President Park Geun-hye said Tuesday her government will continue to work harder in the new year to revitalize the economy, ensure national security and fix abnormal practices deeply rooted in society.   "We will focus our national capabilities on keeping the hard-won embers of economic recovery alive so as to revitalize the economy and stabilize the people's livelihoods," Park said in a new year's message. "I hope all of you will unite strength in laying the groundwork for an economic leap."

Politics Dec. 31, 2013

   KEY WEST, Florida (AP) _ The first commercial passenger flight from Key West to Cuba in more than 50 years landed Monday in Havana, capping several years of efforts to reunite the two islands, though regular air service still appeared a distant prospect.   U.S. Customs and Border Protection gave the final approval for the flight Monday morning, and the nine-passenger aircraft departed 90 minutes later at 10 a.m., Key West International Airport director Peter Horton said.   ``This is just a te

Industry Dec. 31, 2013

   The price of natural gas will be raised an average 5.8 percent from Jan. 1 to reflect a recent hike in import prices, the government said Tuesday.    The price of liquefied natural gas supplied by the Korea Gas Corp. (KOGAS) will be raised by 6.1 percent for the industrial sector, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.    "The rate hike comes as the country urgently needs to secure enough supply to meet growing demands for gas from the suspension of (three) nuclear reactors,

Dec. 31, 2013

   SARASOTA, Florida (AP) -- Dr. Kenneth Edelin, a Boston physician at the center of a landmark abortion case in the 1970s, died Monday morning in Sarasota, Florida. He was 74.   Edelin's wife, Barbara, confirmed that he died after suffering from cancer.   She said that her husband was a great teacher and mentor, guiding many young doctors over his career.   ``He was a great advocate for the rights of women to have choice in their own reproductive freedom,'' Barbara Edelin said. ``Particularly f

World News Dec. 31, 2013

   North Korea may stage provocations against South Korea early next year as part of efforts to further ensure internal unity following the execution of leader Kim Jong-un's once-powerful uncle and his associates, a Seoul think tank said Tuesday.   The North executed Jang Song-thaek on charges of treason, along with other officials in early December. The shocking series of purges sparked concerns over potential instability in the isolated country.    "There is a possibility that the North could

North Korea Dec. 31, 2013

The ruling and opposition parties reached an agreement Tuesday on a package of measures to reform South Korea's main intelligence agency, including a tougher punishment for agents involved in meddling in domestic politics under the pretext of psychological warfare against North Korea.   The ranking members of the rival parties on the special parliamentary committee on reforming the National Intelligence Service (NIS) worked out the revision to the NIS Act and other related laws in one-on-one neg

Politics Dec. 31, 2013

Unionists of the state-run railway operator KORAIL on Tuesday ended a 22-day walkout and returned to their workplaces.However, they vowed to continue their struggle against the government's approval of the establishment of a KORAIL affiliate, which will run the new bullet train route out of Suseo in southwestern Seoul from as early as 2015."All union members returned and resumed their work as of 11 a.m. We will go back to our normal duties before the strike," said Choi Eun-cheol, spokesman of th

Social Affairs Dec. 31, 2013

   A Seoul court acquitted an American soldier of raping his South Korean fiancee in 2011, court officials said Tuesday.      The sergeant major of the U.S. Army, whose identity has been withheld, was indicted on charges of raping and assaulting his fiancee, whose identity remains anonymous, officials said.   The Seoul Central District Court delivered a not-guilty verdict, citing lack of evidence, they added.   "The court does not take credibility in the plaintiff's statement as well as other ev

Social Affairs Dec. 31, 2013

   YANGON, Myanmar (AP) - Myanmar's reformist president granted a pardon Monday to people convicted of or charged with a variety of political offenses, an apparent effort to fulfill his pledge to free all political prisoners by the end of this year.   It wasn't immediately clear how many people are covered by President Thein Sein's pardon, which was announced on state television.   The pardon covers people convicted of or charged with unlawful association, high treason, contempt of government an

World News Dec. 31, 2013

  Two provincial banking firms won the bid Tuesday to each buy a regional bank unit of Woori Finance Holdings Co., giving a hand to the government's long-pending sale of South Korea's largest banking group, ank and regulatory sources said.   The state-run Korea Deposit Insurance Corp. (KDIC), the controlling shareholder of Woori Finance, picked Busan-based BS Financial Group Inc. as the preferred bidder for Kyongnam Bank, and JB Financial Group Co., based in the southern  city of Gwangju, for Kw

Dec. 31, 2013

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport on Friday issued a license for the state-run rail operator to establish an affiliate to run a new branch of the KTX line, despite fierce opposition from labor unions and others.The issuance is expected to increase pressure on the 27 percent of KORAIL’s 20,443 employees who have been on strike since Dec. 9 against what they claim to be a move to privatize the railroads.“The Daejeon District Court on Friday evening approved the registration of the

Social Affairs Dec. 27, 2013

  BEIRUT (AP) _ A powerful bombing rocked a central business district of central Beirut Friday, setting cars ablaze and killing five people, including a senior aide to former Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri, officials said.   The National News Agency said Mohammed Chatah and his driver were both killed in the explosion, which wounded more than 70 others.   Lebanon has seen a wave of bombings over the past months as tensions rise over Syria's civil war. Hariri heads the main, Western-backed c

World News Dec. 27, 2013

Robert King, U.S. special envoy for North Korean human rights issues, arrived here Sunday for talks with South Korean officials.King's trip comes as Kenneth Bae, a Christian missionary, remains detained in the communist North since he was caught nearly a year ago.The Korean-American has been sentenced to 15 years of hard labor by a North Korean court for committing an unspecified crime against the state.Ambassador King had hoped to visit Pyongyang for talks on Bae's possible release in August on

North Korea Nov. 17, 2013

TBILISI, Georgia (AP) _ Georgia on Sunday inaugurated a new president, 44-year-old philosopher and former university rector Giorgi Margvelashvili, who pledged to strengthen the former Soviet republic's ties with the West and maintain its commitment to NATO. His inauguration brings to an end the nearly decade-long presidency of Mikhail Saakashvili, who aligned this Black Sea nation with the United States and put it on the path toward integration with the European Union.The new president has littl

World News Nov. 17, 2013

Investment banking giant JPMorgan Chase said Thursday it has sold all of its exposure to short-term U.S. government debt out of its money market funds, following a similar move by other money market mutual fund managers.The announcement comes a day after Fidelity Investments, the largest U.S. manager of money market mutual funds, said it no longer holds any U.S. government debt that comes due around the time the nation could hit its borrowing limit.In a statement Thursday, JPMorgan said its mone

World News Oct. 11, 2013