News stories by John Feffer, page 2

, Jul 12 (IPS) - South Korea is at the cutting edge of global technology. It is one of the most wired countries, and its biggest cities have the fastest Internet connections in the world.

It's not an easy time for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).

It's a deal that's been more than 15 years in the making and the unmaking. The United States and Japan have been struggling since the 1990s to transform the U.S. military presence on the island of Okinawa, the southernmost prefecture of Japan.

After three years of frozen relations between North Korea and the United States, the two longstanding adversaries are on the verge of a thaw.

The South Korean government has been campaigning to have its southern island of Jeju recognised as one of the seven new wonders of nature. A favourite honeymoon spot in Asia and an official 'island of peace', Jeju already boasts several UNESCO World Natural Heritage sites.

The United States and South Korea maintain a close military alliance. Congress just passed a free trade agreement that will boost economic ties with Seoul. And the leaders of the two countries form a small but very powerful mutual admiration society, which The New York Times has termed a 'presidential man-crush'.

Although it concluded more than 60 years ago, the Tokyo War Crimes Trial is still a live issue today - in Japan as in the world at large.