South Korea’s military academy has appointed a female civilian as a professor for the first time in its history, an academy official said Saturday. The development comes as the male-dominated military is seeking to give more opportunities to women. Jung Sung-im, a former research fellow of Ewha Womans University, became the first woman and civilian professor to have a full-time teaching positio...

SK Networks Co., Walkerhill has named COO Moon Jong-hoon as new president of the company as of Friday. Moon graduated from Korea University with a major in Business Administration and has actively worked for SK since 1983 as division director of Car Life Division of SK Co., executive director of Marketing Solution Business Unit of SK M&C and COO of SK Networks Co., Walkerhill. (yoonmi@heraldm.c...

South Korean ship captain Seok Hae-kyun, who was rescued from Somali hijackers earlier this year, was picked as the recipient of an international maritime award in recognition of his bravery during the harrowing event, Seoul’s maritime affairs ministry said Sunday. The International Maritime Organization (IMO) has decided to give this year’s “Award for Exceptional Bravery at Sea” to Seok Hae-kyu...

Prof. Choi Mi-kyung wins Grand Prix at 10th Korean Literature Translation Awards Ewha Womans University professor Choi Mi-kyung and former French diplomat-turned-translator Jean Noel Juttet together received the Grand Prix Prize at the 10th Korean Literature Translation Awards, a biennial competition organized by the Korea Literature Translation Institute, for their co-translation work at Korea ...

MONACO (AP) — Monaco’s Prince Albert II and Princess Charlene promised each other love and fidelity in an extravagant religious wedding Saturday attended by international celebrities and royalty, bringing new allure to the tiny principality known for its luxurious casinos and as a stomping ground for the rich and famous. The Catholic service followed an intimate civil ceremony Friday, which saw ...

Mark Edward Harris takes on Iron Triangle, once the most ferocious battlefield along the DMZ, in time for 61st anniversary of the Korean War CHEORWON, Gangwon Province ― Rain was drizzling down as photographer Mark Edward Harris headed for Cheorwon, Gangwon Province on June 24. He had just arrived at Incheon International Airport a few hours earlier. “They’ll be just more moody,” Harris told Th...

The coastline of Samcheok in Gangwon Province is quite complicated and heavily indented, unlike the usual simple and smooth coastline of the Korean Peninsula’s east coast. Jangho-ri in Samcheok is a village consisting of a beach, a natural port and rocks on the seashore. Jangho Beach may be the best place for marine sports, according to the Korea Tourism Organization. In Jangho Beach, you can t...

Stroll among traditional houses, soak in hot springs and drink sake TAKAYAMA ― It was 8 a.m. on Saturday, and the Incheon International Airport was packed with people heading out for a weekend getaway or an early summer vacation. But our queue ― we were headed to Takayama in Gifu Prefecture, Japan ― was noticeably short, and it took only 10 minutes to complete check in. The tour guide said the ...

Korean allegory on democracy Our Twisted Hero By Yi Mun-yol (Hyperion) Among many Korean novels published in the 1980s, author Yi Mun-yol’s “Our Twisted Hero” has been considered the modern classic that dealt with the complex transition between fighting dictatorship and establishing democracy. Telling a story of Han Byeong-tae, a 12-year-old boy who moves to a rural town from Seoul, the nove...

Complex, alluring thriller Killer Move By Michael Marshall (William Morrow) Author Michael Marshall takes a common man and throws him a curveball in this paranoid thriller, “Killer Move.” Bill Moore craves something more than his job selling condos near the Florida Keys. Although happily married, his ambition to start his own business begins to make him a bit selfish and greedy. One morning ...

Strategy is everything for the French. That’s what Elaine Sciolino discovers in her book “La Seduction: How the French Play the Game of Life,” a look at why the food is so delicious, the perfumes so beguiling, the languid conversation of Paris cafes so intoxicating, the French so, well, French. It’s all part of a grand game of seduction, a word with a much more expansive definition in French. Rat...