South Korean stocks opened higher Monday on the back of gains in tech firms and carmakers, analysts said.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) gained 8.03 points, or 0.43 percent, to 1,888.74 in the first 15 minutes of trading.Tech shares gathered ground, with No. 1 player Samsung Electronics adding 0.49 percent and leading chipmaker SK hynix moving up 2.06 percent.Carmakers also traded higher, with leading Hyundai Motor rising 0.68 percent and its auto-parts affiliate Hyundai

Aug. 12, 2013

South Korea qualified for its first men's basketball world championship in nearly two decades on Sunday, after handily beating Taiwan to finish third at the Asian championship in the Philippines.At the Mall of Asia Arena, South Korea cruised past Taiwan 75-57 in the third-place contest, securing the final Asian ticket to the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup in Spain.It will be South Korea's first appearance at the world championship since 1998.Kim Min-goo led South Korea with a game-high 21 points

More Sports Aug. 12, 2013

A tearful Philippine woman recounted Sunday how she was kidnapped by Japanese troops during World War II and coerced into sex slavery, as she and her supporters gathered to demand Japan do more to bring justice to former “comfort women.”Estelita Dy, 83, and her supporters met in Tokyo as part of events by the group to commemorate the day the first victim of Japanese sex slavery came forward on Aug. 14, 1991, and helped lay the groundwork for other victims, including Dy, to come out.Dy's supporte

World News Aug. 12, 2013

South Korea may be forced to take extreme measures to avoid a nationwide blackout Monday with six nuclear reactors still out of work for maintenance, the government said.The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy earlier said the country's power reserve was expected to drop to as low as 1.8 million kilowatts during the peak hours of 2-5 p.m., far below what is considered a safe level of 4 million kilowatts.Conditions worsened after a 500,000-kw generator at a thermal power plant in Dangjin halte

Social Affairs Aug. 12, 2013

His legs were hurting, the rain was pouring and he was trailing late in the race.Doesn't matter. This is Usain Bolt.And nothing gets in the way of him and first place, especially when he's driven as he was Sunday in the 100-meter final at the world championships.Bolt blew by Justin Gatlin with about 30 meters to go and never glanced back. He also didn't even crack a smile when he crossed the finish line because this took a lot more work than the world's fastest sprinter usually needs.Gatlin was

More Sports Aug. 12, 2013

A Seoul court has written off 17 billion won ($15.2 million) owed by comedian-turned-director Shim Hyun-rae after his latest movie failed to recover production costs, according to court officials Sunday.The 55-year-old director of "The Last Godfather" (2010) fell into heavy debt after the film disappointed at the box office. In the English film, which was shot in the U.S., Shim plays the orphaned love-child of a 1950s mafia boss, played by the famous American actor Harvey Keitel, and is called t

Social Affairs Aug. 10, 2013

South Korean and U.S. forces will launch an annual joint exercise later this month to improve their defense posture against North Korea, the Combined Forces Command (CFC) said Saturday.The computer-aided Ulchi Freedom Guardian (UFG) will be held Aug. 19-30, mobilizing about 50,000 South Korean forces and approximately 30,000 U.S. servicemen, including some 3,000 from the U.S. and other bases in the Pacific region, the CFC said in a statement.  "Ulchi Freedom Guardian is a critical alliance exerc

Defense Aug. 10, 2013

President Barack Obama has confronted Russia over its granting of asylum to fugitive intelligence leaker Edward Snowden and its new anti-gay law, saying Moscow occasionally displays a "Cold War mentality."During an appearance on a late-night talk show Tuesday, Obama said Moscow was still being helpful in Afghanistan and on counter-terrorism but spoke of "underlying challenges that we've had with Russia lately.""There have been times where they slip back into Cold War thinking and a Cold War ment

World News Aug. 10, 2013

Eighteen of the 19 U.S. embassies and consulates that were closed in the Middle East and Africa because of a terrorist threat will reopen on Sunday, the State Department said.The U.S. Embassy in Sanaa, Yemen, will remain closed. The U.S. Consulate in Lahore, Pakistan, which was closed Thursday because of what officials say was a separate credible threat, also was not scheduled to reopen.In the statement, State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki did not cite a reason for the decision to reopen the

World News Aug. 10, 2013

A 51-year-old woman from southern China is suspected of being infected with the deadly H7N9 bird flu virus, according to state media on Saturday. The woman from the southern province of Guangdong had tested positive for the virus in an initial test earlier this week, state-run China Daily reported, citing local health authorities. If confirmed, it would be the first human infection of the H7N9 bird flu strain in Guangdong, according to the report. China reported the first human cases of the viru

World News Aug. 10, 2013

The union of South Korea's largest carmaker Hyundai Motor Co. has taken the first step toward a possible strike by calling for mediation with a state-run labor body to try to work out a wage deal with the management, officials said Friday.Officials of the union and the management are set to hold their first meeting with their counterparts of the National Labor Relations Commission next Wednesday, according to the commission.The union's move on Wednesday came a day after it said its talks with th

Industry Aug. 9, 2013