South Korean stocks traded lower late Tuesday morning as investors sat on the sidelines amid the lack of growth momentum in the market, analysts said.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) shed 5.04 points, or 0.25 percent, to 1,995.34 as of 11:20 a.m. Shipbuilders lost ground, with Hyundai Heavy Industries moving down 1.35 percent and Samsung Heavy Industries losing 0.4 percent. Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering declined 2 percent.Tech shares traded mixed, with Samsung E

Dec. 10, 2013

The ruling Saenuri Party will file a motion Tuesday calling for the expulsion of two opposition lawmakers accused of making slanderous remarks against President Park Geun-hye, the party's floor leader said.The remarks by Reps. Yang Seung-jo and Jang Ha-na of the main opposition Democratic Party (DP) were made earlier this week amid a protracted standoff over allegations of state tampering in last year's presidential race.On Sunday, Jang urged Park to resign over the allegations and called for a

Politics Dec. 10, 2013

China's state-run media urged its government Tuesday to make efforts for North Korea's young leader, Kim Jong-un, to visit Beijing "as soon as possible" for the North's long-term stability and bilateral relations after Kim purged his powerful uncle. The purge of Jang Song-thaek, considered the second most powerful official in the North's hierarchy, marked the biggest political upheaval since the death of Kim's father, Kim Jong-il, in late 2011 and the young leader's subsequent takeover. The 67-y

North Korea Dec. 10, 2013

Experts from Iran, world powers and the U.N. atomic watchdog began working out Monday the nuts and bolts of exactly how -- and when -- November's landmark nuclear deal will be implemented.In particular the two-day Vienna meeting aimed to nail down the start date of Iran's promised six-month nuclear freeze, how this will be monitored and when sanctions will be eased.After the talks with Britain, China, France, Russia, the United States, and Germany -- the P5+1 -- Iranian officials were due to mee

World News Dec. 10, 2013

The dramatic ouster of the uncle of North Korea's young ruler has sidelined the reputed second-most powerful official in the secretive hierarchy but Washington is not banking on a radical shift in Pyongyang's nuclear policy.Nor does the release of an 85-year old U.S. Korean War veteran over the weekend necessarily herald an improvement in chilly relations between Washington and Pyongyang that have gotten worse since young dictator Kim Jong Un took power.But there will be intense scrutiny of the

North Korea Dec. 10, 2013

Five months into a probe into the cause of Asiana Airlines flight 214's crash landing in San Francisco, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said Monday it will hold an investigative hearing this week expected to provide the public with comprehensive information on the incident.The two-day event beginning Tuesday will be led by NTSB chairwoman Deborah Hersman at the NTSB's headquarters in Washington, D.C."We are in a fact-gathering phase," a senior NTSB official said in a roundtable m

Social Affairs Dec. 10, 2013

The government has recouped 62.9 percent of the public funds it spent to bail out troubled financial firms during the 1997-1998 Asian financial crisis, the financial regulator said Wednesday. The government has retrieved 106.1 trillion won ($100.7 billion) in public funds as of the end of September, according to the Financial Services Commission (FSC). The September recovery rate is a tad higher than the previous tally of 62.8 percent at the end of June, and marks a 7.5 percent gain from the end

Dec. 10, 2013

Eleanor Parker, who was nominated for Academy Awards three times for her portrayals of strong-willed women and played a scheming baroness in “The Sound of Music,” has died at 91.Family friend Richard Gale said Parker died Monday morning due to complications from pneumonia. “She passed away peacefully, surrounded by her children at a medical facility near her home in Palm Springs,” Gale added.  Parker was nominated for Oscars in 1950, 1951 and 1955, but then saw her career begin to wane in the ea

People Dec. 10, 2013

The U.S. government ended up losing $10.5 billion on the General Motors bailout, but it says the alternative would have been far worse.The Treasury Department sold its final shares of the Detroit auto giant on Monday, recovering $39 billion of the $49.5 billion it spent to save the dying automaker at the height of the financial crisis five years ago.Without the bailout, the country would have lost more than 1 million jobs, and the economy could have slipped from recession into a depression, Trea

World Business Dec. 10, 2013

The 85-year-old U.S. veteran who was detained for weeks by North Korea said Monday that the videotaped confession in which he apologized for killing North Koreans during the war was given involuntarily and under duress.In a written statement issued Monday, Merrill Newman said he tried to show that the words he read on the recording were not his own by emphasizing the apology's awkward phrasing and poor English grammar.“Anyone who has read the text of it or who has seen the video of me reading it

North Korea Dec. 10, 2013

Heavily armed riot troops broke into the offices of a top Ukrainian opposition party in Kiev and seized its servers Monday, the party said, as anti-government protests crippled the capital for yet another day. Elsewhere police dismantled or blocked off several small protest tent camps that near key national government buildings in the city.Tensions also rose as a double cordon of helmeted, shield-holding police deployed in the street near Kiev's city administration building, which demonstrators

World News Dec. 10, 2013

An eclectic mix of world leaders including President Barack Obama and Cuban President Raul Castro will eulogize Nelson Mandela before a crowd of nearly 100,000 mourners at a massive memorial service Tuesday in the World Cup soccer stadium where the anti-apartheid champion made his last public appearance. “What a fantastic gift God gave to us in this Mandela, who quickly became an icon, a global icon of forgiveness, of generosity of spirit,” Archbishop Desmond Tutu told a gathering Monday at the

World News Dec. 10, 2013

South Korean stocks opened almost flat Tuesday as investors were cautious on concerns over a possible tapering of economic stimulus by the United States, analysts said.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) inched down 0.62 points, or 0.03 percent, to 1,999.76 in the first 15 minutes of trading.Blue chip shares traded mixed, with market behemoth Samsung Electronics moving down 0.76 percent and No. 1 carmaker Hyundai Motor climbing 1.09 percent. Top steelmaker POSCO shed 0.59 per

Dec. 10, 2013