Tens of thousands of unionized workers of Hyundai Motor Co. and Kia Motors Corp. have voted in favor of striking, officials said Wednesday, setting the stage for a costly walkout after just one year since their last strike that cut into the carmakers' vehicle output.Still, the unions are not allowed to down tools immediately as they were to meet with managements later in the day as part of the mandatory mediation by a state-run labor body.By law, a union cannot go on strike during mediation by t

Industry Aug. 14, 2013

South Korea plans to conduct a pilot program to use digital textbooks at hundreds of elementary and middle schools around the country during the 2014 school year, the education ministry said Wednesday.Digital social studies and science textbooks are being developed for third- and fourth-year students of elementary schools and first- or second-year middle school students, it said.Some 150 elementary and 300 middle schools around the country have been chosen to use the new type of textbooks in the

Social Affairs Aug. 14, 2013

The government and the ruling party have reached a consensus to raise the minimum annual salary subject to increased taxes starting next year amid criticism that their latest tax code revision plan increases the tax burden on salaried and middle income people, informed sources said Tuesday.According to the sources, the government and the ruling Saenuri Party shared the view to raise the minimum annual salary subject to the tax hikes to over 55 million won (US$49,300) from the 34.5 million won se

Aug. 13, 2013

South Korea's tax collection during the first half dropped to the lowest level in three years, affected by slowing economic recovery, sluggish corporate profits and consumer spending, government data showed Tuesday.According to the data provided by the National Tax Service to Democratic Party Rep. An Min-suk, the government collected a total of 92.19 trillion won (US$82.6 billion) in taxes during the January-June period, down 9.41 trillion won, or 9.3 percent, from a year earlier.This also marks

Aug. 13, 2013

South Korean stocks opened higher Tuesday as investors' sentiment was heightened by an improved outlook over the eurozone economy, analysts said.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) gained 7.01 points, or 0.37 percent, to 1,891.84 in the first 15 minutes of trading.Tech shares led the market gain, with Samsung Electronics adding 0.97 percent and top chipmaker SK hynix advancing 1.67 percent. Flat panel maker LG Display gained 1.59 percent.Financial firms also traded higher, wi

Aug. 13, 2013

James “Whitey” Bulger, the feared Boston mob boss who became one of the most-wanted fugitives in the U.S., was convicted Monday in a string of 11 killings and other gangland crimes, many of them committed while he was said to be an FBI informant.Bulger, 83, stood silently and showed no reaction upon hearing the verdict, which brought to a close a case that exposed corruption inside the Boston FBI and an overly cozy relationship with its underworld snitches.Bulger was charged primarily with racke

World News Aug. 13, 2013

Former prime minister Ibrahim Boubacar Keita won Mali's presidency after his opponent conceded defeat late Monday in an election aimed at restoring stability to a country wracked by a rebellion, a coup and an Islamic insurgency.Soumalia Cisse's concession averts a protracted election fight, allowing Mali to move ahead with establishing a democratically elected government, one of the international community's caveats for unlocking some $4 billion in promised aid.Keita, 68, had been expected to wi

World News Aug. 13, 2013

A sinkhole swallowed part of a Florida resort villa near Disney World, starting with a loud rumble that broke windows and forced the frantic evacuation of frightened vacationers awakened from their rooms.By early Monday, nearly a third of the structure at Summer Bay Resort near Orlando had collapsed. All 105 guests staying in the villa were evacuated, as were those in the neighboring buildings. No injuries were reported. The villa, with 24 three-story units, was reported as a total loss, and ins

World News Aug. 13, 2013

Johan Friso, the bespectacled Dutch prince who avoided the limelight and gave up his position in line to the throne after getting entangled in a scandal with his bride-to-be, died Monday _ 18 months after a skiing accident that left his brain gravely injured. He was 44.The royal house said the prince, known as Friso, died of complications from the accident, without giving more details. It said he had never regained more than “minimal consciousness.”Friso was struck by an avalanche while skiing o

People Aug. 13, 2013

Suspected Islamic militants wearing army fatigues gunned down 44 people praying at a mosque in northeast Nigeria, while another 12 civilians died in an apparently simultaneous attack, security agents said Monday. Sunday's attacks were the latest in a slew of violence blamed on religious extremists in this West African oil producer, where the radical Boko Haram group, which wants to oust the government and impose Islamic law, poses the greatest security threat in years. It was not immediately cle

World News Aug. 13, 2013