Tensions rise between North, South Korea
SEOUL, South Korea: North Korea declared all military and political agreements with South Korea "dead" today, warning that it would not honor past accords if Seoul continues to push the Koreas to the brink of war. The North's Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of Korea accused South Korean President Lee Myung Bak of raising tensions on the Korean peninsula with his hard-line position on Pyongyang. It warned that Lee's stance would only draw "a heavier blow and shameful destruction." "The group of traitors has already reduced all the agreements reached between the North and the South in the past to dead documents," the committee in charge of inter-Korean affairs said early today in a statement carried by the state-run Korean Central News Agency. Tensions between the two Koreas, which fought a bitter three-year war in the 1950s and remain divided by one of the world's most heavily armed borders, have been high since Lee took office in Seoul nearly a year ago.
Gregg possible choice for commerce secretary
WASHINGTON: Sen. Judd Gregg, a New Hampshire Republican, is under consideration for the commerce secretary post in President Barack Obama's Cabinet, raising the prospect that Democrats could gain a filibuster-proof majority of 60 seats in the Senate, according to two officials familiar with the selection process. Gregg, who faces re-election in 2010, is one of several people under consideration for the remaining Cabinet post for which Obama has no nominee. If Gregg were to resign from the Senate, his replacement would be chosen by New Hampshire's Democratic governor, John Lynch. Were Lynch to give the seat to a fellow Democrat, that would boost the party's count in the Senate to 59, including two independents who caucus with Democrats. And if Minnesota Democrat Al Franken ultimately joined the Senate, the number would grow to 60 - the threshold needed to deprive Republicans of the ability to use filibusters to block legislation. The Minnesota race is still in dispute.
Military judge hinders Guantanamo plans
