The police requested an arrest warrant Tuesday against former Vice Justice Minister Kim Hak-ui for his alleged involvement in a sex-for-favors scandal. Sources said he faces charges of rape. “(The police) requested an arrest warrant for Kim on Tuesday afternoon. We can’t say what charges are being sought for him because the investigation is still ongoing,” an investigator at the Korean National Police Agency said.Investigators suspect Kim of raping a number of women at a luxury weekend house in

Social Affairs June 19, 2013

The North Korean Army has deployed about 900 new tanks equipped with improved armament in the last seven years to modernize its aging vehicles, a South Korean military source said Wednesday. The new tanks, known as the "Chonma-ho 5" (sky horse) and the "Songun-ho" (military first), are equipped with an advanced fire control system and turret guns, an upgrade compared to the Pokpung-ho (storm) tank, which was first revealed in October 2010 during a military parade. The Chonma-ho 5 is the latest v

North Korea June 19, 2013

Japan’s exports rose more than forecast in May as a weaker yen boosted the value of overseas sales, underscoring the profit boon for manufacturers from Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s reflation campaign. The value of shipments abroad increased 10 percent in May from a year earlier, the most since 2010 and exceeding the 6.4 percent median estimate in a Bloomberg News survey of economists, a Finance Ministry report showed in Tokyo. At the same time, export volume dropped 4.8 percent. Today’s data refl

World Business June 19, 2013

Prosecutors said Wednesday that they will seek an arrest warrant against a CJ Group executive accused of playing a key role in managing massive slush funds for the conglomerate's chairman.The vice president, surnamed Kim, of the conglomerate's Chinese corporate body, is suspected to be fully aware of the size and current situations of Chairman Lee Jae-hyun's slush funds both at home and abroad, and the scale of assets kept in borrowed names.The Seoul Central Prosecutors' Office probing the case

Social Affairs June 19, 2013

South Korean stocks got off to a weak start Wednesday, dampened by the improved Japanese trade balance, analysts said. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) lost 7.96 points, or 0.42 percent to 1,892.66 in the first 15 minutes of trading. Top-listed exporters dropped, with market bellwether Samsung Electronics falling 0.6 percent and steelmaker POSCO sliding 0.8 percent. Tokyo posted a trade deficit of 993.9 billion yen ($10.4 illion) in May, narrower than the market consensus

June 19, 2013

In some of the biggest protests since the end of Brazil's 1964-85 dictatorship, demonstrations have spread across this continent-sized country and united people from all walks of life behind frustrations over poor transportation, health services, education and security despite a heavy tax burden.More than 100,000 people were in the streets Monday for largely peaceful protests in at least eight big cities. They were in large part motivated by widespread images of Sao Paulo police last week beatin

World News June 18, 2013

President Barack Obama defended top secret National Security Agency spying programs as legal in a lengthy interview, and called them transparent _ even though they are authorized in secret.“It is transparent,” Obama told Public Broadcasting Service's Charlie Rose in an interview broadcast late Monday. “That's why we set up the FISA court,” he added, referring to the secret court set up by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act that authorizes two recently leaked programs: one that gathers U.S

World News June 18, 2013

South Korean stocks opened almost flat Tuesday as investors took to the sidelines ahead of the U.S.Federal Open Market Committee meeting slated this week, analysts said.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) moved down 1.53 points, or 0.08 percent, to 1,881.57 in the first 15 minutes of trading.Mobile carriers lost ground, with leading SK Telecom falling 1.14 percent and KT losing 0.92 percent. LG Uplus, the smallest player, shed 1.16 percent.In contrast, tech blue chips traded

June 18, 2013

Edward Snowden, the National Security Agency leaker, defended his disclosure of top-secret U.S. spying programs in an online chat Monday with The Guardian and attacked U.S. officials for calling him a traitor.“The U.S. government is not going to be able to cover this up by jailing or murdering me,” he said. He added the government “immediately and predictably destroyed any possibility of a fair trial at home,” by labeling him a traitor, and indicated he would not return to the U.S. voluntarily.C

World News June 18, 2013

수백만 년 전에 존재했던 고대 어류에게 발달된 복부 근육이 존재했다는 주장이 나왔다.호주와 스웨덴 등의 고생물학자들은 최근 “플래커덤(placoderm)”이라는 원서어류의 화석에서 보존된 연조직을 통해 이 생물의 근육구조를 밝혀내는데 성공했다.연구를 참여한 호주 커틴 대학의 케이트 트리나즈스틱 교수는 연구진이 플래커덤에게 복부근육이 있다는 것을 알고 충격을 받았다고 밝혔다.트리나즈스틱 교수는 “복부 근육은 처음에 육상에서 걷기 시작한 동물들이 만들어낸 것으로 알려졌으나, 이번 발견은 이러한 근육들이 진화과정에서 (기존의 예성보다) 훨씬 더 빨리 생겨났음을 보여준다”고 설명했다. 복부 근육은 육상 동물들이 내부 기관을 보호하거나 움직임이나 서있는 자세를 지탱할 수 있게 해준다.트리나즈스틱 교수는 플래커덤이 복잡한 근육 조직 외에도 “상당히 발달한” 척추 등을 갖고 있었다며 “고대(primitive)의 것이라고 해서 단순한 구조가 아니란 점을 보여준다”고 말했다.플래커덤은 실루리아기 말

한국어판 June 17, 2013