[Newsmaker] Moon in hot seat over ambiguity on memoir scandal

Faced with attacks from both conservative foes and fellow liberals, Moon Jae-in, in 2012, had urged political parties to stop questioning his ability to deal with inter-Korea relations as a presidential candidate.“They are relying on McCarthyist tactics to launch yet another vicious ideological attacks,” Moon had said, then running for the country‘s top job on the ticket of the New Politics Alliance of Democracy, a precursor to today’s Minjoo Party of Korea.Throughout the 2012 race, Moon had str

PoliticsOct. 19, 2016

[Newsmaker] Fears rise of more Hanjin vessel seizures

Concerns are growing over additional seizures of Hanjin Shipping vessels that could lead to costly delays in unloading operations after a local court greenlighted the arrest of a vessel despite the troubled firm’s bankruptcy protection. On Monday, Changwon District Court dismissed the near-bankrupt company’s objection to the court’s decision to allow the detainment and auction sale of vessel Hanjin Xiamen docked in Busan Newport. US company World Fuel Services recently requested the vessel arres

IndustryOct. 18, 2016

[Newsmaker] Ex-FM stirs dispute with memoir

While lawmakers continue their political tit-for-tat over bribery scandals involving President Park Geun-hye’s close associates, an unlikely figure has shifted political talk in a completely new direction. Former Foreign Minister Song Min-soon, in his memoir released last week, said that presidential aides and cabinet members serving at the previous, liberal Roh Moo-hyun administration had inquired of North Korea about whether Seoul should vote to adopt a 2007 UN resolution condemning Pyeongyang

PoliticsOct. 17, 2016

[Newsmaker] Former foreign minister thrust into spotlight over controversial memoir

While lawmakers continue their political tit-for-tat over bribery scandals involving President Park Geun-hye’s close associates, an unlikely figure has shifted political talk in a completely new direction. Former Foreign Minister Song Min-soon, in his memoir released last week, said that presidential aides and cabinet members serving at the previous, liberal Roh Moo-hyun administration had inquired of North Korea about whether Seoul should vote to adopt a 2007 UN resolution condemning Pyeongyang

PoliticsOct. 17, 2016

[Newsmaker] King's death puts Thai royals in spotlight

Until his death on Thursday Thailand‘s King Bhumibol Adulyadej was the world’s longest-reigning monarch. Officially known as King Rama IX, he descended from the Chakri dynasty which came to power in Thailand in the late eighteenth century. Both local and international media must self-censor in Thailand when reporting on the royal family due to the country‘s lese majeste law -- one of the strictest in the world. Under the legislation anyone convicted of insulting the king, queen, heir or regent f

World NewsOct. 16, 2016

[Newsmaker] A soldier’s way

On Oct. 9, 1983, a bomb went off at a national cemetery in Yangon, Burma, where scores of top South Korean government officials were waiting for the arrival of President Chun Doo-hwan. The attack, perpetrated by South Korea’s communist neighbor, brethren and foe North Korea, claimed 17 lives, including Seoul’s deputy prime minister, foreign minister, commerce minister and chief presidential secretary. Twenty-five-year-old 1st Lt. Chun In-bum, not related to the president, was just meters away fr

DefenseOct. 14, 2016

[Newsmaker] Bob Dylan wins Nobel Literature Prize

American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan won the 2016 Nobel Prize in literature on Thursday, a stunning announcement that for the first time bestowed the prestigious award on a musician.The Swedish Academy cited Dylan for "having created new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition.''Reporters and others gathered for the announcement at the academy's headquarters in Stockholm's Old Town reacted with a loud cheer as his name was read out.American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan (Associ

World NewsOct. 13, 2016

[Newsmaker] How to refund or exchange your Galaxy Note 7

The owners of explosion-prone large smartphone Galaxy Note 7 are able to refund or exchange their device from Thursday until the end of this year, according to Samsung Electronics. The short-lived Galaxy Note 7, which first rolled out on Aug. 19 in the US and Korea, sold around 1.8 million units globally. Around 500,000 units were sold in Korea alongside 1 million units in the US, where refunds and exchanges began Tuesday. Samsung said Thursday owners of the Galaxy Note 7 would receive benefits

TechnologyOct. 13, 2016

[Newsmaker] Hospital illegally transferred blood samples

Employees at a well-known general hospital just outside Seoul handed over approximately 4,000 blood samples of patients to a local medical supplier without patients’ consent for two years, it was revealed Wednesday. The hospital, CHA Bundang Medical Center in Seongnam, wasn’t aware of the irregularity until a former staff member blew the whistle last month. It said it has fired the three employees involved in the illegal transfer of blood samples.“We will also improve the current medical waste d

Social AffairsOct. 12, 2016

[Newsmaker] Giving up on Trump? Ryan focusing on saving GOP majority

House Speaker Paul Ryan, the nation’s top elected Republican, effectively abandoned Donald Trump on Monday, telling anxious fellow lawmakers he will not campaign for or defend the floundering businessman in the election’s closing weeks. Pro-Trump members rebelled in anger, accusing Ryan of conceding the election to Hillary Clinton.Indeed, Ryan said he would devote his energy to ensuring Clinton does not get a “blank check” as president with a Democratic-controlled Congress, according to people o

World NewsOct. 11, 2016

[NEWSMAKER] Hyundai Motor struggles to contain fallout

Hyundai Motor, the world’s sixth-largest carmaker, is grappling with a series of distressing events including chronic disputes with its hard-core laborers and unfavorable market conditions. Over the years, the nation’s largest carmaker has fought to maintain a lead in the market, competing globally through investments in research and development, brand value and design. (Yonhap)Despite its stellar performance in and out of the country, the carmaker is likely to continue having it rough for a whi

MobilityOct. 10, 2016

[Newsmaker] Divided UN council fails to act to ‘save Aleppo’

Russia on Saturday vetoed a UN draft resolution demanding an end to the bombing of Aleppo, but its own rival measure on a truce in Syria‘s war-battered city was rejected.The failure of the two resolutions deepened divisions at the Security Council between Damascus ally Moscow and the Western powers backing opposition rebels in the war.It was the fifth time that Russia used its veto to block UN action to end the five-year war in Syria, which has claimed 300,000 lives.As the council meeting got un

World NewsOct. 9, 2016

[Newsmaker] Colombia's Santos wins Nobel Peace Prize

Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos won the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday for his efforts to end a five-decades-long civil war that has killed more than 200,000 people in the South American country.The award came just days after Colombian voters narrowly rejected the peace deal that Santos helped bring about, and Nobel authorities conspicuously left out his counterpart, Rodrigo Londono, the leader of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, from the honor. Colombian President Juan Manuel San

World NewsOct. 7, 2016

[Newsmaker] Antonio Guterres, tireless refugee champion

Former Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Guterres, who is poised to become the next UN secretary-general, is a self-described man of action who earned his stripes as the world body‘s refugee chief, tirelessly pressing rich nations to do more.An engineer by training and fervent Catholic, Guterres, 67, fought unflaggingly for migrants’ rights over a decade as UN High Commissioner for Refugees from June 2005 to December 2015.He repeatedly warned that millions of refugees fleeing conflict in Syria,

World NewsOct. 6, 2016

[Newsmaker] 3 win Nobel chemistry prize for molecular machines

STOCKHOLM (AP) -- Three scientists won the Nobel Prize in chemistry on Wednesday for developing the world‘s smallest machines, work that could revolutionize computer technology and lead to a new type of battery.　Frenchman Jean-Pierre Sauvage, British-born Fraser Stoddart and Dutch scientist Bernard ``Ben’‘ Feringa share the 8 million kronor ($930,000) prize for the ``design and synthesis of molecular machines,’‘ the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said.　 　Machines at the molecular level are 1,

World NewsOct. 5, 2016

[Newsmaker] Kaine, Pence clash in vice presidential debate

Vice presidential hopefuls Tim Kaine and Mike Pence launched into their only debate of the campaign Tuesday, immediately clashing on the reputations, experiences and policies of their bosses chasing the White House.Democrat Kaine and Republican Pence squared off to highlight their capabilities as the men who could be a heartbeat away from the presidency, but essentially they were on stage fighting a proxy war for their running mates five weeks before Election Day on Nov. 8.Kaine, a US senator fr

World NewsOct. 5, 2016

[Newsmaker] Japanese scientist wins Nobel Prize

Some people are drawn to the flashy and popular, but Nobel laureate Yoshinori Ohsumi isn’t one of them.The 71-year-old Japanese scientist won the 2016 prize in medicine on Monday for his “brilliant” work on how damaged cells recycle themselves -- known as autophagy -- and the major implications it has for health and diseases, including cancer and neurological disorders.But Ohsumi’s field of interest was far from the limelight when he started his career.Japanese scientist Yoshinori Ohsumi smiles

World NewsOct. 4, 2016

[Newsmaker] Colombian voters nix peace deal in shock vote

Colombians hit their government with a shock defeat Sunday when they voted by a razor-thin majority to reject a historic peace accord with communist FARC rebels.Voters resentful of the blood shed by the FARC narrowly defied the government‘s bid to put the 52-year conflict behind them, reversing the trend of earlier opinion polls.The result threw Colombia’s future into uncertainty. The sides spent four years negotiating the deal and agreed it must be ratified in a referendum -- but said there was

World NewsOct. 3, 2016

[Newsmaker] Musk an innovator wary of humanity’s future

If the future is an array of possibilities ranging from catastrophic to divine, Elon Musk is working to increase the probability of good things happening.Musk has become one of the United States’ best-known innovators. He was a founder of payments company PayPal, electric carmaker Tesla Motors and SpaceX, maker and launcher of rockets and spacecraft.This week Musk, as SpaceX chief, unveiled ambitious plans to establish a Mars colony by sending 100 humans at a time on massive spacecraft, possibly

World BusinessSept. 29, 2016

[Newsmaker] Wells Fargo scandal reignites debate about big bank culture

In the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis, the banking industry sought to address an ethics crisis with surveys, town hall meetings, appointments of overseers and mechanisms for employees to report malfeasance.Now, the high-pressure sales scandal at Wells Fargo & Co. provides more evidence that large US banks may have little to show for the effort.Bank consultants say tens of millions of dollars are spent each year on initiatives to build a culture of integrity, partly at the urging of regul

World BusinessSept. 29, 2016