998—died Saturday of inveterate heart disease, the official Korean Central News Agency reported in a dispatch from Py...

3RD LD: N. Korea's No. 2 military leader Jo dies of heart disease+
BEIJING, Nov. 7 (AP) - (Kyodo)—(EDS: MORE INFO) North Korea's No. 2 Military leader Jo Myong Rok, who promoted leader Kim Jong Il's "Songun" Military-first politics, died Saturday of chronic Heart Disease, the North's official Korean Central News Agency reported. He was 82. A vice marshal of the Korean People's Army, Jo served as a member of the Presidium of the Political Bureau of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea, first as vice chairman of the National Defense Commission and then as di...

Top North Korean official dies
Published: Nov. 7, 2010 at 3:00 PM Pyongyang, North Korea, Nov. 7 (UPI) -- A North Korean peasant who worked his way through army and party posts to become one of the top state officials has died, China's official news agency said. Jo Myong Rok, 82, died Saturday of "inveterate Heart Disease," the news agency Xinhua reported Sunday. Born in 1928, Jo flew for North Korea during the Korean War and went on to become squadron commander, group commander and divisional commander of an Air unit before ...

Powerful N.Korean politician dies: state media
Jo Myong-Rok, one of North Korea's Most Powerful leaders, has died aged 82, State media reported Sunday. Jo, who had been near the centre of power in the reclusive Communist State for three decades, died of "an inveterate Heart Disease" at 10:30 am (0130 GMT) Saturday, the official KCNA news agency said. He was first vice-chairman of the militaristic state's all-powerful National Defence Commission and had led an official delegation to the United States in 2000. Advertisement: Story continues ...

Powerful N.Korean politician dies: state media
Jo Myong-Rok, one of North Korea's Most Powerful leaders, has died aged 82, State media reported Sunday. Jo, who had been near the centre of power in the reclusive Communist State for three decades, died of "an inveterate Heart Disease" at 10:30 am (0130 GMT) Saturday, the official KCNA news agency said. He was first vice-chairman of the militaristic state's all-powerful National Defence Commission and had led an official delegation to the United States in 2000. Jo was born into a poor peasan...

The Man Who Exposed North Korea's False God
News of his death undoubtedly generated mixed emotions among North Koreans. There was euphoria that one who had caused North Korea to lose face 13 years earlier was dead, but there was also anger, as Father Time denied them the opportunity to regain face by assassinating him. Hwang Jong Yop, 87, died alone in his Seoul apartment on October 10th, his body discovered in the bathtub. Appearing to have succumbed to a Heart Attack, an Autopsy will be performed to verify his cause of death, since he ...

Powerful N.Korean politician dies: state media
Jo Myong-Rok, one of North Korea's Most Powerful leaders, has died aged 82, State media reported Sunday. Jo, who had been near the centre of power in the reclusive Communist State for three decades, died of "an inveterate Heart Disease" at 10:30 am (0130 GMT) Saturday, the official KCNA news agency said. He was first vice-chairman of the militaristic state's all-powerful National Defence Commission and had led an official delegation to the United States in 2000. Jo was born into a poor peasan...

Leading Korean military figure dies
Jo Myong Rok, Vice Marshal of the Korean People's Army, died Saturday at 82 years old, according to state-run KCNA news. The leading Military figure died of Heart Disease Saturday morning in North Korea, KCNA's report said. He played an active role in the Worker's Party Korea as well as the Military and was loyal to North Korea's leader Kim Jong Il. ...

Workers, citizens rally against G-20 in SKorea
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Thousands of people chanted anti-globalization slogans in South Korea’s capital Sunday to Protest this week’s Group of 20 summit. Part of the crowd attempted to march down nearby streets but were stopped by Riot Police, who fired Pepper Spray. The Protesters sang, danced and waved signs reading “We oppose the G-20″ at a large plaza near Seoul City Hall. South Korea is hosting a gathering of leaders from the G-20 advanced and developing econ...

Obama sets Japan, S.Korea on duel of definitions
US President Barack Obama addresses Students at St. Xavier's College in Mum... US President Barack Obama is certain to heap praise on South Korea and Japan as he attends back-to-back summits but some experts see a subtle shift as he views Seoul as the more dynamic ally. In separate remarks this year that made Diplomats run to their thesauruses, Obama called South Korea "the linchpin" of regional security and Japan "one of the cornerstones" of security throughout the world. The distinction may ...

Activists in South Korea rally against G-20 summit; police fire pepper spray
Seoul, South Korea — Thousands of people chanted anti-globalization slogans in South Korea's capital Sunday to Protest this week's Group of 20 summit. Part of the crowd attempted to march down nearby streets but were stopped by Riot Police, who fired Pepper Spray. The Protesters sang, danced and waved signs reading "We oppose the G-20" at a large plaza near Seoul City Hall. South Korea is hosting a gathering of leaders from the G-20 advanced and developing economies on Thursday and Frid...

North Korea Fires On The South
The South Korean Navy fired 10 warning shots at a North Korean fishing boat to drive it away from at a maritime border on Wednesday, November 3, reports Reuters. A Military officer said the boat ignored repeated loudspeaker warnings as it entered the area where the ROK Cheonan was sunk earlier this year. It is not known why the vessel crossed the border and was in Southern territory for more than two hours. This marks the first time in 7 years that South Korea has fired on a Northern ship. The i...

Thousands protest in Seoul before G20 summit
Seoul | Sun Nov 7, 2010 9:35am EST Seoul (Reuters) - Tens of thousands of people took to the streets of Seoul on Sunday in a largely peaceful Protest against this week's G20 summit as the city went on heightened alert for the meeting of world leaders. Authorities ramped up security at the weekend in preparation for the arrival of 10,000 participants, including 32 heads of government and leaders of international organizations, for the summit on Thursday and Friday. South Korea is concerned abo...

Klug named Seoul news editor for AP; Pennington to cover U.S.-Asia relations from Washington
NEW YORK — Foster Klug, a reporter who has covered U.S.-Asia relations for The Associated Press in Washington, has been named the AP's news editor in Seoul, South Korea. The appointment was announced Friday by Senior Managing Editor John Daniszewski, who oversees international news. Daniszewski also announced that Matthew Pennington, who has worked in Asia has a bureau chief, reporter and editor, will replace Klug in Washington. Klug, 37, will report to Jean H. Lee, the Seoul chief of b...

Thousands protest in Seoul before G20 summit
Authorities ramped up security at the weekend in preparation for the arrival of 10,000 participants, including 32 heads of government and leaders of international organizations, for the summit on Thursday and Friday. South Korea is concerned about the risk of violent anti-capitalist Protests -- a common feature of summits involving the world's leading economies -- and anxious its rival North Korea may try to stage an incident to embarrass it. Security Forces have been put on high alert, anti-ai...

Fire the Media
The Giant has awakened. The American voter just threw the bums out of Congress --- not enough of them, but a very good start. The crucial question today is: Will the Giant just turn over and go back to sleep? It's happened before. After Ronald Reagan and the Cold War, the Giant turned over, sighed deeply, and fell back asleep. We figured everybody got the idea, because it was obvious who won on the merits of the case for human happiness and genuine progress, after seventy years of Soviet Imper...

South Korean Military's Ban on 'Subversive' Books Upheld
In the South Korean army, some writings of the American leftist Noam Chomsky are, literally, forbidden. Last week, South Korea's Constitutional Court upheld a Controversial ban on 23 books that service members, under Military regulations, cannot read or keep on bases. Army lawyers argued that the prohibition was a fair interpretation of the Military's disciplinary code, because the literature in question sympathizes with Communist North Korea and criticizes the Economic systems of South Korea ...

Myanmar holds first election in 20 years, but results are preordained
Reporting from Yangon, Myanmar — Myanmar held its first multiparty election in 20 years Sunday, as citizens chose among lions, peacocks, bamboo hats, eyeglasses and other party symbols in a carefully scripted contest unlikely to bring about significant change anytime soon. While there was no immediate announcement of the results from Myanmar, also known as Burma, the outcome was never in question. Get dispatches from Times correspondents around the globe delivered to your inbox with our...

Obama heads to Asia, hopes to deliver on jobs
By Patricia Zengerle Washington | Fri Nov 5, 2010 10:15am EDT Washington (Reuters) - President Barack Obama leaves on Friday on a trip to Asia he hopes will lead to more U.S. exports and Jobs, three days after his Democratic Party sustained big election losses tied to the weak economy. Obama will visit India, Indonesia, South Korea and Japan on a 10-day trek blending Trade talk and other economic Diplomacy with assurances to Asian allies worried by an increasingly assertive China. In India, O...

Syria risks IAEA action over suspected atom site: U.S.
By Fredrik Dahl VIENNA | Fri Nov 5, 2010 2:55pm EDT VIENNA (Reuters) - The United States warned Syria on Friday it may face action by governors of the U.N. Nuclear Watchdog if Damascus fails to give its inspectors access to the remains of a suspected Nuclear site in the desert. It has been over two years since the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) was allowed to visit the Dair Alzour site in Syria where secret Nuclear activity may have taken place before it was bombed to rubble by Isr...

Bear in mind
South Korea gets to parade its credentials as an emerging World power this week with its hosting of the G20 summit meeting in Seoul. But Animal Rights campaigners hope to use the occasion to highlight something that they say undermines the country's modern image - the farming of Bears for their bile. Asiatic Black Bears, native to much of Asia, are sometimes called moon Bears because of the crescent shaped markings on their chests. They find themselves in cages because of the demand for the...

Iraq in deal with South Korean group for 500,000 homes
The deal could have a possible total value of $25 Billion, according to previous information from the commission stating that each housing unit was expected to cost $50,000. The group includes Hyundai, SK and POSCO (005490.KS), the media office of the National Investment Commission said. "The head of the Investment Commission, Sami al-Araji, has signed in Seoul an MOU with the globally known South Korean Trac organization to build 500,000 housing units all over Iraq," a statement said. The fina...

Somali pirates release South Korean tanker
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - Somali Pirates have freed a hijacked South Korean-operated supertanker and its 24 crew after seven months of captivity, officials said Sunday amid reports that a record ransom was paid. The Samho Dream was sailing toward a safe third country under the escort of a South Korean destroyer after being released Saturday, the South Korean Foreign Ministry said in a statement. Its 24 crew—five South Koreans and 19 Filipinos—were all safe, Ministry officials said. T...