Typhoon Sanba today struck South Korea with torrential rain and strong wind, leaving tens of thousands of homes without power and suspending ferry  एक स्थान से दूसरे स्थान पहुँचाना नाव से पार करना and flights. According to the Korean Meteorological Administration, Sanba, with gust हवा का झोंका blowing at 38 meters per second, was heading northwards at a speed of 22 kilometers per hour after poundingजोरदार धमाकों के साथ बमबारी the country's southwest coastal areas in the morning. 

The typhoon is forecast to venture out into the sea off the east coast of the Korean peninsula later today. About 500,000 households in the island of Jeju and southern coastal regions suffered blackouts, but power has been restored in most houses. The transports ministry said more than 200 flights, mostly domestic, and ferry services have been canceled since yesterday, adding that train services have also been disrupted. 

About 1,100 residents in areas deemed vulnerable have been evacuated to shelters, while another 12,000 residents in other areas have been advised to leave. Thousands of schools in southern regions remained closed today.

 South Korea and the United States today completed an annual joint military drill denounced by North Korea as a rehearsal for war. In a statement, the Combined Forces Command said, the computer-assisted simulation exercise, named Ulchi Freedom Guardian, was successfully finished after kicking off on August 20. The Forces commander, General James D. Thurman, said it allowed the two countries to evaluate and improve joint air coordination procedures, plans and systems including Combined Space Operations using satellites.

More than 30,000 US troops, including most of those based in the South plus 3,000 from overseas, took part in the drill. Pyongyang's state media has slammed the exercise as an all-out war rehearsal against the North.

South Korea today formally rejected Japan's proposal that the two countries ask an international court to settle a bitter row over disputed islands, labelling Tokyo's stance wrong. A foreign ministry spokesman said, South Korea last week received a "note verbale" - an unsigned diplomatic missivea written message addressed to a person or organization -- from Japan suggesting that both sides jointly refer the dispute to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) for settlement. He said, South Korea's reply was delivered today through a Japanese diplomat in Seoul. 

It clarified Seoul's stance that no territorial disputes exist about the South Korean-controlled islands in the Sea of Japan, known as Dokdo in Korean and Takeshima in Japan. The spokesman said, we have made it clear that Dokdo is our own territory in terms of history, geography and international laws and we are not going to the ICJ. 

Relations between the two sides have deteriorated since South Korean President Lee Myung-Bak paid a surprise visit on August 10 to the islands.Note verbale (pronounced [nôt ver-bal']) is a diplomatic communication prepared in the third person and unsigned: less formal than a note but more formal than an aide-mémoire
In international relations, an aide-mémoire is a proposed agreement or negotiating text circulated informally among delegations for discussion without committing the originating delegation's country to the contents. It has no identified source, title, or attribution and no standing in the relationship involved.

 Dozens of South Koreans held a protest across the Japanese embassy in central Seoul today to condemn Japan's distortion of history and sovereignty claims over a set of islets at the center of a long-running territorial dispute between the two neighbors. Amid police presence, protesters chanted anti-Japan slogans and demanded Japan abandon its ownership claims to the disputed islets called Dokdo in South Korea and Takeshima in Japan. The demonstrators strongly criticized Japan's proposal to take the issue of the Seoul-controlled islands to an international court. The news came out earlier in the day that Japan wanted South Korea to go to the International Court of Justice for a ruling on the disputed islets. South Korea dismissed the proposal.

The rocky islets lying about halfway between the two countries have long been a source of diplomatic tensions between Seoul and Tokyo. The tensions have flared recently after South Korean President Lee Myung-Bak last week visited the islets, becoming the first South Korean leader to set foot there.

he US Republican Presidential candidate Mitt Romney has said his country has a moral imperative to stop Iran from developing nuclear weapons. 

Mr Romney, speaking during a visit to Jerusalem, said Iran was the most destabilising country in the world. He said the US recognised Israel's right to defend itself and that it was right for the US to stand with Israel. 

In his speech in front of Jerusalem's Old City, Mr Romney said Iran's leading ayatollahs were testing our moral defences. They want to know who will object and who will look the other way.

South Korea has said it will suspend all imports of Iranian oil from July 1 amid a European Union (EU) insurance ban on vessels carrying the product. The insurance ban is part of a series of measures taken by the EU and the US to hurt Iran's oil exports. Oil is a major source of revenue for Tehran, and the EU and US have been trying to use it as a tool to persuade Iran to give up its nuclear programme. South Korea is the first major Asian economy to halt oil imports from Iran.

South Korea's former opposition leader announced his Presidential bid today, joining the ranks of liberals looking to replace the country's conservative leader Lee Myung-bak. Chung Se-kyun of the Democratic United Party, who headed the centre-left party from 2008 to 2010, has become the fourth liberal heavyweight to declare candidacy for the December Presidential election.

Chung, a five-term legislator who served as Commerce Minister in the previous administration, said in a statement he will become the "Economy President" that people can trust. His rivals include Moon Jae-in, a senior advisor to the party, and Sohn Hak-kyu, who led the party after Chung stepped down.

The Presidential poll is slated for Dec.19. Lee is Constitutionally barred from seeking a second term.

South Korea and the United States will hold their largest-ever Live-fire Drill later this week amid lingering tensions on the Korean Peninsula. Yonhap news agency said today that the joint exercise, scheduled for Friday in Pocheon, northeast of Seoul, will involve about 2,000 troops, F-15K fighter planes, Apache attack helicopters and tanks. 

The one-day drill, which will be presided over by Prime Minister Kim Hwang-sik, aims to ensure solid military preparedness and war-fighting capabilities. The drill comes amid persistent tensions on the Peninsula, following a failed long- range rocket launch by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

he remains of 12 South Korean soldiers killed in the North during the Korean War 60 years ago have been repatriated. According to officials, it is the first time bodies recovered in the North have been sent home since the 1953 armistice. The remains which arrived from the United States, were among about 200 bodies found by an American excavation team which worked in the North between 2000 and 2004.

The soldiers were killed during a key battle for a reservoir early in the Korean War, when they were outnumbered one by Chinese troops. An estimated 30,000 to 40,000 South Korean soldiers are still buried in the North.

The foreign ministers of China, Japan and South Korea today met in the Chinese city of Ningbo for talks on regional security and cooperation days ahead of a planned North Korean rocket launch. Chinese

According to the official Xinhua news agency, receiving his guests, Yang said China is concerned and worried about the latest development on the Korean peninsula. He said it is in the common interest of all sides to maintain peace and stability on the Korean peninsula and realise long-term peace and stability in northeast Asia.

North Korea announced last month that it would launch a rocket between April 12 and 16, which it says is to put a satellite into orbit for peaceful purposes. Tokyo and Seoul, regard it as a disguised ballistic missile test that would be in breach of UN resolutions and has called for Pyongyang to abandon its planned launch.

North Korean rocket launch, developments in Myanmar and disputes over the South China Sea are expected to dominate Southeast Asia's annual diplomatic summit, ASEAN that begins tomorrow at Phnom Penh in Cambodia. 

The stated focus of the two day Summit is on turning the 10 nations and their combined population of 600 million into a European Union-like community by 2015.

 North Korea is not a member of the group, but some leaders are expected to voice alarm over Pyongyang's plan to fire a long-range rocket this month.

Territorial conflicts in the resource-rich South China Sea will almost certainly be raised.China, Taiwan and ASEAN members Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia and Brunei all make various claims on the sea, which China claims in its entirety. 

The Philippines and Vietnam in particular have been at odds with Beijing over the region in recent months, with diplomatic clashes erupting over oil and gas exploration and fishing rights.

he Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh on Monday asserted that India is taking pro-active steps to improve business climate in the country. He said, investments from South Korea is a priority area. Dr. Manmohan Singh elaborated his argument of India being an attractive investment destination. He said, country will return to 8 to 10 per cent growth. 

Dr. Singh listed six priority areas including about 35 per cent of GDP as saving rate to support his argument. Other important areas include Young working population, heavy investments in education, health and agriculture and huge expansion of skill development and physical infrastructure