South Korean stocks started a tad lower Thursday led by losses in techs and automakers, analysts said.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) started 10.14 points higher but soon shifted to negative territory to lose 0.84 points, or 0.04 percent, to 2,030.26 in the first 15 minutes of trading.Market bellwether Samsung Electronics lost 0.44 percent and the country's second-largest home appliances maker LG Electronics dipped 0.39 percent.Carmakers were weak, with industry leader Hy

Jan. 3, 2013

Global investment banks (IBs) have mixed views over South Korea's monetary policy for this year amid a modest recovery forecast with stable inflation predicted for the economy, a report said Thursday. Goldman Sachs expected the Bank of Korea (BOK) to keep its key interest rate steady throughout this year, citing a modest gain in consumer prices projected for 2013, according to the report by the Korea Center for International Finance. The central bank cut the key rate twice last year by a quarter

Jan. 3, 2013

The United Nations gave a grim new count Wednesday of the human cost of Syria's civil war, saying the death toll has exceeded 60,000 in 21 months _ far higher than recent estimates by anti-regime activists.The day's events illustrated the escalating violence that has made recent months the deadliest of the conflict: As rebels pressed a strategy of attacking airports and pushing the fight closer to President Bashar Assad's stronghold in Damascus, the government responded with deadly airstrikes on

World News Jan. 3, 2013

An American journalist who graduated from Marquette University has been missing in Syria since he was kidnapped more than one month ago, his family said Wednesday, less than two years after he was held by government forces in Libya while covering that country's civil war.The family of James Foley, of Rochester, N.H., said he was kidnapped in northwest Syria by unknown gunmen on Thanksgiving day.Foley, 39, has worked in a number of conflict zones around the Middle East, including Syria, Libya and

World News Jan. 3, 2013

North Korean football player Jong Tae-se will join a first-division South Korean club next week, an official here said Thursday.Jong, 28, will leave 1. FC Koln in the second division German competition to play for Suwon Samsung Bluewings in the K-League, and will be introduced as the team's newest member next week, a Suwon official said."We've finalized talks with Koln over the transfer fee for Jong Tae-se," the official said. "He will arrive in South Korea as early as next Monday for medical te

Soccer Jan. 3, 2013

The U.S. House of Representatives has passed a bipartisan resolution condemning North Korea's latest rocket launch, but the Senate has yet to work on it, a congressional source said Wednesday.The House passed the resolution by voice vote without any objection on Tuesday, added the source.The non-binding resolution characterizes the North's long-range rocket launch on Dec. 12 as a "flagrant violation of specified U.N. Security Council resolutions."North Korea is already under U.N. sanctions that

North Korea Jan. 3, 2013

Google's executive chairman is preparing to travel to one of the last frontiers of cyberspace: North Korea.Eric Schmidt will be traveling to North Korea on a private, humanitarian mission led by former New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson that could take place as early as this month, sources told the Associated Press on Wednesday. The sources, two people familiar with the group's plans, asked not to be named because the visit had not been made public.The trip would be the first by a top executive fro

North Korea Jan. 3, 2013

박근혜 대통령 당선인의 대통령직인수위원회 인선이 이번 주 내에 발표될 것으로 보인다.윤창중 인수위 수석대변인은 2일 여의도 당사 기자회견에서 “인수위원 임명은 필요한 절차를 밟기 위해 시간이 조금 더 걸릴 것 같다” 나머지 위원들이 “늦어도 2~3일 내에 발표할 것으로 알고 있다”라고 밝혔다.이날 박 당선인은 삼성동 자택에서 새 정부의 조직과 정책의 윤곽을 그릴 인수위의 인선에 대해 고심한 것으로 알려졌다. 박 당선인은 이달 말까지 정부부처조직을 조정을 마치고 국회의 승인을 받아야 한다.박 당선인은 해양수산부를 부활시키고, 미래과학부를 신설할 계획인 것으로 알려졌다.박 당선인의 취임식은 2월 25일로 예정되어 있으며, 차기 정부의 국무총리 임명자는 2월 10일, 내각의 나머지 일원들은 2월 20일 국회 청문회를 받도록 되어 있다.박 당선인은 최근 ‘막말’로 논란이 되었던 윤창중 수석 대변인의 임명 등으로 논란에 휩싸인 바 있었다.그러나 지난 1일 2013년 예산안이 통과된 것은 박

한국어판 Jan. 2, 2013

최근 배우 김태희(33)와의 열애가 공개된 가수 비가 ‘특혜논란’에 휩싸였다.발단은 두 배우의 열애설을 최초 보도한 디스패치의 기사에서 시작되었다. 디스패치는 1일, 비가 11월 23일부터 1주일에 한번 꼴로 김태희를 만났으며, 두 사람은 12월 내내 매주 일요일에 데이트를 즐겼다고 보도했다. 또한 비가 12월 23일에 4박5일 휴가를 내서 김태희와 크리스마스 이브를 같이 보냈다는 내용 역시 보도되었다.이와 같은 내용이 공개되자 일부 네티즌은 “어떻게 군인이 매주 휴가를 나와 데이트를 할 수 있느냐”고 의문을 표했다.이에 지난해 10월, 국정감사 도중 이석현 (민주통합당) 의원에 의해 비가 2012년 1월부터 10월까지 무려 62일의 휴가와 외박을 받았다는 사실이 드러나면서 논란은 더욱 커지고 있다.대한민국 사병은 기본적으로 주어지는 100일 휴가, 진급 휴가 등과 더불어 포상휴가를 받는데, 연예사병들은 일반병사들에 비해 포상휴가가 지나치게 많다는 지적이 나오고 있다.지난해 10월

한국어판 Jan. 2, 2013

Korean pop star Rain, who is serving his mandatory military service, has come under fire for getting “too much vacation.”Criticism flooded the Internet as the 31-year-old singer’s romantic relationship with top actress Kim Tae-hee was revealed by local online media outlet Dispatch on Tuesday. Kim’s agency confirmed their relationship later in the day.According to Dispatch, Rain and Kim went on dates every Sunday in December. The website claimed that Rain went on a four-day vacation starting Dec.

People Jan. 2, 2013

South Korean footballer Ji Dong-won, once confined to the bench in the English Premier League, has joined a first-division German club on loan, officials said Wednesday.Ji's new team, FC Augsburg in the Bundesliga, and his English side, Sunderland, both announced early Wednesday, Korean time, that Ji is moving to Germany on a loan deal. The transaction ended months of speculation on the future of the 21-year-old, who had not played a game for Sunderland in the ongoing season.According to FC Augs

Soccer Jan. 2, 2013