U.S. President Barack Obama has appointed senior diplomat Daniel Russel as assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs, the White House said Wednesday. Russel, 59, senior director for Asian affairs on the National Security Council, fills a post vacated for three months after his predecessor Kurt Campbell resigned in February.

South Korea's unemployment rate dipped slightly in April with the creation of new jobs in the manufacturing and service sectors, government data showed Wednesday. The seasonally adjusted jobless rate stood at 3.1 percent, down from 3.2 percent in March and 3.5 percent the previous month, according to Statistics Korea. The manufacturing sector added 165,000 jobs last month, while the health and social welfare service took on 114,000 new employees and the transportation sector expanded by 45,000 positions.

An adviser to Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe arrived in Pyongyang Tuesday, a report said, amid speculation North Korea may be trying to re-engage an old adversary amid frosty ties with China. Isao Iijima, a behind-the-scenes heavyweight who was also a key aide to former premier Junichiro Koizumi, flew into the isolated country, Kyodo News reported. The agency, which has a presence in Pyongyang, said it was not known what the purpose of the visit was, but added he was greeted by Kim Chol Ho, vice director of the North Korean Foreign Ministry's Asian Affairs Department.

European tourists are increasingly choosing to spend their holidays exploring the culture, heritage and sun-soaked beaches of Central America. That’s according to the latest figures released by the ministries of tourism of seven countries in the region which recorded a 16 percent increase in European visitors to Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and Panama in 2012 compared to the previous year. In total, that figure clocks in at 832,567 visits.