S. Korea still presumed safe from major earthquakes: experts

South Korean experts said Monday the country remains relatively safe from strong earthquakes that can lead to serious damage and major causalities, although expressing concerns that the frequency of tremors that are being felt felt by people have increased over the past few years.On Monday, a record-breaking earthquake was detected in the southern region near Gyeongju, which lies 371 kilometers southeast of Seoul. South Korea's meteorological agency said the 5.8-magnitude earthquake was strong e

Social AffairsSept. 13, 2016

Nuclear and chemical plants not affected by record earthquake

Nuclear power plants in the southern parts of South Korea were not affected by a powerful magnitude-5.8 earthquake that hit the Korean Peninsula on Monday evening, officials said.The Korea Nuclear Power Co., which operates the country's nuclear plants, said a plant near the epicenter in the historic city of Gyeongju, and other plants in the adjacent areas are fully functional and normally producing electricity.The record tremor that occurred at 8:32 p.m. was the strongest one to hit the Korean P

Social AffairsSept. 13, 2016

[Newsmaker] Clinton scraps trip over pneumonia

Democrat Hillary Clinton faced questions about her health Monday after being diagnosed with pneumonia and falling ill at a 9/11 ceremony, renewing speculation about her fitness barely eight weeks from Election Day. (AP-Yonhap)Clinton, who was forced to cancel a California fundraising trip on Monday and Tuesday, also faces questions over why her campaign took two days to reveal the pneumonia diagnosis.A campaign spokesman announced the trip was cancelled just hours after the 68-year-old Democrati

World NewsSept. 12, 2016

Magnitude-5.8 earthquake jolts southeastern S. Korea

A record magnitude-5.8 earthquake jolted most of South Korea, the country's meteorological agency said Monday.The quake detected at 8:32 p.m. was the strongest tremor reported on the Korean Peninsula to date, being noticeably stronger than the magnitude-5.3 tremor that rocked the eastern Pyongan region in North Korea in January 1980, the Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA) said. It added that the epicenter was near the Naenam-myeon region some 8 kilometers south of the historic city of Gye

Social AffairsSept. 12, 2016

Samsung heir tightens grip, shares tumble on recall

Lee Jae-yong, vice chairman of Samsung Electronics and the heir apparent of Samsung Group, was named as a registered boardroom member, the company said Monday, signaling him moving one step closer to the throne.The decision was made during a board meeting earlier in the day, Samsung said in a statement, calling it a decision that would have him more responsible for the management of the nation’s largest conglomerate. Registered boardroom members at firms are obliged to take responsibility in bot

IndustrySept. 12, 2016

[Graphic News] Mobile shopping soars in Q2

Nearly half of consumers here -- 47 percent -- visited online shopping websites on their smartphones in the second quarter of this year, while 44 percent accessed such websites through computers, according to an e-commerce cloud service provider Monday.However, when it comes to purchasing goods online, payments via computers made up 61 percent of total e-commerce transactions, while purchases made on smartphones stood at 27 percent, Demandware said. Worldwide e-commerce transactions are expected

IndustrySept. 12, 2016

8 Chinese tourists arrested for assaulting Korean restaurant owner

Police said Monday they have arrested eight Chinese tourists on charges of beating up a South Korean restaurant owner on Jeju Island last week. According to Jeju Seobu Police Station, the tourists -- six men and two women -- are suspected of assaulting the 53-year-old owner of the restaurant, identified only by her surname Ahn, on the southern resort island of Jeju on Saturday, causing her injury.  (Jeju District Police)The incident took place after the 53-year-old Ahn prohibited the tourists fr

Social AffairsSept. 12, 2016

Lee Byung-hun recalls filming alongside Chris Pratt, Ethan Hawke on ‘Magnificent Seven’

According to actor Lee Byung-hun, his character on the latest rendition of Western flick “The Magnificent Seven” is both “stylish and weighty.” 　While it is not every day that an Asian actor stars as one of the main protagonists in a Hollywood blockbuster, Lee says that he was not too preoccupied with the nature of the role.“I don’t necessary prefer playing a villain or a protagonist,” he said at the press screening for the film, directed by Antoine Fuqua (“Southpaw”), on Monday in southern Seou

FilmSept. 12, 2016