U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and his Chinese counterpart, Yang Jiechi, agreed Tuesday that the world's two supreme powers need to work together to deal with North Korea's threats to carry out another nuclear test.The two discussed North Korea and other pending issues over the phone "for quite a while," Kerry's department said."They agreed on the importance of continuing to work to strengthen U.S.-China relations, notably including in the economic, trade and investment sphere. They also dis

North Korea Feb. 6, 2013

President Barack Obama asked Congress Tuesday to construct a package of short-term spending cuts and tax revenue to put off the automatic across-the-board cuts now scheduled to kick in March 1, in a bid to dodge a potentially disastrous hit on the still weak U.S. economy.Fearing that hard-core Republican budget-cutters in Congress are prepared to let the automatic cuts take effect, a move that some economists worry would send the country back into recession, Obama asked lawmakers to produce an i

World News Feb. 6, 2013

아직 개봉 전인데도 한국의 해외합작영화이자 봉준호의 할리우드 데뷔작 <설국열차>에 대한 열기가 뜨겁다.  영화는 프랑스 SF 만화 “Le Transperceneige”를 원작으로 한 스릴러. 국내배우 송강호와 고아성이 에드 해리스, 크리스 에반스, 그리고 <케빈에 대하여>, <아이엠러브>로 국내 팬층이 두터워진 영국 배우 틸다 스윈튼과 함께 출연한다.  올 상반기엔 송강호와 스윈튼 외에도 반가운 얼굴들을 찾아볼 수 있을 예정이다. <설국열차>를 필두로 해외합작 프로젝트 영화들이 대거 개봉을 앞두고 있기 때문. 특히 이 영화들을 통해 컴백하는 아시아 스타들 중에는 한국의 대표적인 케이팝 가수  보아, 세계적인 중국계 여배우 양자경 등이 포함돼 있어 더욱 기대를 모은다. 아시아의 별 보아는 올해 댄스영화 로 할리우드에 데뷔한다. 미국의 댄서 출신 배우 데릭 허프와 호흡을 맞췄다.  영화는 셰익스피어의 고전 ‘로미오와 줄리엣’을 모티브로, 각기 다른 환경에서 자란 두 남녀

한국어판 Feb. 5, 2013

SK Telecom Co., the country's top mobile operator, on Tuesday reported a two-fold growth in its fourth-quarter profit from a year earlier due to a decrease in marketing costs.Net profit came to 519.1 billion won (US$477.5 million) in the October-December period, compared with a profit of 195.5 billion won a year earlier, SK Telecom said in a regulatory filing.Revenue rose 6 percent on-year to 4.2 trillion won, and operating profit jumped 37.6 percent to 544.6 billion won.The stronger bottom line

Industry Feb. 5, 2013

He was king of England, but for centuries he lay without shroud or coffin in an unknown grave, and his name became a byword for villainy.On Monday, scientists announced they had rescued the remains of Richard III from anonymity _ and the monarch's fans hope a revival of his reputation will soon follow.In a dramatically orchestrated news conference, a team of archaeologists, geneticists, genealogists and other scientists from the University of Leicester announced that tests had proven what they s

Technology Feb. 5, 2013

South Korean game giant NCsoft Corp. said Tuesday it posted a record quarterly profit in the fourth quarter of last year on the back of its flagship game Lineage and the successful launch of new games.Consolidated net profit reached 101.9 billion won ($93.7 million) in the October-December period, growing nearly six-fold from 17.1 billion won the previous year, NCsoft said in a regulatory filing.Revenue more than doubled to a record 283.4 billion won in the cited period, while operating profit s

Industry Feb. 5, 2013

The 10th Special Olympics World Winter Games wraps up Tuesday in PyeongChang, after eight days of celebrating the dreams and hopes of those with intellectual disabilities, and urging the international community to help improve the lives of the intellectually disabled.The closing ceremony is set for 7 p.m. at Yongpyong Dome in PyeongChang, about 180 kilometers east of Seoul. More than 3,000 athletes and officials from 106 countries took part in this year's event, under the motto "Together, We Can

More Sports Feb. 5, 2013

South Korea's manufacturing sector growth lagged behind that of the service sector for the first time in three years in 2012 as exports were hurt by the global economic downturn, data showed Tuesday.The country's manufacturing sector grew 2.2 percent on-year in 2012, compared with a 2.4 percent on-year gain logged by the service industry, according to data by the central bank.The 2012 data marked the first time since 2009 that the growth of the service sector outpaced that of the manufacturing i

Feb. 5, 2013

The South Korean Cabinet plans to approve a free trade deal with Colombia on Tuesday as part of efforts to boost bilateral trade and pave the way to tap deeper into the South American market, officials said.After rounds of talks since late 2009, Seoul and Bogota concluded the deal in June last year, and initialed the pact two months later."Upon the Cabinet approval, the two countries are expected to formally sign the deal within this month, and to seek a legislative approval from each parliament

Feb. 5, 2013

Officers stormed an underground bunker in Alabama where a 5-year-old boy had been held hostage for nearly a week, rescuing the child and leaving the boy's abductor dead, officials said Monday.Steve Richardson with the FBI's office in Mobile, Alabama said at a news conference Monday afternoon that negotiations had deteriorated with 65-year-old Jimmy Lee Dykes. Dykes, who a week earlier had abducted the child from a school bus after fatally shooting the driver, had been seen with a gun. Officers b

World News Feb. 5, 2013

Heavy snow pounded central South Korea, including the capital city of Seoul, on Monday, disrupting air and ground traffic and delaying the start of schools.According to the Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA), Seoul had received a total of 16.5 centimeters of snow as of 7 a.m., the highest amount so far this winter and also the highest for February since 2001. Incheon, west of Seoul, had 14.6 cm of snow; Munsan, a city close to the truce village of Panmunjom, got 14.5 cm; and Chuncheon, Ga

Social Affairs Feb. 4, 2013