OSAKA, Japan (AFP) - Electricity is expected to be restored to four reactors at a stricken Japanese atomic plant on Saturday to power cooling systems, the nuclear and safety agency said.

World News March 19, 2011

   SEOSAN (Yonhap) -- A South Korean forestry helicopter crashed into a reservoir Sunday, leaving one crew member dead while two others were rescued, authorities said.   The Korea Forest Service (KFS) chopper carrying three crew members crashed into a reservoir in Seosan, some 277 kilometers south of Seoul, at 6:47 a.m., a few minutes after taking off for an extinguishing operation in the nearby M

Social Affairs March 19, 2011

   WASHINGTON (Yonhap) -- South Korea's Samsung SDI Co. has agreed to pay US$32 million in fines for trying to fix the prices of color display tubes used for computer monitors, the Justice Department said Friday.   "Samsung SDI Company Ltd. has agreed to plead guilty and to pay a $32 million criminal fine for its role in a global conspiracy to fix prices, reduce output and allocate market shares o

Industry March 19, 2011

   South Korean Foreign Minister Kim Sung-hwan left for quake-ravaged Japan on Saturday for annual three-way cooperation talks with his Japanese and Chinese counterparts that were overshadowed by deepening fears of a potential nuclear disaster following the already-devastating earthquake and tsunami.   The one-day meeting among Kim, Japanese Foreign Minister Takeaki Matsumoto and Chinese Foreign M

Foreign Affairs March 19, 2011

   SEOUL/TOKYO (Yonhap) -- President Lee Myung-bak paid a visit to the Japanese embassy in Seoul Friday to convey a message of condolences for the victims of last week's massive earthquake and tsunami.   Lee signed a condolence book, writing, "All of our people offer condolences for the victims. (We) are confident that Japan will quickly recover (from damage) and the Republic of Korea will be with

Foreign Affairs March 19, 2011

   JEJU ISLAND (Yonhap) -- South Korea promised Friday its full support to help its southern resort island win global recognition as an awe-inspiring natural site.   Jeju Island has been vying against 27 other natural sites to become one of the "New7Wonders of Nature," a project initiated by the New7Wonders Foundation, a Switzerland-based nonprofit organization, in 2007.   The finalists include th

Travel March 19, 2011

Several South Korean firms are considering evacuating their Japan-based employees or moving their operations to southern Japan amid growing concern over a nuclear crisis there, company officials said Thursday.   Japan is battling to minimize nuclear disaster following Friday's devastating 9.0-magnitude quake and tsunami that claimed thousands of lives and crippled a nuclear plant 240 kilometers no

March 17, 2011

South Korean stocks started 1.19 percent lower on Thursday as Japan's nuclear power plant problem rekindled investor jitters, analysts said.   The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) plunged 23.27 points to trade at 1,934.7 in the first 15 minutes of trading.    The deteriorating situation in Fukushima's crippled nuclear power plant, hit by last week's massive earthquake and tsunam

March 17, 2011

   BEIJING (AP) _ Japan's neighbors have ordered strengthened radiation monitoring of shipments from Japan, but said they don't foresee their countries having any immediate effects of contamination from the Japanese nuclear crisis.   China's General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine issued an order Wednesday calling for radiation monitoring to track any goods contami

World March 16, 2011

Samsung Group, South Korea's largest business conglomerate, said Tuesday that it has donated 100 million yen ($1.22 million) to help Japan's earthquake relief.    In addition to the donation, the group will dispatch 10 rescue workers from Samsung Rescue Corps. and 11 medical workers from the Samsung Medical Center after consulting with the Japanese government, it said in a statement.    The group

Industry March 15, 2011

North Korea's state TV carried its first report Sunday on the earthquake and tsunami that devastated Japan, two days after the catastrophe hit the neighboring nation.   Pyongyang's Korean Central Television showed footage of the tsunami engulfing a village in its 20-second report on the disaster during its 8 p.m. news program. On Saturday, the North's official Korean Central News Agency reported o

North Korea March 13, 2011