The condition of Rev. Sun Myung Moon, the Unification Church founder, has improved five days after he was admitted to a Seoul hospital with complications from pneumonia, the church's current leader said in his latest sermon.The 92-year-old is in the intensive care unit of Seoul St. Mary's Hospital in southern Seoul where he was admitted last Tuesday.Rev. Hyung Jin Moon, the head of the church and

People Aug. 21, 2012

A small South Korean bar has been ordered to pay damages to Chanel for infringing upon the value held by the French luxury house, court records showed Tuesday.The Seoul Central District Court ordered the local bar, known as the Chanel Business Club, to pay 10 million won (US$8,800) in compensation to Chanel, saying that the bar inflicted damage to the distinctiveness and reputation attached to Cha

Industry Aug. 21, 2012

Ruling Saenuri Party's presidential candidate Park Geun-hye said Tuesday she will visit the grave of late President Roh Moo-hyun as part of her efforts to promote national unity.After paying a visit to the National Cemetery in southern Seoul, the 60-year-old lawmaker said she planned to pay her respects to Roh in the afternoon because he represented a significant part of South Korea society.The la

Politics Aug. 21, 2012

The ruling Saenuri Party wrapped up its primary election Sunday with a lower than expected voter turnout.The poll closed at 6 p.m. with an estimated voter turnout of 41.2 percent, according to the National Election Commission, which oversaw the primary election.The party has a little over 200,000 members eligible to vote but only about 82,000 cast ballots in the poll that began earlier in the day

Politics Aug. 19, 2012

All 31 people aboard an airplane carrying an "official delegation" to Sudan's war-torn South Kordofan state for a function marking the Muslim Eid holiday were killed on Sunday, an aviation official said."All people on board were killed," Abdelhafiz Abdelrahim, spokesman for the Sudan Aviation Authority, told AFP.He said the plane was landing in Talodi town at about 8:00 am (0500 GMT) when "an expl

World News Aug. 19, 2012

South Korea is expected to reiterate its stance on the issue of Dokdo and refute Japan's sovereignty claim in its reply to a letter by Japan's prime minister to President Lee Myung-bak, two government officials said Sunday.Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda sent the letter to Lee via Seoul's Embassy in Tokyo on Friday, describing as regrettable Lee's Aug. 10 visit to Dokdo and his remarks that

International Aug. 19, 2012

A California nursing instructor was sentenced to four months in jail for inappropriately touching three teenage students, officials said.Alfredo Fernandez Gonzalez, 46, of Orange, pleaded guilty to three misdemeanor counts of lewd conduct for the incidents, which took place over a two-month period in 2011, the Los Angeles Times reported Friday.The students -- ages 16 and 17 -- said the certified n

World News Aug. 19, 2012

Japan is expected to deliver a diplomatic letter this week asking South Korea to jointly take the issue of Dokdo, Seoul's easternmost islets claimed by Tokyo as its territory, to the International Court of Justice (ICJ), a diplomatic source said Sunday. Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda will hold a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday to make a decision on whether to send a "note verbale," a diplom

International Aug. 19, 2012

Japanese nationalists landed on an island at the heart of a corrosive territorial row with China on Sunday in a move likely to further inflame tensions with Beijing.Around a dozen members of the right wing Gambare Nippon (Hang In There Japan) went ashore, an AFP journalist witnessed, saying they intended to plant a Japanese flag at the island's highest point.The landing comes just days after Tokyo

World News Aug. 19, 2012

Police arrested a man who attacked passengers in a running subway with a box-cutter and inflicted injuries on seven of them, officials said.The man in his early 40s, identified only by his family name Yoo, went on a rampage as the subway was headed to Seoul from Euijeongbu, a city 23 kilometers north of the capital, said Oh Yoon-hui, a police officer.The suspect later got off the subway and ran aw

Social Affairs Aug. 19, 2012

South Korea and Australia have agreed to swiftly conclude negotiations on forging a bilateral free trade agreement, Seoul's foreign ministry said Thursday. The agreement was reached at a meeting earlier in the day between South Korean Foreign Minister Kim Sung-hwan, who is on a two-day visit to Australia, and Australian Trade Minister Craig Emerson, ministry officials said. Kim and Emerson "reache

Aug. 16, 2012