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South Korea has increased its budget to fund North Korea-related projects this year, government data showed on Thursday, with a new president seeking closer relations due to take office in Seoul and signs of an opening from Pyongyang. South Korea's Ministry of Unification said parliament had approved a 9.1 percent rise in the inter-Korean cooperation fund this year to 1.1 trillion won ($1.03 billion). "The last offer for talks we made to North Korea was last summer, when the North was suffering from flood damage," said Park Soo-jin, a spokeswoman for the ministry. The two Koreas remain technically at war after their 1950-53 conflict ended with a truce, not a treaty, and relations plunged under South Korean President Lee Myung-bak who cut aid dramatically after the shooting of a South Korean tourist in the North in 2008.  Lee's single term ends in February when he will be replaced by Park Geun-hye, who has pledged engagement with the isolated and impoveri

North Korea South Korea Exchange Artillery Fire.

Military units of North Korea and South Korea exchanged gunfire near their border on October 29, 2010 (Friday), South Korean authorities said. However, no casualties were reported. The exchange happened after North Korean forces fired two rounds from a 14.5 millimeter machine gun at a South Korean military guard post near the border town of Chorwon, South Korea, about 73 miles (118 km) northeast of Seoul, according to an official at the Joint Chiefs of Staff at South Korea. The incident occurred just two weeks before the G-20 summit to be held in  Seoul . The G-20 includes industrialized nations and developing economies, which focus on economic issues and economic policy coordination. Authorities said a total of 50,000 police and riot police will be deployed during the summit on November 11 and 12, according to Yonhap. The South Korean unit responded with three "warning shots" from a .50-caliber machine gun and warned the North Korean guard post by loudspeaker to desist, t

Seoul military officials say the North Korea has an army unit of elite hackers. The comments came  when the question arises from Seoul officials and diplomats that hackers in China have stolen secrets on South Korea’s defense and foreign affairs by using bogus emails, the intelligence agency said Friday. The National Intelligence Service uncovered the hacking early this year and warned government offices about the danger of such emails, a spokesman said. Hackers sent emails in the names of South Korean diplomats, presidential aides and other people familiar to Seoul officials. Attached files containing viruses were disguised as important documents, such as analyzes on North Korea’s economy. When a recipient clicked on the attachment, the virus started downloading documents in his or her computer, the spokesman said. Lawmaker Lee Jung-Hyun of the ruling Grand National Party told parliament Thursday that a ‘considerable volume of classified documents’ was feared to have been leaked