HMS Astute, the first of the biggest ever hunter-killer submarines to be ordered by Britain’s Royal Navy, sails into the River Clyde and up the Gareloch to her new home at HM Naval Base Clyde in Faslane near Glasgow, Scotland in this file picture of November 20, 2009.
A Royal Navy sailor appeared in court today accused of shooting dead a colleague and of the attempted murders of three other crew on board a nuclear-powered submarine.
Ryan Donovan, 22, Dartford, Kent, spoke only to confirm his name, age and address during the short hearing at Southampton Magistrates' Court.
Donovan has been charged with killing Lieutenant Commander Ian Molyneux, 36, who was fatally shot on board HMS Astute while it was docked in Southampton on Friday.
A South Korean Army soldier walks up steps of a guard post near the demilitarised zone separating the two Koreas in Paju, north of Seoul, on December 22, 2010.
South Korea announced land and sea military exercises yesterday including its largest-ever live-fire drill near North Korea just as tension on the peninsula was beginning to ease after Pyongyang’s attack on a southern island.
The land drill, involving three dozen mobile artillery guns, six fighter jets, multiple launch rocket systems and 800 troops, the largest number of personnel in a single peace-time exercise, will take place on Thursday and is likely irritate the North.
The scale of the drill and the timing, coming right after the tensely staged a live-fire exercise on Monday, indicate South Korea’s conservative President Lee Myung-bak sees more political mileage in taking a tough military stance rather than reverting to dialogue, despite overtures from Pyongyang.
South Korea has staged a dramatic military re-enactment to mark the 60th anniversary of one of the most important battles of the Korean War.
Around 14,000 people took part in the event, which involved ships, aircraft and soldiers from South Korea, Australia and the United States, at the coastal city of Incheon.
The re-enactment of the Incheon Landing took place despite protests from North Korea that the original landing was a 'crime committed with the aims of bringing down the Korean people'.
A North Korea state newspaper said the ceremony was planned to deliberately provoke Pyongyang and showed its enemies' 'ambition for invasion... remains unchanged though over half a century has passed'.
The rapid amphibious invasion was followed by a bloody 11-day advance in Seoul, with U.S General Edward Almond eventually declaring the city liberated on September 25 1950
China said today it had used a small, manned submarine to plant the national flag deep beneath the South China Sea, where Beijing has tussled with Washington and Southeast Asian nations over territorial disputes.
The submarine achieved the feat during 17 dives from May to July, when it went as deep as 3,759m below the South China Sea, the official China News Service said, citing the Ministry of Science and Technology and State Oceanic Administration.
Chinese news reports did not say where the submarine went, whether it visited disputed waters, or why the announcement was held off until now. It was the first time a Chinese submersible vehicle has gone that deep, said the reports.
Paramilitary police salute during a flag raising ceremony at Beijing's Tiananmen Square September 30, 2009.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-il visited China early today, South Korea’s Yonhap news agency reported, citing a government source.
The purpose of his visit was not immediately clear.
Kim, who suffered a stroke in 2008, visited China in May when he met President Hu Jintao.
“There are signs Kim Jong-il has made a visit to China,” Yonhap said, quoting a high-ranking South Korean official. “Exact purpose or destination of the visit is being figured out.”
China’s foreign ministry had no immediate comment on his reported visit. South Korea’s foreign ministry declined comment
"A key element of our strategy is to strengthen regional and global institutions," Hillary Clinton said
July 23 (Bloomberg) -- Secretary of State Hillary Clinton denounced North Korean aggression and urged Myanmar to make its first elections in two decades more democratic.
From left, U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and South Korean Foreign Minister Yu Myung-Hwan, participate in a wreath laying ceremony at the Korean War Memorial, on Wednesday, July 21, 2010 in Seoul, South Korea. Secretary Gates and Secretary Clinton are participating in talks with their Korean counter parts and South Korean President Lee Myung-Bak.
WASHINGTON — Tightening the screws on North Korea, the Obama administration said Wednesday it would expand and strengthen sanctions against the isolated regime and its nuclear weapons program, a tactic which in the past has been undercut by North Korea's knack for finding loopholes and escape hatches.
North Korean Foreign Minister Pak Ui Chun, center, surrounded by Vietnamese security staff, gets in a limousine to leave the main venue of the ASEAN Regional Forum in Hanoi, Vietnam Thursday, July 22, 2010. The North Korea's top diplomat will be on a damage control mission this week at an Asian security meeting, pleading innocent to the sinking of a South Korean warship that killed 46 sailors and has been widely blamed on Pyongyang, an analyst said Wednesday
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, left, meets with Vietnamese officials at the Government Guest House in Hanoi, Vietnam, Thursday, July 22, 2010. Clinton is in the Vietnamese capital to attend the Association of Southeast Asian Nations Regional Forum on security
HANOI, Vietnam — North Korea on Thursday warned the United States that imposing fresh sanctions and holding military drills with South Korea this weekend will endanger the entire region and destroy hopes for a nuke-free Korean peninsula.
North Korean soldiers look at South Korea from their observation post at the border village of the Panmunjom, South Korea, Wednesday, June 9, 2010. North Korea threatened to retaliate against South Korea for taking it to the U.N. Security Council over the deadly sinking of a warship, calling the action an "intolerable provocation."
North Korean workers walk by a North Korean soldier at the border village of the Panmunjom, South Korea, Wednesday, June 9, 2010. North Korea threatened to retaliate against South Korea for taking it to the U.N. Security Council over the deadly sinking of a warship, calling the action an "intolerable provocation."
North Korea sent the U.N. Security Council a letter warning the world body to not even open debate on the deadly sinking of a South Korean warship blamed on Pyongyang, state media reported Wednesday.
South Korea last week officially asked the U.N. Security Council to punish North Korea, after an international investigation said a North torpedo attack sunk a South ship in March, killing 46 sailors. North Korea flatly denies responsibility and says any punishment would trigger war.
South Korea Wednesday approved two aid shipments of baby formula to North Korea despite rising tensions over the sinking of one of Seoul's warships.
The unification ministry, which must authorise all cross-border exchanges, said the shipments from private groups of milk and other items totalling 320,000 dollars would be sent late this month.
Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates, center, Japan's Minister of Defense Toshimi Kitazawa, right, and South Korean Defense Minister Kim Tae Young, shake hands during the Shangri-La Dialogue's Asia Security Summit in Singapore, Saturday, June 5, 2010.
Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates, left, shakes hands Japan's Minister of Defense, Toshimi Kitazawa, during the Shangri-La Dialogue's Asia Security Summit in Singapore, Saturday, June 5, 2010.
The Chinese military's deputy chief of staff, General Ma Xiaotian, listens as Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates delivers remarks during the first plenary session at the Shangri-La Dialogue's Asia Security Summit in Singapore, Saturday, June 5, 2010.
U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates challenged China to deal realistically with the short-term question of how to respond to an antagonistic North Korea and the longer-term issue of whether Beijing's expanding military can establish more durable ties with the U.S.
Asian nations cannot stand by in the face of North Korea's alleged sinking of a South Korean warship, Gates said during an international security summit Saturday that was dominated by questions about the North.
"To do nothing would set the wrong precedent," Gates said.
Kim Jong-il reportedly suffered a stroke last year
The only known image of Kim Jong-un shows him as a young boy,third son of Kim Jun-il.
Kim Jong-il's third son, Kim Jong-un, will become North Korea's next leader, according to unconfirmed South Korean media reports. The BBC News website and BBC Monitoring profile this elusive young man.
Kim Jong-un is youngest son of Kim Jong-il and his late third wife Ko Yong-hui.
Born in 1983 or early 1984, the young Kim was initially not thought to be in the frame to take up his father's mantle.
Analysts focused their attention on his half-brother Kim Jong-nam and older full brother Kim Jong-chol.
But speculation that he was in the frame to succeed his father picked up in January, after a report in South Korea's Yonhap news agency suggested that Kim Jong-il had picked him as heir.
Mr Wen (right) wants to avoid Korean instability at all costs
A war would see a flood of refugees over the North Korea-China border
At the end of the three-way conference between President Lee Myung-bak of South Korea, Yukio Hatoyama, the Japanese prime minister, and Wen Jiabao, the Chinese premier, a great many people here must have been hoping to hear Mr Wen criticise North Korea for allegedly torpedoing the South Korean naval ship Cheonan two months ago.
At the very least they would have wanted him to accept publicly that North Korea had been responsible for it, as an international inquiry has maintained. If so, it was one of the most dangerous acts of war in the Korean peninsula in recent years.
Mr Wen refused. He sent his condolences to the families of the 46 South Korean sailors who were killed. He called for restraint. He hinted at the dire consequences of war.
Japan,China and South Korea PMs wants to avoid Korean instability at all costs
China and Japan has both agree to punish NKorea with financial sanctions.
South Korea PM has tough job to handle NKorea aggression and the death of 46 South Korea submarine crews.
South Korea's former Prime Minister Han Myeong-sook (front R), who is the main opposition Democratic Party's candidate for Seoul mayoral position in the upcoming local election, arrives for an election campaign
South Korea says it has persuaded China and Japan to take part in financial sanctions against North Korea.
It comes in the wake of the sinking of a South Korean naval ship by a North Korean submarine.
In a BBC interview, South Korean Foreign Minister Yu Myung-hwan speculated that the sinking of the Cheonan might have been the result of internal Pyongyang politics.
North Korea has angrily denied any responsibility for the attack.
The North Korean military, Mr Yu said, might have decided to do it in order to distract attention from other problems.
Tensions: A South Korean soldier hits an effigy of North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il during a rally in Seoul
Drills: The South Korean navy has been carrying out anti-submarine exercises off the coast, despite warnings from the north
Anger: More than 10,000 protesters gather at a rally today after the sinking of a South Korean warship in March
North Korea annouced today that it will scrap an agreement aimed at preventing accidental naval clashes after Seoul blamed it for a torpedo attack which sank a South Korean warship.
Tensions between the two countries have risen dramatically since a team of international investigators said last week that a torpedo fired by a North Korean submarine sank the warship on March 26, killing 46 sailors.
North Korea has denied any involvement in the sinking and warned any retaliation would mean war.
The country's military said in a statement released by the official Korean Central News Agency: 'Immediate physical strikes will be launched against any South Korean ships that intrude into North Korean waters.'
* Fragments recovered from the waters near the Koreas' maritime border indicate the torpedo came from communist North Korea.
* Pieces recovered at the sinking site 'perfectly match' the schematics of the torpedo included in introductory brochures provided to foreign countries by North Korea for export purposes.
* A serial number on a torpedo fragment also was consistent with markings from a North Korean torpedo that South Korea obtained years earlier.
* Investigators also confirmed that several small North Korean submarines and a mother ship supporting them left a North Korean naval base on the western coast two to three days ago prior to the attack, and returned to port two to three days after the attack.
* All submarines from neighbouring countries were either in or near their respective home bases at the time of the incident.
Parts of a torpedo salvaged from the Yellow Sea Evidence overwhelmingly proves North Korea fired a torpedo that sank a South Korean warship.The marking '1 beon' ('No.1' in English) is written on parts of a torpedo salvaged from the Yellow Sea
A real-size blueprint of a torpedo above torpedo parts salvaged from the Yellow Sea during a press conference at the Defence Ministry in Seoul this morning
North Korea threatened 'all-out war' if Seoul retaliates for the torpedo attack which sank a South Korean warship.
Pyongyang made the threat yesterday as it dismissed a report by an international team of specialists that found a torpedo fired by a North Korean submarine sank the 1,200-tonne Cheonan in March, killing 46 sailors.
Investigators said they had discovered part of the torpedo used in the attack on the sea floor and it carried lettering that matched a North Korean design.
The sinking is one of South Korea's worst naval tragedies and the country's outraged president Lee Myung Bak promised 'stern action' against the North, calling an emergency meeting of his security staff for today.
Choi Won-il, 2nd left, captain of the sunken South Korean naval ship Cheonan, and the survivors holding portraits of the victims pass by family members during a funeral ceremony at a navy base at Pyeongtaek, south of Seoul Thursday, April 29, 2010. South Korea honored 46 sailors Thursday with a tearful military funeral a month after a blast sank their warship, and officials vowed retaliation for those responsible as speculation mounted that North Korea may have torpedoed the vessel.
South Korean President Lee Myung-bak salutes in front of portraits of the deceased sailors from the sunken South Korean naval ship Cheonan during a funeral ceremony at a navy base at Pyeongtaek, south of Seoul Thursday, April 29, 2010. South Korea honored 46 sailors Thursday with a tearful military funeral a month after a blast sank their warship, and officials vowed retaliation for those responsible as speculation mounted that North Korea may have torpedoed the vessel.
South Korean mourners leave after the memorial ceremony for the deceased sailors from the sunken South Korean naval ship Cheonan during a memorial service at Seoul City Hall Plaza in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, April 29, 2010. South Korea honored 46 sailors Thursday with a solemn military funeral a month after their warship sank near waters disputed with rival North Korea.
South Korean President Lee Myung-bak held talks with his Chinese counterpart Hu Jintao in Shanghai on Friday that touched on security risks caused by the North's suspected attack on a warship from the South.
China, the reclusive and impoverished North's biggest benefactor with the most influence in Pyongyang, wants to prevent further tensions that increase the chances of war but is not about to punish its neighbor, analysts said.
"The bottom line is that Pyongyang knows that Beijing will not forsake them even if they behave in this provocative manner," said Peter Beck, a specialist in Korean affairs at Stanford University.
Lee, who met Hu on the sidelines of the World Expo in Shanghai, has signaled Seoul will not retaliate with force, calming investor concerns in Asia's fourth largest economy.
"I want to address the tragic loss of your country's warship," Hu told Lee. "To those who died and to their families, please let them know we grieve with them."
South Korea lost 46 sailors when their ship was struck last month by what is believed to be a North Korean torpedo. If confirmed, it would be one of the deadliest strikes by Pyongyang since the end of the 1950-53 Korean War.
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South Korea's defense minister says North Korea may have intentionally floated a mine to damage a naval ship that exploded and sank this week.
Forty-six crew members are missing and believed trapped within the wreckage of the ship, which went down Friday. Fifty-eight were rescued
While the cause of the explosion is unknown, Defense Minister Kim Tae-young told lawmakers in Seoul on Monday that rival North Korea may have floated a mine toward the ship. He also said the explosion could have been caused by a mine placed during the Korean War.
South Korean officials had earlier said they did not believe the North was behind the explosion.
The two nations remain at war because their 1950-53 conflict ended in a truce, not a peace treaty.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.
BAENGNYEONG ISLAND, South Korea (AP) — Divers finally reached the wreckage of a naval ship that sank nearly three days ago and rapped with hammers on the stern where 46 crew members are believed trapped, but got no response, military officials said Monday.
Military officials said time was running out for any navy crewmen who might still be alive and trapped inside watertight cabins aboard the Cheonan, which sank after an explosion late Friday split the 1,200-ton vessel apart. Fifty-eight others, including the captain, were rescued, the Joint Chiefs of Staff said.
The ship has dozens of waterproof cabins, and authorities initially said that if crew members shut the doors quickly enough, some may have survived in the sunken vessel. However, the supply of oxygen in the cabins was estimated to last up to 69 hours — a deadline that passed Monday night.
The exact cause of the explosion — one of South Korea's worst naval disasters — remained unclear, and officials said it could take weeks to determine.
Rough waves and high winds over the weekend prevented military divers from gaining access the wreckage lying under water near Baengnyeong Island in the west.
With time running out, divers plunged back into the waters Monday, reaching the ship's front and rear segments. Most of the rescued crew members were in the front of the ship, while those missing were in the rear.
The divers knocked on the ship with hammers but there were no response, Rear Adm. Lee Ki-sik of the Joint Chiefs of Staff told reporters. Cameras were also lowered to the site.
Divers were next preparing to make their way into the ship, Lee said.
The Cheonan was on a routine patrol Friday night when an explosion split the ship in a matter minutes, according to Capt. Choi Won-il.
There were initial concerns it was an attack from North Korea because the area has been the site of three bloody skirmishes in the past. The two Koreas remain in a state of war because their three-year conflict ended in a truce, not a peace treaty, in 1953.
However, North Korea did not appear to be involved, and the communist country's official news agency has made no mention of the ship. The North Korean military's first comments since the ship went down warned the U.S. and South Korea on Monday against engaging in "psychological warfare" by letting journalists into the Demilitarized Zone.
Still, the North Korean military was keeping a close watch on the search operation, the Joint Chiefs of Staffs said in a defense committee report cited by the Yonhap news agency.
President Lee Myung-bak said rescuers "should not give up hope," according to a statement from the presidential Blue House after Lee met with a security ministers Monday.
No bodies have been retrieved from the ship, feeding families' hopes that their sons and husbands might still be alive, the navy said. However, sonar devices used to locate the ship have captured no sounds coming from within, naval officials said.
Four U.S. Navy ships and 16 divers joined the search Monday after getting a request from Seoul for assistance, said Lt. Anthony Falvo, a spokesman for the U.S. 7th Fleet, based just south of Tokyo.
Grief-stricken relatives boarded a boat Sunday to see the spot where the ship went down.
"My son said he would defend the nation, but instead he ended up like this," one cried out as she clutched a framed photo of her son.
