North Korea denounced South Korean President Park Geun-hye on Saturday for urging the North to give up its nuclear weapons and improve its human rights, labeling such remarks as an "unpardonable politically motivated provocation."    Speaking at a biennial summit of the Asia-Europe Meeting in Milan on Thursday, President Park pressed North Korea to abandon its nuclear weapons program and show sincerity in addressing its dismal human rights record.   North Korea claimed that Park "again made reck

North Korea Oct. 18, 2014

North Korea vowed Saturday to "strongly react" to what it says are hostile forces' attempts to interfere with its internal affairs under the name of human rights, according to the North's state media, amid growing international condemnation of Pyongyang's dismal human rights.   North Korea claimed that an anti-DPRK human rights resolution pushed by the European Union and Japan and other "hostile forces" at the U.N. General Assembly is a "typical politicization, selectivity and double standards,"

North Korea Oct. 18, 2014

Hamadoun Toure, secretary-general of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), said Saturday he supports the latest quarantine measures rolled out by South Korea ahead of the ITU gathering set to kick off Monday, adding they will benefit all participants."The ITU, together with the rest of the international community and the United Nations System, has been closely following the outbreak of the Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) and, like the rest of the world, expresses its full solidarity with th

Social Affairs Oct. 18, 2014

 North Korea is scrambling to control damage from a proposed U.N. resolution on its human rights problem and that's a sign the communist regime is losing the battle, the U.S. special envoy on the issue said Friday.   Amb. Robert King, the special U.S. envoy for North Korean human rights issues, made the remark during a speech at a Korea Economic Institute forum, referring to brisk diplomacy Pyongyang has been engaged in to cope with the resolution expected to be adopted later this year.   The pr

North Korea Oct. 18, 2014

 South Korean stocks may suffer further losses next week as foreign investors are likely to maintain their net selling position amid rising concerns about the global economy, analysts said Saturday.   The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index finished at an eight-month low of 1,900.66 on Friday, down 2.07 percent, or 40.26 points, from a week earlier.   The drop came as the U.S., European and Chinese economies are showing signs of slower than expected growth, offsetting the Bank of Korea's

Business Oct. 18, 2014

Daesung Industrial Co., a South Korean company whose portfolio ranges from oil and gas to construction, said Monday it plans to raise 1.5 trillion won ($1.4 billion) by the end of next year by selling property and new shares in order to repay debts. Daesung Industrial said it will sell two plots of land in Gyeonggi Province and D-Cube City, a shopping complex in western Seoul, to reduce its debt ratio to the lower 200 percent range, Kim Jung-min, a senior official at the company, told reporters.

Business Oct. 6, 2014

Defending champ South Korea clobbered Chinese Taipei 10-0 in their baseball clash on Wednesday at the Asian Games on Wednesday, powered by three home runs early in the rout to book a spot in the semifinals.   South Korea scored seven runs in the first and two more in the second at Munhak Baseball Stadium in the Asiad host city, and then scored the 10th run in the bottom of the eighth as the Group B game ended on a mercy rule.   Under a pre-set rule, the games are called when a team is up by at l

Sports Sept. 24, 2014

South Korea's star weightlifter Sa Jae-hyouk was disqualified in the men's 85-kilogram match on Wednesday, coming up empty-handed in his bid to redeem himself after a severe injury that nearly crippled his career.   Sa hoisted 171㎏ in the snatch, the highest among eight competitors, but was disqualified after he failed in all of his clean-and-jerk attempts.   Tian Tao of China grabbed the gold with a total of 381㎏, while Iran's Kianoush Rostami and Uzbekistan's Ulugbek Alimov each secured the si

Sports Sept. 24, 2014

South Korea clinched the bronze at the men's 4x100ｍ freestyle relay with a new national record, falling behind defending champ China and Japan at the Asian Games on Wednesday.   Olympic champ Park Tae-hwan anchored the team that also included Kim Sung-kyum, Yang June-hyuck and Nam Ki-woong, as they set the new South Korean record of 3:18.44 at Munhak Park Tae-hwan Aquatics Center in this port city.   It is the fourth bronze here for Park, who has also won one relay bronze and two individual bron

Sports Sept. 24, 2014

South Korean gymnast Park Min-soo won the bronze medal in the men's pommel horse at the Asian Games on Wednesday.   Park scored 14.700 points on the apparatus, behind his Japanese rival Masayoshi Yamamoto, who won gold with 15.033 points, and Uzbeki Abdulla Azimov, who took silver with 14.866 points.   The bronze makes up for Park's disappointing all-around on Tuesday, where he'd finished 10th due to his poorer-than-expected performance on the high bar. The 19-year-old had been largely considere

Sports Sept. 24, 2014

   North Korean gymnast Hong Un-jong claimed the gold medal in the women's vault at the Asian Games on Wednesday.    The freckled 25-year-old scored 15.349 points, executing one of the toughest moves with cutting precision. Oksana Chusovitina, a 39-year-old from Uzbekistan who had her maiden Olympic gold at the 1992 Barcelona Games, won silver with 14.750 points.   Vietnam's Thi Ha Thanh Phan took bronze with 14.683 points.   This was North Korea's first competition at an Asian gymnastics event

Sports Sept. 24, 2014

Four South Korean archers qualified for the first elimination rounds at the individual recurve event at the Asian Games on Wednesday.   In the men's division, Lee Seung-yun topped the qualifying table with a total of 1,377 points in recurve of 90ｍ, 70ｍ, 50ｍ and 30ｍ. Oh Jin-hyek and Ku Bon-chan were tied for second place with 1,362 points, but Oh, the 2012 London Olympic gold medalist, held the edge in inner-10s over Ku.   Kim Woo-jin, the fourth and last member on the South Korean men's recurve

Sports Sept. 24, 2014

North Korean weightlifter Ryo Un-hui picked up the silver medal in the women's 69-kilogram eventat the Incheon Asian Games on Wednesday, claiming a 15th medal for the communist country.    The 21-year-old hoisted 121㎏ in the snatch, an Asian Games record, and 141㎏ in the clean and jerk for a total of 262㎏, 6㎏ short of the Chinese gold medalist Xiang Yanmei's 268㎏. Chinese Taipei's Huang Shih Hsu ended at third place with 233㎏.   By leading the field in the snatch, Ryo set herself up for a duel a

Sports Sept. 24, 2014

South Korea's female fencing squad seized its fifth consecutive Asiad gold in the women's foil team event at the Incheon Games.    Jeon Hee-sook and her teammates Nam Hyun-hee, Oh Ha-na and Kim Mi-na routed the Chinese team of Wang Chen, Chen Bingbing, Liu Yonqshi and Le Huilin 32-27 in the women's fencing foil team event held in Goyang Gymnasium.   For Jeon, it was her second gold won in Incheon.   South Korea has dominated the discipline since 1998, extending its winning streak to five.   Japa

Sports Sept. 24, 2014