Japan's envoy to Russia will lose his job for telling Tokyo that Russian President Dmitry Medvedev would not visit a disputed island even after Moscow said the trip was imminent, reports said Thursday. Japan is preparing to appoint Chikahito Harada, the ambassador in the Czech Republic, to replace Masaharu Kono, according to major newspapers, including the Asahi Shimbun and Yomiuri Shimbun. Nepal releases S.Koreans Nepal has released two South Koreans held for their alleged involvement in the case of a missing North Korean, the South's foreign ministry said Thursday The two men, who live in Nepal, were ordered to leave the country within 15 days of being freed, the ministry said. The Yonhap news agency said the pair were accused of helping a North Korean surnamed Yang flee the Himalayan nation across the border into India, after which he defected to the South. Agencies |