U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Saturday urged Southeast Asian nations to deal with the causes behind a growing humanitarian crisis that has forced thousands of Rohingya from Myanmar and Bangladeshi migrants to flee by sea, leaving many still stranded in boats. Ban said he has been discussing the emergency with regional leaders in Myanmar, Malaysia and Thailand, among others, and urged them to provide search and rescue operations and options for resettlement and reintegration.“It’s importa

World News May 23, 2015

South Korean stocks are expected to continue to build up gains next week as foreign investors hold on to their buying binge of local stocks amid improving global liquidity circumstances, analysts said Saturday.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) closed at 2,146.1 points on Friday, up 1.9 percent from a week earlier, gaining in four out of five trading sessions this week.The key index got off to a strong start as foreign investors scooped up shares amid eased volatility in the

May 23, 2015

Former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton received information on her private email account about the deadly attack on U.S. diplomatic facilities in Benghazi that was later classified “secret” at the request of the FBI, underscoring lingering questions about how responsibly she handled sensitive information on a home server.The nearly 900 pages of her correspondence released Friday are only a sliver of the more than 55,000 pages of emails Clinton -- the leading 2016 Democratic presidentia

World News May 23, 2015

Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen said Friday she expects to begin raising interest rates later this year -- if the job market improves and the Fed is confident inflation will climb closer toward its target rate.She described the U.S. economy as “well positioned for continued growth,” but at the same time highlighted a number of headwinds that threaten progress. Wages have been disappointing and too many people who want full-time jobs and instead working part-time, she said. She also noted a la

World Business May 23, 2015

A local court on Saturday rejected a prosecution request for an arrest warrant for a former vice president of POSCO Engineering & Construction Co., who allegedly created a slush fund abroad.The Seoul Central District Court turned down the request made Wednesday to formally arrest Chung Dong-hwa, 64, saying it is difficult to see the necessity in arresting him for an investigation.Chung is suspected of stashing away about 10 billion won ($9.1 million) in secret reserves when he was the CEO of the

Social Affairs May 23, 2015

South Korea has announced an open bid to select a company that will salvage the passenger ship that sank last year, killing over 300 people, the government said Saturday.The Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries said it has allocated 100 billion won ($91.6 million) for the bid announced late Friday, adding the work will require pulling the 6,825-ton ferry Sewol out of the water but also doing so without causing any significant damage to the ship as to prevent the possible loss of nine bodies believed

Social Affairs May 23, 2015

WILLIAMSBURG, Va. (AP) -- Minjee Lee shook off a three-putt bogey on her first hole with two finishing pars and won the Kingsmill Championship by two shots Monday, her first victory on the LPGA Tour.Lee, an 18-year-old Australian, finished at 15-under 269. She surged into the lead on Sunday with a round highlighted by a five-hole stretch that she played in 5 under and returned to the Kingsmill Resort's River Course on Monday morning with a four-stroke lead. She three-putted her first hole, the 1

Golf May 18, 2015

SEOUL (Yonhap) -- U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said Monday that he will discuss peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula when he meets with the South Korean president during his visit to Seoul.Ban arrived here late in the afternoon to attend the World Education Forum (WEF), which kicks off on Tuesday. He is scheduled to meet with President Park Geun-hye on Wednesday at the presidential office of Cheong Wa Dae.  Arriving at the airport, Ban, a former foreign minister of South Korea, told

Foreign Affairs May 18, 2015

An Army brigadier general was arrested Tuesday on suspicion of taking bribes in exchange for paying favors to his friends' sons serving mandatory military duty, the defense ministry said.The general, who currently serves as a vice commander of the country's Army Corps, allegedly received some 13 million won ($11,989) from five of his friends between 2012 and 2014, who asked him to change their sons' assignments at the barracks. "While the general, surnamed Kim, had been trying to peddle his infl

Social Affairs April 21, 2015

A group of British medical students of Sudanese origin who went missing after travelling to Turkey are feared to have crossed into Syria to join the Islamic State group as doctors, reports and sources said on Sunday.The families of the students have travelled to the Turkey-Syria border in a desperate appeal for them to return home before it is too late, a Turkish opposition MP said.According to reports in Britain’s The Guardian newspaper and the BBC, the nine young British medical students flew

World News March 22, 2015

The European Union on Tuesday took a major step toward a 315 billion euros ($356 billion) investment plan to encourage the private sector to launch higher risk projects like broadband and energy networks.EU finance ministers reached agreement on the so-called European Fund for Strategic Investment, which is touted as Europe's big strategy to boost growth after half a dozen years of economic woes.With the 28 EU nations in line, negotiations can now start with the European Parliament for a final a

World Business March 10, 2015

Three South Koreans were released in Turkey after being detained by Turkish security forces in an area near the border with Syria, South Korea's officials said Tuesday.They were detained on charges of entering a restricted military area in the southern Turkish town of Elbeyli in Kilis province near the border with Syria, according to sources.In Seoul, the foreign ministry identified them as two South Korean journalists and their Korean assistant and said they were questioned before being set fre

Social Affairs March 10, 2015

A Canada-based website facilitating extra-marital affairs among its clientele is back in business in South Korea, authorities said Tuesday, in what seems to be a quick move after the country's top court abolished a decades-old anti-adultery law late last month.  Ashley Madison, an online dating site which hooks up married individuals as well as singles, has resumed service for local customers under a new domain, www.ashleymadison.co.kr, the Korea Communications Standards Commission (KCSC), the l

Social Affairs March 10, 2015