South Korea's weather forecasters warned of heavy rains of up to 200 millimeters and strong winds in the country's southern and central regions, as Typhoon Khanun is approaching the southern island of Jeju on Wednesday. Khanun, meaning "jack fruit" in Thai, was 490 kilometers south of Seogwipo in the southern part of Jeju as of 6 a.m. on Wednesday and heading northwest along the country's western

Social Affairs July 18, 2012

South Korea has decided to scrap its plan to resume whaling for scientific research, a senior government official said Tuesday, after the move sparked international criticism.Earlier this month, South Korea notified the International Whaling Commission that it planned to lift an all-out whaling ban and start catching the animal for scientific purposes only in immediate waters surrounding the Korea

Technology July 17, 2012

South Korea's central bank unexpectedly cut the key interest rate on Thursday, underscoring its urgency to cushion the bitter impact of the eurozone debt crisis on the local economy.Bank of Korea Gov. Kim Choong-soo and his six fellow policymakers lowered the benchmark 7-day repo rate by a quarter percentage point to 3 percent for July. It marked the first rate cut since February 2009.The decision

July 12, 2012

South Korea's central bank has limited leeway to cut its key interest rate as Asia's fourth-largest economy remains dogged by high inflation expectations, the International Monetary Fund said Wednesday.The IMF said in a report that given sluggish growth, high unemployment and downside risks, more monetary easing should be considered for some advanced economies, with the possible exception of Canad

July 4, 2012

President Lee Myung-bak's elder brother appeared before prosecutors Tuesday morning for questioning over allegations that he took bribes from troubled savings banks and several others in return for peddling influence.Lee Sang-deuk, 77, formerly a six-term legislator with the ruling Saenuri Party, entered the Supreme Prosecutors' Office in southern Seoul at 10:00 a.m., accompanied by his lawyer."I

Social Affairs July 3, 2012

Google Inc., trying to match its success in smartphones, stepped up its challenge to Apple Inc. and Amazon.com Inc. in the $66.4 billion tablet market with the Nexus 7, a $199 device that sports a slim 7-inch screen.The tablet will feature the latest version of the Android operating system, called Jelly Bean, the company said at its Google I/O developers conference today in San Francisco. Google a

World Business June 28, 2012

Apple Inc. will start sales of music and movies through the iTunes store in Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan and nine other Asian markets as it expands in the region.Customers in Brunei, Cambodia, Laos, Macau, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, Sri Lanka and Vietnam will also be able to buy music and rent movies through the iTunes store, Apple said in a statement posted on its website on Wednesday.

World Business June 27, 2012

South Korea will be forced to halt oil imports from Iran due to European Union sanctions that will ban insurance on Iranian oil shipments from next month, the Seoul government said Tuesday."The country, too, has to suspend oil imports from Iran as the European Union  is set to stop offering any type of insurance on Iranian oil imports while also suspending oil imports from Iran itself from July 1,

June 26, 2012

Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras consented to the resignation of his finance minister, Vassilios Rapanos, four days after naming him to the post.Rapanos, a former National Bank of Greece SA chairman, sent his letter of resignation while still hospitalized after collapsing on June 22. The resignation was accepted by Samaras, according to a phone-text message from the premier’s office in Athens

World Business June 26, 2012

Childbirths in South Korea dipped in April despite the government's ongoing efforts to encourage couples to have more children, a report showed Monday.According to the report by Statistics Korea, the number of babies born in the cited month reached 40,200, a contraction of 0.2 percent, or 100, from the same month a year earlier.The decline comes after birthrates grew for two months in a row in Feb

June 25, 2012

South Korean President Lee Myung-bak paid tribute to Colombian troops killed in the 1950-53 Korean War and met with their family members and veterans Saturday as he began a state visit to the wartime ally.The trip was the first state visit to the country by a South Korean leader.Flanked by Colombia's defense minister, a solemn-faced Lee marked a moment of silence then offered a wreath at a Korean

Politics June 24, 2012

North Korea remains on an annual U.S. list of the nations that could face sanctions for making little effort to combat human trafficking for a 10th consecutive year, according to the State Department's report Wednesday. In its annual Trafficking in Persons report, the State Department ranked North Korea once again in "Tier 3" for countries with the poorest record of fighting human trafficking. A t

North Korea June 21, 2012