koreas

South Korean officials attacked in Yemen

South Korean officials visiting Yemen to investigate a bombing which killed four Koreans have been targeted in a suspected suicide attack. Yonhap news agency reported that none of the South Koreans were injured. A Seoul foreign ministry official told journalists that vehicles carrying government officials and bereaved family members came under attack as they were on their way to Sanaa airport. Three days ago four South Korean tourists died in an explosion as they visited the city of Shibam. Yemen is the ancestral homeland of al-Qaeda leader, Osama bin Laden.

North Korea refuses US food aid

The United States says North Korea has refused further food aid. The State Department and relief groups said five US non-governmental organizations had been told to leave by the end of the month after distributing only half the food they had planned. Aid officials said North Korea gave no reason for the move. The United Nations has said that almost seven million North Koreans are still in desperate need of food aid. The country has been reliant on outside food aid since a famine in the 1990s killed hundreds of thousands of people. The block on aid comes as the North prepares to launch a satellite which the US and its allies consider to be a missile.