Most Popular
-
1
[Exclusive] Korean military set to ban iPhones over 'security' concerns
-
2
Korean, Romanian leaders discuss defense tech, nuclear energy
-
3
[Graphic News] 77% of young Koreans still financially dependent
-
4
S. Korea calls on Japan to confront history amid Yasukuni Shrine visit
-
5
Yoon’s jailed mother-in-law excluded from latest parole list
-
6
Hybe and Min Hee-jin, CEO of Hybe sublabel Ador, lock horns
-
7
[Pressure points] Leggings in public: Fashion statement or social faux pas?
-
8
Yoo Jae-suk, Yoo Yeon-seok team up in 'Whenever Possible'
-
9
Korea’s homegrown nanosatellite successfully launches into space
-
10
Aging population to drive down Korea's housing prices from 2040: experts
-
GNP primed to vote on Korea-U.S. FTA bill
The ruling Grand National Party on Monday renewed its resolve to vote on the Korea-U.S. free trade agreement with the key parliamentary plenary session scheduled for Thursday after weeks of political wrangling over the ratification bill.“The Korea-U.S. FTA is a matter of national interest and of paramount importance; we can no longer tolerate the opposition’s approach (to the FTA) out of partisan interests,” GNP spokesman Kim Ki-hyun said in a briefing after the party’s supreme council meeting M
PoliticsNov. 7, 2011
-
‘N.K. defector shot dead while fleeing country’
A North Korean border guard recently shot and killed a defector while trying to escape near the border with China, an activist in Seoul said.The incident is seen as part of a crackdown on the increasing number of residents risking their lives to flee the impoverished state.Kim Yong-hwa, chairman of the North Korea Refugees Human Rights Association of Korea, said he saw a defector shot dead by a North Korean border guard shortly after he crossed the river border and stepped on Chinese soil. “I ac
North KoreaNov. 7, 2011
-
U.N. forum discusses nuclear security
Nuclear experts and officials from around the world kicked off an annual United Nations forum on the southern resort island of Jeju Monday to highlight the importance of strengthening nuclear security, setting the stage for a global summit of the same theme to be hosted by South Korea next year.The Republic of Korea-U.N. Joint Conference on Disarmament and Non-proliferation Issues, now into its 10th year, comes as Seoul is preparing to host some 50 world leaders in March for the second Nuclear S
Foreign AffairsNov. 7, 2011
-
Three S. Korean men kidnapped in Philippines: official
Three South Korean businessmen who have been missing on a southern island in the Philippines since late last month have been confirmed as kidnapped by unidentified gunmen, a foreign ministry official in Seoul said Monday. The three Korean miners have been missing since Oct. 21 on the Philippine island of Mindanao and local police recently confirmed that they are held by gunmen, the official said on the condition of anonymity. The gunmen have demanded a ransom for the Korean miners, the official
Social AffairsNov. 7, 2011
-
Qatar Education City prepares for a future without oil
DOHA, Qatar ― Qatar invests heavily in education and science, hoping to change its social and economic basis from oil to knowledge.The Amir of the country, Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Al Thani, has so far put hundreds of millions of dollars into universities and research institutes. Sheikha Mozah, wife of the Amir and chairperson of the Qatar Foundation, said Qatar tried to be a “small laboratory which finds solutions for the rest of the world.” The country is a peninsula jutting into the Persian G
Social AffairsNov. 7, 2011
-
U.S. NCO chief stresses troops’ diplomatic role
A top U.S. army non-commissioned officer on Monday underscored the ambassadorial role of the troops stationed here, saying that they carry diplomatic missions in addition to their military responsibilities.Concerning the recent sexual assault case involving a Second Infantry Division private, Sergeant Major of the Army Raymond F. Chandler said any misconduct by military personnel is “not what the U.S. army is about.” The 21-year-old soldier was sentenced to 10 years in jail last week for sexuall
DefenseNov. 7, 2011
-
Two colleges ordered to close
Myungshin, Sungwha break education law, fail to correct wrongdoingsTwo universities in South Jeolla Province will be closed for corruption after failing to follow government demands to reform, the Education Ministry said Monday. The ministry said that Myungshin University in Suncheon and Sungwha College in Gangjin will be shut down in December because they violated the law on higher education by committing “serious corruption and irregularities” such as embezzlement and creating fake documents.T
Social AffairsNov. 7, 2011
-
DP for left-wing unity, against new party
Leading figures of the main opposition Democratic Party on Monday once again called for consolidation of the liberal bloc, while stepping up pressure on professor Ahn Cheol-soo to join them and abandon the potential creation of a new political party.“The DP welcomes the integration plan suggested by Innovation and Integration, which basically agreed with our plan to bring liberal groups as one,” said the party chairman Rep. Sohn Hak-kyu in the party’s Supreme Council meeting on Monday.“Through t
PoliticsNov. 7, 2011
-
U.S. lobbying firm drafted Lee’s speeches
The Korean Embassy in Washington was found to have commissioned a U.S. lobbying firm named West Wing Writers to draft President Lee Myung-bak’s speeches during his visit to Washington last month.According to data disclosed under a U.S. law, the embassy paid about $46,500 (51.8 million won) to the firm to write Lee’s speeches to the U.S. Congress, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, during the welcoming ceremony at the White House, the state dinner and a luncheon hosted by the U.S. State Department.The
PoliticsNov. 7, 2011
-
GNP chairman puts off reform plans
Hong faces backlash from members demanding radical changes to ruling partyThe ruling Grand National Party chairman Rep. Hong Joon-pyo on Monday delayed talks for party reform until after the U.S.-Korea Free Trade Agreement’s ratification.“Efforts to renew the party have now just begun,” said Hong in the party’s Supreme Council meeting.“Once the imminent FTA talks reach a conclusion, we will hold further in-depth discussion to collect a variety of opinions and then confirm our final guidelines.”T
PoliticsNov. 7, 2011
-
S. Korea, Japan to stage biennial joint naval drill
South Korea and Japan will hold a biennial joint naval exercise this weekend to promote military exchanges and friendship, the Navy here said Monday.The Navy and Japan’s Maritime Self-Defense Force will hold their seventh annual Search and Rescue Exercise, or SAREX, this Saturday and Sunday. The exercise will be held off the east coast of Busan, some 450 kilometers southeast of Seoul. The first SAREX was held in 1999.“The exercise is designed to develop the joint response between the Navy and th
DefenseNov. 7, 2011
-
GNP primed to vote on FTA Thursday
The ruling Grand National Party on Monday renewed its resolve to vote on the Korea-U.S. free trade agreement with the key parliamentary plenary session scheduled for Thursday after weeks of political wrangling over the ratification bill.“The Korea-U.S. FTA is a matter of national interest and of paramount importance; we can no longer tolerate the opposition’s approach (to the FTA) out of partisan interests,” GNP spokesman Kim Ki-hyun said in a briefing after the party’s supreme council meeting M
PoliticsNov. 7, 2011
-
GNP lawmaker under probe for illegal overseas electioneering
Prosecutors are investigating allegations that Rep. Choi Kyung-hee of the ruling Grand National Party asked Koreans living in the U.S. to vote for GNP candidates in the general elections scheduled for April 11. It is against the law to urge voters to support a party in an election ahead of the official campaign period.The investigators have e-mailed those who attended a meeting of Koreans in Los Angeles in June to find out exactly what Choi said there. “We are still waiting for replies from them
Social AffairsNov. 7, 2011
-
Seoul to help foreign wives visit families
The capital will pay for nearly 60 low-income multicultural families to visit the Philippines or Vietnam for family reunions.Seoul Metropolitan Government says it will provide round trip tickets to 213 people from 59 families with wives from either Vietnam or the Philippines. They will leave Tuesday.Also funding the seven-day trip will be Korea Airports Corp., which will provide expenses for the families who receive government support for basic necessities.“I’ve always wanted to visit home, but
Social AffairsNov. 7, 2011
-
N.K. soldier shoots defector arriving on Chinese soil: witness
A North Korean defector was recently shot dead by the North's border guards on Chinese soil shortly after crossing a border river, a civic activist here claimed Monday, suggesting that the Pyongyang regime has toughened its crackdown on defectors."I witnessed on Oct. 22 a North Korean man shot to de
North KoreaNov. 7, 2011
-
FTA wrangling heats up outside Assembly
The main opposition Democratic Party stepped up its public campaign against the Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement over the weekend, as the ruling Grand National Party mulled pushing a final vote at a plenary session Wednesday. “The top priority for us is to inform the general public of what this deal is truly about,” said Rep. Lee Yong-sub, the DP spokesperson. The DP and other liberal parties claim that the deal is biased in favor of the U.S. About 2,000 protesters held a candle-lit vigil in cent
PoliticsNov. 6, 2011
-
Unification minister to ‘actively consider’ giving aid to N.K.
NEW YORK (Yonhap News) ― South Korea will “actively consider” providing humanitarian aid to North Korea through United Nations agencies, Seoul’s top policymaker on Pyongyang said here Friday.Unification Minister Yu Woo-ik visited U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and they discussed the need to help out the impoverished communist regime.Afterward, Yu said Ban expressed concerns about malnutrition among North Korean infants and children and the secretary-general told him that helping North Korea
North KoreaNov. 6, 2011
-
‘21 N. Koreans cross sea border into South’
A group of 21 North Koreans was found drifting aboard a boat off South Korea’s west coast earlier last week, officials said Saturday, the latest in a string of defections by North Koreans.The five-ton wooden boat carrying the North Korean family members, including children, was spotted by sailors on a South Korean Navy vessel in the Yellow Sea on Sunday, the officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity.The boat was drifting in waters some 38 kilometers south of the tense western maritime b
North KoreaNov. 6, 2011
-
Lee arrives home after Russia, France trip
President Lee Myung-bak returned home Saturday from a trip to Russia and France that included talks with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on a gas pipeline project and a G20 summit aimed at tackling the eurozone debt problems.In a two-day visit to Russia’s second-largest city of Saint Petersburg, Lee and Medvedev agreed to work closely together on the massive project to build a gas pipeline linking the two countries via North Korea.Lee then attended this year’s G20 summit in the southern French
PoliticsNov. 6, 2011
-
First Korean-American ambassador to Seoul ‘honored’ to get role
WASHINGTON (Yonhap News) ― As the first Korean-born U.S. ambassador to South Korea, Sung Kim on Friday insisted that the nations’ alliance is not a “zero-sum” game and dismissed concerns that he may face a conflict between American interests and great expectations among people in his motherland.He said it’s the utmost honor for him to assume the post, not a burden, although it is a “huge challenge.”“I know that there is huge expectation among the Korean public, and that’s fine. I am completely c
Foreign AffairsNov. 6, 2011