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Abnormally high radiation levels were detected near the border between the two Koreas days after North Korea claimed to have mastered a complex technology key to manufacturing a hydrogen bomb, Seoul said Monday.

A North Korean envoy warned on Thursday that war could erupt at any time on the divided Korean peninsula because of tension with Seoul over the sinking of a South Korean warship in March.

South Korean President Lee Myung-bak announced Monday that his country is suspending trade with North Korea and closing its waters to the North's ships in the wake of a report from Seoul that concluded North Korea sank a South Korean warship in March.

South Korea's military believes a torpedo fired from a North Korean submarine sank its navy ship last month, based on intelligence gathered jointly with the United States, a news report said on Thursday.

South Korea's defense chief called Wednesday for a pre-emptive strike on North Korea if there is a clear indication the country is preparing a nuclear attack....

A health official in the region said the second wave of swine flu cases has come sooner than expected. “The level [of H1N1 cases in Japan and Korea] has already passed the threshold reached at the end of November or December or close to January,” said Takeshi Kasai, regional advisor in communicable disease surveillance and response for the World Health Organization (WHO). “It already happened in August or early September.”