[Newsmaker] Obama trip aims to set new era in Cuba ties

Stepping into history, President Barack Obama opened an extraordinary visit to Cuba on Sunday, eager to push decades of acrimony deeper into the past and forge irreversible ties with America‘s former adversary. ``This is a historic visit and a historic opportunity,’‘ Obama said as he greeted staff of the new U.S. Embassy in Havana.Air Force One touched down on a rainy, overcast day in the Cuban capital. The president was joined by wife Michelle Obama and daughters Malia and Sasha in the first vi

World NewsMarch 21, 2016

[Newsmaker] Landmarks go dark for 10th Earth Hour

From Sydney‘s Opera House to New York’s Empire State Building and Paris‘s Eiffel tower, landmarks worldwide dimmed their lights Saturday for the 10th edition of the Earth Hour campaign against climate change.Millions of people from 178 countries and territories were expected to take part in WWF’s Earth Hour this year, organizers said, with monuments and buildings such as Berlin‘s Brandenburg Gate plunging into darkness for 60 minutes from 8:30 pm local time.The annual event kicked off in Sydney,

World NewsMarch 20, 2016

[Newsmaker] Chey Tae-won back in SK boardroom

Without drama, SK Group chairman Chey Tae-won won his way back into the boardroom of the group’s holding firm SK Holdings on Friday, a key outcome of the “Super Friday” glut of shareholders meetings in Korea. More than 300 companies, including 10 SK companies, seven LG units and four Lotte affiliates, held their annual congress of shareholders on the day.As in previous years, shareholder debate or a vote battle to turn down a presented agenda item was a rare sight. SK Group chairman Chey Tae-won

March 18, 2016

[Newsmaker] Senior Saenuri members leave amid growing intraparty feud

A factional battle continued to engulf the ruling Saenuri Party on Friday over the candidate nomination for the April general election, with senior lawmakers defecting from the party in protest.Reps. Ahn Sang-soo and Cho Hae-jin said in the morning that they would leave the Saenuri Party to run as independents. They follow in the footsteps of Rep. Chin Young, former health minister, who left Thursday. Third-term lawmaker Rep. Joo Ho-young also indicated he is contemplating leaving. Most of those

PoliticsMarch 18, 2016

[Newsmaker] Merrick Garland, Obama's moderate Supreme Court pick

WASHINGTON (AFP) -- Merrick Garland, a centrist judge with a long and distinguished career in the halls of justice, is perhaps President Barack Obama’s best chance at persuading his Republican foes who control the Senate to confirm his Supreme Court nominee.Federal appeals court judge Merrick Garland (center), receives applause from President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden as he is introduced as Obama’s nominee for the Supreme Court during an announcement at the White House in Washing

World NewsMarch 17, 2016

[Newsmaker] Minjoo chief unfazed by party pressure

Since taking his post in January, the main opposition party’s interim leader Kim Chong-in has been doing something that his predecessors have avoided in the past: driving out the elderly power brokers and outspoken liberal fightersFirst on Kim’s list was Rep. Moon hee-Sang, who had chaired the New Politics Alliance for Democracy, the predecessor to the Minjoo Party of Korea, from 2013 to 2014. Kim forced him to withdraw his bid to run for the April general election. Moon accepted the decision, t

PoliticsMarch 16, 2016

[Newsmaker] Bumpy road to boardroom for SK chairman Chey

SK Group chairman Chey Tae-won faces a bumpy road for his return to the boardroom of the holding company SK Holdings, with some shareholders and civic groups strongly opposing the move.According to local news reports, the fund management division of the National Pension Service, the nation’s largest investor, will convene an investment committee meeting Wednesday to discuss a voting decision on the SK chief’s return to the board of directors. The public pension fund is the second biggest shareho

IndustryMarch 15, 2016

[Newsmaker] Korea hopes for ISA-fueled investment boost

The Korean version of tax-efficient savings account, which benchmarked a U.K. scheme, went on sale Monday as the government hopes it will boost household wealth amid a rise in floating money prompted by low interest rates and uncertainties in the investment market.A total of 33 financial companies, including banks, securities firms and insurers, have begun introducing their first tax-exempt Individual Savings Account, or ISA, which allows customers to hold a wide range of retail investment vehic

March 14, 2016

[Newsmaker] Lee Se-dol proves human intuition still powerful in Go

Korean Go master Lee Se-dol has proved human intuition can still surpass the ever-evolving artificial intelligence technology, with his first victory against Google’s AI program AlphaGo. “This single win is so valuable and I would never exchange this with anything in the world,” Lee said after the victory on Sunday in Seoul. Demis Hassabis, CEO of DeepMind, the AlphaGo developer, also offered his respect to Lee’s victory. He said, “We are very happy about Lee’s victory. This is why we came here

TechnologyMarch 13, 2016

[Newsmaker] Lula charged in money laundering probe

SAO PAULO (AFP) -- Brazilian state prosecutors on Wednesday filed money laundering charges against ex-president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in a dramatic twist to an anti-corruption battle threatening to bring down the government.The indictment against the hugely influential leftist leader alleges that he hid ownership of a luxury triplex apartment at a seaside resort in Sao Paulo state, a source in the Sao Paulo prosecutor‘s Office said.“He is accused of hiding property in relation to the triplex

World NewsMarch 10, 2016

[Newsmaker] Saenuri’s nomination fight turns ugly

　A former presidential aide’s derogatory comment about the ruling party’s leader sent ripples through the political community Wednesday, intensifying factional infighting over the party’s nominations for the April general elections. 　In a taped telephone conversation leaked to local media on Tuesday, Rep. Yoon Sang-hyun of the Saenuri Party, who had served as a presidential adviser on political affairs in 2015, said that he would “eliminate” his party leader Rep. Kim Moo-sung to block his attemp

NationalMarch 9, 2016

[Newsmaker] Nancy, most ardent guardian of Reagan legacy

Nancy Reagan, the devoted wife and trusted confidante to late president Ronald Reagan who after his death became the most ardent guardian of his political legacy, died Sunday. She was 94.The former first lady passed away at her home in Los Angeles from congestive heart failure, her spokeswoman Joanne Drake said.In this file photo, Nancy Reagan gestures as she looks at photographs during a photo opportunity at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California on March 17, 2010. (U

World NewsMarch 7, 2016

[Newsmaker] Opposition chiefs at odds over election blueprints

The ongoing dispute on opposition unity has shown that the two opposition party leaders -- Kim Chong-in of The Minjoo Party of Korea and Rep. Ahn Cheol-soo of the People’s Party -- have distinctly different election strategies.　　Kim, a 75-year-old veteran politician who was scouted as relief pitcher for the feud-ridden party, has made it clear that he is ready to accept anything if only to achieve a significant number of parliamentary seats in the imminent April general elections.Ahn, on the oth

PoliticsMarch 6, 2016

[Newsmaker] Spaceman back from record year flight

Astronaut Scott Kelly returned to Earth on Wednesday after an unprecedented year in space for NASA, landing in barren Kazakhstan with a Russian cosmonaut who shared his whole space station journey.Their Soyuz capsule parachuted onto the central Asian steppes and ended a science-rich mission at the International Space Station that began last March and was deemed a steppingstone to Mars. International Space Station crew member Scott Kelly of the U.S. shows a victory sign after landing near the tow

World NewsMarch 2, 2016

[Newsmaker] Coupang to log record loss for 2015

South Korea’s top e-commerce operator Coupang is expected to have logged a record-high loss in 2015, according to Coupang and industry analysts, fueling partial concerns over its aggressive spending.A recent report by Hana Investment Securities forecast that Coupang would log an operating loss of about 400 billion won ($320 million) for 2015, up by 299 percent from a loss of 121.5 billion in 2014.Though its sales are expected to have hiked by more than 400 percent last year from 348.5 billion wo

IndustryMarch 1, 2016

[Newsmaker] Republicans badly split over Trump

On the eve of Tuesday's crucial multi-state primaries, a sharp new divide erupted between Republicans who pledge to fall in line behind Donald Trump if he wins their party's nomination and others who insist they can never back the bombastic billionaire.The fissure could have major implications beyond the primaries, exposing the looming challenges in uniting the party, no matter who wins the nomination. (Bloomberg)Trump has won three of four early nominating contests, roiling a party that had ass

World NewsMarch 1, 2016

[Newsmaker] Obama faces top court nomination challenge

Republicans are refusing to hold a vote or hearings on any candidate for the U.S. Supreme Court nominated by President Barack Obama, complicating his efforts to seek a replacement for deceased conservative Antonin Scalia.And though Obama insists he‘ll put forward an “outstanding candidate” no matter what the Republican Party says, the White House is hard-pressed to offer a convincing scenario in which that person gets confirmed.Overnight, Obama’s nominee will become the face of well-financed, hi

World NewsFeb. 25, 2016

[Newsmaker] Youngest lawmaker rises as filibuster star

As soon as the National Assembly speaker put a controversial antiterrorism bill to a vote late Tuesday, Rep. Kim Kwang-jin of The Minjoo Party of Korea stole the limelight, cracking the record for the longest filibuster, going five hours and 32 minutes. 　At 34, the 19th National Assembly’s youngest member took the podium at around 7:07 p.m., criticizing the bill at length before stepping down at 12:39 a.m. Until then, the title had been held by late President Kim Dae-jung, who laid out a speech

PoliticsFeb. 24, 2016

[Newsmaker] Elliott faces probe over Samsung spat

U.S. activist investor Paul Elliott Singer’s Samsung saga may not be over yet. Korea’s financial authorities are moving to seek a prosecutorial investigation into Elliott Associates, a $27 billion hedge fund run by Singer, for a suspected breach of a local disclosure rule regarding its purchase last year of a stake in Samsung Group’s construction unit. YohapThrough a 7.12 percent stake in Samsung C&T, the fund had mounted a high-profile and ultimately unsuccessful campaign to block its merger wi

Feb. 23, 2016

[Newsmaker] Will SK chairman retake board membership?

  With the season for annual shareholders meetings of the nation’s conglomerates approaching, the limelight is on SK Group chairman Chey Tae-won once again. 　Two months ago, the business tycoon suffered a public backlash with his confession about an extramarital affair and a love child. This time, attention is being paid not to his personal life but to his return to the executive board of key affiliates of the nation’s third-largest conglomerate. 　One reason why the chairman’s move is drawing pu

CompaniesFeb. 22, 2016