The torch for the 2015 Summer Universiade has arrived in Seoul, an organizer said Monday, as South Korea prepares to launch a relay across the country for the competition.The torch arrived in Seoul on Sunday after being carried through such French landmarks as the Louvre and the Eiffel Tower as well as Taipei, the host of the 2017 Summer Universiade, according to the organizing committee.The torch, lit in Paris, will travel some 3,700 kilometers in South Korea before reaching Gwangju for the ope

More Sports May 25, 2015

A police station has given four body cameras to some of its officers, becoming the first South Korean police station to use the latest technology that could give a clear picture of crime scenes.Bae Sang-jin, an officer at the police station in Gunsan, said the move was taken on May 7 and his station plans to allow more officers on the street to wear body cameras if the devices are effective.He said officers plan to wear the body cameras when they deal with such cases as violence and obstruction

Social Affairs May 25, 2015

North Korea will hold an international grand march festival later this month, the country's state media reported, in an apparent move to support a group of women peacemakers attempting to cross the demilitarized zone between the two Koreas."The 2015 international women's grand march for Korea's reunification and peace will be held in the DPRK in May 2015," the Korean Central News Agency said in its Saturday report. "The Korean Committee for Solidarity with the World People and other social organ

North Korea May 3, 2015

China hinted Friday that it has invited North Korean leader Kim Jong-un to a Chinese military parade in September marking the 70th World War II victory anniversary. China has invited world leaders to the planned parade, set for Sept. 3, but the Chinese foreign ministry has not explicitly confirmed who had been asked to attend the event. Asked whether China has invited both South Korean President Park Geun-hye and the North Korean leader Kim to attend the parade in Beijing, Chinese foreign minist

North Korea April 17, 2015

South Korean singer and actor Rain denied a news report on Friday that his marriage with actress Kim Tae-hee is imminent."Unlike what was reported, he has never had a meeting attended by the parents of the two sides and has no detailed plan to marry yet," the singer's agency Cube Entertainment said in a release.Earlier on Friday, an Internet-based daily said, citing close aides to Rain and Kim, that they are preparing to wed within this year as both families approved the marriage.The two admitte

Performance April 17, 2015

North Korea's food situation and its overall economy appear to be stable despite increased sanctions on the communist regime -- an indication that Pyongyang's policy of simultaneously pursuing nuclear and economic development is working, a U.S. expert said Wednesday.Scott Snyder, a senior researcher on Korea at the Council Foreign Relations, cited the U.N. Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) saying in its latest assessment that the North's food production is estimated at 5.94 million tons i

North Korea Feb. 19, 2015

Unionists at Hyundai Heavy Industries, the world's largest shipbuilder, on Monday approved the latest wage agreement negotiated with the management, ending a dispute that had dragged on since May. The deal was accepted by 65.9 percent of an estimated 15,400 union members, the company said in an e-mailed statement. The union has about 16,000 members. The two sides had reached a tentative agreement on the pay raise on Dec. 31, but that deal was rejected by the union. The new agreement, like the pr

Industry Feb. 16, 2015

A Seoul appeals court has upheld a ruling by a lower court that South Korean tech giant Samsung Electronics is to blame for the leukemia death of one of its former employees at a chip-making facility, a court official said Sunday.In 2013, the Seoul Administrative Court recognized as an industrial accident the death of Kim Kyong-mi, who died of acute leukemia in 2009 at the age of 29 after working at Samsung's semiconductor production lines in Giheung, just of Seoul, between 1999 and 2004.The Kor

Technology Jan. 25, 2015

A South Korean medial worker suspected of contracting the Ebola virus was discharged from a hospital in Germany on Monday after being confirmed clean, Seoul's foreign ministry said.The unidentified medical staff, one member of Seoul's 10-strong medical team, had been under intensive monitoring in a Berlin hospital since Jan. 4 after the worker's index finger came in contact with a needle while collecting blood from an Ebola patient in Sierra Leone."The worker was released from the hospital after

Social Affairs Jan. 19, 2015

The South Korean government is scheduled to hold an investor relations session in Beijing later this week in a bid to lure more Chinese capital, a South Korean diplomat said Monday.Kwon Pyung-oh, deputy minister in charge of trade and investment at South Korea's Ministry of Trade, Industry & Energy, will lead the one-day fair on Friday, he said.Direct South Korean investment in China jumped 29.8 percent from a year ago to US$3.97 billion in 2014, according to figures released by China's commerce

Jan. 19, 2015

Microsoft's online network for its Xbox gaming console was restored to nearly full service Friday after an allegedly coordinated Christmas Day hack brought it and Sony's PlayStation network down.The PlayStation network remained down, while Xbox's service returned to all except three of its applications during the day.The disruption started Christmas Day, PlayStation and Xbox said on their Twitter feeds, adding that they were working to restore service. A message posted to the Xbox status page ea

Technology Dec. 27, 2014