President Lee Myung-bak on Friday endorsed a parliamentary motion authorizing an independent investigation into suspicions surrounding his retirement home project, despite complaints it is unfair for the opposition party to select candidates to lead the probe.The decision, made at an extraordinary Cabinet meeting, appears to reflect concerns about political repercussions a veto could cause, includ

Politics Sept. 21, 2012

South Korea's air carriers have again agreed to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions as part of national efforts to fight climate change, the government said Friday.The voluntary agreement is the third of its kind signed by the country's seven airlines, including flag carriers Korean Air and Asiana Airlines, according to the Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs."Under the first agreem

Industry Sept. 21, 2012

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) cut its 2012 growth estimate for South Korea to 3 percent on Thursday, citing the heightened eurozone crisis as a major risk factor.In June it forecast Asia's fourth-largest economy would grow 3.25 percent. But the IMF said South Korea's economy is likely to hit the bottom soon and called for preparations for raising interest rates. "The Korean economy is slow

Sept. 21, 2012

Iraq, North Korea, Afghanistan - the visa stamps in Matt Harding's passport are of the less usual kind. It is thanks to dancing that the 35-year-old American has made his way around the globe, stopping in exotic and rarely visited places."I know that I've passed the figure of 100 countries. Since then, I stopped counting," revealed the globetrotter in an interview with dpa from his home in Seattle

World News Sept. 20, 2012

A recent wave of anti-Japanese protests in China will likely have a limited short-term impact on Japanese firms that are likely to recover easily from the losses inflicted so far, Moody's Investors Service said Thursday.Protesting Japan's claim over disputed islands between the two countries, tens of thousands of angry Chinese vandalized a number of Japanese factories and stores in China over the

World Business Sept. 20, 2012

South Korea on Wednesday dismissed an allegation that it has purchased a historical building in Washington at an unreasonably high price.South Korea's Cultural Heritage Administration recently signed a contract with a local lawyer to buy his Logan Circle mansion here that was used as the Korean legation in the U.S. more than a century ago.The building was forcibly taken over by Japan during its co

Culture Sept. 20, 2012

South Korean stocks opened lower on Thursday as shares lost ground across the board, analysts said.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) fell 8.61 points, or 0.43 percent, to 1999.27 in the first 15 minutes of trading.Tech blue chips led the decline, with market behemoth Samsung Electronics falling 1.07 percent and its smaller rival LG Electronics losing 0.26 percent. Leading car

Sept. 20, 2012

Seventeen leading universities in the U.S. and abroad will start offering free cyber courses through the online education platform Coursera, the company said Wednesday. The announcement by Mountain View-based Coursera underscores the rapid expansion of so-called MOOCs, or massive open online courses, that are reshaping the higher education landscape.Coursera, a for-profit company started by two co

World News Sept. 20, 2012

Xi Jinping, the Chinese leader-in-waiting, and U.S. defense chief Leon Panetta held "constructive and candid" talks Wednesday on North Korea and other global security challenges and on territorial disputes in Asia, according to the Pentagon.Panetta's meeting with Xi in Beijing highlighted the secretary's trip to Asia, which also took him to Tokyo."Secretary Panetta and Vice President Xi also discu

World News Sept. 20, 2012

A Virginia law librarian with two jobs says she lost 85 pounds on the "Starbucks diet," a diet she designed herself by only eating food from the coffee chain.Christine Hall, who is 5 foot 4 inches tall, said she went from weighing 190 pounds to 114 pounds during a two-year period by tracking the calories online for food she bought at her nearby Starbucks, NBCNews.com reported.The 66-year-old libra

Food Sept. 19, 2012

The Bank of Japan on Wednesday announced additional monetary easing saying it was boosting an asset-purchasing fund by 10 trillion yen ($128 billion) to 80 trillion yen.The BoJ also kept interest rates at between zero and 0.1 percent in a unanimous decision, a statement said.Following the announcement of the fresh measure, the dollar edged up against the yen, trading at 78.95 yen, from about 78.78

World Business Sept. 19, 2012

Two Swedish women received new uteruses at the weekend in the world's first mother-to-daughter uterine transplants aimed at helping them have babies, Gothenburg University announced on Tuesday.Uterine transplants are new, with the first successful one conducted in Turkey in 2011."One of the women had previously had her own uterus removed after undergoing treatment for cervical cancer. The other wo

Technology Sept. 19, 2012