Yellow Sea

Anyone feeling let down by this past summer's action selections for their false-start franchises, comic-book over-reliance or crutch-use of unworldly CGI will be well served by finding their way to "The Yellow Sea. " The second feature from South Korean writer-director Na Hong-Jin, the film is a breakneck mix of bone-crunching freneticism and bloody close-quarters knife-fighting with a strand of romantic melancholy. In the somewhat lawless territory where North Korea, China and Russia border one another, a cab driver is given an offer to work off a gambling debt by traveling to Seoul to kill a man. While he's there, the cab driver also looks for his wife, who has likely left him. All this sets off a storm of violence, double-crosses and layered subterfuges that puts the cabby in well over his head but also brings out a streak of capable savvy that even he is surprised to find within himself.

The title of the ensemble drama "Answers to Nothing" is certainly truth in advertising. Though this "Crash"-lite intersection of L.A. stories, directed by Matthew Leutwyler from a script he co-wrote with Gillian Vigman, effectively portrays human loneliness and alienation, there's a lack of real conclusiveness to many of the film's characters and situations. The crisscross of Angelenos includes Ryan (Dane Cook), a moody shrink cheating on his fertility-challenged, lawyer wife (Elizabeth Mitchell)

Three South Korean warships briefly violated North Korea's territorial waters Friday in the Yellow Sea, according to North Korean news agencies. South Korea had no comment.

Anyone feeling let down by this past summer's action selections for their false-start franchises, comic-book over-reliance or crutch-use of unworldly CGI will be well served by finding their way to "The Yellow Sea. " The second feature from South Korean writer-director Na Hong-Jin, the film is a breakneck mix of bone-crunching freneticism and bloody close-quarters knife-fighting with a strand of romantic melancholy. In the somewhat lawless territory where North Korea, China and Russia border one another, a cab driver is given an offer to work off a gambling debt by traveling to Seoul to kill a man. While he's there, the cab driver also looks for his wife, who has likely left him. All this sets off a storm of violence, double-crosses and layered subterfuges that puts the cabby in well over his head but also brings out a streak of capable savvy that even he is surprised to find within himself.

A Chinese submarine has disappeared in the Yellow Sea, and People's Liberation Army ships and helicopters have launched a search, according to information reaching Hong Kong. The conventional Romeo-class submarine, belonging to the North China Sea Fleet, left the Chinese port of Qingdao about two weeks ago on a Yellow Sea mission, sources said. In its reports, the Taiwan Central Daily News linked the submarine's disappearance with massive air and sea maneuvers that China held on Nov.

The American aircraft carrier Kitty Hawk and a Chinese nuclear submarine squared off in international waters off China's coast this fall in a maritime encounter that demonstrated the growing potential for naval conflict between the United States and China, The Times has learned. Shortly after the incident, which occurred in the Yellow Sea on Oct. 27-29, China served notice through a U.S.

The ground shook when the first oil pipeline burst, leading residents and port workers near Dalian's Xingang Harbor to think an earthquake was underway. Instead, what locals were witnessing was China's most recent environmental mishap. Two oil pipelines near the port exploded Friday, igniting a roaring inferno that shot flames 60 feet into the air and spilling an estimated 11,000 barrels of oil into the Yellow Sea. No serious injuries were reported and the fire was brought under control Saturday, authorities reported, but as of Monday, hundreds of vessels were trying to clean up a slick that extended for miles.

A South Korean fisherman was apparently hit by gunfire from a U.S. Marine helicopter taking part in gunnery practice, the U.S. military said in a statement Tuesday. The fisherman, Sohn Dal Gun, was hit in the hand and foot Monday while fishing with two other men in the Yellow Sea off the west coast, the statement said.

Emotions remained raw throughout the Korean peninsula Sunday as a U.S. aircraft carrier group arrived for joint American-South Korean naval exercises, and North Korea prepared surface-to-surface missiles on launchpads along the Yellow Sea. The maneuvers followed a North Korean artillery attack last week that killed four and injured 20 on South Korean-controlled Yeonpyeong Island. For a time on Sunday, remaining residents on the tiny isle were ordered into evacuation shelters after reports of the sound of North Korean artillery.

Forty-six sailors were missing Saturday after a South Korean naval vessel sank along the country's disputed western sea border with North Korea, an incident that military officials here at first believed was caused by an attack by their northern enemies. Fears of possible renewed warfare filled South Korea's capital with dread overnight. As naval ships rescued 58 crewmen from icy waters, President Lee Myung-bak and Defense Ministry officials convened an emergency meeting. For hours, officials believed the ship had struck a mine or was hit by a torpedo late Friday, and Lee dispatched an armada of ships to investigate and search for imperiled crewmen.

North Korea fired artillery shells that landed near the disputed maritime line in the Yellow Sea on Wednesday, prompting South Korea to respond by firing its own shells toward the North's sea border, officials said. The shells landed in the water and no injuries were reported, officials said. The afternoon exchange took place in an area of sea that in November saw the last lethal flare-up between the two sides when North Korean shelling killed four South Koreans on Yeonpyeong Island.

North Korean soldiers bragged on state-run television about their heroics during the attack on South Korea's Yeonpyeong Island last month that killed four people. Marking the 19th anniversary last week of North Korean leader Kim Jong Il's appointment as supreme military commander, four soldiers who appeared to have taken part in the shelling are seen describing the Nov. 23 attack. "We cheered and congratulated our victory as we saw pillars of fire lighting up from our bombardments," Kim Chul Nam says.

China called Sunday for an emergency international meeting to ease tensions on the Korean peninsula, but the United States and South Korea, engaged in large-scale war games nearby, appeared initially cool to the idea. The proposal followed a rare burst of shuttle diplomacy by the Chinese, who have been stung by accusations that they have failed to rein in their ally North Korea. Chinese State Councilor Dai Bingguo, the highest-ranking foreign policy official, flew to Seoul over the weekend to meet with South Korean President Lee Myung-bak, and Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi spoke by telephone with Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and to his Russian and Japanese counterparts.

Emotions remained raw throughout the Korean peninsula Sunday as a U.S. aircraft carrier group arrived for joint American-South Korean naval exercises, and North Korea prepared surface-to-surface missiles on launchpads along the Yellow Sea. The maneuvers followed a North Korean artillery attack last week that killed four and injured 20 on South Korean-controlled Yeonpyeong Island. For a time on Sunday, remaining residents on the tiny isle were ordered into evacuation shelters after reports of the sound of North Korean artillery.

The U.S. and South Korea on Tuesday announced a major naval and air exercise for later this month, a show of force aimed at North Korea in response to the sinking of a South Korean warship in March. The exercise, which will take place in the Sea of Japan and include the aircraft carrier USS George Washington , was announced in a joint statement by Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates and South Korean Defense Minister Kim Tae-Young after a meeting in Seoul. "These defensive, combined exercises are designed to send a clear message to North Korea that its aggressive behavior must stop, and that we are committed together to enhancing our defensive capabilities," the statement said.

The ground shook when the first oil pipeline burst, leading residents and port workers near Dalian's Xingang Harbor to think an earthquake was underway. Instead, what locals were witnessing was China's most recent environmental mishap. Two oil pipelines near the port exploded Friday, igniting a roaring inferno that shot flames 60 feet into the air and spilling an estimated 11,000 barrels of oil into the Yellow Sea. No serious injuries were reported and the fire was brought under control Saturday, authorities reported, but as of Monday, hundreds of vessels were trying to clean up a slick that extended for miles.

— Evidence overwhelmingly proves North Korea fired a torpedo that sank a South Korean warship in March, killing 46 sailors, investigators said Thursday. South Korean President Lee Myung-bak vowed "stern action" for the provocation and called an emergency security meeting for Friday. The long-awaited investigation results from a multinational team said a torpedo caused a massive underwater explosion that tore the Cheonan apart on March 26. Fifty-eight sailors were rescued from the frigid Yellow Sea waters near the two nations' maritime border, but 46 perished, South Korea's worst military disaster since the 1950-53 Korean War. Recovered fragments from the sea floor indicate the torpedo came from communist North Korea, investigators said.

As tearful families looked on, the South Korean military recovered the bodies of 36 crewmen from the stern of a sunken warship raised Thursday from the floor of the Yellow Sea. The naval corvette Cheonan sank March 26 after a mysterious explosion broke the 1,200-ton vessel in half. Throughout the day, South Korean television carried live coverage of a towering crane that lifted part of the ship to the surface. Late Thursday, the South Korean Defense Ministry confirmed that salvagers had recovered the bodies of 36 of the 44 sailors who were still missing weeks after the nighttime disaster.

— Evidence overwhelmingly proves North Korea fired a torpedo that sank a South Korean warship in March, killing 46 sailors, investigators said Thursday. South Korean President Lee Myung-bak vowed "stern action" for the provocation and called an emergency security meeting for Friday. The long-awaited investigation results from a multinational team said a torpedo caused a massive underwater explosion that tore the Cheonan apart on March 26. Fifty-eight sailors were rescued from the frigid Yellow Sea waters near the two nations' maritime border, but 46 perished, South Korea's worst military disaster since the 1950-53 Korean War. Recovered fragments from the sea floor indicate the torpedo came from communist North Korea, investigators said.

As tearful families looked on, the South Korean military recovered the bodies of 36 crewmen from the stern of a sunken warship raised Thursday from the floor of the Yellow Sea. The naval corvette Cheonan sank March 26 after a mysterious explosion broke the 1,200-ton vessel in half. Throughout the day, South Korean television carried live coverage of a towering crane that lifted part of the ship to the surface. Late Thursday, the South Korean Defense Ministry confirmed that salvagers had recovered the bodies of 36 of the 44 sailors who were still missing weeks after the nighttime disaster.